WonkaKid
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2009
- Messages
- 4,718
I made it to the park on Thanksgiving and yesterday, the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. People have often told me that they avoid the park on holidays because they expect it to be busy. I suppose that’s true for some holidays but certainly not all of them. I’ve been to DL for every Thanksgiving since I’ve been in LA (ten years now), with the obvious exception of the pandemic closure. I’ve always found that, yes, the park is crowded but not to the extent that it’ll dissuade me from going. But Thanksgiving and the adjacent weekend are known to be busier than usual, in part, probably because of the number of out-of-town visitors.
So: the park was busy at rope drop on Thanksgiving morning. But it was decidedly less so on the following Sunday. My guess is that a number of people come for Thanksgiving through Saturday (or perhaps Weds – Saturday). I spoke with a security CM I know at the rope and he said that Friday and Saturday were definitely busier than Sunday, which lends credence to my OOT visitors theory ;-).
Now: with business out of the way, here’s my report from both days of rope dropping.
Thursday I rope-dropped Indiana Jones. I was second to the ride, which gave me ample time to get to Haunted Mansion afterwards while it was still a walk-on. It’s always kind of neat to exit a ride (such as Indiana Jones) after being the first rider and then see absolutely no one else leaving. First in, first off.
A short time later I went to Buzz… just in case the scoring had been fixed. It hadn’t been but I rode it a few times for “target practice” anyway. As I exited my cruiser on Sunday morning, a CM I know told me that the attraction had been closed all day on Saturday until 5:00 in the evening… and they’d finally fixed the scoring!
I did OK score-wise yesterday. I always like to break 2M at least once, if I can. On my last ride of the morning I’d lost count of my score and thought I had 2,070,000. So I took one last 10,000 shot, which missed. I’m grateful for that because when I reached the kiosk, I found that my score was actually 2,090,000. Had my last shot hit, it would have put me over 2,097,000 and my score would have reset to zero. Actually, I would have come to the photo kiosk and seen that my score was 3,000 (2,097,000 + an additional 3,000). Earlier I’d also scored 1.6M and 1.8M, both of which I “gave” to the two nice kids I know who are both pretty good; they often break 1M. That is, I put up their initials instead of mine. Unfortunately, they left for DCA early and didn’t see the board so I sent a pic of it to their mom
.
I hadn’t been inside of the Tiki Room in at least six years and perhaps even more. But I decided to drop in on Thursday. I’m sure that there are kids out there who absolutely love the attraction. I probably would have as a five-year-old. Singing birds, flowers and even a singing wall? Pretty cool. A little less so to an adult but it was still cute/fun, especially after such a long absence.
I met a nice family from Germany at the rope on Thanksgiving. They also had a friend from France with them. She told me that she loves the Paris DL and has been eight times. I’ve only been once.
Otherwise, both days were relatively uneventful. No great CM interactions or meeting of other cool guests. I do have a friend who works on Buzz who’s a writer (like me), a vegan (almost like me ;-)) and super interesting (hopefully like me). A few times I’ve brought her homemade vegan, gluten and sugar-free cupcakes, which she loves. Yesterday I gave her a vegan peanut butter cup (a Reese’s knock off, essentially). I also gave her some tips on upcoming screenwriting and short film contests.
Personal note: I’ve been grumpy and feeling down for the past several days for a variety of (largely inconsequential) reasons. Several years ago I was in a funk while in Peru. In that case, it was because I’d been with some friends: Marisol and Angela, two great girls from Lima. They returned home the previous evening and I was on my own. Ordinarily I don’t mind being alone, even when halfway around the world. I’m pretty independent and self-reliant. But I missed them and was grumpy. Just as the loneliness peaked, I passed an old man sitting on the street against a wall. He was blind, had no hands (I could see that he’d had them at some point but had somehow lost them) and was playing the harmonica. For change. In a relatively poor country. Immediately it put my problems into perspective and I felt foolish for being cranky when I had all of the blessing that I do, not the least of which were sight and the use of my hands.
Quick aside: it was Angela’s birthday yesterday and I messaged her. She’s a nurse in Montreal now and I hope to visit her sometime soon. I’ve included a pic of all three of us at Machu Picchu together. Angela’s on my left dressed in all black.
Anyway, I was in a glum mood this morning as I was on my way to a local library where I like to write. As I approached an alley that was obstructed by a building, I checked myself and paused a moment before I stepped into it. You know: just in case a car was coming. It’s a good thing I did… because a woman came barreling through at far-too-great a speed for an alley, especially one that's completely blocked on its left side. No stopping, no slowing, no nothing. She didn’t even look in my direction. She saw that it was clear on her left and sped into the street. Had I not paused for that one second, she would have hit me full on and blown we well out into the street. Certainly I would have been injured if not worse. When things like that happen (as they did in Peru), it always gives me perspective and reminds me that, for now, all of my troubles are small ones. I’ve been very lucky in my life and I need to be more mindful of that and (obvious reference to the thread title) thankful ;-).
I have park maps for anyone who’d like a set. Send me a direct message with your mailing address. No need to ask if I have any left. I always do J.
Pics. The first one was taken at the rope towards Adventureland on Thanksgiving. The rest are largely self-explanatory. Reminder: there’s the pic of me and the girls at Machu Picchu. It’s not a new land in DCA ;-).
So: the park was busy at rope drop on Thanksgiving morning. But it was decidedly less so on the following Sunday. My guess is that a number of people come for Thanksgiving through Saturday (or perhaps Weds – Saturday). I spoke with a security CM I know at the rope and he said that Friday and Saturday were definitely busier than Sunday, which lends credence to my OOT visitors theory ;-).
Now: with business out of the way, here’s my report from both days of rope dropping.
Thursday I rope-dropped Indiana Jones. I was second to the ride, which gave me ample time to get to Haunted Mansion afterwards while it was still a walk-on. It’s always kind of neat to exit a ride (such as Indiana Jones) after being the first rider and then see absolutely no one else leaving. First in, first off.
A short time later I went to Buzz… just in case the scoring had been fixed. It hadn’t been but I rode it a few times for “target practice” anyway. As I exited my cruiser on Sunday morning, a CM I know told me that the attraction had been closed all day on Saturday until 5:00 in the evening… and they’d finally fixed the scoring!
I did OK score-wise yesterday. I always like to break 2M at least once, if I can. On my last ride of the morning I’d lost count of my score and thought I had 2,070,000. So I took one last 10,000 shot, which missed. I’m grateful for that because when I reached the kiosk, I found that my score was actually 2,090,000. Had my last shot hit, it would have put me over 2,097,000 and my score would have reset to zero. Actually, I would have come to the photo kiosk and seen that my score was 3,000 (2,097,000 + an additional 3,000). Earlier I’d also scored 1.6M and 1.8M, both of which I “gave” to the two nice kids I know who are both pretty good; they often break 1M. That is, I put up their initials instead of mine. Unfortunately, they left for DCA early and didn’t see the board so I sent a pic of it to their mom
.I hadn’t been inside of the Tiki Room in at least six years and perhaps even more. But I decided to drop in on Thursday. I’m sure that there are kids out there who absolutely love the attraction. I probably would have as a five-year-old. Singing birds, flowers and even a singing wall? Pretty cool. A little less so to an adult but it was still cute/fun, especially after such a long absence.
I met a nice family from Germany at the rope on Thanksgiving. They also had a friend from France with them. She told me that she loves the Paris DL and has been eight times. I’ve only been once.
Otherwise, both days were relatively uneventful. No great CM interactions or meeting of other cool guests. I do have a friend who works on Buzz who’s a writer (like me), a vegan (almost like me ;-)) and super interesting (hopefully like me). A few times I’ve brought her homemade vegan, gluten and sugar-free cupcakes, which she loves. Yesterday I gave her a vegan peanut butter cup (a Reese’s knock off, essentially). I also gave her some tips on upcoming screenwriting and short film contests.
Personal note: I’ve been grumpy and feeling down for the past several days for a variety of (largely inconsequential) reasons. Several years ago I was in a funk while in Peru. In that case, it was because I’d been with some friends: Marisol and Angela, two great girls from Lima. They returned home the previous evening and I was on my own. Ordinarily I don’t mind being alone, even when halfway around the world. I’m pretty independent and self-reliant. But I missed them and was grumpy. Just as the loneliness peaked, I passed an old man sitting on the street against a wall. He was blind, had no hands (I could see that he’d had them at some point but had somehow lost them) and was playing the harmonica. For change. In a relatively poor country. Immediately it put my problems into perspective and I felt foolish for being cranky when I had all of the blessing that I do, not the least of which were sight and the use of my hands.
Quick aside: it was Angela’s birthday yesterday and I messaged her. She’s a nurse in Montreal now and I hope to visit her sometime soon. I’ve included a pic of all three of us at Machu Picchu together. Angela’s on my left dressed in all black.
Anyway, I was in a glum mood this morning as I was on my way to a local library where I like to write. As I approached an alley that was obstructed by a building, I checked myself and paused a moment before I stepped into it. You know: just in case a car was coming. It’s a good thing I did… because a woman came barreling through at far-too-great a speed for an alley, especially one that's completely blocked on its left side. No stopping, no slowing, no nothing. She didn’t even look in my direction. She saw that it was clear on her left and sped into the street. Had I not paused for that one second, she would have hit me full on and blown we well out into the street. Certainly I would have been injured if not worse. When things like that happen (as they did in Peru), it always gives me perspective and reminds me that, for now, all of my troubles are small ones. I’ve been very lucky in my life and I need to be more mindful of that and (obvious reference to the thread title) thankful ;-).
I have park maps for anyone who’d like a set. Send me a direct message with your mailing address. No need to ask if I have any left. I always do J.
Pics. The first one was taken at the rope towards Adventureland on Thanksgiving. The rest are largely self-explanatory. Reminder: there’s the pic of me and the girls at Machu Picchu. It’s not a new land in DCA ;-).
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