Brina78
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2005
- Messages
- 311
Hello, again,
I'm doing a little better with reporting trips, and since this trip was more recent, I can remember things better! As many of you already know, June 24 was the official premiere party for "POTC: Dead Man's Chest" being viewed by the celebrities and media-types in front of Tom Sawyer's Island. In fact, when Mom and I were there on Friday, June 17, we saw the bleachers and stage all set up. Of course, that meant "Fantasmic!" was cancelled that night and every other night.
My sister, Christine, reads pirate forums and boards and found out POTC would have a soft opening before the grand opening on June 26. We knew we wouldn't be able to do any star-seeing on the 24th; I had to work till 8 p.m. that night anyway. However, we did catch the MSN Webcast Live when I came home from work, plus we were all off on June 25. It was decided the three of us and my Aunt June and Uncle Lee would visit for a few hours!
Let me start by saying the weather was very unfriendly. Anyone who's been going to DL would have been quite discouraged by this recent wave of back east weather. The sun came and went, but there was that humid stickiness to one's clothes. Yuck.
The five of us entered the gates at around 9-9:30 to expect large crowds. Our first decision was to make a bee line for POTC to see if it was open like Christine had read at her message board. Upon arrival, the POTC entrance was all roped off! We had to smack her a few times, but of course, it wasn't her fault.
We next jumped in a 35-minute line for Indiana Jones, but then checked the POTC entrance once more. Still roped off. The walkways had ropes to divide the flow of traffic in either direction, so we headed for the Adventureland exit. While waiting for some in our party at that restroom near the Tiki Room, Christine got an insight from a CM that POTC might open some time around 11 a.m., but it wasn't definite. She reported it back to all of us, but said not to say it too loud in fear it would start a frenzy to the main entrance. We then made our way to the Coca Cola stand on Main Street. A hot dog sounded really good.
Well, it was June 17 once again. Just as Mom and I experienced with closed restaurants, the Coca Cola stand had its doors closed! I suggested we go to to Pizza Port since I wanted to get a Space Mountain Fast Pass, but nobody felt like eating pasta at around 10 a.m.! Plus, they all wanted to stay near NOS incase POTC opened!
We walked over to Hungry Bear to eat, discovering it too was closed! Arrrgh! But, it was okay this time. It wasn't quite 11 and that's when they'd open the restaurant. I stood and waited right by the rope tie while Uncle Lee went and got us Fast Passes for Splash Mountain. Aunt June was really curious to ride it since she and my uncle had never been on it. Only Mom refused a Fast Pass. Our return time read 12:40-1:40.
We eventually ate and made our way back over to POTC, discovering it was open!!! A line had formed all the way into Frontierland, but we had to zig-zag through Adventureland and do a sort of horseshoe effect due to all the rope-offs for traffic. The line started near the Shooting Gallery and the CM standing there told us it might be a 1 to 3 hour wait. Wrong! We boarded the ride within 20 minutes! It moved very fast. That's one thing I got to say about POTC: the loading time goes very quickly.
Okay, Christine redeemed herself. She was right and we forgave her! The ride is AWESOME!!! Admittedly, I was bummed to some things: the words to "Yo-Ho" wasn't playing after the first drop, only the music, Paul Frees' lines of "No fear hath he of evil curses says you" in the caves was cut, and Blackbeard is gone from that pirate ship and it's now Barbossa on the Black Pearl. Other than that, I was quite pleased by some of the new effects, additional lighting, and not one, but THREE Jack Sparrow characters! The animatronics are realistically creepy! I think the ending for him was the best, in my opinion.
After POTC, the excitement of wanting to ride it wore down. I went to get a roll of film near Pieces of Eight while Mom went to put in reservations for the Blue Bayou for July 14. Unfortunately, she didn't get a little invitation/reservation card like I got for my birthday last August. The company who prints those cards went out of business! We got the reservation in the computer system, though, so we're set for 6:40 on July 14.
Next, it was just nearing 1 p.m. and we could go use our Fast Passes for Splash Mountain. Aunt June, however, started to feel very ill at that point. It sounded to me like she was getting a migraine, and with the combined heat and humidity, it made it worse. She decided to skip out on the ride and only Christine, myself and Uncle Lee rode it. While it's always fun and nice to get wet on hot days, I was discouraged with the final picture. I leaned too far over the side and my face got blocked by the guy in front of me!
After that, we left DL (no Space Mountain for meeeee!) and walked over to DCA for awhile. Our first stop was Brr-rr Bank Ice Cream while Christine and I went to get Fast Passes for Soarin'. The return time said 3:55-4:55. It was only 2:55, almost 3. We mainly puttered around in souvenir stores, trying to stay cool. We went to catch Muppet*vision 3D to pass the time as well as relax in the air-conditioned room. I never get tired of that show, as you can see. Of course, I was so exhausted I felt like sleeping in the dark theater! Next, it was a quick browsing in Off the Page and then we could go use our FP's for Soarin'. That was another nice, cool ride.
We left the parks for the day after that since I had the graveyard shift on Monday. I had to work 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. today and I needed to go home, have some dinner, and go straight to bed. We ended up eating at Hoggs in San Marcos before going home. We had our car for the day, so we dropped off Aunt June and Uncle Lee at their house and then we went home.
And thus ends the trip report! Arrrgh!
I'm doing a little better with reporting trips, and since this trip was more recent, I can remember things better! As many of you already know, June 24 was the official premiere party for "POTC: Dead Man's Chest" being viewed by the celebrities and media-types in front of Tom Sawyer's Island. In fact, when Mom and I were there on Friday, June 17, we saw the bleachers and stage all set up. Of course, that meant "Fantasmic!" was cancelled that night and every other night.
My sister, Christine, reads pirate forums and boards and found out POTC would have a soft opening before the grand opening on June 26. We knew we wouldn't be able to do any star-seeing on the 24th; I had to work till 8 p.m. that night anyway. However, we did catch the MSN Webcast Live when I came home from work, plus we were all off on June 25. It was decided the three of us and my Aunt June and Uncle Lee would visit for a few hours!
Let me start by saying the weather was very unfriendly. Anyone who's been going to DL would have been quite discouraged by this recent wave of back east weather. The sun came and went, but there was that humid stickiness to one's clothes. Yuck.
The five of us entered the gates at around 9-9:30 to expect large crowds. Our first decision was to make a bee line for POTC to see if it was open like Christine had read at her message board. Upon arrival, the POTC entrance was all roped off! We had to smack her a few times, but of course, it wasn't her fault.
We next jumped in a 35-minute line for Indiana Jones, but then checked the POTC entrance once more. Still roped off. The walkways had ropes to divide the flow of traffic in either direction, so we headed for the Adventureland exit. While waiting for some in our party at that restroom near the Tiki Room, Christine got an insight from a CM that POTC might open some time around 11 a.m., but it wasn't definite. She reported it back to all of us, but said not to say it too loud in fear it would start a frenzy to the main entrance. We then made our way to the Coca Cola stand on Main Street. A hot dog sounded really good.
Well, it was June 17 once again. Just as Mom and I experienced with closed restaurants, the Coca Cola stand had its doors closed! I suggested we go to to Pizza Port since I wanted to get a Space Mountain Fast Pass, but nobody felt like eating pasta at around 10 a.m.! Plus, they all wanted to stay near NOS incase POTC opened!
We walked over to Hungry Bear to eat, discovering it too was closed! Arrrgh! But, it was okay this time. It wasn't quite 11 and that's when they'd open the restaurant. I stood and waited right by the rope tie while Uncle Lee went and got us Fast Passes for Splash Mountain. Aunt June was really curious to ride it since she and my uncle had never been on it. Only Mom refused a Fast Pass. Our return time read 12:40-1:40.
We eventually ate and made our way back over to POTC, discovering it was open!!! A line had formed all the way into Frontierland, but we had to zig-zag through Adventureland and do a sort of horseshoe effect due to all the rope-offs for traffic. The line started near the Shooting Gallery and the CM standing there told us it might be a 1 to 3 hour wait. Wrong! We boarded the ride within 20 minutes! It moved very fast. That's one thing I got to say about POTC: the loading time goes very quickly.
Okay, Christine redeemed herself. She was right and we forgave her! The ride is AWESOME!!! Admittedly, I was bummed to some things: the words to "Yo-Ho" wasn't playing after the first drop, only the music, Paul Frees' lines of "No fear hath he of evil curses says you" in the caves was cut, and Blackbeard is gone from that pirate ship and it's now Barbossa on the Black Pearl. Other than that, I was quite pleased by some of the new effects, additional lighting, and not one, but THREE Jack Sparrow characters! The animatronics are realistically creepy! I think the ending for him was the best, in my opinion.
After POTC, the excitement of wanting to ride it wore down. I went to get a roll of film near Pieces of Eight while Mom went to put in reservations for the Blue Bayou for July 14. Unfortunately, she didn't get a little invitation/reservation card like I got for my birthday last August. The company who prints those cards went out of business! We got the reservation in the computer system, though, so we're set for 6:40 on July 14.
Next, it was just nearing 1 p.m. and we could go use our Fast Passes for Splash Mountain. Aunt June, however, started to feel very ill at that point. It sounded to me like she was getting a migraine, and with the combined heat and humidity, it made it worse. She decided to skip out on the ride and only Christine, myself and Uncle Lee rode it. While it's always fun and nice to get wet on hot days, I was discouraged with the final picture. I leaned too far over the side and my face got blocked by the guy in front of me!
After that, we left DL (no Space Mountain for meeeee!) and walked over to DCA for awhile. Our first stop was Brr-rr Bank Ice Cream while Christine and I went to get Fast Passes for Soarin'. The return time said 3:55-4:55. It was only 2:55, almost 3. We mainly puttered around in souvenir stores, trying to stay cool. We went to catch Muppet*vision 3D to pass the time as well as relax in the air-conditioned room. I never get tired of that show, as you can see. Of course, I was so exhausted I felt like sleeping in the dark theater! Next, it was a quick browsing in Off the Page and then we could go use our FP's for Soarin'. That was another nice, cool ride.
We left the parks for the day after that since I had the graveyard shift on Monday. I had to work 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. today and I needed to go home, have some dinner, and go straight to bed. We ended up eating at Hoggs in San Marcos before going home. We had our car for the day, so we dropped off Aunt June and Uncle Lee at their house and then we went home.
And thus ends the trip report! Arrrgh!
