Went last night-Fireworks @ 6 were great! One small rant.MANY PICTURES!

Dizneydaz

DIS Legend
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
10,973
We went yesterday after school to see the fireworks and snow and were not disappointed!:cloud9:

I'll start off by saying the reason we went was that DLR was closing at 6 p.m. for the CM holiday party and the parade was at 4 and the fireworks were at 6. A good time to go and see the firework/snow and still get home in time for DD to get to bed at a decent time for school. Monday was also an early night but I figured with the rain things would be cancelled.

Picked up DD10 just before 2:30 at school and arrived at DLR entrance @ 3:30. (with a stop at McD's for snack!) Met up with my 2 Dsis', DNephew1, DNiece and her friend and headed over to Reindeer Roundup. Main St. was lined with guest waiting for the parade at 4. We checked out the reindeer and got a few pictures with Mrs. Claus (we did SC a few days ago). My DD wanted to see the last Tiana show at 4:15 so we headed over to NOS. There was hardly anyone waiting. It was great! We've seen the show twice before and knew where we wanted to stand. In the area where the CMs go right past you (where the big light pole goes up for F!) It's a great place to watch both the parade and the show on the boat. There's a good spot to have the stroller sit and keep it out of the way of the dancers.

When we got to "our area" the light pole was up and it was roped off. I talked to one of the CMs and he confirmed that the parade would still be going through that area, they would be dropping the ropes just before they got there. So we waited to the West of the light pole, which turned out to be a great spot. The show was a few minutes late getting started (seems to be the case most of the time). They didn't start the song though until the parade was right upon us. :laughing: The performers did a great job-especially my DNephew!

We watched the show (took video and pictures) and waited for the performers to come back around to see DNephew again. By then it was just before 5 and we tried to figure out what do do (in NOS) until 6. We decided to grab a snack and hot tea but we waited a few minutes too long. Both restaurants in NOS were closed. Maybe River Belle Terrace would still be open? Yep, it was and it was toasty warm inside. Which was great since the baby was getting cold. (Even with the new jacket his mom bought him). We got some desserts (Celebration cake-yummy $4.95) and hot water for our tea (we brought our own bags). We were able to get a table and we all squeezed around it. (there were 6A and 2K). We enjoyed our desserts and tea and the warmth. The restaurant started emptying out and it was really nice. We left RBT about 5 mins. to 6 and got our spot for the fireworks/snow right by the light post we watched the Tiana show by.

What a great location! There was very little people there. It was just perfect. The fireworks were great as always. It was a good spot to watch with the fireworks appearing to be centered over the Mark Twain and we could still see the fireworks shot from the castle. Then the snow started, and it was of course, magical!:wizard: There was probably only about 50-60 people in the area. Just perfect. Exactly how I was hoping it would be with DL closing early.

So we started to head out, taking our time (knowing MS would be packed :crowded:). We checked out the castle which was over course, beautiful! MS was packed but we made our way, slowly, past the big tree. We exited about 6:30 and crossed over to DCA (open to 9).

My DM promised my DD that she would be her a sweatshirt months ago and it was decided that last night would be a good time to get one. DD was cold even with a shirt, sweater, and jacket on. So we checked out a few shirts and she picked a pullover hooded s.shirt with backpack bag. Bright green with Tink.

We decided to check out ToT to see how long a wait. Yikes, 50 mins. We decided to skip it and just head home. By now we figured the crowd from DL would be mostly gone now and we could get on a tram easily, We did.;)

As we were leaving we saw the hundreds of CMs coming in for their party. And now, here's my rant......

When we got to our parking level, Daisy, the entire level was gridlocked with guest trying to exit ! ::scared1::crowded: All the aisles were packed with cars that weren't moving. They had turned off their engines. We spoke to one guest who said they had been stuck for over 30 min. :confused3 We saw 2 CMs and asked them what was happening. They explained that this happens about once/twice a year as DL closes early and all the guest are leaving and all the CMs are arriving. Anaheim police had been called and were working on it. We could see that everyone exiting the structure on the right side weren't moving, at all. The cars to the left were moving slowly. When the cars finally started back up and started moving (about 15 more mins) we went to our car and exited. (we were close to the end so I did go backwards to get out-sorry!) Luckily Daisy exits to the left and :I was able to hop on the flyover and get on the 5 south. The cars entering DLR area were backed up both directions on Ball and also coming off the freeway.

Question, Disney, if you know this problem is going to occur why don't you do something about it? It is really inexcusable to keep guest waiting 45 minutes to exit the parking structure! What if there had, God forbid, been an emergency? I can't even imagine what would have happened.

I don't usually fault Disney for the way they do things, but in this case they were negligent. There is no excuse for the way it was handled.


Rant over, we had a lovely time. Saw the fireworks and snow. No rides, but I'm happy!

Some Picures

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DD and Mrs. Claus

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Mrs. Claus, DNephew (born 12-14-08) and his mom.

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Waiting for the Tiana show

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Here they come. Check out my DNephew-he's the cute one! :hug: (purple shirt)

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On the boat

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Celebration cake

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Fireworks

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It's snowing-really! (my baby-10)

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Christmas Treats

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More treats!

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My DM, DD10, and myself (check out DD's new sweatshirt!)
 
Sounds like a good time in the parks ~ sorry about the parking mess. We were there yesterday as well, we watched the Fireworks from the Plaza Inn and headed down Main St. just before they ended ~ our driver picked us up at the DLH at 6:30 to take us to the airport. I can't see the pictures here at work so I'll have to check them out later today.
 
Those are great pics and I love that sweatshirt!!! DD13 would love it too, she's a huge Tink fan, her bedroom is painted Tinkerbell green...seriously, that's the name of it! LOL And of course, green is her favorite color. :)

Here's my thought, if they know that parking will be an issue with CM's coming for the party, why don't they have the CM's park in the Simba lot? That would make a lot more sense.....
 

Those are great pics and I love that sweatshirt!!! DD13 would love it too, she's a huge Tink fan, her bedroom is painted Tinkerbell green...seriously, that's the name of it! LOL And of course, green is her favorite color. :)

Here's my thought, if they know that parking will be an issue with CM's coming for the party, why don't they have the CM's park in the Simba lot? That would make a lot more sense.....

Funny thing is she's just gotten back into Tink. Not sure why but now she wants the new Tink movie for Christmas. The shirt is pretty cute and came with one of those drawstring backpacks (matching of couse). I'm glad my DM got it for her though-It was like $42 after AP discount and with tax. :scared1: But then we go so often we don't buy that many souvenirs, even at WDW, so I guess it's okay once it awhile. Luckily it's big enough for her to wear for awhile!:laughing:

I can't understand why they didn't handle the parking different. There has to be some solution. DL closed at 6, party started at 8. Fireworks/snow ended at about 6:20. I kind of felt sorry for all those CMs and family who were stuck in traffic getting in. When we saw all the cars it was after 7:30 already. Maybe they'll do it differently next year. ;)

Thanks everyone for all the nice comments.:goodvibes

You know, Mrs. SC does look a little like FGM. ;) We did see a different one there last Friday. A little taller and plumper. She was very nice-I had a specific question about a certain SC and she was very helpful. Which is why we waited in line for SC twice last Friday night. :rolleyes1
 


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