Went yesterday - several attractions have gone down earlier than originally scheduled

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Went yesterday to both parks. I know it was already mentioned that Haunted Mansion was already down, but just wanted let folks know that a couple other things have shut down for the season, rehab early.

Aladdin has already gone dark.
Golden Dreams has it's last day this weekend - it may be up today or it may have closed with the last show yesterday.
Electric Parade has finished for the season.
Fantasmic has finished for the season.

They are rehabbing the Star Traders shop, so big walls in Tomorrowland. Did get over to AL, FL, or NOS, so can't give you anything in that area.

That being said - there were really no lines of consequence on anything but TSMM yesterday. Space Mountain had a 15 minute wait at 6:30pm. CM at the Segway experience told me that Friday it was 5 minutes at many points in the day.

 

[Disney Dreams]

I hope you had a good day at the park with the crowds so non-existent.

Not sure which attractions you listed you expected to be open, but Fantasmic's last day was Septemeber 1st and closed right on schedule. The same is true of the ELP (not sure the exact date, but it was the same weekend I think).

Sorry you missed out on them. Hope you still had a great time!

-Dreams

 

[disney_love<3]

I was there yesterday too! My b/f and I got there around 7pm. I loved the fact that there were hardly any long lines.

 

[Sherry E]

Went yesterday to both parks. I know it was already mentioned that Haunted Mansion was already down, but just wanted let folks know that a couple other things have shut down for the season, rehab early.

Aladdin has already gone dark.
Golden Dreams has it's last day this weekend - it may be up today or it may have closed with the last show yesterday.
Electric Parade has finished for the season.
Fantasmic has finished for the season.

They are rehabbing the Star Traders shop, so big walls in Tomorrowland. Did get over to AL, FL, or NOS, so can't give you anything in that area.

That being said - there were really no lines of consequence on anything but TSMM yesterday. Space Mountain had a 15 minute wait at 6:30pm. CM at the Segway experience told me that Friday it was 5 minutes at many points in the day.

So, Nancy, if all goes as planned, I will be at DL - in the parks - on October 3rd and 4th (Friday and Saturday). Of course, that is Gay Days weekend and there will be bigger crowds, but I am trying to get a sense of what the TSMM line is like now, as opposed to when it first opened a few months ago. If we got in the line for DCA at the front entrance at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, what kind of wait are we looking at? Would it be any better later in the afternoon or at night? I keep hearing differing opinions on that issue. Will waiting at the hotel entrance in GCH be any faster? I know the reports on the TSMM wait time change daily, and they may change 100 more times between now and October 3, but just in general, what is it looking like? I can do an hour wait if necessary, because I have to get on that ride, but I know my friend would prefer to go when it is moving faster. I assume Saturday would be worse than Friday, so I won't even worry about Saturday right now!

 

[bumbershoot]

So Star Traders is entirely closed? Drat! I was going to make a post asking someone to check out the light saber keychains, to find out what kind of batteries they take. We have 3 dead light saber keychains here, and the batteries are too generic for me to figure out what they are, and we've of course lost the tag that came with them! Drat!

 

[toocherie]

So Star Traders is entirely closed? Drat! I was going to make a post asking someone to check out the light saber keychains, to find out what kind of batteries they take. We have 3 dead light saber keychains here, and the batteries are too generic for me to figure out what they are, and we've of course lost the tag that came with them! Drat!

Molly--I'm going next weekend and if it's open by then I'll try to remember to check on batteries for you . . . .

 

[bumbershoot]

Molly--I'm going next weekend and if it's open by then I'll try to remember to check on batteries for you . . . .

That would be fabulous. I've spent way too long on batteries dot com trying to match up the batteries I wrestled out of one of the keychains, and just can't figure it out! Sure sure I could go to a watch store, but I'm trying to save money here, LOL.

 

[BillyFan]

Molly, I bet if you called World of Disney, they could figure this out for you. They seem to carry a bit of everything there.

 

[konagal]

So, Nancy, if all goes as planned, I will be at DL - in the parks - on October 3rd and 4th (Friday and Saturday). Of course, that is Gay Days weekend and there will be bigger crowds, but I am trying to get a sense of what the TSMM line is like now, as opposed to when it first opened a few months ago. If we got in the line for DCA at the front entrance at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, what kind of wait are we looking at? Would it be any better later in the afternoon or at night? I keep hearing differing opinions on that issue. Will waiting at the hotel entrance in GCH be any faster? I know the reports on the TSMM wait time change daily, and they may change 100 more times between now and October 3, but just in general, what is it looking like? I can do an hour wait if necessary, because I have to get on that ride, but I know my friend would prefer to go when it is moving faster. I assume Saturday would be worse than Friday, so I won't even worry about Saturday right now!

Sherry, I see you are staying at PPH. Take your room key and room charge Card (if these are still two seperate items when you go). We went (August 25) to the entrance at the GCH about 9:40. At 9:55 the entrance opened and we went straight to a line forming next to GRR. This is the line for TSMM. It is an orderly line and when the rope drops, a CM leads the line through the park over to the line at the attraction. Line moved quickly, no wait. This is the most civilized method I have seen of getting to a popular attraction. Much different than the dash for Nemo!

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry, I see you are staying at PPH. Take your room key and room charge Card (if these are still two seperate items when you go). We went (August 25) to the entrance at the GCH about 9:40. At 9:55 the entrance opened and we went straight to a line forming next to GRR. This is the line for TSMM. It is an orderly line and when the rope drops, a CM leads the line through the park over to the line at the attraction. Line moved quickly, no wait. This is the most civilized method I have seen of getting to a popular attraction. Much different than the dash for Nemo!

Thanks, Konagal! We definitely want the more civilized route! So you think that the hotel guest entrance in GCH (and showing our room keys) is more effective than waiting at the regular DCA front entrance? I have heard varying opinions on that, but if we can have even a slight advantage by going through the GCH entrance, then my friends might be happier. I had heard to not try to get on TSMM in the morning at all, that the afternoon was better. Then, other folks said that going at night is better. As I said before, I am prepared to wait for an hour if need be - I expect it - but others I am with might gripe and complain. They were not happy last year when I led the march over to the hour-long Nemo line! And they were not thrilled with the Nemo ride itself once we had been on it, so that will not be happening again for Nemo (I don't even understand how people dash over to it - basically, you are dashing and sprinting to stand in place and not move for at least 45 minutes!). However, I suspect that everybody will be happy with TSMM once we get on it, so the wait in line will seem more worthwhile in the end!!

Over the years, we have begun to pare down the rides we really HAVE to go on, and we have cut a lot out that used to be staples on every DL trip. There are things I might like to go on but can live without, and if the lines are too long for my companions, then I don't fuss about it. There are things we will go on solely based on a short line but we would not ride them if there were a long line. And then there are the MUST-DO's like POTC, whose line is always fast-moving anyway. It sounds like TSMM is going to be one of those MUST-DO's.

 

[konagal]

I guess any line could vary depending on the day. However, there are much fewer guests in the line at the GCH entrance than the main entrance. The GCH entrance is covered and you are closer to the attraction. Also this is a much shorter walk than the main entrance.

CMs stated that by the end of September the room key and the room charge key would be the same. If not I would bring both the room key and the room charge paper slip as some cast members ask to see both.

Hope you have fun! TSMM is great fun.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

hum i hope star traders opens by time we go and is star tours open?

 

[NWPrincess]

YellowMickeyPonchos: Thanks for this. We will be there a week from Tuesday and I am glad to hear the lines were so short! And this was a Saturday!! I hope they hold out for another week...

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I hope you had a good day at the park with the crowds so non-existent.

Not sure which attractions you listed you expected to be open, but Fantasmic's last day was Septemeber 1st and closed right on schedule. The same is true of the ELP (not sure the exact date, but it was the same weekend I think).

Sorry you missed out on them. Hope you still had a great time!

-Dreams

We're at the parks every 2 weeks or so, so if something is down, we're never bothered by it, but I know those who only get to come on a rare occasion are more prone to disappointment!

Actually, I knew those were scheduled, just figured while I was giving the list, it would be a helpful reminder to include them. It's nice to see things all in one place!

 

[Sherry E]

I guess any line could vary depending on the day. However, there are much fewer guests in the line at the GCH entrance than the main entrance. The GCH entrance is covered and you are closer to the attraction. Also this is a much shorter walk than the main entrance.

CMs stated that by the end of September the room key and the room charge key would be the same. If not I would bring both the room key and the room charge paper slip as some cast members ask to see both.

Hope you have fun! TSMM is great fun.

It makes more sense to have the room key and charge slip on one card, that is, unless you have a party of five and each person gets a key - that could be havoc in terms of charging purchases if people split up! I assume that the hotels would have a limit on how many keys you could have for one room. Otherwise, it is less stuff to pull out of your wallet. More convenient that way. So if that new room key/charge slip card happens, then it should be in effect right when we get there. If not, we will take both the room key and the charge slip to the gate.

I am encouraged now that I hear that many people cancelled their reservations for my weekend because of the Miley Cyrus birthday thing, so maybe it won't be so bad in terms of crowds after all. The TSMM line may not be as hideous as I anticipate! I am looking forward to riding it (hopefully multiple times)! I hope I can easily slip the 3D glasses on over my own glasses! I am blind as a bat without my glasses, but sometimes it can be tricky getting the cumbersome 3-D glasses to fit over the other ones! I have always had trouble with that!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I guess any line could vary depending on the day. However, there are much fewer guests in the line at the GCH entrance than the main entrance. The GCH entrance is covered and you are closer to the attraction. Also this is a much shorter walk than the main entrance.

CMs stated that by the end of September the room key and the room charge key would be the same. If not I would bring both the room key and the room charge paper slip as some cast members ask to see both.

I would agree - you have a bit of a head start on the crowd if you are starting at the GCH entrance. Wait times seem to average 40 minutes. When we did single rider yesterday, it was pretty much of a walk-on. I would do that before standing in the line.

Also, we had the unified Key to the Magic (room and charge in one) card when we did a 1 night stay on 8/30. So it is already in effect.

 

[konagal]

Glad to hear they have finally jettison that paper charge slip.

Sherry, I am not sure about DLR, but other places you can actually tie the key card to different credit cards or no credit card at all (do I hear teenagers?)

Single rider is a great way to go if you do not mind splitting up.

 

[Sherry E]

Glad to hear they have finally jettison that paper charge slip.

Sherry, I am not sure about DLR, but other places you can actually tie the key card to different credit cards or no credit card at all (do I hear teenagers?)

Single rider is a great way to go if you do not mind splitting up.

Forunately, I have no teenagers to worry about charging up things on the key card, but my friend(s) usually get their own key as well. I don't think they would charge anything back to my hotel bill or my card # that is on file, but I just chuckled at the chaos that could ensue in some families who do have teens running around with their own key cards!

If the line looks too terrible for TSMM when we get to it, I will suggest the single rider line. I somehow have a feeling it won't be too bad yet on Friday morning in early October - I mean, no worse than it has already been during the summer. On Saturday, we may have some problems, but Friday morning might be all right. And we will try that GCH entrance. I guess we can go stand there at the entrance at around 9:40 a.m. or so. That will give us time for a leisurely breakfast at Goofy's and then onto DCA.