Who from CA or AZ wants to go to a Cars Land VIP party or win other cool prizes

[Iceman]

My experience was similar to many others. Got there around 10:00 to find a much longer check-in line than we expected. 40 minutes in we got to the window and they couldn't find my name on any of the lists. It took another 40 minutes for them to verify with Coke, Ralph's, or the prize company that we were indeed good to go. Only got wristbands good until 1:30 and found out BVS was going to close at 2:00. That led to quite a dilemma, but we mainly headed for Cars Land. Enjoyed the rides, although Luigi's is a disappointment and I don't think will be there for more than a couple of years. Food at Flo's was okay, but the overall experience was nice.

We didn't recognize any celebrities or Padders, nor would we, really. Around 2:00 we left Cars Land and enjoyed the ghost town that was the rest of the park. Rode almost everything as a walk-on; reminded me of DCA's early years.

The next afternoon we came back to check out the merchandise and found the layout in the Animation courtyard quite poor. It was nearly impossible to even see any of the merchandise, let alone buy it. Still, we seemed to be in the minority walking out without purchasing anything. Still, nothing was sold out (according to the CMs) so I'm guessing they got WAY too much merchandise.

Saturday was the most pleasant day at DL we've had in years. Everyone must have been at DCA, because ride waits were really short. We tried to get a last-minute reservation at Steakhouse 55, though, and found we could only get 9:20, so not everyone was in Cars Land the whole time!

I expect that pretty quickly things are going to level out again. The fact that Cars Land was crazy and the rest of the resort was slow tells me that Cars Land is not actually drawing in new guests, it's just redistributing the same number of guests. Eventually most folks who are interested will have seen Cars Land and will go back to their usual routines. And while DCA will likely see increased attendance overall, I suspect DL will actually see a similar decrease for the time being. The fact that all three Disney hotels had vacancies this weekend is another sign of that. But for as long as RSR has multi-hour waits, I'll enjoy shorter waits to all the other attractions around the resort!

[candles71]

Oh, we arrived just about 8, got in line (once we found a CM that knew where we should go.) We were across the Esplanade and showing the girls our brick at 8:15. Our only hiccup was Whistler hadn't brought his ID. Now, the man knows he needs it for his AP discount anymore. They ask for it with CC. He read the prize letter but it was my not telling him he needed it that was the problem. We got in line anyway. He showed his AP, we explained the issue, she couldn't scan it to bring his photo up but took his AP and my DL as ID.

[olegc]

ICeman - I would not completely agree with your assessment. As I ask many in my own community here in Irvine that I know - many have heard of something new over at Disneyland involving Cars. this is how they describe it. So for many of these people (parents of children ranging in ages from 5 to 15) it's just not on their radar.

also, as posted by others on the pad who live in other states - they ad onslaught has not really begun in their locales.

So that, and others avoiding opening weekend because of fears of the crowds (with OMDD still fresh in many minds), I believe you will see an increase in attendance overall, not just a redistribution. However, it's not going to happen in the first couple of months. It will be extended.

[tea4two]

...The next afternoon we came back to check out the merchandise and found the layout in the Animation courtyard quite poor. It was nearly impossible to even see any of the merchandise, let alone buy it. Still, we seemed to be in the minority walking out without purchasing anything. Still, nothing was sold out (according to the CMs) so I'm guessing they got WAY too much merchandise...

My experience was quite different. The Parks Blog had a link for the merchandise catalog and encouraged people to print it out, so I was able to study it beforehand. That made filling out my forms quick and easy. Once inside the Animation Bldg., I only had to ask CMs the way to each zone, hand over my form, and take my items. For those who didn't have a catalog or for questions about items, CMs were more than happy to retrieve items for further examination. There were no long waits and there were plenty of cashiers. I heard that several limited pins did sell out, but you are right that much of the merchandise did not and will be made available at DCA stores.

[SigalTchelet]

Yeah, I know, it was just kind cool to see him. He was a local DJ when i was in high school mmm years ago . He was always the "crazy one" who would camp out on a billboard for one cause or another. Then came Love lines

Love him! So cool you got to see him!

[cstephens]

The next afternoon we came back to check out the merchandise and found the layout in the Animation courtyard quite poor. It was nearly impossible to even see any of the merchandise, let alone buy it. Still, we seemed to be in the minority walking out without purchasing anything. Still, nothing was sold out (according to the CMs) so I'm guessing they got WAY too much merchandise.

Hmmm, we went into the animation building for the sale Friday afternoon, and while it was a little crowded, I found everything pretty easy to navigate. They had each zone of merchandise available in a glass case so you could see, and then CMs were perfectly happy to pull whatever merchandise you wanted to see up close. We didn't want to wait in the long line in the morning, so we had planned to just go later and see what was left. I was surprised but happy that nothing was sold out. I'm really tired of them doing the "we have 100 of these pins available" thing when they know it's going to be popular. We picked up a couple of the pins, the husband got a t-shirt and a watch, and I got the tote bag because I loved the design. Later in the evening, we saw the dated stuff available at Elias & Co. and Five & Dime.

[candles71]

As far as advertising, there is a Billboard between me and Sam's Club and Costco. I got a huge smile the first time, ok everytime, I see it.

[Iceman]

Glad to hear some people had a better experience at the merchandise event than we did. Maybe it was just a time of day thing. When we went, there was a line out the door and a crowd inside the pavilion. The plastic cases were swarmed with people, and even when we waited in line to see some of the merchandise other guests would just walk in and stand in the way. I had looked at the merchandise online in advance, but there's a big difference between seeing something on a computer screen or a printout and seeing it in real life.

[AnotherJenny]

Glad to hear some people had a better experience at the merchandise event than we did. Maybe it was just a time of day thing. When we went, there was a line out the door and a crowd inside the pavilion. The plastic cases were swarmed with people, and even when we waited in line to see some of the merchandise other guests would just walk in and stand in the way. I had looked at the merchandise online in advance, but there's a big difference between seeing something on a computer screen or a printout and seeing it in real life.

I waited overnight for the opening day merchandise event. In the morning, it was easy to get in line for a "zone" and ask the CM to show you the merchandise. If you decided you didn't want an item they pulled, they'd put it back. I went back later in the afternoon, and while I knew to stand in the lines for zones, many guests didn't and there weren't a lot of announcements being made. I saw several guests just walk right up to the table. I also saw several CMs in the pin zone holding up their signs while the Cm sorting the line didn't send anyone down there. I finally asked her if I could go to the end of the table, got my 2 pins, went to the registered by the exit door and was out in under 5 minutes.

BTW, today I saw a guy selling pins and vinylmations from that event in DtD. There wasn't a whole lot of interest in the vinylmations on opening day, I wonder how his sales are going...

[tea4two]

We saw the 9" vinylmations at at least 2 stores (Off the Page, Elias & Co.), but didn't see any of the 3" Red Trolley vinylmation. Asked at D Street, and they had not seen any in their stock. So maybe at least the 3" did have better sales.

[KarenW2]

Since I wanted the dated t-shirt with the new park logo on it and about 3 or 4 pins maybe and they weren't available for sale at our special Cars Land Preview with dinner hosted by John Lasseter at the CCR event on 6-10-12, we went back up on 6-15-12, after my hubby got home from work in Downtown San Diego and we waited thru the worst mess of b2b traffic, a very long way up the 5 fwy to get to the park.

I figured they might have run out of some of the pins, but when DCA had it's REAL Opening Day, there were tons of t-shirts left over, a long time afterwards. We knew there would be crowds, but it was still a hassle just trying to get to the Animation Building, with all those humans everywhere!

Once inside tho, it was almost magical!! Since I'm in a wheelchair, I needed to write out the papers they gave me on our way in at a table, and I was very happy to see the numbers and items matched those in the merch catalog they had put a link to on the Disney Blog. I already knew what things I wanted and didn't. In fact, several of the CMs I worked with for getting my stuff actually thanked me for bringing the print-outs I had done of the pages I needed and said it was a great idea, so that was nice to hear, since I figured it would just make everybody's jobs easier to bring the pages with me.

I pulled up to an empty table, got out my list, started filling it out and first thing I knew I had a CM asking what I'd like for her to pull for me! We only needed to visit 3 "Zones", so it was a bit of a hassle you couldn't get everything you needed in one place, but at least we were able to pay for all of it in one place.

As it turned out, the only thing they had run out of at the time we were in line was a pin I didn't want anyway, so I was able to get everything I wanted and a couple of things we hadn't thought we wanted, until we saw them, the First Day Issue Cars Land Stamped postcards.

[bennette]

Since I wanted the dated t-shirt with the new park logo on it and about 3 or 4 pins maybe and they weren't available for sale at our special Cars Land Preview with dinner hosted by John Lasseter at the CCR event on 6-10-12, we went back up on 6-15-12,

Gosh, was there more than one of these dinners?

[ALB2277]

So has any one who won something other than the preview hurd anything yet

[stacielee]

So has any one who won something other than the preview hurd anything yet

Nope, nothing yet!

[olegc]

We saw the 9" vinylmations at at least 2 stores (Off the Page, Elias & Co.), but didn't see any of the 3" Red Trolley vinylmation. Asked at D Street, and they had not seen any in their stock. So maybe at least the 3" did have better sales.

I saw the 3" at Off The Page on Saturday.

[tea4two]

Some of the commemorative opening day merchandise is available online at the Disney Store: http://www.disneystore.com/mn/100970...&RRID=14385946
The prices are higher (by about $10.00 with the tote bag), but if you cannot make it to DCA, this may be a solution.

[fairestoneofall]

Some of the commemorative opening day merchandise is available online at the Disney Store: http://www.disneystore.com/mn/100970...&RRID=14385946
The prices are higher (by about $10.00 with the tote bag), but if you cannot make it to DCA, this may be a solution.

The men's shirt and tumbler are the same price as in the park.

[Mermaid]

Nope, nothing on my merchandise win, but I imagine that will just show up one day!

[SteveK]

Nope, nothing on my merchandise win, but I imagine that will just show up one day!

We won Park Hopper tix but haven't received them yet. Hoping to get them before end of year ; )

[disneylandkitty]

8-10 weeks from end of contest. That would be July 21st through July 31st. We are almost there. Just a little longer. The wait will be worth it.

[ALB2277]

i hate to say it but the contest ended on 22nd so 8 weeks is the 17th and 10 weeks is the 31st

[disneylandkitty]

i hate to say it but the contest ended on 22nd so 8 weeks is the 17th and 10 weeks is the 31st

YES i FORGOT YOU KNOW EVERYTHING THAT'S WHY EVEN THOUGH YOU WON A VACATION PACKAGE YOU STILL HAVE NOTHING... HOWEVER YOU KEPT SAYING I WON THE VACATION ONLY THE NON VACATION PEOPLE HAVE TO WAIT LOL... I GO TO CARSLAND EVERY WEEKEND.... LOL WITH MY PREMIUM AP THAT I HAVE OWNED FOR THE LAST 17 YEARS.

[SigalTchelet]

^^^No need to shout^^^ I am thinking he can read without you using all caps...

[disneylandkitty]

Oops didn't see cap lock was on.

[ALB2277]

Admin please take a look at this im not sure this kind of responce is in order for disagreeing on dates of something and what dose her ap have to do with the price of tea in china i fell like she is using it as an excuse to bully me please help