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Germboy
01-01-2003, 02:24 AM
We just returned from a wonderful time at DL tonight! Although it was obviously jammed, it did not feel as compacted as last year. The fireworks at midnight were OUTSTANDING--and I was so surprised (in a great way!) that they put old musical elements of Fantasy In The Sky Fireworks in the show. I do not remember that music being timed to the fireworks because Fantasy In The Sky came before the timing technique was introduced to the park.

I would like to be the first to wish my fellow Mousepadders a very healthy and prosperous 2003!!

Merlin
01-01-2003, 07:27 AM
Happy New Year to all! :)

adriennek
01-01-2003, 09:22 AM
Moderating/Housekeeping note:

I'm going to leave this thread here in the DLR forum for people to discuss their experiences on NYE at DLR.

Simple "Happy New Year" messages are welcome in the Lounge Happy New Year Thread. (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12666)

Thank you!
Adrienne K

ksejr1
01-01-2003, 12:00 PM
i spent new years eve at DCA like last year. I was surprised to see it crowded compared to last year. I was hoping to see the Fab Four like last year also. Me and my friends walked around and did a few things and spent the last few minutes of 2002 at the Hollywood Backlot. I loved the music and the dancing Elvis was the best :p We did get a fastpass to Soarin' but forgot about it and left the park after midnight. But why is it that the trams do not run for an hour and 45 minutes???? We walked the tram path back to the parking structure along with others. It wasn't so bad considering we were only there for a few hours. I take it that they don't want anyone to leave. Hope everyone had a great new years eve and that the New Year will be just as great
:)

Germboy
01-01-2003, 01:53 PM
You are right about the trams--one of the tram operators was telling us that they stopped running the trams to let the crowds disperse, and that the wait time without doing this would have been over an hour. I don't doubt it. There were too many people for the sidewalks, so they cleared out the tram path because it was far wider. I've always wanted to walk that path, so I couldn't complain. Besides, it kept me toasty and warm...

ldsguy
01-01-2003, 02:04 PM
Well, as for the trams, basically from what I understand, before they came up with the idea to stop running the trams for an hour and 45 minutes, people were walking down the tram route, with the trams running....this is why I parked in Pumbaa yesterday, those trams never stopped running.

cemeinke
01-01-2003, 02:19 PM
New Years Eve was a blast once again.

This year there were some notable improvements over last.

First off, live entertainment from the castle at 10:00, 11:00, and 11:30. Quality could have been better, but it was a great way to break up the time for the crowds like us that committed to 5 hours standing/sitting on the cold cold ground.

Second, the music mix - Plenty of dancable Disney tunes which you may love/hate but at least this time it wasn't just an endless 20 minute loop.

Third Beachballs - They were back again this year only this time the CMs let them stay in play and had fun tossing them back into the crowd.

Last the Pyro - I think they took all the leftover pyro from last summer and just launched it. It was a lot of fun, big, noisy, and bright. Disney always seems to do it's Fireworks right.

All in all great fun, even if we didn't do many rides ;)

http://www.linkline.com/personal/cemeinke/img/Disneyland%202003.jpg

Not Afraid
01-01-2003, 02:22 PM
DL on NYE was great! We didn't do much or go far but had a lot of fun camping out on front of the castle. We got a "front row" seat at the ropes and sat there the entire night (6 hours). Well, sitting is not quite the proper word. They did a much better job with the music this year and we had a little silly dance party.

EandCDad: Do the Robot
All: (doing Robot)


Ok, so were are a very silly bunch, but we had a blast, stayed warm, and entertained the crowds and CMs (until they got jealous and joined us).

The Beach Balls were alive and bouncing through the crowds. No Ms Nasty CM took them away (like last year). In fact, the Cms in the front happily sent the balls sailing back into the crowds.

At Midnight the music was pumped up and a massive explosion of Pyro took place. It was absolutely fantastic!


Here's a pic of the Castle at midnight:
http://www.linkline.com/personal/cemeinke/img/Castle%202003.jpg

We stayed until about 1:45, took a nice walk back to the parking garage and safely drove home.

It ended up being a really great and fun evening - and worth the long wait for a great show.

PS: My husband is a copy cat and a faster typist;)

ldsguy
01-01-2003, 03:11 PM
Well, I thought I would post a little, since I am now more awake.....I didn't get home until about 4:30 this morning, I live in San Diego after all.

Well, we were at DCA, at Paradise Pier, near California Screamin' they had a stage set up there, so we watched that show and were able to see the regular Believe really well, cool view too...also the midnight show was cool, we got DCAs mini-pyroshow (which was not on any schedules, except the CMs list that simply stated "Midnight Pyro Moment" at Paradise Bay) at the same time as DL's full show, it made for a really cool effect. I will get pics up as soon as I can, but I am still on a dial-up connection, so it will take a while. But we had a blast.

lisap
01-01-2003, 06:15 PM
First New Year's Eve at DL and it was a blast.

Things I loved:
-Free party hats and blowers. Yeah, the blowers got a bit annoying after a while, and eandcdad and I had to dismantle one for an unruly friend, but other than that it was a fun touch. I didn't envy the poor cleanup crew last night, though--what an unholy mess.

-The lights and sound around the Castle. Gotta admit, that techno beat really got to us after we just gave in and went with it ;) I saw some dance moves I don't expect I'll ever see till next NYE. Very fun.

-The engagements that went on in front of the Castle all night. We lost track of how many! It was really sweet to be able to witness someone's special moment. (awwwwwww)

-Everyone's good humor. We were packed in like sardines for hours and hours, and for the most part, everyone kept their spirits up. We made some temporary friends for the night and batted the beach balls around, and made sure everyone in our group got to touch the ball! ;)

-Having a hotel room so we didn't have to drive home to SD. whew, being able to walk a few blocks and collapse into a lovely bed was such a bonus.

-Spending the night with friends in a wonderful place. What a fitting end to an amazing year. Thanks guys, I wuve you :crying: ;)

Who knew that eandcdad had the MOVES. I think he surprised himself! :rolleyes: :D

Matterhorn Fan
01-01-2003, 07:20 PM
So you dance party guys . . . other than the robot, what kind of dancing did you do? Did you get your moves from the link in this old thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?threadid=4737)?

"Go Flubber, Go Flubber"

Or did y'all look more like the KMart boxers guy?

Mox
01-01-2003, 07:40 PM
We got to the park a little later than in years past, so we didn't have a table staked out for the night as we usually do, but all-in-all, it was still a pretty fun evening.

One of the more pleasant surprises came in our search for dinner. After checking in with the Padders camped out in front of the castle, we made our way over to the west side of the park. Rancho del Zocalo, Cafe Orleans, and The French Market all had enormous lines, typical for the kind of day it was, I'm sure, but still daunting. We decided to press on to the Hungry Bear Restaurant, and the trek really paid off. Most of the registers were open, and several cashiers literally had no one in their line, so we were enjoying our meal within five minutes of arriving.

After dinner we thought of trying to pop into DCA for awhile, knowing that it would beless crowded, but the congestion on Main Street changed our minds. The parade crowd was still dispersing with lots of people trying to leave and lots of people trying to get further into the park. Movement on Main Street slowed to a very slow crawl for so long that as soon as the crowd finally began to thin out a little, we reversed course and found a good spot for Holiday Believe which was due to start soon. (Too soon after the parade when it was that crowded, if you ask me)

We then thought about trying to join the castle Padders, but by that time they were firmly sardined into position with no room to spare, so we set off to the Small World mall to try our luck there. We grabbed a spot outside of the Small World Toy Shop and had a great view of the midnight fireworks. We weren't really able to hear the music, but I did make out a bit of the the old Fantasy in the Sky music, which was nice to hear again. Even without the music, the show was spectacular and the finale was incredible. I could tell it was coming by the sound of all those launchers firing at once, but the sight and sound of it was breathtaking.

Taking advantage of the shorter lines after midnight, we got in rides on Small World and Toad before heading out.


Just as a quick aside, I didn't particularly care for the versions of the Disney songs they were playing on Main Street, but our way out, we caught a bit of a jazz intrumental rendition of the SpectroMagic theme that I did like. Does anyone know if there's a CD out there that has this track?

Not Afraid
01-01-2003, 07:46 PM
Originally posted by Matterhorn Fan
So you dance party guys . . . other than the robot, what kind of dancing did you do? Did you get your moves from the link in this old thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?threadid=4737)?

"Go Flubber, Go Flubber"

Or did y'all look more like the KMart boxers guy?

Well, this is what Flubber and cemeinke looked like while practicing on Flubber's birthday.

Note: Need WMP or compatible to view. (http://www.linkline.com/personal/cemeinke/img/MP-DDR.WMV)

Sheila
01-01-2003, 09:32 PM
Originally posted by Mox
We then thought about trying to join the castle Padders, but by that time they were firmly sardined into position with no room to spare, so we set off to the Small World mall to try our luck there.

Heeheehee. It was truly surreal over at Small World Mall. Two veejays were pumping up the crowd for the Dick Clark Rockin' New Year's Eve "Live from Disneyland" segments. Every hour on the hour, they would count down to HAPPY NEW YEAR'S! And the crowd would go crazy.... I guess these were live shots for each time zone in the U.S.

I think the true high (or was it the low?) point is when Daisy Duck was brought up on stage with the veejays to dance to the song Lady Marmalade. :eek:

Then we got to watch Chip 'N Dale dance to "Whomp, there it is" and other dance hits of the '80s. :rolleyes:

Of course, we did spy the Padders from the other side of the Castle entrance (Fantasyland side) rocking out. (Yes, we saw what you were doing....) Indeed, they were busy doing some sort of strange tribal dance. Of course, it was worth it all just to see the back side of Flubber! :D

Sheila

Not Afraid
01-01-2003, 09:42 PM
Originally posted by Sheila
Of course, it was worth it all just to see the back side of Flubber! :D


Kids, don't try this at home..........;)

Flubber
01-02-2003, 05:50 AM
Of course, it was worth it all just to see the back side of Flubber!

Were you looking at my bum? Stop looking at my bum.

Cheeky monkey.

Mstevef1
01-02-2003, 09:51 AM
First NYE at DLR report:

First off, thanks to the kind soul who recommended the transit parking behind Millie's - plenty of spaces and it only took 5 minutes to walk to DLR! I may do this at all times...

We got there at 4pm and the crowd count appeared low considering the date [seemed like a standard winter day at that time]. After eating and desserting, we checked out the rest of the park but ended up hanging out at Small World for the countdown and taking off around 130am.

BTW Crowds increased noticeably around 6pm but we still thought it wasn't as bad as the MSEP crowds.

PROS
Decent food at the Rancho Mexican/BBQ place [dang, I really wanted the turkey legs on the carts but was too full]
Good-tasting holiday desserts [can you tell I enjoy food???]
Party favors: I kept laughing at all the random horn blasts throughout the nite
Well-behaved crowd, at least in our area
DJ Steve: kept the crowd energetic and played decent tunes save for the boy band stuff IMO
Fireworks! [the initial ones were so loud that it drowned out our countdown]
Traffic: well, light afterwards...at the start, it was heavy from the San Fernando Valley up to the 91 though this is usually the case.

CONS
The other "DJ": appeared to be a castmember...tried her best but 1) her mic was turned way down so it was hard to hear her and 2) DJ Steve knew how to get the crowed involved...her routines consisted of the wave and having kids to Michael Jackson impressions. I thought Captain EO was taken down???
Party favors: whenever you have freebies, the "I-gotta-get-me-as-much-as-I-can-cuz-it's-FREE" crowd springs up...lotsa folks walking away with a GRIP load of stuff i.e. 40-50 of each item.
Cold temps: I had a sweater and windbreaker and still felt cold.
Rookie castmembers: well, not a con but I felt sorry for them. Quite a few said it was their FIRST day and they stuck them on some food/merch cart. Talk about a baptism of fire...

Good times over all!
Steve

disneyscott
01-02-2003, 10:10 AM
The one thing that I cant beleive that no one is talking about or maybe didnt get to see was that there were so many people on main street that the opened up back stage to walking trafic going in to the park. The door by the lockers was opened and they had castmeber with there light sticks sending people toward First aids door. It also looked like the were giving free food the the castmembers because we walked by one of there breakrooms


Now isnt this a big Disney NO NO to allow us Back stage!!! I was with my 3 and 8 year old and as we walking I was hoping no to see any headless caracters.


Does anyone have any other info about this?

ldsguy
01-02-2003, 10:46 AM
The other "DJ": appeared to be a castmember
As far as I am aware, all of the DJs and dancers (at least at DCA) aside from any that were "professional DJs" which were listed in the entertainment guide thing we indeed cast members.


Now isnt this a big Disney NO NO to allow us Back stage!!! I was with my 3 and 8 year old and as we walking I was hoping no to see any headless caracters.
Generalyl speaking it is, with the following exceptions:

1. When you are in the hot seat on Millionare, afterwards you are taken backstage to recieve your prizes and such.

2. When Main Street has become so congested that trying to get in or out is by far too much of a nightmare, i.e. New Years Eve.

This also occured during Light Magic, after they setup the narower walkways to provide more viewing room. I believe it may have also occured during the "final day" of MSEP, but I am not sure.

I do believe that the area that they use, they keep free of headless characters, at least when they use this as an exit path, I am sure someone out there can confirm or deny this.

I am sure they were giving free food to the castmembers for working NYE, it only makes sense, if you treat your employees well, they'll treat you well.

The P.O.P.
01-02-2003, 01:17 PM
Originally posted by lisap Who knew that eandcdad had the MOVES. I think he surprised himself! :rolleyes: :D e&c definitely gets the "Best Dancer of The Year" award!! I was totally impressed with his moves (and lyrical knowledge!) :D

Camping out in front of the castle was not even half as "long and cold" as I expected it to be. The fabulous friends, good laughs, silly music, beachballs, and fun CM's helped make the wait for 2003 an unstoppable party!! :cool: :D ... the ciiiiiirrrrrrcle of liiiiife...( everyone move your arms in a circle over your head!)

We were even lucky enough to get to sneak under the rope for potty breaks!!;)
Originally posted by Flubber Were you looking at my bum? Stop looking at my bum.Cheeky monkey. He likes to do his drarrings! :)

Mox
01-02-2003, 05:07 PM
Originally posted by disneyscott
The door by the lockers was opened and they had castmeber with there light sticks sending people toward First aids door.
Well, that explains why we saw CMs in from of the Market House directing people towards the lockers. I thought that they might have been encouraging people to go through the shops. :eek:

During the final season of MSEP (at Dl anyway ;) ), they routinely had backstage passages opened to alleviate the congestion. One was through the gate next to Fantasy Faire Gifts on the Small World Mall that went behind Storybookland and Casey Jr. and ended up at the Fantasyland side of the Big Thunder trail. The other was behind the shops on the west side of main street from the door behind Coke Corner up to the gate next to the Firehouse.

EandCDad
01-02-2003, 07:58 PM
Originally posted by lisap
Who knew that eandcdad had the MOVES. I think he surprised himself!


Originally posted by The P.O.P.
e&c definitely gets the "Best Dancer of The Year" award!!

If what The P.O.P. says is true, its been really been a bad year for dancing. Maybe Debbie Allen is controlling it all.

lisap and I had a blast at the Resort on New Year's Eve. We arrived about 10 and I immediately confirmed why I'm never buying a Premium AP. There was a long line to get Indy fastpasses. We stored our stuff in one of the last available lockers on Main Street and snatched up fastpasses for Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder. Then we relaxed for a bit on the landing near the Fry Stand across from Big Thunder. The smell of fry grease and Mark Twain fumes made for a special moment.

We decided to wait till our Fastpass times kicked in by grabbing lunch in DCA and maybe riding Soarin. We went to Taste Pilot's Grill and enjoyed the music loop (including a very weird airplane song that had lisap giggling and a Weird Al song that had both of us laughing). We then headed back to Disneyland without riding Soarin, which seemed to have a pretty long line.

We rode all the rides we had Fastpasses for and crowd watched for awhile. Then decided to camp on a Main Street train station bench and read. Unfortunately, they had the benches blocked for a high school marching band from Booger Hole, Nebraska or someplace. We watched the band perform, which was pretty fun, actually, and I came to the realization (after watching the flag girls) that they sell A LOT of blue eyeshadow in Booger Hole, Nebraska.

After the band marched off, we grabbed some seats and watched us a parade. The parade started late due to, as the announcer put it "the safety of our performers and guests." I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how starting a parade on time put guests at risk, but I figured it was too complex an equation. Flubber joined us in time for the "roller skating snowflakes" which are his joy in life. I always enjoy watching a Christmas parade six days after Christmas. I'm now totally psyched for Christmas 2003.

Around four, after the parade, Flubber, lisap and I joined Stan4dsteph, Not Afraid, cemeinke, and the P.O.P. in Carnation Gardens Plaza area (what's it called?) and got some food at Rancho de Zocalo. lisap and I immediately wished that we had what everyone else was eating. We broke out the Cranium game and played by the fading sunlight (ok, it was dark).

Around six or so, we went and staked out our place in front of the Castle. Front and center baby. Some highlights for me:

1. The CMs - All the crowd control CMs were pretty nice and some were really fun. However, it was sorta a crack up to have one guy tell us "this is a no sitting area, you have to stand here, no sitting" and then have another guy say "ok, I need you all to sit down, can everyone move back so the people up front can sit down." It was really crowded in front of the Castle but we guarded our space like rabid dogs and the CMs were good about moving an obnoxious woman who was using her child as a battering ram away from us.

2. The music - The music was mostly fun and kept us entertained. A think we all could have done with fewer versions of Circle of Life and more of I Wanna Be Like You (do the Monkey, P.O.P).

3. The beach balls - Somebody from MI is taking credit for bringing the balls. My thanks to them. It was alot of fun. Flubber and I kept saying "I must touch the balls, I must." This was totally cracking me up but I figured it was lost on everyone else. Then the guy who was standing next to us for most of the night and hadn't said one word or even blinked his eyes too many times, hit the ball back into the crowd and turned to our group smiling and said "I touched the ball." I was stunned and laughing at the same time. (I know none of this sounds fun or funny, but it was).

4. The "hosts" - As Comic Book Guy would say: Most annoying resort ambassador ever.

5. The fireworks - Fantastic and fun and spectacular and all you would expect.

lisap and I bailed after the countdown. Man, what a mess the hub was (clean up your trash people). We stumbled back to the hotel and fell asleep in about 15 seconds.

mystycalchyk
01-03-2003, 04:05 PM
i just want to say i am glad you all enjoyed the beach balls..i too was thrilled that the cast members werent taking them away from us again...and yes we are the ones who bring them every year. i have pics of us blowing them up and throwing them out just in case you think im some freak spammer. we truly enjoy it and have so much fun...at one point as i was standing on a park bench and was watching them bouncing all over the place i shouted out, ala tom hanks in castaway 'look at what i have created!"...hehheh we sure do love disneyland , especially on new years

EandCDad
01-03-2003, 05:02 PM
Originally posted by mystycalchyk
i have pics of us blowing them up and throwing them out just in case you think im some freak spammer.

I don't know what a "freak spammer" is, so I'd never accuse you of being one. Thanks for the balls. Of course, when I was trying to watch the fireworks, they kept wacking me in the head (you sat there for 5 hours people, stop with the balls once the show begins), but it was worth it.

Here are some pictures I took that night:

the infamous beach balls (http://members.cox.net/eandlperkis/Beach%20Balls%20NYE%202002.jpg)

Some fireworks (http://members.cox.net/eandlperkis/Fireworks%20NYE%202002.jpg)

Cemeinke tells Flubber how long we will be sitting on the ground (http://members.cox.net/eandlperkis/Chris%20and%20Michael%20NYE%20Castle.jpg)

cemeinke gets his grove on (http://members.cox.net/eandlperkis/Christian%20NYE%202002.jpg)

mystycalchyk
01-03-2003, 05:16 PM
well i guess what i meant by that is that i guess some people would take credit for something whether they did it or not, and on the internet annoying people are spammers...*trails off* anyway........
yeah we were done with the balls before midnight ... cant take the blame for people wo kept on batting them around after that point :P