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View Full Version : Friday March 25, 2005: Wow



HorizonsA
03-26-2005, 12:27 PM
It was like Christmas, or close to New Year's. Everywhere I went, I was in a traffic flow. "Stay to the Right!" was the phrase I heard too many times.

I arrived close to 10am yesterday. I first had to wait in line to get on the tram, and since it's not really a line, many people took it upon themselves to cut in front of others. I wanted to take the Monorail in, as I haven't ridden the thing in such a long time, but the line was long to where they were going in swithcbacks. I decided that I'd probably get in the park faster if I walked in. Amazingly, yes. The line to get into California Adventure was actually longer than that of Disneyland. I was planning on going to DCA first, but knowing how crowded it already was, and I really wanted to check out these new Splash Mountain, I decided to go to Disneyland. But the Castle was so beautiful I had to take pictures. Castle fading? I think not. I wish I can post them, but I don't know how. My objective was to get to Splash Mountain, I made the mistake of taking the Adventureland route. That land is the smallest land for walking space. Part of the reason for the long walk-through was that Indiana Jones had just broke down and everyone was coming out. I went passed Pirates of the Caribbean and the line was so long, it went clear across the bridge.

I finally made it to the Critter Country, but I took the route where the Columbia and Mark Twain are parked, because I wanted to see the new logs. Not bad. The line for the attraction was about 95 minutes. I knew that if I got a Fastpass, I probably wouldn't be able to come back till much later. It was 12:00, I got a Fastpass to come back at 3:00, not bad. But then I remembered someone mentioning on these boards that Splash Mountain does have SingleRider, so I went to the entrance and asked the CM about it and she gladly gave me a pass and I went through the exit, waited a few minutes and I got to sit in the back seat. Sitting in the back is cool, but the only thing I don't like about it is it isn't cushioned. It's a hard plastic seat. Not too comfortable. But of course, I enjoyed this ride so much. Bright lights, much louder music, which I like and I guess you do get shot with a little water from the cannons of the big drop. Awesome ride.

For all those Pooh Ride haters, the line for the attraction actually reached the 45 minute mark! The line went out to the main walkway, just like it did when it first open. Not bad, Pooh!

The Haunted Mansion reached 100 minutes. Later the time switched to 25 minutes, but the line went all through that little courtyard just outside the attraction. Pirates stayed at 45 minutes all day. Thunder Mountain was a little more than an hour long with the line reaching the exit of the ride. Fantasyland was no better.

Of course, Peter Pan's Flight was over an hour wait, for a minute and a half ride. All other attractions in that area were full of people, lines going well out side the building. Over at "it's a small world," the line was like that of Christmas. The line went all the way around where those so-called Light Magic towers are. I walked around the Matterhorn, both lines started at the back. No surprise there. I was again tempted to ride Buzz Lightyear, but I'm still going to save my Maiden Voyage for a later date.

I managed to walk around the entire park before and eat lunch at the Plaza Inn before my scheduled Splash Mountain appointment. I asked to sit in the front this time and I guess it is trure. You are destined to get more wet than anybody else of you sit in the front. The water felt sooooo good.

I then walked to DCA, not as crowded, but it didn't look like it. The only walk on was Muppet Vision 3D. It's makes me laugh everytime. 120 minute wait for Tower of Terror and all Fastpasses had been distrubuted. The only good thing about going to that part was a good picture. The Disney Animation Pavilion is a tradition of mine where I go in a watch the entire loop in the Main Room. I saw One Man's Dream, and Drawn to Animation. Same show, but I'm kind of getting tired of seeing Chicken Little.

I've never been to Flik's Fun Fair and thought, "Why not?" Big waste of walking time. California Screamin's line was all the way out towards that one ice cream place near Ariel's Grotto. I basically walked all the way around Paradise Pier, not stopping. I was going to ask for a Single Rider pass for Soarin' Over California, but the Fastpass line was out past the entrance. I went back to Disneyland.

At this point, I had done a total of FOUR rides, including the two Splash Mountain rides. Being a Matterhorn fan, I went to get in line. The line moves relatively fast, so again, "Why not?" I went on the Tomorrowland side, aka, the rough side, (but much more thrilling side) and because I was riding in the dark, it was all the more fun. Then it hit me, I hadn't done one of my most favorite attractions, the Enchanted Tiki Room. I got in just as the Pre Show was starting. I like the Pre Show. It's funny how Pina, the goddess of Rain coincides with the tropical rain storm inside. As soon as she announces her name, you can hear the thunder fro inside. It's cool how they timed that. After that, I wanted to see if maybe I can ride Haunted Mansion. Just my luck, Indiana Jones just happened to break down again so everyone was coming out, creating another traffic flow. And it was at this that preperations for Fantasmic! were underway, so lot of "Stay To Your Right" signs were posted. Haunted Mansion's line started at the entrance to the cemetary in the back, so I went in. True Classic! Splash Mountain's line was now 155 minutes long and of coursem Fastpass was no longer offered.

I wanted to stay until the fireworks and maybe watch the THIRD showing of Fantasmic! at 11pm, but it was just too crowded and a lot of people didn't knw how to walk as they would just stop, dead on. That irritates the heck out of me. So I took the Disneyland Railroad to Main Street and went home. I have several pictures, but I don'tr know how to post them.

And, in a surprising news, I am going back to Disneyland today, this time with my Dad. So, it may be more crowded than yesterday.

disney jones
03-26-2005, 12:58 PM
thanks for the great report.

i'm starting to get spolied - i only want to go on Thursdays in the winter now.

The old man
03-26-2005, 02:26 PM
As I tell people, you can't approach DL as a casual walk-in tourist. You have to have a plan and it has to be based on information gleaned from Mouseplanet, the Unofficial Guide and other sources.
Rule number one: arrive at park opening
Rule number two: arrive at park opening
Rule number three: don't go if you can't arrive at park opening.
At least that's my plan.

David

Earkid
03-26-2005, 02:39 PM
i'm starting to get spolied - i only want to go on Thursdays in the winter now.I'm with Jonesy!!

cstephens
03-26-2005, 04:47 PM
It was pretty crowded today as well. We got to the esplanade just around 8am, and the lines closer to the Downtown Disney side were about 3/4 the way into the esplanade toward DCA. We walked to the lines on the other side and found a line that was considerably shorter, though it still probably took us about 10 minutes to get in. After doing some shopping and taking some purchases back to the car, we got in line at about 9:20 to go back into Disneyland - and the lines were still protruding into the esplanade. Yes, it was really crowded, but they still didn't have all the entry turnstiles open. I hope Disney figures this out really fast, because as the 50th approaches, it's going to be like this a lot, and having all the entrance turnstiles open is really going to help. At this point, people were also lining up for DCA, so some of the DL lines and DCA lines were close to merging.

Navigating the park was already fairly difficult. Trying to exit Tomorrowland into the hub via the walkway right next to Star Tours was challenging. We did notice that the Fastpass return time for Buzz was only about an hour though that early in the morning, but the standby was at about 35 minutes. As we walked past Main Street at about 10:30, we could see the throngs of people jamming Main Street as they made their way into the park. You know Disney figured on a large crowd, because they had a CM handler accompanying the horse carriages, making sure people were out of the way so they wouldn't get run over by the horse.

As we walked by Alice later in the morning, that line was running pretty much parallel to the Matterhorn line across the walkway. The Alice line didn't quite reach to where the restrooms in the castle are, but it was pretty close to it. We walked by Coke Corner at about 11:00 and noticed people gathered around so went to see what was up. Coke Corner wasn't open yet and the piano's been moved to Plaza Pavilion, so a crowd made no sense. Turns out they were doing some kind of photo shoot in the interior Coke Corner seating area. As best we could tell, they were just shooting regular pictures, with various tourists sitting in particular places. As we left the park for the day at about 11:45, we noticed that the lines for DL and DCA were still threatening to merge.

I expect the crowds to be fairly large on Sunday too, so we're figuring on not doing too many rides. Note to whom it may concern - traveling with someone in a wheelchair or a stroller is probably going to be difficult, so make sure to be patient and others should note to be careful of them and not cut them off as well.

jennia
03-26-2005, 05:10 PM
We were at Disneyland on Good Friday as well. I haven't ever seen the crowds that heavy. (We've had season passes on and off for years.) Since we have passes we got to the park well after opening. Fast Passes were sold out for pretty much EVERYTHING by the time we made it there. When we were at DCA, they said that the Fast Pass for Tower of Terror sold out around noon.

cstephens- We had a wheelchair and as always it amazed me how many people cut us off because they weren't paying attention to themselves or young children. This is the first time I've ever had my arms ACHE (the morning after) because I had to stop so short once to prevent running over a 2-3 year old girl. It is hard to stop a wheelchair when there is a momentum going- be careful!!! We don't want to run over anyone!! :D

We left right as the new fireworks show started. DH was jsut too tired to stay any longer.

Even with the crowd, we had a GREAT time and got a lot done.

I heard from a CM that Space Mountain will not be re-opening in time for the 05-05-05 celebration. :( The CM said that it would be mid July before it re-opened. Up until now everytime we visit we've been told that Space Mountain WOULD be back for the big 05-05-05 kick off. My season passes expire July 7 so I hope that it opens earlier.......

Disney Vault
03-26-2005, 05:10 PM
So is it busier at the parks right now then it was this time(spring break time) last year? Or is it busier than normal?

Marox3
03-26-2005, 05:13 PM
Does the Indy ride ever work . . . . .

rentayenta
03-26-2005, 05:19 PM
Does the Indy ride ever work . . . . .

You have a PM. :~D

Marox3
03-26-2005, 05:33 PM
You have a PM. :~D
Thanks - LOL :~D

Pascomom
03-26-2005, 05:41 PM
As I tell people, you can't approach DL as a casual walk-in tourist. You have to have a plan and it has to be based on information gleaned from Mouseplanet, the Unofficial Guide and other sources.
Rule number one: arrive at park opening
Rule number two: arrive at park opening
Rule number three: don't go if you can't arrive at park opening.
At least that's my plan.

David


I hope this is the exception, my DH is feaking out because of the itinerary I have planned for us: We have 5 day hprs and the first day, a Sunday, is our first day at GCH and I scheduled Fantasmic Balcony for Sunday night show. We will burn one day for this but, heck, we will be there all week! Right?? :confused:

SCUBAbe
03-26-2005, 05:54 PM
yeah...I think I'm staying clear of the park until after spring break.....vegas is looking better and better. I know it's crowded to, but at least there's free drinks...:)

jennia
03-26-2005, 07:28 PM
I think it is busier than normal. The CM at Splash Mountain said he'd been working there 3 years and the last week+ were the most crowded he'd ever seen.

Yeah, Vegas might be better until Spring Break is over. Just don't catch the traffic wrong!!! We live in the High Desert. We hit one bad pocket of traffic on Good Friday even though we left the park about 9PM. Traffic was pretty consistently heavy (good pace but LOTS of cars) all the way from Anaheim until we got off in the desert.

sediment
03-26-2005, 08:20 PM
I hope this is the exception, my DH is feaking out because of the itinerary I have planned for us: We have 5 day hprs and the first day, a Sunday, is our first day at GCH and I scheduled Fantasmic Balcony for Sunday night show. We will burn one day for this but, heck, we will be there all week! Right?? :confused:
You'll be fine if you have the whole week. Try to get there early, but go different ways each day, to make sure you see everything you want to at least once.
RideMax is supposed to be pretty good, although it might be too late now.

SCUBAbe
03-26-2005, 08:21 PM
I think it is busier than normal. The CM at Splash Mountain said he'd been working there 3 years and the last week+ were the most crowded he'd ever seen.

Yeah, Vegas might be better until Spring Break is over. Just don't catch the traffic wrong!!! We live in the High Desert. We hit one bad pocket of traffic on Good Friday even though we left the park about 9PM. Traffic was pretty consistently heavy (good pace but LOTS of cars) all the way from Anaheim until we got off in the desert.

I ,live in the high desert as well. Two weekends ago we left for DL on a Friday at 2:30pm. We were doing good until be merged onto the 5 about 15 min on the 5 and it slowed to 10mph almost the whole way to DL. The trip down took 3 1/2 hours!! Coming home on Sunday was great/ Light traffic and we were home in the normal 1 1/2 hours. :)

cstephens
03-26-2005, 09:56 PM
I heard from a CM that Space Mountain will not be re-opening in time for the 05-05-05 celebration. :( The CM said that it would be mid July before it re-opened. Up until now everytime we visit we've been told that Space Mountain WOULD be back for the big 05-05-05 kick off. My season passes expire July 7 so I hope that it opens earlier.......

Wow, what a shame that you've been given incorrect information all this time. Space was scheduled to reopen in November of this year, but it was announced recently that it will actually reopen on July 15.

HorizonsA
03-26-2005, 11:02 PM
Disneyland was full to capacity today, 3/26.

spectromen
03-27-2005, 07:43 AM
I knew I was in trouble when I heard "Due to overwhelming demand, the 9:00 showing of Fantasmic is...FULL!" , and this came at 8pm. Then, the next announcement was that there would be a third showing at 11:30. In crowded times like this, it really seems they should just schedule 3 shows per night without question, just as it was for the first several years of it's run, and not make the CMs wonder if they're going to have to stay that extra 2 hours or not, before they even punch in. And, if it's going to be like this all summer, I surely hope the new Parade of Dreams has both a daytime AND a nighttime showing, because they're going to have to have some other nighttime entertainment besides Fantasmic to appease all these guests!

FantasmicFanatic
03-27-2005, 08:22 AM
I knew I was in trouble when I heard "Due to overwhelming demand, the 9:00 showing of Fantasmic is...FULL!" , and this came at 8pm. Then, the next announcement was that there would be a third showing at 11:30. In crowded times like this, it really seems they should just schedule 3 shows per night without question, just as it was for the first several years of it's run, and not make the CMs wonder if they're going to have to stay that extra 2 hours or not, before they even punch in. And, if it's going to be like this all summer, I surely hope the new Parade of Dreams has both a daytime AND a nighttime showing, because they're going to have to have some other nighttime entertainment besides Fantasmic to appease all these guests!

There will be 4:00 and 7:45 Parade of Dreams

spectromen
03-27-2005, 08:25 AM
Well, that's a slight consolation, but still doesn't cover the former schedule of 2 day parades (roughly 1:30 and 4:00) and two EP's at 8:50 and 10:30. But, I guess that kind of entertainment schedule is all part of the past, along with the 1am closings :crying:

HorizonsA
03-27-2005, 08:57 AM
Do you guys think that it will be as crowded as it was Friday and Saturday on Tuesday? I'm going back again that day, but hope to ride more than four rides this time.