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bradk
05-22-2005, 11:43 PM
Day One - Sunday, May 22

first, let me say, i ache all over.

so here's the setup. ridemax mark was very kind to me and pm'd me and told me he thought i should use the previous saturday because for various reasons related to EE, the schedule I had would have extended wait times. I figured with all I'm planning on doing, I'd be best off ending up with extra time, so I thanked him, but declined his advice. (insert suspenseful tune)

So here's how my first day at DLR went.

I set my alarm clock for 5:30, but woke up at 5. Since I had to still pick up my tickets from guest services, I wanted to be the first on line, so I got ready and went to the park. Got there around 6, walked right in to the esplanade (for brevity's sake), a few custodial people around, but otherwise the place was empty. So I figured it'd be a good time to get off a few shots of the 50th anniversary floral arrangement, DCA, etc. So I take a lot of pics. Then I realize I left my cell phone in the hotel room (so I could keep track of the time for the ridemax schedule), so on my way out, I was stopped by security. He wanted to know why I was taking pictures of the monorail track (i wasn't). i told him i wasn't. he said they had me on camera doing it. so i showed him the shots i took. he was cool with it and let me off on my merry way.

i went back to the hotel room, got my cell phone, went back to DLR and just hung out. Around 7 (when guest services was scheduled to open), they kicked me out to clear the area. So I went to the DTD entrance and waited by the bag check. when all was clear, I got to guest services and got my tickets. by then, there were several people lined up at the gates. i joined them. then i realized they were all in the center and the tunnels are on the side, so i walked all the way around to the right gate side and ended up being first in line. then after tons of people lined up, they announced they were only opening even numbered gates (i lucked out!). the CM taking tickets was really nice. even before the park was officially opened, she was taking everyone's hoppers and scanning them in so they wouldn't have to wait longer than necessary. it looked like she was the only one doing it and she kept going way back in the line too!

so i finally get in. people start rushing for the castle (duh). however, i managed to get off some clean shots of the castle and the partners statue and all that.

so first on my schedule was IASW. headed back there. on the way, I encountered Goofy and Minnie. I asked them for a photo, but Goofy first turned his back to me (that was either a no, or him being goofy). minnie did some convincing and they both posed for a couple of shots for me. nice way to start the day? well...

i walk a little further and i meet mickey! and bear in mind, i am the ONLY guest back in this area right now. I approach mickey, we shake hands, he then poses for me in front of IASW. then it gets better.

Mickey walks off away from me. At one point, I turn around and I see Mickey holding Minnie's hand and on his knee. Again, there's nobody out there but me. Anyway, I missed that shot, BUT. There's this dirty joke about why Mickey left Minnie and it involves Goofy. It's true. Next time I look, Goofy and Minnie are walking hand in hand towards the castle, leaving Mickey behind. I got a photo of a very worried Mickey (hands over his mouth) as Goofy and Minnie walk away hand in hand.

So I ride IASW. I was the only one in the ride. Yes, I used the flash :) Creepy ride, but kind of cool. Very long. I really like the dancing women whose heads just slide back and forth.

then it was SBLC. I was in a bad position for photos, but it was cute. good way to kill some time.

then Mr. Toad. love it! better than I remember from WDW (I know it's different), followed by POTC - amazing, and the BB was so much different than I imagined. can't wait to eat there tomorrow.

then HM, pretty decent, love that effect where the heads just seem to follow you (before you load up), got some video of that. also got some video of madam leota which is really cool, but you all know that.

Went on Splash, great. I went single rider, so I had to go down to pooh's area. I think it was before the ride, I saw Pooh and Eeyore. After the ride, I saw Tigger, but he was on his way out, so I missed my photo opportunity.

Then I went on Pooh. It's okay, cute. I started using my flash cuz the other people in the car were using theirs. it was fair.

Rode Big Thunder. Had a fastpass, but I guess the line was so short, the CM told me to just keep it (I never ended up using it though). Tried to get a photo of the goat but missed completely. Will have to try again.

Ridemax then had me for the Mark Twain at 11:01 (not sure, since there was a boat leaving at 10:55 or whatever) and I had plenty of time to make it. However, Mickey was going to climb the matterhorn at 11, so I made a manual adjustment and went down the Mark Twain about 10:15. I didn't get a chance to ask about riding in the pilot's house before the captain offered the job to someone else. So I asked one of the CMs if I could go up in the pilot house if I waited. He told me he was piloting the next one and he'd take me up.

Waited for the next boat. Got to ride in the pilot house. I was bad with the bell, but pretty darn good with the whistle if I do say so myself. We chatted a bit, mostly about freaking people out with spinning the wheel really fast (since the wheel is just for show). When it was over, he offered to let me up again any time. I asked about the pilot certificate. he said he didn't think they had any, but checked anyway. they had them :). he said they hadn't had them in a while, but now i'm officially a captain of the mark twain. (honorary anyway).

Next was to get a fastpass for IJA. Since I had time to spare until 12:15 for the tour and I was right next to Tarzan, I made another manual adjustment to the schedule and went through that. On the schedule, Tarzan was wedged between a lot of free time, so this would just make two large blocks combined into one huge block of free time.

Before I showed up for the tour, I went back to pooh's area. Tigger was out, so I got a couple of pics of him. Then I was walking back to the tour garden when I saw the train pulled into the NOS station. I saw it was a train with the benches facing into the park, so I grabbed it. Rode it to Main Street. Saw the dioramas and the dinosaurs (which were really cool).

At this point, I realized I missed Mickey climbing the matterhorn. :( the other times were 12:30 (which I would miss because of the tour) and 5:40, so I committed myself to making the 5:40 show.

Went on the 50th anniversary tour. Very informative. We went to the first 50 years exhibit, looked around just long enough for the movie to start and then left (maybe saw half of the exhibits). We the went on POTC, Splash and Buzz (my first time on Buzz, scored about 70,000, level 3 - i think i hit the good spot on zurg since i went from like 400 points to over 20,000 instantaneously). Learned some new stuff about POTC that I didn't know, including the hidden mickey in the pirate ship cannon bit. Tour was good. View for the POD was awesome. got some really good shots. Thought it was funny though that Cinderella kept playing to the other side (which I guess she normally does), but in this case, the other side was just a brick wall).

At some point during the tour, I was also able to get a few snapshots of Peter Pan and Wendy.

after the tour, used my fastpass to ride IJA. awesome, awesome, awesome.

I had some time before the next tiki show, so i decided to hop onto the JC. I think the skipper's tag read Mikey. very, very, very funny guy with a very phony british accent. great first trip. i was seated in a bad place for photos though (my bad).

then i went to the tiki room, decided to try a dole whip float while waiting for the show. they had run out of the whip stuff, so no go. they said they had requested more, so it might be 15-20 minutes. so i figured i'd get it after the show. did the show, i sat in the corner, behind jose. entertaining, but i wouldn't do it over and over (too long in my opinion). i realized i had forgotten to get another fastpass for IJA as per my schedule, so I went and did that.

got on line at the tiki bar. waited about 10 minutes. heard something going on in the hub area, but didn't know what it was. at this point i realized i missed the mickey matterhorn show again! the last chance I had. I pulled out my cell phone. it was 5:43! it was the show I was hearing in the hub. so i ran out of line, went over to the hub area and I could see mickey climbing the matterhorn! got some shots of him climbing and pulling out the flag, but the batteries in my camera died right when he planted it, so i missed that shot. bummer.

went back to the tiki bar. got my whip float. very, very good. went back to the first 50 years exhibit to finish it off. i now had a few hours free until my next scheduled event, which was the DEP at DCA.

went back to the hotel, got the golden ears I bought at WOD last night. went to DCA, got them embroidered at greetings. went on TOT. twice. the CMs operating it were really good, the first one in particular. the second one was pretty funny as well. Went on soarin' (it's cool, but I don't have the desire to ride it again).

at about 8:15, I was able to get a good spot for the DEP at sunshine plaza, right by the gates. the parade was awesome. as soon as the salute to american heroes float went by, i hightailed it to DL for the fireworks, but it was already packed. made it as far as past the partners statue, but that was it. the fireworks were incredible though. the star tours part was really cool. as was the haunted mansion and pirates.

then i went to the fantasmic balcony seating. i was dead center. had a lot of cheesecake, some fruit and cheese and some coke (the drink). also tried a mint julep since i was planning on trying it tomorrow at the BB and it wasn't going to cost me anything more tonight to try it. i drank it, but i'm not a fan. fantasmic was great though. except still no pinocchio (thought he was fixed?).

i then headed over to IJA which was almost a walk-on. it's better at night too, because you can't even see the boulder behind indy until it starts rolling towards you.

and then here's where my plan with ridemax was flawed. the schedule i was using had the park closing at 12, but i didn't do my homework and realize the park closed at 11, so I didn't get to do JC at night, alice, snow white or pinocchio. tomorrow is early entry though and evidently they're keeping the park open an extra hour too, so i'm sure i could make up for lost time.

anyway, here i am. dead tired in all sorts of ways and in severe pain, but i still have a few hours to go before i get to start it all over again :)

sdfilmcritic
05-22-2005, 11:51 PM
I'm glad to read the trip report of your first big day at DL. It sounds like you had an awesome time! It seems strange the security guy was so worried about your pictures of the monorail track. :rolleyes:

CoasterChickie
05-22-2005, 11:56 PM
Wow! Sounds like you're having a good time so far! I can't believe how early you got up to start the day, but I guess if you're from New York, it pprobably felt like 8 or 9 am eh?

sdfilmcritic
05-22-2005, 11:58 PM
...but I guess if you're from New York, it pprobably felt like 8 or 9 am eh?I'm sure at 5 AM our time he was ready to be oot and aboot. :p

tjaa
05-23-2005, 12:15 AM
Great report :) , enjoy the rest of your trip. Looking forward to hearing more.

evrythngwmn
05-23-2005, 12:25 AM
Great report. You really accomplished a lot. Can't wait to read more.

littlemissgorgeous
05-23-2005, 01:07 AM
Wow..canīt wait to read more..since you are doing almost the same route as I am in September- I am going to devour every word...

lisap
05-23-2005, 05:31 AM
No Peter Pan? What's wrong with you, man? :mad: It's right next to Toad! Besides that, you're doing okay ;) . Looked for you yesterday but..oh well. Lots of guests with golden ears.

nursemelis374
05-23-2005, 06:26 AM
Great report! Glad yo hear you are having such a good time!

Disneyfun
05-23-2005, 07:13 AM
Hey Brad Great report! Sound like fun. I love the story of being in Small world area by your self. And I am not sure if I could do SW all by my self that would really freak me out!
I am also intrested in why it is such a big deal if you were taking pictures of the monorail tracks. I mean common there must be tons of pictures out there. Well anyway hope the rest of your trip is great!

dlandnut
05-23-2005, 08:06 AM
Great report (thus far). We need more! What is SBLC, the second "attraction" you rode? Sounds like you're having a great time! :)

HydroGuy
05-23-2005, 08:43 AM
What is SBLC, the second "attraction" you rode?
Had to think about it for a minute, but I believe that would be Storybook Land Canal.

dlandnut
05-23-2005, 08:50 AM
Had to think about it for a minute, but I believe that would be Storybook Land Canal.

Thanx HydroGuy. Makes sense. I'm sure that's it. :)

Disneyfun
05-23-2005, 09:01 AM
Had to think about it for a minute, but I believe that would be Storybook Land Canal.
I had to think also! Glad I am not the only one. I was going through all of the attractions in the park till I figured it out.

wabby1
05-23-2005, 09:02 AM
Thanks for the update, Brad. We'll be there next week with bells on. I'm feeling the pains of walking around already....but hey...BRING IT ON! We're all excited!

Terri
05-23-2005, 09:09 AM
Hey Brad! Sounds like a wonderful time!
I packed this weekend - bought new camera batteries and film for the video camera - We're all set to fly on Thursday!

Sounds like Ridemax worked well, even with the mixup of closing time (but you warned us with the suspenseful tune note) so I'll trust it to work for us on friday.

Can't wait to read the rest of your trip report. I'll try to post at night after my days in the park, but I'm not sure I'll be up to it :p . Instead I'll make sure to take good notes...

mkcbunny
05-23-2005, 09:25 AM
Bradk's trip is finally happening; this is so exciting!

You managed QUITE a lot in your first day. Funny about the gate opening: It seems arbitrary whether they open the even or odd numbered gates, or both. Every time I go, I feel like I can't rely on what I know about the system, because it may be different!

Excellent trip report. Keep it coming and have a great time!

Faith Trust & Pixie Dust
05-23-2005, 09:59 AM
Wow! What a trip. Thanks for the vicarious thrills. Enjoy your day today and keep the reports coming!

bradk
05-23-2005, 05:41 PM
thanks everyone. i'm actually at innoventions now. not fun!

a few things i wanted to add about yesterday. someone had mentioned that at HM, the singing heads in the cemetary were out of sync. they looked good to me. also it looked like one of the cats at pirates permanently has his mouth open. and as far as the trains go, on the tour, we were told that the c.k. holiday train is the only one that has seats facing forward and that's because they used to all be like that. they changed the seats to face to the side to give you the benefit of seeing the attractions (and not seeing backstage).

so without further ado, here's DAY TWO - MONDAY (so far)

I fell completely off the ridemax schedule. you'll see why soon.

The park opened at 10 this morning but I wanted to use my early entry. Got to the park about 8:10, there were a few people there but not many. found out they were opening for EE at 8:30. got in, very few people, some rides weren't operating at all yet, some were testing, it was pretty cool to see. i walked right on to peter pan (awesome!). my other EE choice was matterhorn, but it wasn't open yet, so i decided to pick off the ones i was supposed to do last night when i thought the park was open late.

I did Alice, Pinocchio (boring), snow white twice (i don't get the story there). by then, one side of the matterhorn was running (the FL side). small wait, rode it, then rode the other side which I got right on because even though they were using the same initial queue for both sides, NOBODY was going to the TL side.

So by 9:45, I did all I needed to do in FL. I had a ticket for toontown madness at 10, so i went to the rope and waited for the drop.

got into toontown, mickey was out doing a photo-op, so EVERYONE went there immediately, which gave me pretty much free reign of toontown. i did all the rides i wanted to do, gadget, RR, mickey's house, minnie's house, got a lot of pics. pretty much hung out there to near 11. that's when i had to drop the ridemax.

originally i had planned to go to the snow white show at 1:15, followed by lunch at the blue bayou, but when 11:30 came (i can't remember what i did until 11:30), i decided to go to the 12:00 show. did that.

walked by ariel's grotto and decided to try to get a pic. got it (sort of). walked towards the castle, saw snow white doing her photo op, got a semi-good one. then walked further and saw cinderella and one of the mice. got a decent shot there too.

went to get a dole whip float, but the machine was broken. went to NOS to investigate a photo of the apartment that became the disney gallery that opus claims they have. spoke to one of the guys there who didn't know anything about the book, but we talked a bit and he said it was never actually an apartment, that the construction was completed, but it was left empty for a few years until the insurance company took up the space in 73 to use for a greeting spot. he didn't know anything about the book of clippings opus says they have, but he did say he saw a photo of it (from the insurance company time) in his training manual, but he obviously didn't have that with him. he did show me the national geographic issue that has the picture of the firehouse apartment as well as another picture book which had a photo. he then suggested i return in a short bit to speak to his lead who would know about such a book if it existed.

So it was about 1:30, I had a 2:00 at BB, but decided to go down anyway. requested a waterside table, i was seated about 10:40. very interesting experience. the constant banjo loop made me go crazy, but the monte cristo was great (just couldn't finish it). after being in that restaurant for like 45 mins, it's such a shock to walk out back in the daylight.

went back to the gallery. spoke to the lead who said she's been there since the gallery was the gallery and there was no such book of clippings. she did show me a concept painting of the apartment however (which I got a photo of). she also said they were going to do a tour of the gallery in 40 mins, so i could come back if i like.

i was going to go on BLAB next but I didn't think I'd have the time, so I went on JC again with a posted 15 minute wait. again, very good (different skipper, but pretty fun, except when i got squirted by the first elephant - nice aim). when it was done, it was time to go back to the gallery.

they did about a 30 minute tour of the gallery, explaining the details of the apartment, how ideally, no artwork is ever hung on the walls directly so as not to disrupt the original wallpaper (or whatever) that was selected by the disneys. although there are some artworks directly on the walls, so so much for that. learned lots of other neat stuff about the gallery.

went back to the tiki bar, got my float (so good). went over to tomorrowland to do my stuff there. i saw belle walking by (she was going offstage), i tried to get her to give me a photo, but all she did for me was half-turned her face while continuing walking. so i got that.

went to HISTA (kinda cute, but i don't think i got the full mouse effect). then did BLAB (got over 100,000 points, level 4 - steadily improving :) ). then did star tours.

was about to go into innoventions, but on a hunch, i asked one of the CMs about PUSH. turns out he's on a schedule and he was going to be out shortly, so i just waited. i ended up following him around and watching him. very funny. got photos of his assistant too. :)

so now i got back to innoventions, which is where i am now. yay. i still have another fastpass for BLAB and IJA and now autotopia which I decided to try even though I didn't have it already in my schedule. i think i'm also going to do HM and JC at night. and that pretty much will complete my experience in DLR (DCA tomorrow). not sure if i'm gonna hang out til park closing or if I'm just gonna go back and crash early tonight.

the DCA report may have to wait until I get back home unless I can sneak back in here real quick if i finish up early there.

Hakuna Makarla
05-23-2005, 06:02 PM
Awsome report!! I am so looking forward to all the pictures!! Thanks Brad!!

Disneyfun
05-23-2005, 06:09 PM
YOu are doing such a great jub keeping us informed. TO think I am only about what 10 miles away and I am jelous you are there having so much fun. You must have the AAA encanted pass to get all those fast passes Eh?

Well Have fun in CDA.
And look forward to hearing about your other reports including san diego.

SCUBAbe
05-23-2005, 06:26 PM
I'm so glad you're having so much fun. I hope it's not to hot there. :)

Crazy4DL
05-23-2005, 06:27 PM
You made my evening, bradk! I hadn't noticed either of your reports until just a bit ago and so sat here enjoying some very fun reading! glad you are having such a great time and getting to do lots of rides, parades, etc. thanks for taking the time to post. :)

SuefromRI
05-23-2005, 07:16 PM
Brad, didn't expect such quick lengthy reports (then again I shouldn't be surprised coming from you- always prepared and knowlegeable about finding an answer). Sounds great so far-glad the schedule is working favorably for you. Looking forward to more reports, just as detailed and lengthy. Enjoy!!

Shortiemetoo
05-23-2005, 07:25 PM
Awesome report Brad!!! Hope the crowds were light for you today!! MMMMM monte cristo!! That sounds sooooo good tonight!!!!