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View Full Version : Happy 50th, but *Glad* to be home!



FlowerGirl
07-17-2005, 01:09 PM
:D

Left home at 5:45 am and the 5 Freeway was dead. I expected traffic to pick up at Harbor, but none. That was a surprise.

Drove right into Mickey & Friends and found a space. Only one car in front of us. Yahoo, we're here!!! Well, almost.

The trams were full as we watched them depart and I had expected a line there too. Nope. Hopped on a tram.

Ok, now my excitement was building. I couldn't wait to see what it would be like when we rounded the corner on the tram into Downtown Disney.

Horror of all horrors! :-) Naw, it wasn't THAT bad.

The line to get in? Well, shucks, it was back to the Jazz Kitchen<?> by the time we entered. In less than 5-10 minutes it went far back and snaked back around to be parallel to our line. Then, the waiting.

We waited and people were very chatty and friendly. Quite nice. Saw a few bicycle police and lots of people reading books and newspapers.

Then, the line started up (not sure what time---it went so fast!) and all of a sudden we were through the security check and out in the esplanade to find a line to wait in again.

Again, people were very friendly. Made the time go by.

But, I also kept looking at everyone. There were people...everywhere! It was neat. Overcast weather. Very exciting to wait for the turnstiles to open. Anticipation is contagious, btw.

Looking over the heads of people, the crowd seemed to go on forever. I didn't see an end to our line by the time 8am rolled around.

Then, they opened the gates to DCA and a sea of what looked like old-fashioned flash attachments to cameras on people's heads, swarmed forward, with happy smiles!

It was fun to watch those who had been there, since the night before, stream down the barricaded area right into Disneyland.

Those die-hard fans who had waited so long, were smiling, laughing and having a grand ole time! It was neat to watch.

People began doing the wave in our lines too. It began over by the gift shop/locker area and moved to the right.

Finally, people began to countdown 10..9..8...3...2..1! It was time for the turnstiles to open and boy did they! It started and before I knew it we were inside with Golden Mickey Ears in hand.

Now, through the left tunnel we went (isn't that strange how left or right is ingrained in one--as the other thread talks about) and down Main Street.

It was crowded. But, I saw Sleeping Beauty Castle and that's where my line of sight stayed until we got as close as we could (next to the Hub on the right side).

To say I was excited is an understatement. I know it was crowded, and I know there were a ton of people, but the energy was palitable.

Phew.

Will be continued, if interested...:-)

Off to drink more water and rest my toes.

Earkid
07-17-2005, 01:15 PM
Of course we want more details, that's why were glued to Mouse Planet today. Thanks for the report.

SeansMom
07-17-2005, 01:20 PM
How exciting for you! Wish we could be there, but love reading about it :).

Courtney Anne
07-17-2005, 01:28 PM
are you telling me that people stayed at DCA all night to get into DL early ???

and did everyone get the golden ears (with the date on them) for free ?



:D

Then, they opened the gates to DCA and a sea of what looked like old-fashioned flash attachments to cameras on people's heads, swarmed forward, with happy smiles!

It was fun to watch those who had been there, since the night before, stream down the barricaded area right into Disneyland.

Those die-hard fans who had waited so long, were smiling, laughing and having a grand ole time! It was neat to watch.




Finally, people began to countdown 10..9..8...3...2..1! It was time for the turnstiles to open and boy did they! It started and before I knew it we were inside with Golden Mickey Ears in hand.

Wendi
07-17-2005, 01:47 PM
are you telling me that people stayed at DCA all night to get into DL early ???

and did everyone get the golden ears (with the date on them) for free ?

That's correct!

Thanks for your account so far... I am loving the feeling of almost being there myself!!!

FlowerGirl
07-17-2005, 01:52 PM
Thanks for the replies!

I know when I've not been able to be there, how much I enjoyed the trip reports. :-)

lilblckrncloud
07-17-2005, 02:07 PM
I'm with you, FlowerGirl. I feel very fortunate and appreciative that I was able to go today, but WOW am I ready to crash! I really wanted to stay longer, but I just didn't have it in me after getting there at 4am. I had such a blast, though. All of the CMs were in such friendly moods, the best I have seen in a really long time. That was such a treat. Walking down Main Street and being greeted by them all was an expectedly exciting moment for me. I am surprised at how good it made me feel to see them cheering and waving.

What interests me the most is hearing what the final attendance numbers will be today. When my group left the park around 12:30pm, there were NO lines to get into Disneyland and there were several tables full of commemorative ears left. As we were saying goodbye to a couple of CM friends, three different CMs manning the tables attempted to give us more ears! (Out of sheer exhaustion we all immediately said, "We already have some!" and then kicked ourselves for not taking them anyway. I supposed I would have felt bad later thinking that someone may not have gotten some because of me, but there were seriously TONS left.)

Overall, wonderful day, but I wish I had more stamina and that the sun had stayed behind the clouds for a few more hours. ;)

Crazy4DL
07-17-2005, 02:17 PM
awewome report, FlowerGirl! thanks bunches! :)

Faith Trust & Pixie Dust
07-17-2005, 02:29 PM
Thanks for letting us feel like we're a prt of things...glad you had such a great time!

Tutter
07-17-2005, 02:35 PM
More more more - really really enjoyed your description so far flowergirl - its like a soap - i can't wait to see what happened next.

Courtney Anne
07-17-2005, 06:30 PM
you could have sent me a pair of ears - i have to go cry in a corner now... boo hoo boo hoo boo hoo

[QUOTE=lilblckrncloud] As we were saying goodbye to a couple of CM friends, three different CMs manning the tables attempted to give us more ears! (Out of sheer exhaustion we all immediately said, "We already have some!" and then kicked ourselves for not taking them anyway. I supposed I would have felt bad later thinking that someone may not have gotten some because of me, but there were seriously TONS left.)QUOTE]

FlowerGirl
07-17-2005, 08:16 PM
I'm with you, FlowerGirl. I feel very fortunate and appreciative that I was able to go today, but WOW am I ready to crash! I really wanted to stay longer, but I just didn't have it in me after getting there at 4am. I had such a blast, though. All of the CMs were in such friendly moods, the best I have seen in a really long time. That was such a treat. Walking down Main Street and being greeted by them all was an expectedly exciting moment for me. I am surprised at how good it made me feel to see them cheering and waving.

What interests me the most is hearing what the final attendance numbers will be today. When my group left the park around 12:30pm, there were NO lines to get into Disneyland and there were several tables full of commemorative ears left. As we were saying goodbye to a couple of CM friends, three different CMs manning the tables attempted to give us more ears! (Out of sheer exhaustion we all immediately said, "We already have some!" and then kicked ourselves for not taking them anyway. I supposed I would have felt bad later thinking that someone may not have gotten some because of me, but there were seriously TONS left.)

Overall, wonderful day, but I wish I had more stamina and that the sun had stayed behind the clouds for a few more hours. ;)

I agree, I couldn't wait to crash too. I also wished the sun had stayed behind those clouds a little longer. :-)

coronado_g
07-17-2005, 08:52 PM
Thank you sharing your trip report with all of us who had to make do with staying glued to the Mouse Planet site all day! I'm really loving reading all the super terrific reports.
As for the final tally on the capacity in DL, the Los Angeles Times newspaper will surely be reporting that tomorrow (Monday). The LA Times is known for favoring DL with lots of good coverage. Look for their online edition.

FlowerGirl
07-17-2005, 08:54 PM
:D

Well, looks like I crashed and fell asleep for four hours after my last post, lol.

Thank-you all for the replies and you're welcome. I'm looking forward to trip reports on the rest of the day that I missed. :-)

On to the trip report part II:

At last we reached the hub and decisions decisions. Left to stand in the pin line or right to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain.

Mistakingly, we headed left, thinking we would be able to reach some sort of viewing for the ceremony at 10am.

Luckily, the smartie in my party of 2, asked a friendly CM where we should be and the smiling (how nice was it to see smiles from ear-to-ear on a CM?) CM directed us to the center portal which led to the circular area around the hub.

If you look at the hub as the center of a clock, and the castle as 12 noon on that clock. We were towards the center at about 2 o'clock for the viewing of the ceremony.

We got there around 8:35am. At that time, I noticed a lot of people on blankets. There was a faint odor of hot coffee and cotton candy in the air (turns out it was the cupcake iciing, lol). People were resting on the ground, with ears across their eyes.

So, stood we did for awhile. It was pleasant. Not too hot and not too cold at 8:35am. We had about a foot clearance around us and the people next to us. The smartie in my party, sat on the ground. I stood. (Can you say sore feet?).

Ok, so what did we notice? A lot of people around us and in front of us had wrist bands. There were yellow wrist bands, green, puzzle pieces of red/blue, and black & white checkered. (Having read other threads, I now see that these bands were handed out at different times for those in line over in DCA).

We were right behind people who had waited a long time over at DCA. That's pretty cool! (It also happened for the opening of DCA--we came later and ended up behind people who had been there quite awhile).

So, we felt lucky. Then, people started bringing in breakfasts--which literally made heads whip around at the aroma of pancakes, etc.. People were staring in one direction so hard--I thought they were watching something really neat. It was cute. :-)

Occasional hands would rise above the crowds to snap a photo as the minutes ticked by. The loud speaker announced how many minutes until the ceremony.

People waved their hands and hollered when the KTLA and Fox 11 News Cameras zoomed by.

Mostly, we stared at the jumbo tron screens that showed old clips of Disneyland. The rocket pack zooming, the flying saucers, Walt discussing his plans, etc. We had two screens in sight where we were. One at about "11" on our clock metaphorical allignment and one at "1." I could see the 11 jumbo tron clear as a bell. The 1 jumbo tron screen was at an angle and harder to see.

Ok, 10 am arrives. Yippeeeeee! I pretty much stared at the jumbo screens and the castle. It looked so "pretty in pink" and the crowns top it off. I stared and thought about a lot of memories of celebrating birthdays in our family. Very nostalgic.

By now, the people around us had crowded in and ankles were close to feet and so on. Elbow to elbow, and the sun decides to come out, lol.

The ceremony begins (and MP has a great report on this, so I won't repeat) and I can peek through gold mouse ears and see: Art Linkletter, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Iger, Eisner, and Diane Disney-Miller <sp?>. I never saw the gold motorcycle. I was touched by hearing those infamous words and Art Linkletters and Diane Disney's speeches were quite moving.

Highlights:

Singing Happy Birthday to Disneyland. Moving. The voices all as one. 50 years! Woo hoo!!!!

The release of the white doves. Just beautiful. Brought tears to my eyes. Also, they flew in waves across the sky and behind the castle. Waves of white that swooped together above the trees and overhead. One single white feather danced in circles above our heads and floated down to the right of us.

The fireworks were like candles behind the castle. Again, beautiful. Like exclamation marks on singing Happy Birthday to Disneyland and then the park blowing out their candles in front of us.

Then, it was over. The ceremony, that is...

But, not really. The magic we celebrated today is something our family, and I'm sure yours, has celebrated for many years and will continue to do so for many more.

We have always loved coming to Disneyland for our birthdays. And today, it was a day to give back in some small way, what the park has given our family over the years. A celebration of the magic we feel everytime.

I get the same feeling when I see the Matterhorn Mountain off the freeway, just the same as I did as a child.

I'm about to enter a land beyond my imagination.

Today, was no different.
---

Happy Birthday! And Thank-you Disneyland.

---
A special Thank-you to the following CM's (whose names I can remember): Steve, Meredith, Erika, and Sandra. You all were very helpful and helped make our day even more special!

phoenixfire2k5
07-17-2005, 08:56 PM
are you telling me that people stayed at DCA all night to get into DL early ???

and did everyone get the golden ears (with the date on them) for free ?

Yep, and I was one of them.

I Heart Disneyland!
07-17-2005, 10:06 PM
Fantastic report! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I felt like I was there. :)

coronado_g
07-17-2005, 10:11 PM
FlowerGirl - what a trooper! You posted, fell asleep for 4 hours, and then got right back on the board to finish your report. Excellent!

K & S
07-17-2005, 10:18 PM
We got up at 3 AM and pulled in to the parking structure at 5:10. I'm tired, sunburned and feeling great!

It was a Perfect Day! :)

Wishful
07-18-2005, 12:34 AM
We just got back. We overslept, got to M&F lot at 9:40am and were told there was a 2 hour wait, got to the entrance and walked in with a 5 minute wait just in time to catch part of the opening ceremony. Mom kept almost passing out with the heat but we somehow stayed until after the 3rd Fantasmic! - great seats on the wall behind the paid seats - not sure if I ever got to sit and watch the show before. Somehow we managed not to buy anything except food...strange for us but none of the 50th stuff was left (that we wanted or could afford) by the time we looked. I'll find a pin or two on eBay I'm sure or go to the discount place and find something. Love my golden ears though :)