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emmah
11-29-2005, 03:28 PM
hey all, i'm here at disneyland. completely exhausted but determined not to sleep until nighttime. my flight from sydney arrived at 7am and i was off the plane, through immigration and customs, and on a supershuttle, by 7.30am. we spent 15 minutes fluffing around waiting for the shuttle driver to be satisfied with the 8 passengers he had, but he dropped me off at the disneyland hotel at 8.35am, and by 9 i was in the queue at the downtown monorail station. big mistake - took 25 minutes to get through security clearance and didn't arrive in tomorrowland until 9.40. so much for my early entry plans. still, had my first ride of the trip on the matterhorn and at 9.55 was off to space mountain. which was broken. so, i did Buzz instead (40,000 - is that at all respectable for someone who had NO idea what was going on?). then i followed my guide plan, and did the following, with no or less than 10 minutes waiting: splash, winnie the pooh (this time around i saw the three mooseheads people here have talked about), Indy, BTMRR, Alice, Jungle cruise (the new pirana's and the savages dancing are fabulous, as was Andrew, our guide), haunted mansion (i don't like the holiday version nearly as much as the normal version, but at least now i know what it looks like for myself). i then backtracked and did space mountain which was FANTASTIC. I have fastpasses for space and indy, for tonightm, but i very much doubt i will be able to use them. i can feel waves of exhaustion (its now 36 hours with no sleep, which is about my limit). i had a bean and cheese burrito at rancho de z - thanks for all the info about this restaurant, the food was exactly what i wanted. i also had a dole whip (walking past, there it was - i swear i have never even seen that stand before. no waiting. and now that i have had one of the infamous dole whips, i feel safe to say that nothing would make me wait in a queue for one - it was pretty bland, IMHO. I also had a churro, and thus fulfilled another wish. yuuuuuuummmmmmy. then off to the bankl to get my annual pass processed (a wait of 5 minutes), and townhall to buy disney dollars. then off to IASW - again, i prefer the ordinary version, but its great to see what the holiday version is all about. also, as we were coming out, the clock struck 3pm, and i have never seen that before either. then i jumped on the monorail and headed back to the hotel, where they finally let me into my room. its GORGEOUS and again i owe a big vote of thanks to mouseplaneters for putting me onto the AP discounts in november; i would never voluntarily pay normal rates but this is costing the same as HOJOs (whence i move on friday) and its fantastic. huge king bed and a great view of DTD - and, dare i say it, the fireworks. but i am planning on getting up soon and heading back into the parks, to watch the parade at 6.30 and the 7.45 fireworks. and maybe use my spacemountain fastpass just to see if i really can use it six hours after its due hour. i figure i will sleep like an exhausted child tonight, and there is no early entry tomorrow so i can sleep in a little. oh, and i also bought my gold mouse ears (hurruh!) and am hoping they will be delivered to the hotel tomorrow. so, my holiday has begun, and i'm loving it already... thanks for all the tips!!! emma

Bolivar
11-29-2005, 03:44 PM
Space Mountain is broken because I will be arriving in a few days. Since it opened in the 1970s it has been shut down every single time I have been at the park. I have never been on it because of that. I won't be in the park until Sunday, so just maybe it will work again between now and Sunday, but Sunday, Monday and Tuesday forget about because it will be shut down!

BTW -- I have a friend named Emma and she is from Melbourne and her last last name starts with and H.

hlbtimes2
11-29-2005, 06:52 PM
Sounds like a great start to your trip! Now, go get some sleep already!

anniedg
11-29-2005, 09:04 PM
Thanks for the report-- ohhhhhh it makes me wish I were there...
Have a fantastic trip!

annieb727
11-29-2005, 10:29 PM
sounds incredibly fun!!

can't wait until my turn!! :p

Chori
11-29-2005, 10:42 PM
We will be waiting for more report!
I bet you are sleeping like a baby now!

K

disneyhound
11-30-2005, 05:28 AM
Thanks for the report!

yellowrosedtxn
11-30-2005, 06:17 AM
winnie the pooh (this time around i saw the three mooseheads people here have talked about),

What is the three mooseheads? I guess I missed it when I was there this past summer - but will look for it next summer!

kisroo
11-30-2005, 07:01 AM
What is the three mooseheads? I guess I missed it when I was there this past summer - but will look for it next summer!

From the Country Bears.

Emmah~sounds like you're having a wonderful time! 36 hours without sleep??? Wow! Rest up and post more fun!

~kisroo:)

emmah
11-30-2005, 07:14 AM
hey there; so i have now had 10 hours sleep and woke up all on my own at 7.30. i declare jetlag officially done with. i headed back to the park at 5pm and boogied at the block bash party - totally infectious fun. then crossed over to disneyland and found a place, right in front of the castle, to wait for the fireworks. i met a really wonderful woman named sandy and her friends and after a while she volunteered to hold my place so i could use my fastpasses for space mountain which i duly did. i can hardly speak today because i screamed and screamed. soooooo fun. then grabbed a piece of pizza from pizza port (already racking up those discounts with my AP = it has already paid for itself with accomm and food discounts, let alone the entry fee) and went back to wait. the christmas parade was fantastic and the fireworks were awesome, with the only drawback that tinkerbell did not make a show. oh well, maybe tonight. then played the 'lets wait for the monorail' game; i think the express lane for hotel guests might have actually been longer than the ordinary lane but that might because just because i hate waiting in line. had a wonderful swim in the o-so-warm neverland pool and declared my day all done. fantastic. so now i am going to have a shower and head to the rainforest cafe for eggs, and day two. have a great day!!!

Wendi
11-30-2005, 08:06 AM
Sounds like you are having a fabulous time!!! I can't wait to hear more!

Chori
11-30-2005, 04:54 PM
>> had a wonderful swim in the o-so-warm neverland pool

Is it a heated pool?
I thought it would be too chilly for swimming this time of the year.
Our daughter would love that!
(We will be staying at DLH this weekend - mid next week)

K

MonorailGuy82
11-30-2005, 05:33 PM
Space Mountain is broken because I will be arriving in a few days. Since it opened in the 1970s it has been shut down every single time I have been at the park.

Space Mountain is nototrious for that. Don't take it personal! ;)

BTW I would really like some answer to this. Before Space Mountain was closed for the past couple years it was notorious for breaking down a couple times a day at least. This problem still exists. I dealt with mulitple closures of the ride last week. I can't understand, after that long closure, they couldn't have fixed whatever it was that caused this problem?!!?!?! What the heck were they doing all this time?!!? I'm sorry but the ride is pretty much the same as it was a couple years ago. Ok so some differences in the queue, new trains, new music and a couple new special effects, but its the same ride! It took over two years to do that?! They could have blown it up and built a new ride from scratch in less time! I feel there is no excuse for it to keep breaking down on a seemingly hourly basis after being shut down for renovation for such a long time. Thats my opinion...

Sorry to get a little off topic there. Maybe this deserves its own thread. Hmm...

emmah
11-30-2005, 11:45 PM
hello again, another great day is about to be put to bed. here's a quick summary. had breakfast at the rainforest cafe - pretty nifty, all those lightening storms and so on, but makes it hard to read the paper! then off to DL, first up to pick up a fastpass for space mountain - amazing hordes of people heading that way, so after getting my pass i backtracked and rode to the endor moon on star trek. then to fantasyland, where i spent 15 minutes (longest queue of the day) waiting for peter pan, then absolutely no queues onto snow white, mr toad, and pinnochio. waited a few minutes for Alice, then rode the teacups (no wait). by then the window was open again for fastpasses, so i hopped over to indy and picked up another one, and then rode since there was no queue. then over to NOS to ride pirates, and buy a new christmas ornament from the christmas shop (the cutest little glass bell with tinkerbell hanging on a swing inside as the gong). then i rode on BMTRR, and then rode space mountain (5 minutes with my fastpass). picked up another space fastpass (all day the longest window for fastpass return times was 40 minutes) and then bought some yummy fudge (the caramel marshmellow stick) to eat on the way over to DCA. Picked up a fastpass for soarin', then walked over to tower of terror (fantastic) then went to cocina cucamonga to try another mouseplanet tip - yep, even when there is nothing vegetarian on the menu they will make you something. so, i bought "chicken nacho: no chicken" as the receipt states. yum. then off to ride screamin' (i did, loudly), GRR, and Soarin', and picked up a fastpass for soarin' for later, then rushed back to DL, just in time for the 4.30 Parade of Dreams (which i absolutely loved), then i jumped on the train and went to NOS to catch the 5.30pm billy hill billy's show. turns out that the only vege food at the golden horseshoe is dessert, so i had what we call Trifle and it was yummmmy but definitely not a balanced meal! then i caught the train around to toontown, for roger rabbit. walked down the hill and rode small world (i liked it more the 2nd time around), then the matterhorn - while waiting (10 minutes) the tail end of the christmas parade went by which was cool. then i rushed over to indy and used my 2nd fastpass, and then space mountain to do the same thing. i think the best thing i learned from mouseplanet for this trip was how to use fastpass effectively - thanks for that everyone. it was by now 7.25 so i decided that the best chance for fireworks viewing was small world mall, so that's where i headed. i stood right in the middle where all the snow boxes are. it was pretty good for fireworks - i took a few little videos with my digi camera which came out pretty well - but tinkerbell flew tonight and i only saw 2 seconds of her - definitely have to go back to the castle tomorrow night. hmmm, make that tonight! i rushed off as soon as it started to snow and was in the express lane for the monorail and onto the train in less than ten minutes. came home for a swim (lovely and warm but oh so cold when i got out) then took my annual pass to the AMC theatre to see harry potter. which is why i am up so late. ok, its definitely bed time - tomorrow is early entry. its's great having so much time - there is so much to do but instead of feeling pressured i feel completely free to leave things til tomorrow and spend the time shopping, or having an actual meal (well, perhaps not what mum would think of as an actual meal but you know what i mean!). ok, outta here. :D :D :D :D

hlbtimes2
12-01-2005, 07:46 AM
Wow, sounds like a great day!

Raven
12-01-2005, 08:05 AM
Your trip reports are great. I am glad you are having a blast!! :)

TowerofTerror
12-01-2005, 08:34 AM
great trip report sounds like your having a blast so far.

annieb727
12-01-2005, 08:54 AM
Space Mountain is nototrious for that. Don't take it personal! ;)

BTW I would really like some answer to this. Before Space Mountain was closed for the past couple years it was notorious for breaking down a couple times a day at least. This problem still exists. I dealt with mulitple closures of the ride last week. I can't understand, after that long closure, they couldn't have fixed whatever it was that caused this problem?!!?!?! What the heck were they doing all this time?!!? I'm sorry but the ride is pretty much the same as it was a couple years ago. Ok so some differences in the queue, new trains, new music and a couple new special effects, but its the same ride! It took over two years to do that?! They could have blown it up and built a new ride from scratch in less time! I feel there is no excuse for it to keep breaking down on a seemingly hourly basis after being shut down for renovation for such a long time. Thats my opinion...

Sorry to get a little off topic there. Maybe this deserves its own thread. Hmm...

about space mtn (and yes maybe it does deserve it's own thread)...we were there in October, and I got to see FIRST hand why the ride "broke down" for a couple of HOURS....

There was a guy getting out of the ride, but he wouldn't get out fast enough -- he kept saying his glasses were there...their whole system is on a timed thing, so gates open and people enter and the ride goes...WELL...the gates opened, the guy was still trying to get his stuff...the next people tried to go...the CM tried to get the people to step back and wait -- but they wouldn't, so when the gates tried to automatically shut, they couldn't, there were people in the way -- it shut EVERYTHING DOWN -- and for several hours! People had to walk off of the ride and everything!!

I heard all the CMs talking about how it happened and everything -- they were all VERY frustrated at 1) the guy who wouldn't get out of the ride, 2) the people that wouldn't go back behind the gates

annieb727
12-01-2005, 08:56 AM
emma!

sounds like you are having an absolute BLAST!!! i can't WAIT!

Gone2Disneyland
12-01-2005, 04:02 PM
Emmah, I'm usually not a fan of trip reports, but yours are fantastic! Your enthusiasm and excitement really come through as I read them, so glad you're having a terrific time so far at Disneyland ... and a sincere thank you for sharing your adventures. :)

rentayenta
12-01-2005, 08:22 PM
I am loving reading this report while you are still there! :)

Crazy4DL
12-01-2005, 08:40 PM
I am loving reading this report while you are still there! :)

DITTO!!!!! :D

emmah
12-01-2005, 08:45 PM
hey all, day three is almost over - lying here with my feet up, the poor little things are buzzing with joy at the sensation. so, today started with a shock - i had ordered a room service breakfast but ticked the wrong box; it turned up at 6.30am. the poor room service man - i was so confused, standing there with hair all over the place and no idea what was going on. anyway, it was an EE entry day today, so i power walked through DTD at 8.30 and was completely astonished at the huge crowd gathered in the plaza waiting for the gates to open. i was thinking that fantasyland was going to be completely crowded, but in fact almost the whole lot of them took off for space mountain which was open for EE, so there were very few people in FL at all. so inside of 40 minutes I rode peter pan (i think its my favorite ride, but its over so quickly), alice, pinnochio, snow white and mr toad, matterhorn (decided i like the FL side best, it seems faster to me and not as bumpy - probably all in my head but there it is), then i took off for space mountain just as the hordes started making their way to FL - in fact my whole morning was this kind of luck, i would turn up to a ride and there would be no queue whatsoever and when i came out, tons of people. so, i rode space mountain, and grabbed a FP for later, them made my way to NOS, stopping for Indy on my way, and then Pirates. then off to critter country where i rode splash three times in a row. soooo much fun. and once you're wet, you may as well go with it. in the pooh shop i bought a cool teeshirt which i promptly changed into - i figure that at home it will make a great sleepshirt - and a wonderful pewter pooh figure for my keychain. then off to BTMRR which I rode 3 times because who knows if there will be another chance to ride with no queues before i go home? i also took a video with my camera - lots of screaming. by now it was midday, so i walked back down main street and the candy shop men were making candy canes. if you have never seen this, one day you want to take the time. it was incredible - the heat in the kitchen was about 40 degrees (101 for you americans) and they pushed and pulled this hard mixture. i bought the last one, its huge and fragile and all wrapped in bubble wrap - i hope i can get it home, it will look so cool on my tree. i left it at the package drop place and took off for DCA, where i rode the maliboomer (this time for the first time, i got to face into the parks and that was so much better. in the past i have always faced out, and its a bit grim out there, and not very disney. much better to be able to see over to the matterhorn. then i took mouseplanet advice and went to whitewater snacks for lunch - fantastic - yoghurt, banana and bagel - no salt, sugar or fried anything! and cheap(ish)! then back to soarin', and ToT, then i picked up a FP for screamin' and went back to the hotel for a swim and a quick nap. at 5pm i headed back to the park, first to DCA to use my soarin' FP (on the way i discovered something sooo wonderful you have try it - i had a scoop of tollhouse choc chip icecream. i think it has some sort of caramel in there too, it was incredible and the perfect way to jump start my blood sugar. ha! i'll probably end up a diabetic after this trip! then i joined the hordes at the DL gates and was confronted with the main street crowds just finishing the tree lighting ceremony - using another mouseplanet tip, i jumped into the emporium and sure enough, walked right up to the top of mainstreet through the shops - no crowds. anyway, off to adventureland to use my Indy FP, and have another go on splash (still no queues) - its so much fun in the dark! i had the vege gumbo at the french market - pretty ordinary if you ask me, and the dozen people in front of me took about 20 minutes to pay for their meals, so it was only luke warm. still, i no complain. i bought a hot chocolate and jumped on the mark twain to ride around the rivers of america - all the little duckies were sleeping on rocks. by now it was 7pm, so i had to hotfoot it down through frontierland trying to make it to the fireworks. the trees outside santa's reindeer roundup look AMAZING - all full of little coloured lights. got a seat right in front of the castle and plonked down for the 30 minute wait. some people are so rude; as soon as the lights dimmed, the group right in front of me all stood up - so i had to shuffle around them, and a nice woman let me kneel in front of her baby's pram - wasn't very comfortable but at least i could see. fireworks incredible and tink did her thing and i saw it all. so happy! the walk down main street was something else. actually hilarious really; i tucked in behind these two very determined japanese women and it was just like drafting in when cycling - they pulled me along in their wake and i was at parcel pickup in 10 minutes which was no mean feat - never seen so many people. a lovely man at parcel pick up told me that he was stationed in japan for two years and that their ability to move in crowds is deeply ingrained. he also said that this crowd was no so much. in which case, tomorrow and saturday are going to be a bit of a shock i guess. so anyway, here i am. and i still have the weekend to look forward to. tomorrow i am going to head in for a couple of hours and then go shopping for the afternoon. i had a seat on the balcony for fantasmic! tomorrow night which i am SOOOO looking forward to. and on saturday night i am doing the 50th anniversary tour which gives me a seat for the fireworks (also looking forward to) and sunday afternoon the christmas tour (seating for the parade). hurruh! yeah for me! ok, i hope i haven't bored you silly. cheers! emma

Crazy4DL
12-01-2005, 09:07 PM
!! ok, i hope i haven't bored you silly. cheers! emma

NOT at all! Your trip report is delightful!

I love the part about watching the candy cane making. I would love to see that and have my grandkids and kids get to watch it too. :)

Gone2Disneyland
12-01-2005, 11:12 PM
emmah, thanks for the new report. Loving them! I live a half hour away and your report reminds me I really ought to take a day off one day and spend a whole weekday there. :)