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View Full Version : Theme Park view at GCH, questions?



oohykitten
05-05-2006, 09:04 AM
As silly as this sounds I have always wondered what Disney at night is like, getting ready for the day and such. Has anyone else woken up to see them getting the park ready? If you can see anything at all.

biolabetty
05-05-2006, 11:20 AM
I have had a theme park view from the GCH and the PP hotels, and if you want to see them working on the park at night PP had the better view. You can see them running the rides and doing various things around the park.

KimmyPooh
05-05-2006, 05:53 PM
I had a view of DCA from GCH. I saw the rafts coming down the river on Grizzley River Run. The monorail ran right below me...very neat. I saw golf carts move around. It was very peaceful early in the morning and after closing. :)

tlovesdis
05-05-2006, 08:11 PM
We were just there in April and had a theme park view. We were right near Grizzly and each morning you could see them getting it ready. We also saw several trucks driving around as well.

The best part was one night about 10pm or so we could hear the music for the ELP! We were there a few days before the ELP was coming back and I guess they were testing the music!

Susan L
05-05-2006, 09:21 PM
^^^The best place to watch the ELP is from the PPH. The last time we were there it was our last night and we got to watch the parade from our 7th floor room. We had the best viewing for the parade.

biolabetty
05-05-2006, 11:57 PM
Plus at the PP they pipe in the music for the parade on channel 15 of your tv. Ours didn't work well, but we still could open the window and hear the music from across the street.

Mark Goldhaber
05-06-2006, 06:39 AM
I had a view of DCA from GCH. I saw the rafts coming down the river on Grizzley River Run. The monorail ran right below me...very neat. I saw golf carts move around. It was very peaceful early in the morning and after closing. :)
It's kind of fun watching the water turn on at GRR in the morning. :D

OC Disney Dad Dude
05-06-2006, 08:57 AM
I worked at Disneyland on weekends when I was in college. That was quite a while ago when DCA was a contented parking lot. I believe Splash Mountain just opened - for time reference. I would arrive a few hours before opening time and the park was very quiet. Except for the crows. They outnumbered the humans many times over.

I recall walking through Frontierland, past the castle and up Main Street. It was just turning daylight and kind of foggy. The few people I could see were hosing off the streets and up on ladders painting a few touch-ups on the Main St. builings. Someone is always painting, changing lightbulbs, and landscaping.

The overall impression I got was kind of spooky. I practically grew up at D-Land and it has always been crowded. Having no guests there was as if there was this brand new city with no one in it. And it all looked really small.

Complain about crowds if you wish, but the guests make the place just as much as Walt did.

I had a recent experience of a similar nature. I went to the Haunted Mansion on a weeknight after the re-opening to see what the refurb is like. No one was in line. The gates were open so I just walked up to the front door, which was closed. I stood on the front porch for several seconds trying to figure out what was going on. Do I knock? I was totally alone at Disneyland! The front door opened just enough for a white-gloved hand to creep out and slowly open the door. The Cast Member inside really earned their Freak Out A Guest badge (entirely imagined) that night.

Cat H
05-06-2006, 10:50 AM
I have stayed at the GCH with a view of paradise pier. In the mornings I was able to watch them test run mullholand madness plus I was able to see some of the disney employees walking around checking stuff out int he early mornings.

geoffa
05-07-2006, 05:21 AM
Our room overlooked the Paradise pier end of GCA. each morning we'd watch them run empty cars on Screamin' and test the Orange Stinger. At night they'd leave the lights on in GCA pretty late - quite weird seeing no people moving around.

disneyhound
05-07-2006, 08:14 AM
...I went to the Haunted Mansion on a weeknight after the re-opening to see what the refurb is like. No one was in line. The gates were open so I just walked up to the front door, which was closed. I stood on the front porch for several seconds trying to figure out what was going on. Do I knock? I was totally alone at Disneyland! The front door opened just enough for a white-gloved hand to creep out and slowly open the door. The Cast Member inside really earned their Freak Out A Guest badge (entirely imagined) that night.

Freaky... Twilight Zone...