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miss bianca
05-06-2006, 02:46 PM
We will be watching the beginning of the Electrical Parade and then heading back over to DL (like everyone else) here's my questions:

1) What time do they stop the train before the Fireworks - we are hoping to grab it on Main Street and ride it to Tommorwland to avoid the whole Hub crowd control issue that we experienced last September (it was quite scary!)

2) In DCA where does the ELP start. In the Sunshine Plaza or back at Paradise Pier? I thought I read that they changed it since my last trip.

Thanks!

bradk
05-06-2006, 02:54 PM
the DEP runs from paradise pier to sunshine plaza

Another Dimension
05-06-2006, 04:12 PM
we are hoping to grab it on Main Street and ride it to Tommorwland to avoid the whole Hub crowd control issue that we experienced last September (it was quite scary!)

That's because Disneyland Guest Control is repeatedly handled so badly... and (ACK!).. it's getting worse all the time.

Disneyland has always had big and bigger crowds.. it's Disneyland!
The 50th has made it even more crowded, but not impossibly managable from the POV of a Guest who knows where he wants to go and the easiest way to do it.

When I enter Frontierland at any time during park hours and need to use the restrooms in Adventureland (merely a few steps away)... making every Guest walk all the way thru Frontierland past the Twain dock and back around.... is stupid.


Disneyland Guest Control specifically has made visiting Disneyland after dark MUCH LESS FUN.
I really feel bad for the day Guests and tourists.

As an AP I can come back frequently... millions and millions of other people, some of whom saved years to visit and are treated like a feelingless mass without any individual needs, wants or desires or decision making abilities.

That is not what Disneyland is or stands for.. well it never did before Emmer arrived.


Last week (on a not very busy night) a friend and I were just walking thru the Main St parade crossing... not 5 feet from the Blue Ribbon Bakery (after PoD, before Remember)... and she wanted something at Blue Ribbon... so of course there was a braindead line of Guest Control CMs in front of the Carnation Cafe blocking all northbound Guest traffic(with almost zero southbound traffic passing them)... and they absolutely refused to let us pass them and enter Blue Ribbon...(which was ONLY 5 feet away!!) then we were told if we wanted to enter the Bakery we HAD to go up the right side of Main St... enter TL, follow the crowd and go around the TL Guest Control past the front of Buzz Lightyear, then walk thru the Hub.. into Frontierland, walk around the bench barricades lined up thru Frontierland to the Twain dock and then walk back thru Frontierland again, then cut into that small section of Adventureland and head back down Main St to the Blue Ribbon Bakery.

That sure is Guest friendly and intelligently thought-out Guest Control... innit??!?

The answer is absolutely not. :rolleyes:

miss bianca
05-06-2006, 06:47 PM
if the fireworks start at 9:45 - what time do they start the main street crowd control?

simbaNnala101
05-06-2006, 10:13 PM
usally the parade is about 1 to 2 hours before the fireworks and the traffic control is already up and running for the paradies so it usally just stays up. and as far as getting from DCA to tomorrowland I belive that the train stops 30 minutes before th efire works and so does the monorail. In my experiance though if you can get out of DCA through the hotel entrance walk through the hotel and then out to DTD and catch teh monorail to Tomorrowland it is much faster. This is because everyoen is trying to get out of the main entrance of DCA and into the main entrance of Disneyland. Also because of the time of night more turn stiles are closed so it takes longer to get through. And then after that drama you still have to deal with people and walk to tomorrowland or wait 15 minutes for the train. It is just much faster to go through the hotel and catch the monorail. Hope that helps.

~Ash~:D

FunMom
05-07-2006, 03:23 AM
Did I get this correctly? There is evening crowd control that requires guests to walk up Main Street on the side opposite of Blue Ribbon Bakery, then basically around the hub counter-clockwise, then back down Main Street along Coke Corner & Blue Ribbon Bakery? You cross Main Street from Adventureland to Tomorrow Land, but not in the opposite direction?

This starts with the early parade and lasts until closing?

I was planning (in busy July) to watch the Fireworks from the hub, then quickly scoot over to NOS to watch the late Fantasmic show, just getting the best spot possible and hoping for one on the waterfront. If we have to move counter clockwise around the hub, then it would probably take forever to get to NOS - so my plan won't work, right?

We only have 2 days in the park so I was hoping to take advantage of the Electric Parade one night, then Fireworks & Fantasmic on the second. However, it seems that with 2 nights, we'll only be able to catch 2 of the 3 - or does someone have a suggestion on how to see all 3?

Thank you!

bradk
05-07-2006, 04:53 AM
(self-deleted)

samkj
05-07-2006, 10:06 AM
I was planning (in busy July) to watch the Fireworks from the hub, then quickly scoot over to NOS to watch the late Fantasmic show, just getting the best spot possible and hoping for one on the waterfront. If we have to move counter clockwise around the hub, then it would probably take forever to get to NOS - so my plan won't work, right?

You will have to go through Frontierland to get to the Rivers of America for Fantasmic. Adventureland will be one way traffic out of the NOS area. Your plan could still work, just be closer to the castle/frontierland side of the hub and make a quick exit immediately after the show. Maybe you can one person in your party as the "runner" to go ahead and hold your places while the rest follow behind at crowd speed.

potterphreak
05-07-2006, 10:22 AM
We will be there May 11th to the 14th and our schedule for the shows and whatnot goes like this:

Friday night-Fireworks (cos if they are for whatever reason cancelled on Friday, we would have a second chance to see them on Saturday)
Saturday night-Electric Parade which is at 8:45pm and then Fantasmic! at 10:30. Hopefully, we won't be too rushed as I will be traveling with two 70 year olds and my 2 yr. old daughter. Hope that helps!

The old man
05-07-2006, 08:03 PM
That's because Disneyland Guest Control is repeatedly handled so badly... and (ACK!).. it's getting worse all the time.

Disneyland has always had big and bigger crowds.. it's Disneyland!
The 50th has made it even more crowded, but not impossibly managable from the POV of a Guest who knows where he wants to go and the easiest way to do it.

When I enter Frontierland at any time during park hours and need to use the restrooms in Adventureland (merely a few steps away)... making every Guest walk all the way thru Frontierland past the Twain dock and back around.... is stupid.


Disneyland Guest Control specifically has made visiting Disneyland after dark MUCH LESS FUN.
I really feel bad for the day Guests and tourists.

As an AP I can come back frequently... millions and millions of other people, some of whom saved years to visit and are treated like a feelingless mass without any individual needs, wants or desires or decision making abilities.

That is not what Disneyland is or stands for.. well it never did before Emmer arrived.


Last week (on a not very busy night) a friend and I were just walking thru the Main St parade crossing... not 5 feet from the Blue Ribbon Bakery (after PoD, before Remember)... and she wanted something at Blue Ribbon... so of course there was a braindead line of Guest Control CMs in front of the Carnation Cafe blocking all northbound Guest traffic(with almost zero southbound traffic passing them)... and they absolutely refused to let us pass them and enter Blue Ribbon...(which was ONLY 5 feet away!!) then we were told if we wanted to enter the Bakery we HAD to go up the right side of Main St... enter TL, follow the crowd and go around the TL Guest Control past the front of Buzz Lightyear, then walk thru the Hub.. into Frontierland, walk around the bench barricades lined up thru Frontierland to the Twain dock and then walk back thru Frontierland again, then cut into that small section of Adventureland and head back down Main St to the Blue Ribbon Bakery.

That sure is Guest friendly and intelligently thought-out Guest Control... innit??!?

The answer is absolutely not. :rolleyes:
Wow! What a tirade. I think they basically just wanted to know about the train time (which I also don't know). I can't believe that DL can't think about each individual when trying to organize a fireworks show, parade, and Fantasmic. There's only about 50,000 plus people.:rolleyes:

David

gimp_boy76
05-07-2006, 08:39 PM
We only have 2 days in the park so I was hoping to take advantage of the Electric Parade one night, then Fireworks & Fantasmic on the second. However, it seems that with 2 nights, we'll only be able to catch 2 of the 3 - or does someone have a suggestion on how to see all 3?

Thank you! Do Electric Parade and second Fantasmic one night and fireworks another night. Here's the plan: After Elec. Parade is over head to DL (the suggestion to use the monorail might be a good one, haven't tried that, but w/ it running in shuttle mode it also might not be), then get on the train and ride to NOS, you will be getting there right as everyone is leaving and since you are not going against traffic (for the most part most people don't take the train to leave the park, they walk down Main St.) you will have an easy time finding a great spot for the 2nd showing of Fantasmic.

Captain Josh
05-07-2006, 09:10 PM
We usually don't stop the train before fireworks...The Monorail stops during fireworks, but not the railroad, unless it's windy enough that we have to, but that doesn't happen to often.

I've conducted my share of train rides during the fireworks.

....that answers one question from the original post....unfortunately, I can't answer the second question.

And in closing, it's always good to know all my efforts of guest control during the summer of '05 was actually completely useless...

Vegitabeta
05-07-2006, 10:15 PM
Last time we were there I was on the train while the fireworks were going on, so maybe it doesn't stop?

Darkbeer
05-08-2006, 07:07 AM
The Monorail runs during the Fireworks show now, since it is in "Shuttle" mode.

The part of the track they were worried about fallout on is not being used.

jMom
05-08-2006, 07:42 AM
1) What time do they stop the train before the Fireworks - we are hoping to grab it on Main Street and ride it to Tommorwland to avoid the whole Hub crowd control issue that we experienced last September (it was quite scary!)


Have you considered watching the fireworks from the Main St. station? My daughter and I caught the "last train" before fireworks and took the grand Circle Tour. When we pulled back into Main St., the train stopped for the show (who knew? we got lucky). We got a nice view of the fireworks show from just off the platform and left a little early to beat the crowds out of the park. When we got to the parking lot, the finale went off. This was in early Dec. 2005. Hope this helps and have a great trip!

carolyn
05-08-2006, 07:48 AM
Have you considered watching the fireworks from the Main St. station? My daughter and I caught the "last train" before fireworks and took the grand Circle Tour. When we pulled back into Main St., the train stopped for the show (who knew? we got lucky). We got a nice view of the fireworks show from just off the platform and left a little early to beat the crowds out of the park. When we got to the parking lot, the finale went off. This was in early Dec. 2005. Hope this helps and have a great trip!

I'll second that. We did that last summer and it was great. Not AS great as camping out right in front of the castle, but we only had to wait about 20 minutes on the platform.

JookyG
05-08-2006, 11:42 AM
We usually don't stop the train before fireworks...The Monorail stops during fireworks, but not the railroad, unless it's windy enough that we have to, but that doesn't happen to often.

I've conducted my share of train rides during the fireworks.

....that answers one question from the original post....unfortunately, I can't answer the second question.

And in closing, it's always good to know all my efforts of guest control during the summer of '05 was actually completely useless...

Capt Josh, I take it you're a CM. THANK YOU for the terriffic job you guys do. You don't get paid enough, especially dealing with all us ungrateful slobs! While I think management should have expected the insane congestion due to the fireworks and come up with a better plan for cattle control, the CMs can only do their best in a bad situation.

And thanks for answering part of the original question. It's something I needed to find out before I visit this weekend.

Always follow CM directions, folks, an don't argue with them. It just makes you look foolish, no matter how special you think you are. There's a reason they herd us sheeple the way they do. It might not be the most convenient for each individual, but we're just insignificant specks in a giant crowd that needs to get dispersed so that no one gets hurt and so that everyone can get back to the rides.

miss bianca
05-08-2006, 03:00 PM
Have you considered watching the fireworks from the Main St. station? My daughter and I caught the "last train" before fireworks and took the grand Circle Tour. When we pulled back into Main St., the train stopped for the show (who knew? we got lucky). We got a nice view of the fireworks show from just off the platform and left a little early to beat the crowds out of the park. When we got to the parking lot, the finale went off. This was in early Dec. 2005. Hope this helps and have a great trip!

Thanks - that's the new plan!

bbld2003
05-08-2006, 03:44 PM
blaming greg emmer for guest control issues is silly. he started working at the park and worked his way up. i don't think you can blame something like that on emmer, let alone one person.

THpoohbear
05-08-2006, 03:46 PM
We only have 2 days in the park so I was hoping to take advantage of the Electric Parade one night, then Fireworks & Fantasmic on the second. However, it seems that with 2 nights, we'll only be able to catch 2 of the 3 - or does someone have a suggestion on how to see all 3?

Thank you!

Before a few weeks ago, I never thought getting a great spot for both the fireworks AND fantasmic! would be possible. However, in late March on a very, very buy Sunday evening, my mom and sister visited from out of state. It was their one night in the park, and fireworks took priority since they had seen Fantasmic! before. We camped out right after the parade for front and center seats for fireworks. As soon as they were over, we mushed with the rest of the crowd through Fronteirland. They hold everyone near the Mark Twain loading area as all the people leave the NOS area from the first Fantasmic. Then they let everyone go. While a lot of people were taking the first spot possible, we walked right up to the very center sitting area, and grabbed seats. We had only two or three rows sitting in front of us, but we were dead center. It was great! And let me reiterate that it was VERY busy. We were at the beginning of the spring break crowds. After that experience, I decided to try this tactic again. On the Wedneday before Easter (peak spring break crowds), I did the exact same thing. Ended up with perfect Fantasmic seats. I don't think I'll EVER spend hours waiting for the first showing of Fantasmic again! I hope it works out for you! All that said, I say go for the EP one night, and the other two the other night. Maybe try for the fireworks and Fantasmic combo the first night, so that if Fantasmic doesn't work, you can catch it on the second night after the EP.