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View Full Version : Trip Report - Sat, Aug 12, 2006



CookieBandit
08-13-2006, 12:25 AM
Just got back from Disneyland about 30 minutes ago. Here was my original plan:

(Get FP for Autopia)
Matterhorn
Small World
Storybook Canal
Dumbo
Peter Pan
(Get FP for Indiana Jones)
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Haunted Mansion
Pooh (if line was short)
Mark Twain
Big Thunder Railroad
(Get FP for Splash)
Tiki Room
Carousel
Teacups
Toontown (Go Gadget and/or Roger Rabbit)
Space Mountain
(Get FP for Astro Blasters)
Indiana Jones (use FP)
Splash (use FP)
*break for souvernirs, etc*
Astro Blasters (use FP)
Monorail
Railroad

So we got there a little before 8 and waited about 5 minutes for the park to open. Headed to Autopia to get FPs while the rest of my group (my sis and my parents) went to Matterhorn. Matterhorn, Small World, Storybook were all short waits. We also went on Alice (short line), Mr. Toad's (short line), and did Teacups and Carousel and Dumbo. Then we stood in line for Peter Pan - was about a 40 minute wait. It was my first time riding Peter Pan (though I felt like I've ridden it before because I remember it from one of those Disneyland videos). It was a little... I don't know, disappointing. The ride seemed short and after waiting so long... well, at least now I can say I've ridden it.

Then we headed over to Adventureland (got FP for Indiana Jones, which had a short line itself - our return time was between 2:20pm and 3:20pm). Jungle Cruise took maybe 20 minutes. Pirates was closed - the CMs weren't sure when/if it would be re-opened but said to check back later. Haunted Mansion was about a 15 to 20 minute wait. Splash was a 60 minute wait so we decided to take a lunch break (we brought food and ate it, near the Rivers of America).

Then we got in the Splash line - est stand-by time was still 60 minutes but took 65 mins. The wait seemed misleading (the first part of the line moved quickly and then it was gridlock). People with FPs were piling up and there was some delay (not sure what) but both the standby and FP lines weren't moving much.

While we were waiting for Splash, we noticed that Pooh had problems (there were people waiting to board but the vehicles weren't moving). That lasted at least 10 minutes. After we got out of Splash, the ride was working again (wait time was 8 mins) so we went on that.

Then we went on Big Thunder (wait time was 25 minutes) - I tried to get FPs for this (on the Indy FPs, it said we could get another FP after 1:05pm, and it was plenty past that by this time). But it wouldn't work so we decided to just do standby.

Then we went to Toontown (the 3:15pm Parade was about to start). I was hoping for not a lot of people (since they'd be at the Parade) but no such luck. We waited for Gadget's Go Coaster about 25 minutes - the ride is like only 1 minute long (and it's so similar to Big Thunder - we really shouldn't have rode them back to back).

Roger Rabbit's wait time was 70 minutes so we passed on that.

Then we used our FPs on Autopia (though we still had to wait maybe 10 minutes). Astro Blasters' standby time was 20 minutes, so we went on that (for the first time). It's such a fun and cool ride! I love how you can email your pic to yourself.

Space Mountain was closed - CMs said to try again later. If you had a FP, hold on to it and come back later (they weren't giving out FPs). After Astro Blasters (and a long time at the store there), we stopped by and saw the wait time was an hour and the FP return time was between 10:40pm and 11:40pm. So we passed on that too.

Then it was back to Indiana Jones (with the FP) - wait time was about 10 minutes.

Then I had my parents snag a spot for Fantasmic while my sis and I went to get pressed pennies. Two of the penny machines got stuck so we had to get refunds from the cashier. One of the cashiers had my sis fill out the receipt (name, address, signature) but the cashier I had just gave me back my 51 cents and sent me on my way.

So we sat there, waiting for Fantasmic for about 2.5 hours. I know, it's insane. But we had pretty much gone on everything we wanted to go on, so it was okay. Then after Fantasmic and the fireworks show, we went on Pirates - last year, after the fireworks, we saw a bunch of people ducking into Pirates (there was no wait time). So we decided to go this year, but there was a bit of a wait time (but just 10 minutes, compared to the 45 min estimated time around 6pm). At one point, the ride stopped and the CM came over the loudspeaker (apologized for the delay) and asked another CM to pick up the ride phone. Then we waited some more and the CM repeated the request to the other CM. I think we were in the same spot for about 5 minutes.

It's the first time for me (not that I go to DL much, though) that so many rides have been down or had problems. Oh, there was also a fire (or at least lots of smoke) in a trash can that the CMs had to put out with a fire extinguisher (water wouldn't work) and we saw medics wheeling a stretcher.

We almost lost our spots for Fantasmic because my mom and I decided to refill our water bottles and we were told that we're not supposed to leave the area 30 minutes before the show (it was 8:31pm at the time). When we went to go get the water, we asked a couple of CMs (one who was sweeping and one who was directing traffic) where the water fountain was. They weren't sure - is it over there, or over there? (the guy pointed toward the smoking area) and then they turned to their left and Oh! there it was right there.

Anyway, overall it was a good time. Tiring but we were happy with the rides we got to go on and the souvenirs we bought... (and I was happy to find out that I got 10% off my purchase at the store in Tomorrowland, I forgot what the store is called). I thought I had to purchase $50 worth and we only had about $27.50 (but we got the 10% off anyway!) I saw those beads (for 85 cents, so you can make your own bracelet or keychain) - I got mouse ears but I noticed none of the stores had the teacup one (I got one of those last year).

disneyhound
08-13-2006, 06:41 AM
Sounds like you got a lot done and had a great time! Thanks for sharing your DL day!

annieb727
08-13-2006, 06:51 AM
sounds like a great trip! you got to do a lot - especially for a Saturday

ghoofie
08-13-2006, 06:35 PM
sounds like a great trip! you got to do a lot - especially for a Saturday

We went Saturday too. It was actually better than I anticipated.
Crowded and hot, but manageable.

Parking was what someone posted on other days. Same happened to us. We arrived at about 8:30. We turned into that lot on Harbor St. There were 5 or 6 lanes of cars. Barely moving. Then we found out why. Only two entries were open. People were rude, cutting each other off, etc. We finally made it up there. Showed a Premium pass and were given a ticket to park and told to exit and go to the parking garage. We lost lots of time with that, but I guess there is a reason for doing it that way.

Well at least we got to see the Fireworks one more time before the 50th ends. That was our main goal for the day. We hoped they wouldn't cancel and they didn't. By the way, the crowd control CM's did a great job before/after Fantasmic and Fireworks. You know people, if we follow their directions, we can get where we wanna go very nicely. :)