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View Full Version : Going tomorrow (11/25/06)... I need reassurance/tips!



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socaltexan02
11-24-2006, 03:13 PM
Someone tell me a story of how you went when it was WAY crowded and still had a great time! LOL

Tomorrow we are going per my mom's request to celebrate her 6th b-day. :) I know it will be VERY VERY crowded and I need to just accept that and go and suck it up and have fun...right? Most of our group (of 4 adults and 2 young children) have deluxe APs, so we will have to purchase a blackout tickets to go, as well as a single day for the other adult in our group. I guess I'm feeling anxious about it b/c that puts a lot of pressure on us to have fun tomorrow. With APs (and living locally) it's never a big deal if we go and encounter larger than expected crowds, we just go home and come another day!

I guess I'm feeling like a need a better plan of attack. They open at 8am...how early should I be there to get our tickets AND an ECV for my mom, who requires one? She said if she can ride Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion (she's never seen the holiday version) and IASW (again, never seen the holiday overlay) she'll consider it a worthwhile trip. :) I figure since we can utilize fast passes for 2 out of 3 of those, we'll be ok, right?

chrisaustx
11-24-2006, 03:44 PM
It has been my experience lately that most of the annual passes out there are Southern California Annual Passes, and when they are blocked out, things are less crazy. So. Cal Annual passes are not allowed tomorrow, so I think the park should not be over crowded. When I went on the 4th of July of this year, I expected the place to be nuts, but actually it was not all that crowded. The So. Cal Annual pass people flocked to downtown Disney to see the fireworks, and that created a nightmare, but inside of Disneyland it was fine. I am going to the park tonight, because So. Cal. A/P's are blocked out, it should be a light crowd from 7pm to closing. Things only really get nuts now at Disneyland when So. Cal. A/P's can go, like on Veterans Day.
http://chrisaustx.smugmug.com

kikid
11-24-2006, 03:48 PM
Someone tell me a story of how you went when it was WAY crowded and still had a great time! LOL

Tomorrow we are going per my mom's request to celebrate her 6th b-day. :) I know it will be VERY VERY crowded and I need to just accept that and go and suck it up and have fun...right? Most of our group (of 4 adults and 2 young children) have deluxe APs, so we will have to purchase a blackout tickets to go, as well as a single day for the other adult in our group. I guess I'm feeling anxious about it b/c that puts a lot of pressure on us to have fun tomorrow. With APs (and living locally) it's never a big deal if we go and encounter larger than expected crowds, we just go home and come another day!

I guess I'm feeling like a need a better plan of attack. They open at 8am...how early should I be there to get our tickets AND an ECV for my mom, who requires one? She said if she can ride Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion (she's never seen the holiday version) and IASW (again, never seen the holiday overlay) she'll consider it a worthwhile trip. :) I figure since we can utilize fast passes for 2 out of 3 of those, we'll be ok, right?
Consider it a "worthwhile trip", because you are with the people you love in a magical place. Crowds have nothing to do with happiness! Do what you can do and sit;) -a-spell when the park seems crazy. Enjoy

MammaSilva
11-24-2006, 03:48 PM
Ok from a family that uses ECV every single trip here is my game plan for you, if those 3 rides are your most important.


Be at the parking garage at 7:00am, if you have a HCA parking plaqard so much the better, get parked and get to the security area. At this point park mom on a nice bench with the two little ones, split up, one of you go get the cart, don't MENTION it's not for you or they'll make you bring her over there and it's on the far side of the area, just go rent it, they don't ask for proof, drive it back to grammy, the other person needs to be at the ticket window for the blackouts/hopper. Once those two things are in place get in line, get insdide ther park. Make sure to ask for fast pass 'cards' at the gate cuz the black out things don't work, hand all the passes to someone and have them be moving as fast as is safe to space for fast pass while the rest of you head for Haunted. When you get to Haunted they will have you go in the regular queue part til you get to the hearse then they will come and open the chain and move you over to the HCA area, if mom doesn't really do well standing then just say she needs her ECV and needs to transfer. They'll have you wait in a little patio area til it's your turn, they'll take you down the stretching room then escort you to the HCA loading area. There are some modified doom buggies that are designed for easy transfer and you will wait for them to cycle thru. They will stop that walkway and let your party board, after the ride you stay on the doom buggie back to the loading area then they escort you back to the stretching room where you ride back UP the stretch room to the exit.....then head from there to small world, they will let her drive her ecv down to the load zone without the GAC, after small world head to Space and use your fast passes.

Malcon10t
11-24-2006, 03:54 PM
I guess I'm feeling like a need a better plan of attack. They open at 8am...how early should I be there to get our tickets AND an ECV for my mom, who requires one? She said if she can ride Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion (she's never seen the holiday version) and IASW (again, never seen the holiday overlay) she'll consider it a worthwhile trip. :) I figure since we can utilize fast passes for 2 out of 3 of those, we'll be ok, right?If your mom can walk the fastpass lane into Space, then get one. Otherwise, a fastpass is useless as she will need to use the HA entrance. Also, you might have mom park the ECV and wait for you where you enter the "left and right" side of IASW, then join you so she doesn't have to wait in the HA line, which can be twice as long as the regular line.

It will be busy, but we do the week between Christmas and NYE each year, and its a blast. It will be what you make of it. If your trip will be successful with those 3 rides, I think the trip will be very successful.

ETA - Mamma Silva is right, just want to note all the APs need to be there to get the blockouts. So, have the one needing a regular ticket can get mom's ecv and get her to you to get the AP blackouts while teh rest of you wait in line.

socaltexan02
11-24-2006, 03:58 PM
First of all it's my mom's 60th b-day, not 6th. LOL Pardon my sticky keyboard.

chrisaustx - I sure hope you're right!! We'll still be prepared for the worst, though...and maybe we'll end up pleasantly surprised.

And kikid you're absolutely right! My mom was getting concerned about the cost...us spending $ for a blackout ticket, the cost of her ECV rental, etc. and I couldn't help but reply w/ "spendng your 60th b-day at the happiest place on earth = priceless!!". I know we'll have fun if we can all keep a good attidude about it.

MammaSilva - thanks a ton for the tips. I hope I can convince the rest of the household to be there at 7am!!

chrisaustx
11-24-2006, 04:05 PM
It was crazy on Wed. because So. Cal. A/P's could come and they rushed the park in the afternoon, that is why Disneyland had the warning signs up. The So. Cal. A/P's can come on Sunday, so they won't buy a block out ticket to come, if they can come Sunday. I do think Sunday will be nuts at Disneyland, so if you will be there then, take heed.

momuvseven
11-24-2006, 06:39 PM
I agree about getting the Space Mountain fastpasses first but would then have that person meet up with you at Small World. My experience is that HM is often late to open in the mornings. It seems to take a long time for people to work their way to the back of the park to get to IASW and HM since they tend to stop off at the first things they come too. Definately plan to be there at opening, it should be fine until about one o'clock.

Malcon10t
11-24-2006, 06:50 PM
I agree about getting the Space Mountain fastpasses first
Just remember, the ECV cannot go in the fastpass line. You might want to just hit it early before the HA line fills in.

chrisaustx
11-24-2006, 08:22 PM
Today was not bad at the DLR, 45 min avg. wait times for all the E Ticket rides, DCA was a ghost town tonight. When I arrived at the park at 530pm tonight, several floors of the parking structure were vacant. This is further evidence that most of the crowds you hear about at Disneyland, are So. Cal. A/P's taking advantage of their cheap passes. My advice is to pay attention in the future when that pass is allowed entry, and things should work out better when trying to avoid large crowds. Again my prediction is that Sunday will be nuts at Disneyland.

Pirate Princess
11-24-2006, 10:27 PM
Again my prediction is that Sunday will be nuts at Disneyland.
STOP IT!!!!! (:p )
Luckily we will be in the park Sun - Tues so even if Sunday is crazy we will hopefully have a few lighter days to make up for it. My goal on Sunday is to power through rides in the early morning and enjoy a leisurely brunch (or lunch depending on when the crowds roll in) and scoot over to DCA to avoid the rest of the madness.
Hopefully I'll get some internet service from my hotel room and I'll let you all know how the crowds Sunday were. Then I'll do three hours of homework... crash out.. wake up early and repeat x2.
Game plan.
Break!

Bytebear
11-25-2006, 11:37 AM
We are planning to go to Disneyland tomorrow. If it is a busy day, then we will just people watch and ride some of the rides with faster queues. I am sure we will hit Small World (as the MIL hasn't been yet). So don't blame us for long lines. We are big fans of Matterhorn, so we are just waiting for it to reopen.

Walt'sbirthdaygirl
11-25-2006, 11:56 AM
It was crazy on Wed. because So. Cal. A/P's could come and they rushed the park in the afternoon, that is why Disneyland had the warning signs up. The So. Cal. A/P's can come on Sunday, so they won't buy a block out ticket to come, if they can come Sunday. I do think Sunday will be nuts at Disneyland, so if you will be there then, take heed.

We go every year the Sunday after Thanksgiving and it is never "nuts" its actually rather pleasant.

chrisaustx
11-26-2006, 08:17 AM
Disneyland has sold thousands of So Cal A/P's since last year, please tell us how your experience is between Noon and 4pm, this is when most So Cal A/P members show up. If you see that long line at the a/p center on Main Street, just remember that most of those people are buying So Cal A/P's, this is why there is always a long line there on weekends. As 2007 opens, the So Cal A/P problem will get worse, because so many thousands have been sold over the past year. Disneyland has now become a day care center because of the So Cal A/P, its a sad situation to see how Disneyland has become cheapened by that pass.

chrisaustx
11-26-2006, 10:29 AM
At 10:45 am today, Sunday, the traffic entering the Mickey and Friends parking structure was backed up on Ball, and a huge line of cars was waiting to enter the parking structure.

socaltexan02
11-26-2006, 04:55 PM
Well, we went yesterday (Sat. 11/25) and it was GREAT!! Thanks for those who posted and encouraged us to go. My mom said it was her best b-day EVER.

My mini-trip report...

We got there a little after 8am, lines were minimal (or nonexistant) to get tickets, to get the ECV, to get in. Headed straight for Space Mt., 10 min. wait time posted...might not have even taken that long. Then to IASW, 5-10 min. line if that. DH skipped out on that and went and got some fast-passes. We met up at HMH and had a 10-15 min. wait MAX. Then over to Pirates, about a 15-20 min. wait but the line kept moving the whole time and didn't even feel that long. We then took a lunch break at the (don't know the official name) chowder/gumbo place in NOS. Then headed down to Splash Mt., (using fast-passes), then back over to Frontierland for BTMRR where we used the HA enterance, b/c mom wouldn't have done well w/ the stairs in the BTMRR que. Then we hit the Mark Twain...where...we got asked to join the captain and "steer" the boat! We just happed to walk up the stairs at the right moment, the captain was stepping out of the door and say my mom w/ her birthday button on and wished her a happy b-day and asked how many were in our party, and we got to go on in. My 4 yr. old daughter and 60 yr. old mom had a blast "driving" the boat. That was definately a highlight of the day. :) Then we visited the Reindeer Roundup for a bit and then staked out a stop for the parade and then called it a day. The kids and grandparents were getting worn out!! :D I had expected much larger crowds than we had - it only started to feel really crowded as we were leaving (about 4-4:30), but a lot of that could have been due to post-parade traffic. As we were leaving, Space Mt. still had only a 20 min. wait posted (for standby).

All in all it was a great DL day...I'm so glad I didn't let my fear of it being crowded keep us away!!

chrisaustx
11-26-2006, 05:00 PM
That's great to hear socaltexan, as I have said many times before on here, the SO Cal A/P block out dates do make the difference in the type of experiences Disneyland visitors have. On a weekend day when that pass is blocked out, Disneyland is not busy.

Seashellmama
11-26-2006, 05:03 PM
Things only really get nuts now at Disneyland when So. Cal. A/P's can go, like on Veterans Day.

So Cal annual passes were blocked on on Veteran's Day.

chrisaustx
11-26-2006, 05:08 PM
Yes this is true Seashellmomma, but many companies did close on 11/10/06, which was a Friday, deluxe was not blocked out this day. As you may or may not recall, the parking structure closed, Disneyland Drive was gridlocked, and the entry gates were shut to all pass holders this day, due to the deluge of cheap passes coming on Friday 11/10/06, So Cal. A/P's were buying block out tickets for $30. Because of the large sales of the So Cal. A/P, this will become a more common experience during busy periods. Someone I know is a So Cal A/P holder and tried to buy a block out pass on 11/10/06, but was told they were sold out, and that he had to purchase a regular Disneyland ticket for entry. My next prediction is that Friday, Dec. 15th will be one of the busiest days of 2006, because this is the last day So Cal A/P's can visit before being blocked out for nearly 2 1/2 weeks.
Please consult the DLR website for So Cal. A/P blockout dates:
http://adisneyland.disney.go.com/media/dlr_v0200/en_US/ap/bod/socal_bod_0906.pdf

adriennek
11-26-2006, 06:22 PM
the entry gates were shut to all pass holders this day, due to the deluge of cheap passes coming on Friday 11/10/06, So Cal. A/P's were buying block out tickets for $30.

The crowds on 11/10 were due in very large part to the huge number of people who came to DLR that day with their "free" one-day tickets that Disney mailed to, what was it, 100,000 So Cal residents?

The crowds were largely due to Disney mistiming their giveaway.

Adrienne

Malcon10t
11-26-2006, 07:53 PM
SoCal, how was it? I just talked to some friends that got there about 2pm, and they said the crowds were fairly light. Splash was 30 mins and HMH was 20 mins. They are headed to Fantasmic! now.

socaltexan02
11-27-2006, 06:09 AM
Malcon10t, I posted a little summary above in a reply. In short, it was GREAT!! I'm so glad we went and didn't let potential crowds scare us away.

chrisaustx
11-27-2006, 08:57 AM
The crowds on 11/10 were due in very large part to the huge number of people who came to DLR that day with their "free" one-day tickets that Disney mailed to, what was it, 100,000 So Cal residents?

The crowds were largely due to Disney mistiming their giveaway.

Adrienne
I unfortunately went to Disneyland on Veterans Day in the afternoon and was unsuccessful in gaining entry. It was the So Cal A/P crowd trying to get in with block out tickets for the most part and this is what caused the huge traffic mess on Disneyland Drive and Ball Rd. in the afternoon. The people who had the free tickets came earlier in the day and had no problem getting in if they showed up before 11am. In November of 2005 the same thing happened with the So. Cal A/P crowd, but it was not this bad. Maybe someone from Mouseplanet can do a story or try to get the a/p data so far from 2006 leaked. I bet 7 out of 10 annual passes are now So Cal. A/P's. It is now my experience that when I go to Disneyland when that pass is blocked out, the park is not crowded. Last night when I was at the park, yet again I saw another long line of people at the A/P center, buying So Cal. A/P's, I really wish Disneyland would address the problem their marketing dept. is causing by over selling this pass. After witnessing the slapping match between two women last night on the parking lot tram, I did speak to a DLR security officer who said that when the So. Cal. A/P is allowed entry on the weekends, Disneyland always has more fights and problems with unruly guests. I think the So Cal A/P problem will be worse in 2007, Disney has really oversold this pass. I am thinking of skipping New Years at Disneyland this year, because a $30 block out ticket is all that is stopping hundreds of thousands of guests from descending upon the park, its just too good of a deal for many people to pass up.

Malcon10t
11-27-2006, 09:52 AM
I am thinking of skipping New Years at Disneyland this year, because a $30 block out ticket is all that is stopping hundreds of thousands of guests from descending upon the park, its just too good of a deal for many people to pass up.The park will be packed New Years. I have been going every year since 98, and unless it rained, the park was packed solid. This was before the SoCal passes.

BTW - Park capacity is well under a hundred thousand. So, hundreds will be out of the question. But I am guessing there will be 70-80 thousand.

adriennek
11-27-2006, 12:56 PM
After witnessing the slapping match between two women last night on the parking lot tram

And they had their SoCal passes out for you to see?

I haven't used the parking lot tram in the evening for years. I've never thought it was well organized, supervised or run. While this is possible that the problems are worse on certain days, there are lots of issues with that tram in the evenings that should be addressed with or without the SoCal APs.

Adrienne