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View Full Version : Pirate Premiere = No Ride Lines



ladodgerjon
05-21-2007, 01:07 PM
Like a dork, I arrived at the DLR on Saturday (5/19) not realizing it was POTC premiere day.

After parking in the nearly empty Timon lot (around 2pm), and boarding a wide-open shuttle, I encountered a sign that said DL would be closing at 5pm. YIKES! How do I explain a short day at DL to my three year-old?!?

Once I saw how utterly clogged Main Street was with fans and TV crew, I was really in a tail-spin: the whole day looked like it was going to be a mess.

Boy, was I wrong!

Bless the POTC fans! Most of the bodies in the park were all clumped along Main Street. Fantasyland, Toontown and Tomorrowland were mostly empty pieces of real estate.

I think the park was lightly attended because of its announced shortened hours, and those in attendance were, as I said, gathered 'round the red carpet.

Between the hours of 2pm and 8pm, we visited the following rides & attractions:

Peter Pan
Snow White
Pinnochio
Mr. Toad
Dumbo
Casey Jr.
Storybook Canal Boats
Alice In Wonderland

**Took a lunch break**

It's A Small World
Roger Rabbit's Spin
Minnie Mouse House
Mickey Mouse Film Barn
Goofy's House
Donald's Boat
Autopia
Peter Pan (second time around!)
Autopia (second time around!)
The Monorail
Tomorrowland Rocket Ride
Star Tours

DL closes at 8pm, and we jumped to DCA...

Heimlich's Chew-chew
Monsters Inc.

Wow! An all time high for us: 20 attractions-- 22 if you count the two rides at DCA!

This had to be the lightest crowds I have seen -- in terms of the length of lines for attractions -- in nearly three years. The "perfect storm" was stalled over Main Street, while it was smooth sailing on the 'east side' of the park.

Sure, we missed visiting POTC or the HH, but that's a small price to pay when your toddler is about to explode with joy over a second ride on the Autopia!

BTW: I never ventured near Main Street again until nearly 8:15pm (where I almost got knocked over by Maria Shriver & Arnold's HUGE (30+ folks) entourage.

While I cannot fathom waiting in the hot sun for nearly 16 hours (many people arrived at DL around 4:30am!) to spot a celeb on a red carpet,
I heard from MANY folks that the celeb's were VERY generous in signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans-- good for them!

Hope you enjoyed the report...

Crazy4DL
05-21-2007, 01:17 PM
Sounds like a delightful day! Glad it worked out so well for you and your little one. :)

kennythepirate
05-21-2007, 02:55 PM
You said it closed at 5 PM, but they let you keep riding until 8 PM, is that correct? That's a great amount of fun with your little one too!

ladodgerjon
05-21-2007, 03:29 PM
You said it closed at 5 PM, but they let you keep riding until 8 PM, is that correct? That's a great amount of fun with your little one too!

Yes-- DL stopped admitting guests at 5pm on the night of the POTC premiere, but kept Fantasyland, Toontown and Tomorrowland open until 8pm.

Adventureland, Critter Country, Frontierland and NOS all closed around 3pm.

Main Street, of course, stayed "open" until red carpet arrivals stopped around 8:15pm.

DCA was open until 11pm.

And, yes, I would have NEVER guessed going-in that the day would go so smoothly.

PanFan
05-21-2007, 03:59 PM
I was having fun working in FL and seeing such short waits for everyone. Peter Pan was averaging about 10 minutes and at one point I saw it get down to about 3 minutes for a while (it started at the turnstiles!). I had people ride the Tea Cups 3 or 4 times in a row without getting off (and I had quite the time shutting all the empty doors before starting the cycle!). I'm glad you took advantage of it!

mi_mous
05-21-2007, 04:32 PM
BTW: I never ventured near Main Street again until nearly 8:15pm (where I almost got knocked over by Maria Shriver & Arnold's HUGE (30+ folks) entourage.

While I cannot fathom waiting in the hot sun for nearly 16 hours (many people arrived at DL around 4:30am!) to spot a celeb on a red carpet,
I heard from MANY folks that the celeb's were VERY generous in signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans-- good for them!

Hope you enjoyed the report...

Man, we missed Arnold?

I'm glad you had a fun time, and that the lines were not very long at all. We wanted to take advantage of the light line day, but they told us that we had to stay put.

avalosn
05-21-2007, 04:35 PM
I'm glad the day went so smoothly for you! You did a lot of rides!