Somebody's Gonna Pee in a Cup, West Coast - Link to new TR 1/21

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm captivated by this saga with your car and moving it and maps and CMs that know different things. I really hope it worked out.

Those pictures of Walt, etc. in the DLH are great! Love that stuff

That sucks that RSR was down again. I get that these rides aren't going to work 100% of the time but just adds to frustration to those on frustration. And my goodness, that family that took off for Peter Pan - that is crazy! Part of me thinks it would be better if they set up lines for the various rides in FL that you got in before the rope but then maybe people would start lining up hours early (like for WOC and Fantasmic!) which they probably don't want.

As much as I enjoy the new double Dumbo at WDW I do miss it being located right in the middle of Fantasyland - those are some great shots with the Matterhorn in the background etc.

Glad you enjoyed some of the dark rides that aren't at WDW - those are some of the rides I am most looking forward to checking out (Alice, Pinocchio, etc.). Also the Canal Boat ride. I think just because it is so different and unique to DLR is part of its attraction - definitely seems like something you have to do once though

In general is just seems like the quick service food is better at DLR than WDW - maybe just being in California and that with it being more local crowds (and thus they aren't doing as many table service locations) they have to up the quality

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

It is a fun group of guys, but I think we all get quickly frustrated trying to teach 4 - 6 year olds how to play.

I coached tee ball for one year. You need the patience of a saint. Watching the games made me think of that Simpsons episode where Homer isn't allowed to drink beer. They show him sitting in the stands at a baseball game and he says, "I never realized how boring this game really is."

He lined his very first pitch between third base and short stop for a base hit.

Nice job buddy!

And I totally missed it because I was trying to corral kids escaping the dugout and get the next batter on deck.

Nice job buddy!

But I'm most proud that he wasn't one of the kids we had to pick up off of the infield dirt because he was making snow angels in the dirt.

Oh, man, that killed me. I think 95% of my instruction as a coach was, "Stand up, turn around, pay attention."

At one point I asked the kids if a pirate had buried treasure under the infield, since none of them could stop digging in the dirt.

As of today, DD is officially no longer "free" by Disney standards.

Neither is dining.

And yes, she got more dresses.

And one of them sings.

Well...good luck with that.

That means leaving work and then driving a tractor until about 1 or 2 am and then getting a few hours of sleep to do it again the next day. Yep, I'll be a zombie soon.

Living the dream!

However, the letter also included pictures of maps with the road closures listed. And it still showed the road to the lot I moved our car to as being one of those closed roads.

We finished eating and then turned on the TV and sat around the room for a while.

This never happens in the morning at WDW.

Is that allowed to happen? Really? Must be a California thing.

We rounded the corner to get in line for RSR…

Only to be told the ride is down. You can wait if you want, but we don’t know when it will be back up.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Well, it's not like anyone wanted to ride it or anything.

But even though we were there, right at the rope when the park opened, we ended up waiting 20 minutes to ride Peter Pan.

Holy crap. That is literally insane.

We saw Teacups. Of course there wasn’t a line. Why not?

Wait a minute, don’t answer that one.

A glutton for punishment.

Alice is an interesting dark ride. Disneyland has several dark rides and a few of them can’t be found at WDW. This is one of them. We didn’t try to take any pictures so consider that a gift if you’ve never been. Now it will be a complete surprise!

Hey, thanks! For some reason this didn't make our list for our insane day.

The wait was brutal though. I remember thinking how awful it would be on a hot day. I think it was maybe 70 degrees, but the queue was just out there in the sun. We were hot and uncomfortable… and did I mention how crowded the queues are at DL?

Yeah, you'd have to be a moron to be out there on a sweltering hot day. Just no protection at all.

But we did get to enjoy the sounds of pounding on metal and grinding coming from inside the Matterhorn while we waited. Must have been break time?

That's a shame. It's a great ride. You should try it sometime.

Who can resist that siren song?

(shudder)

It has been too long and I don’t remember the song exactly (maybe that’s why I liked it so much), but they blend, I think, Jingle Bells and maybe another Christmas song in with IASW making a new soundtrack for the ride. It is less repetitive and therefore not as ear wormy as IASW typically is. It was quite enjoyable.

Huh. I guess you can only ride it during the holidays, then?

 

[Leshaface]

First of all, DS had his first ever baseball game on Friday. I'm helping coach the team with my BiL, a guy who I played baseball with growing up and in high school, and a friend's dad who was an assistant coach at our high school as well as a couple of other dads. It is a fun group of guys, but I think we all get quickly frustrated trying to teach 4 - 6 year olds how to play.

I bet it's just as frustrating teaching high school boys. At least DH would think so, they way he comes home from practices and games.

But I'm most proud that he wasn't one of the kids we had to pick up off of the infield dirt because he was making snow angels in the dirt.

How funny is that!? Oh my gosh, if that way my kid, i'd probably be so embarrassed and then die laughing!

Glad DS did such a great job at his first game!

And one of them sings.

Oh no thank you.

She looks so happy! Happy belated Birthday to her!

As some of you who have followed my TR's in the past are aware, I live on a farm and also work a full time job in an office during the day. It is that time of year, and we're going to be planting corn very soon. Once that happens, I tend to have absolutely no free time outside of regular work hours so my replies and updates might not come as frequently. We've had a wet spring so far, but the forecast is looking pretty good right now. I don't know if we'll start planting this week or not, but I'd say by the end of the week, there's a very good possibility we could get started. That means leaving work and then driving a tractor until about 1 or 2 am and then getting a few hours of sleep to do it again the next day. Yep, I'll be a zombie soon.

#farmerlife

When we returned to our room, we found a letter regarding the road closures due to the race. The letter did, in fact, support some of the information that I was given. It listed the times or the road closures (midnight to 8 or 10 am depending on the day) and instructed guests staying at the GCH to move their vehicles over to DLH if they needed out during those hours. However, the letter also included pictures of maps with the road closures listed. And it still showed the road to the lot I moved our car to as being one of those closed roads.

Would have been nice to get this in an email when you received your room confirmation months in advance

But it didn’t matter. It was still just barely after 7 AM.

Once again, the parks weren’t opening until 10:00 with a 9:00 EMH at DCA.

We had PLENTY of time.

DW and I ate our cinnamon rolls that we’d picked up from Le Brea Bakery. I have to say that they were not only cheaper than the ones we picked up at GCH, but they were also much, much better.

We finished eating and then turned on the TV and sat around the room for a while.

This never happens in the morning at WDW.

We decided that since we got there 20 minutes before the supposed park opening the day before and only stood around for about 40 minutes, we weren’t going to worry about getting there quite as early this morning.

I totally love when I wake up hours before I have to be at a park, especially at DLR, knowing I won't have to wait for a bus or a boat to get anywhere. The day starts out much more relaxed in that sense.

Once again, we walked down the street. CM’s along the way informed us that if you want to ride RSR, keep to the right. They instruct us that we should park the stroller at Ramone’s if we plan to ride RSR. Yeah, we know. Been there done that.

Pros

Only to be told the ride is down. You can wait if you want, but we don’t know when it will be back up.

The relaxation is over I guess. Oh my gosh.

That family that laughed about running to Peter Pan?


Yeah, they made Usain Bolt look like a slug.

Yep! People do NOT listen to CM's at DLR. And you're right, the CM's won't call them out on running either. I saw a CM once at the MK years ago pretty much run after a running group to tell them not to run

We walked as fast as we could. I sent DW and the kids to the line while I quickly parked the stroller and caught up with them. But even though we were there, right at the rope when the park opened, we ended up waiting 20 minutes to ride Peter Pan.

Isn't it amazing how quickly the line builds up like that. You seriously have to have DD out of the stroller before you even enter Fantasyland and push the stroller into the parking area without stopping your stride. It's nuts!

Not a little guy, but I don’t consider myself to be huge either. And I found myself having to turn sideways to fit through the turnstiles in a lot of the queues there

I can only imagine you in the Pinocchio queue! I can barely fit in that queue

Cute!

Love this shot with the mountain in the background and the Fantasyland village.

Are you kidding me. They were still changing the overlay?? Dude. You need a redo. Now.

Oh yeah, and they have Disney characters located in scenes associated with their story or origins. I know this was kind of a point of contention among the die hard Disney fans when they decided to put them in there, but personally, I liked it! Our kids love IASW anyway, but it was fun riding with them and trying to find characters they know hidden amongst the scenes.

I do love that they added this in there. Not sure why people hated the addition, it's not like the characters took away from everything else

 

[afwdwfan]

But you are out there trying not to get frustrated. Points for that.
Sounds like you’ve got enough help to do the job well.

Yeah, there are plenty of coaches so that helps.

Yah, about fifteen years ago or more… mine would have been one of the group playing in the dirt.

Well, that's just part of it, I guess.

Oh, but it is good to be able to see them get out there and grow a bit, ain’t it?

My condolences…

My wallet appreciates your concern.

How appropriate, at midnight that free entry thing turned right back into a pumpkin.

But I’m missing the point here…
Happy birthday to her, and I hope it was a joyous affair.

Thanks. And I appreciate you pointing out that irony.

I’ll take it from that picture, that joy was most certainly had.
Wonderful shot there.

Oh, yeah, she had a blast!!!

Noooooooooo!
Not that!

If not longer…
There is always a possibility of grandchildren in the future ya’ know.
Glitter, glitter everywhere.

Yeah... we could tear the house down, rebuild and still not get rid of it.

How is that even possible?!?

Um... pretty easy. Again, I was still waking up like I was at home... So I'd had about 8 hours of sleep by this point and it was like 8 am at home.

You know what else is worthwhile? Sleep. Sleep is worthwhile.

I was well rested by then.

Should have. It's not like you were pressed for time.

Yeah, I did consider it. But then I thought about it. I wasn't sure if you had to be registered for one of the races to get in or not. And I wasn't going to buy anything. So I really didn't have much reason to try to check it out.

That looks like it was interesting.

You can see the picture at the top right of Walt standing by the tracks on Main Street that kind of inspired me to seek that bend in the tracks.

I was so sure that you were going to get burned here.

No way! Impossible at DLR. It isn't like you're going to get stuck in traffic or be waiting on a bus or anything! As long as you leave enough time to make the walk, you're good.

You're kidding me!!

I wish.

That's what I said!

Unbelievable.

Or go to one park for the only ride you're really interested in, give up and head to the next park.

Well yeah, of course that works too.

Ok, now you're foreshadowing!

Oh, boy.

And yet...

Yeah... pretty much sums it up.

Wow. First (close enough) in line and by following the rules (no running!) you get there and see a twenty minute wait.

Actually, we didn't see a posted wait yet since the line was still working on packing into the switchbacks of the queue. But it took every bit of that long before we got to ride.

I guess that's another reflection of a different time.

Small kids? Why not indeed.

Good point.

Great shot!

Thanks.

I won't.

I appreciate that.

I like that. It used to be the only way to see characters.
Now you need a FP+. I think some of the magic's been lost.

Excellent point. I hadn't really thought about it like that, but it is very true.

What's the other story about?

It sounds pretty interesting.

It is. Something different and worth checking out at least once.

Me. I can resist it.

Where's that sarcasm smiley again?

Andy! Nooooooo!!!!!

Anything for the kids.

All right. I'll give you that one. That's interesting.

pssst... is someone holding you hostage? do you need help?

No, really. It isn't all that bad with the different soundtrack. I mean, I don't want to knock a Disney original song, but that earworm can really get to you. With it broken up like that it just doesn't get to you like it normally does.

Actually, I can see that.
Having something to look for turns it into an interactive ride. And if the music isn't so mind-numbing...

See... it works.

They could hardly be worse, right?

Could hardly be worse? I think you're giving them too much credit.

Thanks for the chapter!

Thanks for reading.

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm on a quick flyby, so not a lot of time to comment, but I'm glad your DD had such a great birthday. What really caught me in the photos was not the awesomeness of the princess bouncy house, but your yard overall. I'm not sure if you noticed, but here in California every home has a fence around it. The fence marks the perimeter of where your yard ends and your neighbor's yard begins. Often times, your fence is quite tall (like my house which backs up to a Major Blvd) like 14 feet tall. It's like a privacy barrier so no one can see and you can't see out.

When I saw the photos of your yard and the horizon which stretched for what seemed like miles, and there were no houses, it was just so astonishing. I did drive through Ohio and Indiana last summer and thought it was odd how all the houses that weren't in big cities seemed like they were out in the boonies, but it's just fascinating how different various lifestyles in different parts of our country can be.

Oh yeah... well, we're out in the country so definitely a different experience. Over the past 20 or 30 years around here, fences have come out. They used to mark property lines and keep livestock in, but as a lot of farmers around here have shifted away from raising livestock to produce more grain, those fences have been torn out rather than taking the time and effort to maintain them. Ironically, I'm wanting to get back into livestock and get some cattle, so we've been talking about building some fence. You can't really see it in the pictures, but just across the field from the barn that is next to the bounce house, is a hill that is too steep to farm. I'm wanting to run some cattle on it. Partly so I don't have to mow it as often. The closest neighbor we have is about 1/4 mile away and they're just on the other side of that hill. So yeah, it's pretty calm and quiet where we live!

I also find it fascinating to hear about your farming stories. Please feel free to elaborate here on what you might think is mundane daily life. I mean I grow a few tomato plants and some squash every other year or so, but I can't even imagine what farming on huge scale could be like! That's funny how your Dad works in the day and you get ahead of him every night!

Well, thanks! I enjoy doing it and sometimes boredom sets in when I'm driving the tractor so I'll probably post some pictures or videos.

I'm also really enjoying your take on Disneyland and how different you think it is from WDW. I personally never really noticed that most of the queues are outside. Us Californians live to be outside and would never think of waiting inside air conditioned buildings if we had the choice. Most of us are used to being out in the hot burning sun, and take precautions for it, like putting on sun screen as a daily grooming activity. And we wear a lot of hats too because the sun is usually beating down on us even in January. I guess because there are queues like Space Mountain, Soarin and Indy, I don't think about that most of them are outdoors. I wouldn't even consider IASW loading indoors. Perhaps I better make it a point to ride it in WDW next time. I don't think I ever have.

That makes sense. I mean it wasn't just absolutely horrible, but it just struck me as something that was significantly different. It seems like in Florida, there is a very significant effort made to ensure that queues are covered, and in many cases, air conditioned. At DL, that is just definitely not the case! Of course Florida not only has the sunlight and heat to contend with, but also humidity and those daily monsoons during the summer so I can see why it is more of a necessity there.

By the way, I'll get there later, but is it common for them to line the entire standby queue for Star Tours up outside??? It appeared to me that they basically left the queue inside the building open, but lined the standby riders up outside the building in switchbacks and merged them with FP riders right there as they entered the building. It seemed odd and wasteful to not be using that entire queue!

And I had to google to figure out where you got your food from in Toontown. I didn't even know about those places to eat. I do have to say that I concentrate a LOT more on food than you guys did, but I can also get out there a lot more often, so I can afford to be pickier. Alice after the refurb is so much cooler than it used to be. It was kind of corny, but now I think it's a pretty cool little ride.

Well, I'm sure that Toontown isn't exactly high on the priority list for you when you visit the parks anyway! It is just a little food court area with 3 or 4 windows that each sell various items. It certainly wasn't bad, but nothing to really rave about by any means. I think if we went back to DL, food would probably be a bigger priority, but in this case, it just wasn't a big deal. Saving time and money was a bigger priority.

Great day so far, and even if you had to wait what you thought was a lot, you got a bunch of rides in!

Yeah, it really turned out ok. We were trying to do the slow load/long queue Fantasyland rides and Toontown. We were just a little shy of reaching our goals since we hadn't done Mr. Toad or the Gadget Go Coaster, but we did get most of our goals to give us a nice start.

Love the little league photos! From a former bench coach -- be prepared for even more distraction in the outfield when the caterpillars emerge!

Thanks!

Great. Hadn't thought about that one. We had a practice one day when a helicopter flew over. We were absolutely done until it finally got out of sight. I made a comment to one of the other coaches that we're screwed if a helicopter ever flies over during a game.

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm captivated by this saga with your car and moving it and maps and CMs that know different things. I really hope it worked out.

It's just one of those things that was as simple as it seemed it should have been. But communication and information, or lack thereof, made it more difficult than it needed to be.

Those pictures of Walt, etc. in the DLH are great! Love that stuff

Then you definitely should just wander around DLH. Those were just outside the elevator in the main building, around the corner from the front desk. Also, make sure you see Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Or at the very least check out the pre-show areas and post-show area.

That sucks that RSR was down again. I get that these rides aren't going to work 100% of the time but just adds to frustration to those on frustration. And my goodness, that family that took off for Peter Pan - that is crazy! Part of me thinks it would be better if they set up lines for the various rides in FL that you got in before the rope but then maybe people would start lining up hours early (like for WOC and Fantasmic!) which they probably don't want.

Yeah, I know they can't work 100% of the time. But I think my biggest frustration was that they didn't mention it before we made it all the way down to the entrance. I mean there are hundreds of people, all clearly heading for the same place only to get there and have to turn around and fight their way back upstream. At least let us know it is closed so we can make the decision to continue farther in or turn around before we get there.

Spoiler: Operating %

And by my math, RSR only works about 33% of the time.

It really was nuts. Unlike DCA, the CMs don't lead you any farther. We were just standing there at the hub when they dropped the rope. Now they did remove the rope a little before RD time and hold everyone until it was time. But once it was time for the park to open, it was a free for all.

As much as I enjoy the new double Dumbo at WDW I do miss it being located right in the middle of Fantasyland - those are some great shots with the Matterhorn in the background etc.

I agree. But I'm glad to give up the location for the convenience of not having to wait forever in the worst queue at WDW.

I actually tried to get a picture of the castle too, but I couldn't. The carousel was in the way.

Glad you enjoyed some of the dark rides that aren't at WDW - those are some of the rides I am most looking forward to checking out (Alice, Pinocchio, etc.). Also the Canal Boat ride. I think just because it is so different and unique to DLR is part of its attraction - definitely seems like something you have to do once though

Rightfully so! Those should definitely be priorities to check out when you're there. I definitely recommend the Canal Boats. I thought it was a nice ride, but just probably not something I'd wait in that kind of line to do every time if I could go there more often. But definitely something you should ride on your first visit!

In general is just seems like the quick service food is better at DLR than WDW - maybe just being in California and that with it being more local crowds (and thus they aren't doing as many table service locations) they have to up the quality

To an extent, yes. I thought the QS food was pretty good. But, I think WDW does one food item just a little bit better...

 

[afwdwfan]

I coached tee ball for one year. You need the patience of a saint. Watching the games made me think of that Simpsons episode where Homer isn't allowed to drink beer. They show him sitting in the stands at a baseball game and he says, "I never realized how boring this game really is."

I can totally see that!

Nice job buddy!

Nice job buddy!

Oh, man, that killed me. I think 95% of my instruction as a coach was, "Stand up, turn around, pay attention."

At one point I asked the kids if a pirate had buried treasure under the infield, since none of them could stop digging in the dirt.

You know, one thing I forgot to mention, I felt unpatriotic during the National Anthem. I wasn't paying much attention to the flag or standing still myself. But I was trying to get the kids to just stand on the first base line, take their hats off and stop hitting each other!!!

It is my goal... if there's one thing I accomplish this year, they will stand quietly and remove their hats for the National Anthem.

Neither is dining.

So I hear. Were you in on that mess?

Well...good luck with that.

Yeah...

Living the dream!

Indeed. Busy times, but I always enjoy it.

Is that allowed to happen? Really? Must be a California thing.

They're so laid back it is contagious. You're lucky you didn't catch it!

Well, it's not like anyone wanted to ride it or anything.

Of course not...

Holy crap. That is literally insane.

That's what I thought!! I couldn't believe it!

A glutton for punishment.

Apparently so.

Hey, thanks! For some reason this didn't make our list for our insane day.

Rightfully so. No more time than you had, there's not much time for slow loading dark rides with lines that are too long.

Yeah, you'd have to be a moron to be out there on a sweltering hot day. Just no protection at all.

Who would do that???

That's a shame. It's a great ride. You should try it sometime.

Yeah, thanks.

(shudder)

It really wasn't too bad. Loved the alternate soundtrack!

Huh. I guess you can only ride it during the holidays, then?

Exactly!

 

[SarahDisney]

I almost considered trying to sneak in, but I didn’t.

Y'know ... you're allowed to go to the Expo even if you're not a runner. At least in FL you are. They don't require any proof of running.

We rounded the corner to get in line for RSR…

Only to be told the ride is down. You can wait if you want, but we don’t know when it will be back up.

This is insane. This did not happen to us at all (although ... we also tended to go to RSR late in the day because the whole "shorter lines at rope drop" thing is hard for us sometimes).

Our intention for today was to hit RD at DL and spend most of the day there. We were going to just skip out on EMH this morning, but since the parks open ridiculously late and we only rode RSR once yesterday, we had made the decision that we’d use EMH to get a ride in before heading over to catch RD at DL. Once again, that is the beauty of how close these 2 parks are. You can easily do EMH at one park, hit a headliner and then hop over to the other park for regular RD.

I never get tired of reading this. I love how easy it is to park hop at DL. One of the many things I love about DL.

We were directly in front of the castle, we just had to walk through it and make a right to ride Peter Pan. This will be easy…

It's never easy ...

Yeah, they made Usain Bolt look like a slug.

Maybe they were practicing for the race!

I said Rope Drop is crazy at Disneyland, and I stand by that comment. It was ridiculous!!! I realize that it is a different beast at DL, considering that none of the Fantasyland attractions have FP so it is a priority to get there before the lines back up too much. But I couldn’t believe how quickly the lines backed up!

So ... I've never really done rope drop at DL (even when I get up at 6 AM it's still hard for me to get to the parks early) ... but this sounds insane. Lines do get pretty long, though, and it would be nice if some of they had FP-enabled attractions. (Although we were very lucky with short lines on our last trip ... so crowd level definitely has an impact)

I want to comment now about the queue situation at a lot of the rides in DL, but especially the Fantasyland attractions. The queues were certainly an afterthought on these rides. And they are narrow and tight! I’m about 6’2”, 230 lbs. Not a little guy, but I don’t consider myself to be huge either. And I found myself having to turn sideways to fit through the turnstiles in a lot of the queues there.

As someone who has done both, I like to comment on your WDW/DL comparisons (as much as I hate when people make the comparisons at all), but ... this isn't something I remember noticing.
Then again, I'm kinda tiny.

"Daddy, why are you trying to take a selfie while I'm fixing my hair?"

Just as we boarded our vehicle and the ride started, The Mad Hatter was walking past and interacting with the people waiting in line. Kind of a nice touch and the spontaneous character interactions is definitely something that DL does better than WDW.

I think characters are definitely great at DL. I kinda understand why everything is so scheduled at WDW, but I really loved just randomly seeing characters at DL.

Alice is an interesting dark ride. Disneyland has several dark rides and a few of them can’t be found at WDW. This is one of them. We didn’t try to take any pictures so consider that a gift if you’ve never been. Now it will be a complete surprise! But it is a fun ride. It is a 2 story track that takes you through Alice’s story. A well done ride and I’m glad we finally got to experience it!

I think the Alice ride is great, so I'm glad you guys enjoyed! DL definitely has some great dark rides, which is one of the many things I love so much about DL.

Scaffolding? Really? It's much prettier without the scaffolding! It looks really beautiful all lit up (I wish I had a picture to share ... but I only have daytime pictures). But the clock face guy wears a Santa hat.

Okay ... so here's my unsoliticed opinion on the holiday IASW:
As someone who celebrates a non-Christmas holiday, I find it a little offensive that they ignore all holidays other than Christmas in an attraction that is supposed to highlight world cultures (although it does highlight Christmas across the world).
That said, the change of music is nice. And I'm not wild about the random Disney characters, but I kinda understand why they did it.

 

[MissMaryQC]

I some how get the feeling that this race is gonna be troublesome...

I'm surprised at the chaos that is rope drop at DL. Maybe it's a Calidornia thing to be unorganized? Either way, it's very unusual for Disney, IMO.

AinW is on my bucket list! I have never seen a photo or read a description (other than yours really) about the ride cause when I make it out to DL I want it to be knew to me!! I live that film, and so does DD, probably something to do with all the colors and songs....

What a weird boat ride. For whatever reason I started to think of the boat ride in Willy Wonka...

What a fun IASW! I am actually really find of that ride (I've been told it's cause DD is too little to enflct the torture that is that song stuck in a child's head) but I could see where a change would be welcomed.

DL is sounding really fun so far!!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Your daughter's birthday looked fabulous! I love the Frozen dresses!

Good luck with planting! We will miss you but will certainly forgive a brief hiatus - you'll need to combine some sleep with those energy shots!

I'm glad they let you in at a more reasonable time that day... but, seriously? RSR was closed AGAIN?! That's nuts.

Didn't people used to run like that at Disney World before they enforced additional "control"? Can you imagine the number of elbows (and other things) that would be thrown along the way to Anna and Elsa and the 7DMT if people were allowed to do that at MK?! As long as I wasn't in the middle of that craziness, it may be rather amusing to watch.

I'd love to do the dark rides at DL. I'd also love to ride the other rides unique to DL, like the Matterhorn.

The outdoor loading at IASW must seem truly bizarre. I'm all for keeping attractions as classic as possible, but I think the addition of the Disney characters is perfect.

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Andy.

Again with moving the car and street closures...and still not sure how it will affect you.

Seriously, Radiator was down again? This just wasn't working for you at all.

You got quite a bit accomplished despite that. I love the daddy/daughter picture on the Mad Tea Party. And how cool that the Mad Hatter walked by as you got on Alice in Wonderland. Those queues I have heard are absolutely awful.

The only reason I'd do It's a Small World in DL is to see the Disney characters.

 

[RGirl]

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend. I wanted to pop in with a quick update from our busy weekend.

Love "real life" updates - always so fun!

I was pretty proud of DS. He'd been hitting well off the tee, but struggling to hit pitches. He lined his very first pitch between third base and short stop for a base hit.

That's awesome!!!

And I totally missed it because I was trying to corral kids escaping the dugout and get the next batter on deck.

And that sucks....

But I'm most proud that he wasn't one of the kids we had to pick up off of the infield dirt because he was making snow angels in the dirt.

As of today, DD is officially no longer "free" by Disney standards.

Awww - Happy Birthday, DD!

You know I approve of these present choices!!!!

Look at that joy - cinderella dress and a bouncy house? HEAVEN!

I don't know if we'll start planting this week or not, but I'd say by the end of the week, there's a very good possibility we could get started. That means leaving work and then driving a tractor until about 1 or 2 am and then getting a few hours of sleep to do it again the next day. Yep, I'll be a zombie soon.

You know, I struggle a LOT to find time to get on here at all what with my job and only-parenthood. I have NO idea how you do it.

I was noticing some Star Wars stuff popping up.

This is such a cool pic with no one else around!

I said Rope Drop is crazy at Disneyland, and I stand by that comment.

Wow - that's crazy. I have never experienced a RD like that.

We saw Dumbo. There was hardly any line. Why not?

But of course!

But this put us close to one of our targets for the morning, Alice in Wonderland. The wait was already posted at 20 minutes when we arrived, but I didn’t think the line looked that long. As I mentioned, I was using the Lines App, and as part of it I would use the timer tool to track and submit our waits and posted waits as we were waiting in line. I think the wait time we submitted was actually only 12 minutes. Not too bad.

One of my absolute favorite DL rides.

For those of you who don’t know, IASW in DL has a holiday overlay, and while we were there it was still in place. Clearly, they were in the process of taking it down, as you can see part of the facade covered and we could see some stands of disassembled props that hadn’t been completely removed throughout the ride, but it was nice to still see some of the special holiday effects.

I'm shocked that this was still open when you went! You really lucked out. This January was the first time that we have been early enough for it to be open after Christmas. I wonder if they did a more gradual take-down of the Christmas stuff or something and didn't close it for as long???

 

[Dugette]

And it still showed the road to the lot I moved our car to as being one of those closed roads.

I hate when simple things become so overly-complicated and stressful due to lack of planning/communication.

Once again, the parks weren’t opening until 10:00 with a 9:00 EMH at DCA.

We had PLENTY of time.

That seems SO strange! I wonder why they open so late?

We rounded the corner to get in line for RSR…

Only to be told the ride is down. You can wait if you want, but we don’t know when it will be back up.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

You just had the worst luck with that!

The CM told them no running and then they all laughed.

Ominous...

But even though we were there, right at the rope when the park opened, we ended up waiting 20 minutes to ride Peter Pan.

Wow, that is a crazy rope-drop. Sorry you ended up with those longish waits.

The queues were certainly an afterthought on these rides. And they are narrow and tight! I’m about 6’2”, 230 lbs. Not a little guy, but I don’t consider myself to be huge either. And I found myself having to turn sideways to fit through the turnstiles in a lot of the queues there.

That's good to know. Dug said he has a vague memory of that from our one day in DL back in like 2006. Hope it's not an issue. WDW is so good about that kind of thing.

Alice is an interesting dark ride. Disneyland has several dark rides and a few of them can’t be found at WDW. This is one of them.

That's one of the things I'm most excited for with DL - some unique rides!

 

[afwdwfan]

I bet it's just as frustrating teaching high school boys. At least DH would think so, they way he comes home from practices and games.

The only difference is that the 4 - 6 year olds ignore you because they're distracted by... well, everything. And a high school kid ignores you because they already know everything.

How funny is that!? Oh my gosh, if that way my kid, i'd probably be so embarrassed and then die laughing!

Glad DS did such a great job at his first game!

We had a few funny incidents during the game. 2 kids doing the snow angel thing behind second base, one was a base runner and was tagged out at the pitcher's mound when he left second base to field the ball, and we had one who ran off the field during the game to go to the fence and tell his uncle in the stands something.

We're not coaches, we're cat herders.

Oh no thank you.

My exact sentiments. Threats have been made over that one.

She looks so happy! Happy belated Birthday to her!

She had a great time! Thanks!

#farmerlife

#idontdohastagsbutifidididstealit

Would have been nice to get this in an email when you received your room confirmation months in advance

That is a great idea! Go turn your application in at Disneyland. They need more minds like yours.

I totally love when I wake up hours before I have to be at a park, especially at DLR, knowing I won't have to wait for a bus or a boat to get anywhere. The day starts out much more relaxed in that sense.

It really does. I think that was the biggest difference for me about out trip to DL versus the typical WDW trip. The park closed at 8 and opened at 10, where at WDW we're usually going to the park at 8 am and staying till 10 pm. We were kind of forced to go back to the room and go to bed early. Which really worked well.

Pros

When it comes to Disney, I'm a fast learner.

The relaxation is over I guess. Oh my gosh.

Yep! People do NOT listen to CM's at DLR. And you're right, the CM's won't call them out on running either. I saw a CM once at the MK years ago pretty much run after a running group to tell them not to run

Yeah, good point. I also noticed that the night we waited for fireworks. They had ropes up and had CM's directing traffic trying to make a one way flow for the people who would be coming out of Fantasmic! soon. They'd basically tell people they couldn't go past the Jolly Holiday Bakery towards Adventureland/Frontierland, but they'd walk by the CM's and the CM's would just look at them and make a half hearted effort to say something again.

But at RD, yeah, it was like an inside joke. I mean the family laughed when the CM told them not to run, and the CM laughed too.

Isn't it amazing how quickly the line builds up like that. You seriously have to have DD out of the stroller before you even enter Fantasyland and push the stroller into the parking area without stopping your stride. It's nuts!

The thing is, we did. I reached down and grabbed her out of the stroller as we were walking through the castle and handed her to DW and I basically just shoved our stroller off to the right with the others as we walked towards the entrance to PP.

can only imagine you in the Pinocchio queue! I can barely fit in that queue

It was snug. Not horrible though. It isn't like I was getting stuck in the queues, but they are definitely tighter than what you'll find in Florida!

Cute!

Thanks

Love this shot with the mountain in the background and the Fantasyland village.

I liked it too. That stupid mountain was just taunting me. Looking so majestic, yet so far away...

Are you kidding me. They were still changing the overlay?? Dude. You need a redo. Now.

I don't know. I kind of liked the music.

I do love that they added this in there. Not sure why people hated the addition, it's not like the characters took away from everything else

Exactly! They were somewhat discrete and just kind of a fun nod. It was neat to look for them and see who was included in various scenes.

Y'know ... you're allowed to go to the Expo even if you're not a runner. At least in FL you are. They don't require any proof of running.

Ok, first of all, I didn't know whether it was open t the public or not. And second... well, I'm not a runner. I guess it might have been cool to check it out and see what Star Wars things they might have had, but it really wasn't a big deal to me.

This is insane. This did not happen to us at all (although ... we also tended to go to RSR late in the day because the whole "shorter lines at rope drop" thing is hard for us sometimes).

Well, I'm glad that isn't the norm. I mean, I had to assume it isn't, but based on the small sample size I had...

I never get tired of reading this. I love how easy it is to park hop at DL. One of the many things I love about DL.

It's never easy ...

No kidding.

Maybe they were practicing for the race!

I don't know. The race is a marathon, not a sprint.

So ... I've never really done rope drop at DL (even when I get up at 6 AM it's still hard for me to get to the parks early) ... but this sounds insane. Lines do get pretty long, though, and it would be nice if some of they had FP-enabled attractions. (Although we were very lucky with short lines on our last trip ... so crowd level definitely has an impact)

I'm sure crowd levels make a difference. I was kind of thinking too, I wonder if it would be different if the park opened earlier? I mean it isn't that hard to get up and make RD by 10 am.

As someone who has done both, I like to comment on your WDW/DL comparisons (as much as I hate when people make the comparisons at all), but ... this isn't something I remember noticing.
Then again, I'm kinda tiny.

I know. I only compare to irritate you.

It really isn't that big of a deal. It isn't like I got stuck in a queue line or anything, but it is just one of the observations that I really noticed while we were there.

"Daddy, why are you trying to take a selfie while I'm fixing my hair?"

Hey, I tried.

I think characters are definitely great at DL. I kinda understand why everything is so scheduled at WDW, but I really loved just randomly seeing characters at DL.

Yeah, it makes sense why things are the way they are, but I did love the random character appearances and interactions around the park at DL.

I think the Alice ride is great, so I'm glad you guys enjoyed! DL definitely has some great dark rides, which is one of the many things I love so much about DL.

Scaffolding? Really? It's much prettier without the scaffolding! It looks really beautiful all lit up (I wish I had a picture to share ... but I only have daytime pictures). But the clock face guy wears a Santa hat.

We did see it lit up. And it is beautiful. But we never did see it without all the scaffolding and temporary façade in front of the actual show building.

Okay ... so here's my unsoliticed opinion on the holiday IASW:
As someone who celebrates a non-Christmas holiday, I find it a little offensive that they ignore all holidays other than Christmas in an attraction that is supposed to highlight world cultures (although it does highlight Christmas across the world).
That said, the change of music is nice. And I'm not wild about the random Disney characters, but I kinda understand why they did it.

Definitely a valid point. I enjoyed it, but I am a Christian and celebrate Christmas. I can definitely see where you're coming from though.

I, personally, liked the characters. I thought they really did a good job of just making them a discrete addition rather than something that took over the attraction and overwhelmed the original theme and idea.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

It is my goal... if there's one thing I accomplish this year, they will stand quietly and remove their hats for the National Anthem.

That would be a great start!

So I hear. Were you in on that mess?

I tried. It looked to me like Disney was adding a lot of strings to the deal, forcing you to upgrade tickets, rooms, etc. It's not really a discount if you have to pay more elsewhere to get it.

 

[afwdwfan]

I some how get the feeling that this race is gonna be troublesome...

All I can say is that the communication, or lack thereof, made things seem much more difficult than it actually was.

I'm surprised at the chaos that is rope drop at DL. Maybe it's a Calidornia thing to be unorganized? Either way, it's very unusual for Disney, IMO.

Maybe it was kind of a California thing. I mean it seemed like they were a lot more lax and laid back about how they handle things there.

AinW is on my bucket list! I have never seen a photo or read a description (other than yours really) about the ride cause when I make it out to DL I want it to be knew to me!! I live that film, and so does DD, probably something to do with all the colors and songs....

It is a neat ride, I'm sure you'd enjoy it. It is a trip through the movie as is the case with just about all of the dark rides. It's a very good one though. I did like the 2 story track and how it kind of takes you outside between a few of the scenes before brining you back into the show building.

What a weird boat ride. For whatever reason I started to think of the boat ride in Willy Wonka...

What a fun IASW! I am actually really find of that ride (I've been told it's cause DD is too little to enflct the torture that is that song stuck in a child's head) but I could see where a change would be welcomed.

You know, I make fun of it, but I do enjoy it. The song can be irritating, but the ride is a Walt Disney classic. I just don't see how you can not appreciate that.

DL is sounding really fun so far!!

It was!

Your daughter's birthday looked fabulous! I love the Frozen dresses!

Thanks!

Good luck with planting! We will miss you but will certainly forgive a brief hiatus - you'll need to combine some sleep with those energy shots!

Well, I'm sure I'll be around. Things have been slow at work lately so I've had plenty of time to hop on the DIS. I work as a grain buyer and unless the markets go crazy, nobody is going to want to talk to me while they're trying to plant. So hopefully I can get some rest and catch up here while I'm at work.

I'm glad they let you in at a more reasonable time that day... but, seriously? RSR was closed AGAIN?! That's nuts.

If we'd have had to wait until 9:20 again and then found it closed, that would have really screwed our morning up!

Didn't people used to run like that at Disney World before they enforced additional "control"? Can you imagine the number of elbows (and other things) that would be thrown along the way to Anna and Elsa and the 7DMT if people were allowed to do that at MK?! As long as I wasn't in the middle of that craziness, it may be rather amusing to watch.

Yeah, good point. It just really struck me that this happened that way at DL for attractions that had been there for so many years!

I'd love to do the dark rides at DL. I'd also love to ride the other rides unique to DL, like the Matterhorn.

That was definitely what our priorities were. And the stupid Matterhorn just taunted me all week. So close, yet so far away...

The outdoor loading at IASW must seem truly bizarre. I'm all for keeping attractions as classic as possible, but I think the addition of the Disney characters is perfect.

It was definitely a nice touch. They're mostly just minor appearances and they fit and blend in well with the scenes. The only one that just really jumped out and grabbed me and seemed a bit much were Woody, Bullseye and Jessie. They kind of almost had their own entire scene.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

When I Get Home I Shall Write a Book About This Place... If I Ever Do Get Home.

Curiouser and curiouser.

When we returned to our room Wednesday night and went to bed, it was still just around 9pm. I never go to bed that early at home.

Home… where it was still only 7pm.
Rope Drop would be much easier for those of us on this side traveling to the Left side.
Just trying to imagine how much harder it would be for the pacific folks to get moving that early at WDW.

When we returned to our room, we found a letter regarding the road closures due to the race. The letter did, in fact, support some of the information that I was given. It listed the times or the road closures (midnight to 8 or 10 am depending on the day) and instructed guests staying at the GCH to move their vehicles over to DLH if they needed out during those hours. However, the letter also included pictures of maps with the road closures listed. And it still showed the road to the lot I moved our car to as being one of those closed roads.

“Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.”

Once again, the parks weren’t opening until 10:00 with a 9:00 EMH at DCA.

We had PLENTY of time.

“No time to say "Hello, Goodbye". / I'm late, I'm late, I'm late.”

We finished eating and then turned on the TV and sat around the room for a while.

This never happens in the morning at WDW.

“I'm afraid I can't explain myself sir, because I'm not myself, you know.”

We finally headed out at around 8:30, only this time, we decided to use the main entrance rather than the GCH entrance just to see how it worked.

We were in the park just a little before 9. Obviously, we weren’t near the front of the crowd for RD this time, but we still weren’t too far back. It wasn’t bad.

They led us down the streets and toward Radiator Springs just after 9. A few minutes late, but certainly nothing like yesterday. We could see the crowd from the GCH entrance arriving at the same time we did and the 2 merged onto the main street of Radiator Springs.

Once again, we walked down the street. CM’s along the way informed us that if you want to ride RSR, keep to the right. They instruct us that we should park the stroller at Ramone’s if we plan to ride RSR. Yeah, we know. Been there done that.

“Never mind all that! Get to the part where I lose my temper.”

We rounded the corner to get in line for RSR…

Only to be told the ride is down. You can wait if you want, but we don’t know when it will be back up.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Off with their heads!”

That family that laughed about running to Peter Pan?


Yeah, they made Usain Bolt look like a slug.

But even though we were there, right at the rope when the park opened, we ended up waiting 20 minutes to ride Peter Pan.

Ok…
That’s just completely nutty.

According to the commercials I keep seeing, Californians are supposed to be really laid back…
compleat opposites to the East Coast folk. I’ve spent time in NYC and have never seen anything like that. I’d have said it was an aberration, if it weren’t for the CM’s resignation in dealing with the situation.

We saw Teacups. Of course there wasn’t a line. Why not?

Well, you see…

Wait a minute, don’t answer that one.

Oh, alright. Suit yourself.

The Mad Hatter was walking past and interacting with the people waiting in line. Kind of a nice touch and the spontaneous character interactions is definitely something that DL does better than WDW.

“Yes. You can always take more than nothing.”

The CM operating the boat talks about the story and the setting you’re passing as you move through all of the scenes.

What, No bad jokes or horrendous puns?
Oh, wait… wrong boat ride.

Carry on.

But as we rounded the corner we saw It’s a Small World.


Who can resist that siren song?

Well, that’s not quit what I had in mind when I said carry on

It is less repetitive and therefore not as ear wormy as IASW typically is.

Hummm…
Wonder if that’s only true during the holidays.

The kids had hot dogs, which were much better than the ones they had in San Diego.

A pretty low hurdle to clear, to be sure.


Actually, y’all accomplished a good bit that morning.
And now you’ve had lunch, taken a bit of a break, have passes for a DL exclusive ride in your pocket…

This afternoon may well be a very good one indeed.

 

[afwdwfan]

Great update, Andy.

Thanks!

Again with moving the car and street closures...and still not sure how it will affect you.

Well, I didn't have to move it this time... Based on the letter, I believed I was in the right place. And I figured if push came to shove, I'd have that letter with me when trying to get out and I could be "one of those" Disney guests if I had to on the way out as I show them this letter I had telling me I could leave.

Seriously, Radiator was down again? This just wasn't working for you at all.

I could have ridden it 10 times. But it just wasn't meant to be.

You got quite a bit accomplished despite that. I love the daddy/daughter picture on the Mad Tea Party. And how cool that the Mad Hatter walked by as you got on Alice in Wonderland. Those queues I have heard are absolutely awful.

Not a bad start at all. The queues definitely aren't a make or break, but it is definitely a much different experience than at WDW.

The only reason I'd do It's a Small World in DL is to see the Disney characters.

Oh, I think you'd be ok with the Christmas overlay. The song really is more enjoyable when it isn't as repetitive, to be quite honest.

Love "real life" updates - always so fun!

Well, thanks. I guess we all do more than just live lives revolving around Disney.

That's awesome!!!

And that sucks....

Awww - Happy Birthday, DD!

Thanks!

You know I approve of these present choices!!!!

Oh, I had no doubt about that.

Look at that joy - cinderella dress and a bouncy house? HEAVEN!

She was pretty happy about it all. She wasn't very happy Monday though when we got home and she didn't understand why her castle wasn't still there. I guess she thought she got to keep it...

You know, I struggle a LOT to find time to get on here at all what with my job and only-parenthood. I have NO idea how you do it.

I do a lot of my DIS posting at work, honestly. I tend to read posts in the evening before I go to bed, and then comment when I have downtime at work. Which I'm sure you've figured out from the times I'll try to get a point in your quote game and reply to the rest later. I'm a grain buyer in my office job, so work can be very cyclical based on what the commodity markets do. We're stuck in about a 2 week rut now, so I've been twiddling my thumbs a lot lately. I'd assume that it will continue through planting season and if that's the case, I'll probably be able to somewhat keep up. But if things get busy here, I'm done.

This is such a cool pic with no one else around!

Thanks. It actually took a little bit of effort to get it. They actually had some barricades and a golf cart parked on the entrance to the red carpet to block it off.

But there wasn't anybody around to keep an eye on things...

Unfortunately, I didn't realize it wasn't focused very well until I looked at it later.

Wow - that's crazy. I have never experienced a RD like that.

I'd like to think it was an anomaly, but the way that other family and CM joked about the running like it was some kind of an inside joke makes me think otherwise.

But of course!

It's there. The line's short. Hard to pass it up.

One of my absolute favorite DL rides.

I was impressed by it. I didn't have the highest of expectations, but I liked it!

I'm shocked that this was still open when you went! You really lucked out. This January was the first time that we have been early enough for it to be open after Christmas. I wonder if they did a more gradual take-down of the Christmas stuff or something and didn't close it for as long???

They seemed to be in the middle of teardown as we were there. I started looking around and paying close attention **spoiler alert** during our second ride. I could see that in a room where maybe there would be 4 of a particular Christmas decoration, I could look down in the area between the water track and the stage and see stands for maybe another 4 of the same that had already been removed. If that makes any sense at all. It is hard to describe.

 

[afwdwfan]

I hate when simple things become so overly-complicated and stressful due to lack of planning/communication.

And that is exactly what the problem was...

That seems SO strange! I wonder why they open so late?

I don't know. I guess middle of the week in mid-January is probably one of their lower crowd times, so maybe that's why the cut the hours back so much? I really don't know though.

You just had the worst luck with that!

Ominous...

If I only knew...

Wow, that is a crazy rope-drop. Sorry you ended up with those longish waits.

It was crazy. At least the waits were manageable, and like I said, the lines were longer later on so it did work out for the best. But if someone was to tell me I'd be standing right at the rope and still wait 20 minutes for Peter Pan, I'd have thought they were crazy.

That's good to know. Dug said he has a vague memory of that from our one day in DL back in like 2006. Hope it's not an issue. WDW is so good about that kind of thing.

It isn't just horrible, but it certainly is noticeable. DD stood on her own in line a lot more than she wanted to just because it was tight enough that if we picked her up, we'd be bumping into people as we passed them in the switchbacks.

That's one of the things I'm most excited for with DL - some unique rides!

It was exciting to see some different rides. And some old favorites that have since been removed from Florida.

That would be a great start!

All we can ask is for small victories.

I tried. It looked to me like Disney was adding a lot of strings to the deal, forcing you to upgrade tickets, rooms, etc. It's not really a discount if you have to pay more elsewhere to get it.

I noticed that with our Disney World trip last year. I even had a pin code, but when we looked at it, we were going to have to make significant changes or upgrade and pay more to get the discount. I'm all for saving money, and I love a good discount, but I almost wish they'd just get rid of them if the occupancy is getting back up to high enough numbers that they really can't offer a wider ranging discount package. All it does is cause frustration and leave paying customers with a bitter taste in their mouth.

 

[ursalita]

Hey Andy! Just caught up on your last few updates. I think I'd heard that story about Walt's apartment somewhere but didn't realize it was true. Thanks for sharing the picture. Very cool.

It's interesting to see a lot of the differences and similarities between the two parks. I'm glad you posted the picture of the castle with the peak next to it so you could see the perspective. Aside from the size it also looks kind of disjointed to me, like it's two different castles.

I guess there are some benefits to not having much space - less walking saves time.

Love the baseball picture. My son is 9 and he still plays in the dirt in the infield. Happy birthday to your daughter!

It was definitely weird to see part of IASW outside. I do like the idea of there being characters throughout the ride.