Theme Park Discussion / Disneyland in a nutshell...

Anywho, we got to the park at around 8, right when it opened. We parked in K-Lot and took the cast shuttle over so we saved a lot of time with the security checkpoint going in from the East. Met up with Cork and his lady friends right when we got through that and headed into Disneyland. First we went and hit up Rockin' Space Mountain since no one else had yet gone on it. Got Fast Passes for it as well for a later time. Line was about 15 minutes long, and right when we got to Hold 1 (after the picture) we got stopped as the ride broke down. Cork and the girls were in the car behind us so they were further in the show building still. That was pretty cool though.

Hit up Buzz after that, got 370K and placed 22'nd for the day... even if it was only about 8:30, lol. Went and got some Mocha's after that and decided to go on Peter Pan, but it went down right when we got there so we hopped over to Adventureland to get on the Jungle Cruise. One of my co-cast members from Indy was our skip, and she wasn't that great... lol. Off to Indy after that where the line was 25 mins but I got us through the Fast Pass line so that saved us 10 mins or so.

Once we got off we decided to hit up DCA, but got Fast Passes for Big Thunder first. Got into DCA and hit up Tower first, which was a walk-on. Great ride... over to Monsters Inc after that since Albert and the girls (well, his guests) hadn't gone on it yet. Line was about 10 mins, which it's not worth it unless it's a walk on, but yeah... it was nice, still better than Superstar Limo, but yeah...

Went over and got Fast Passes for Soarin' after that and then Allison and I went on Grizzly, where my right side got soaked, lol. Hit up Cali' Screamin' after that, great ride, love the ejector air on that hill after the launch. Maliboomer after that, where our tower went 101 so we had to switch, which was nice cause then we actually had a view (on the first tower we were just facing the other one straight on). Got off that, hit up Mulholland Madness where Cork made a friend who was flyin' solo, lol. Finally we hit Soarin', and got front row, middle which was awesome. I think the only thing I really like about that ride now is how awesome it is to have your entire sight taken up by the screen and no sides being seen or anything. It's crazy huge, lol.

Hopped over to Disneyland after that to find a spot to eat. Originally we wanted Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, but when we got there we found it closed. Meh. So we hit up the Riverbelle Terrace or whatever and each got the BBQ Platter. Good stuff... Two of my co-Cast Members called me and said they were in the park at that point so they came over and hung out for a bit while we went on Big Thunder all together. Also love the ejector air on that ride... but seriously, it scares me now with that death, lol.

Headed over to Matterhorn after that, originally planned, then scheduling called and wanted to see Kimi (one of the CM's we were with) so after Allison went to the bathroom we headed back to Riverbelle as the Adventure offices are located above it. Allison and I just waited and talked to the Indy workers at the time (as Indy is right across from it) and went on that again with them before heading out to meet up with a friend at House Of Blues at Downtown Disney for a bit. After that, we got friggin way tired as we've had little sleep the past couple days, and yeah, so we went to dinner and headed home for the night.

Anywho, here's a couple pix... Cork took a billion, lol, so he'll prolly post those later (like the Tower shot, lol).















And hey... 700 posts for this account, lol. That's only like, about 1500 total... but yeah.

Edited by The Beta Factor, 25 February 2007 - 02:11 PM.

Hey, that was tough luck with all the break-downs...
It sounds like it was a nice day, though!
Can't wait to see cork's pics

Much fun. Getting stuck on Rockin' Space Mountain must have been fun. Oh, and if Corky posts his pics in here, this topic will quickly go from 56k friendly to 56k deadly... ...

Of course Croky takes asian girls...

DUH.

Actually, I've taken non-Asian girls to theme parks before.



Anyway, Brent, sorry we never got to say proper good-bye and thank you for bringing us in. We figured at 4:45 when you still weren't at Indy that you probably weren't coming back. But we had a fantastic time and owe a huge part of that to you and your "cast member perks." And it was fun seeing Allison again, even if she did really really want to see the High School Musical Pep Rally ( ).

So thank you for an awesome day. I'll post my TR and pics when I get back to school and can upload my pics to my computer (forgot my transfer cable). And THEN we'll turn this thread into 56k deadly.

When did you guys leave? Allison wants to go back to just the esplenade after the Duck's game tonight (starts at 5) to catch the fireworks show, lol.

After midnight, of course.

Alright, here's my go at it.


A couple of weeks ago, Brent invited me to Disneyland and said I could bring a guest. After asking seemingly everyone I knew, I finally found two who weren't busy. Anyway, hit the resort a little bit after 8:00 AM and find Brent and Allison behind us after we get through bag check.

Summary of the day: magical. Sounds cliche, but we had an amazing time, doing pretty much everything (we hit every E-ticket that was open, sans Toon Town, and did a bunch of Fantasyland rides as well). Major thanks to Brent for his CM perks.

Interestingly, though, the theme of the day seemed to be Day of a Million Breakdowns. I guess that fits this year's marketing theme. Breakdowns we encountered:
- Space Mountain: stopped on the lift 1. Turns out it was a cast member stop, not a major ride malfunction. I think a dad freaked out that the ride ops didn't actually physically check the lap bar (Disneyland ops don't have to actually tug on the restraints).
- Peter Pan: Wanted to ride it early. Saw there was no line. Turns out it was broken down.
- Maliboomer: Got on the tower. Tower broke down. Moved to another tower. Got the same view of... nothing (to the southwest).
- Haunted Mansion: For whatever reason, the ride was getting stopped every 15 seconds. We got off the elevator and saw the line backed up basically to the first portrait. Half of the elevator made it out. Then, two minutes later, the other elevator come down, and no one gets out of that one. Talk about major log jam! Anyway, the ride ended up lasting twice as long as it should have because of all the stops. *shrug*

Rockin' Space Mountain was not as bad as I thought. It's lit, and I know a lot of people don't like that (my two friends who accompanied me didn't like it, and they're definitely in the GP category), but I found the lighting to be pretty neat. I think it was more because I've always been curious about the layout and stuff, so it was (pun intended) enlightening. Once the novelty wears down, I guess it won't be anything special. Rockin' California Screamin', however, sucks with the RHCP soundtrack. It doesn't fit. It sucks. It doesn't fit. It sucks. Also, the ride seems less wild, I guess due to the trims they increased sometime last year or something like that? I hadn't been to DCA in a year and a half, so I didn't know/notice this until now. Anyway, I'm glad the Rockin' promotion ends April 26.

I should mention that the Parade of Dreams is awesome. I had seen it two years ago when it first debuted, but hadn't seen it since then. Well, we got some good seats for the 7:00 PM showing Saturday, and I fell in love with the parade all over again. Arguably the best Disneyland parade ever produced. Just super high quality all around, and totally redeems that piece of crap Parade of the Stars that came before it. They really need to release the soundtrack for this parade, because it's a ridiculously catchy tune. The stop scene that crescendos with Walt Disney's "To all who come to this happy place... welcome!" never fails to give me goosebumps.

Also caught the fireworks show, which was awesome as usual. It's the exact same show as the 50th anniversary version, except that the projections on the castle are gone, the Indy sequence has two flamethrowers on each side instead of three, and I feel as though, when Tinkerbell makes her first flyover, less and less fireworks get shot out each time I see the show.


Here's the view on lift 1 of Space Mountain when they stop the ride and the lights turn on.


My friend goes to sleep while we wait for the ride to restart. I'm too hyped up because I'm a rockin' rocket rocker, and I'm ready to rock!!!


On-ride photo from Space.


Nifty "Partners" photo taken in the morning.


We went on Tower of Terror, which is still really fun. Can't wait for new ride programs to kick in though.


Closeup of our on-ride photo. Brent's expression is priceless. I'm just being goofy as usual.


Really neat Grizzly River Run "action shot" I took.


Unintentionally scurry photo of me that I took of myself. I come off as some emo rock guy or something like that.


California Screamin' on-ride.


Stylish diagonal photo of Maliboomer, which was reduced to one-tower operation by the time we were done. The third tower is still under rehab.


Brent got shot while he wasn't looking.


Handrails at Soarin' over California definitely need some repainting.


Back at Disneyland, in line for Big Thunder Mountain.... HOLY HORRIFIC HAIR, Batman!!!

And here's some photos of the Parade of Dreams. The ones that came out decently, at least.


The fairies start out the parade and prance around. Tim Hardaway tries to come out of the crowd to attack them, but is subdued by pixie dust and taken away so that George Takei can have sex with him.


Beauty and the Beast float.


Then Ariel comes out riding a gigantic penis.


Then a multi-tentacled monster follows her, turning this into some sort of hentai fantasy or something. That could fit with Brent's "Adult Fantasyland" idea (ask Brent about the story).


Then a stoned out bug beckons you to get high.


Simba comes out and dances.


I thought this photo was cool.


Back on the serious side, the floats are amazing.


We got the Lion King stop show, and the acrobats on the ropes are amazing. They do some crazy rope scaling tricks without a net, then get spun around like shown above.


Finally, the princesses and toons close the parade out.


Night shot of Space Mountain.


My friend challenged me to get a photo of all the space Mickeys lit up, assuming it would be hard because I wouldn't be able to get them all in a longer exposure because they're only all lit up for a brief instant. She lost.


Thought this photo of the Storybook Canal station was nifty. The big version is very crisp.


I rode the Carrousel for the first time since I was like... eight. Quite nostalgic.


See? I'm kiddishly ecstatic!


We'll end with a closing shot of the castle.


And as a special present, here's a desktop wallpaper of a panorama of Paradise Pier. Photo taken Saturday.


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You know, Croky, you kind of look like George Takei...

haha. Asians always crack me up.

but, anywhore. i wish i could hang out with you guys at Disneyland. they need to build a park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. it can be called "Disney's Hick Experience". then i can take Asian girls to it and post pics on NE3.

but seriously.
Brent, is that your girlfriend. if not, HOOK ME UP BRO LOL
i kid, i kid.
though, i don't think she's appreciate you telling the forii of her urination stops. maybe that's just me though.
(i'm going to Hell when i die)

all in all i'd say you kids had fun. and i hate you all for it.

edit: no, Cork looks nothing like George Takei. NOT ALL ASIANS LOOK ALIKE, OK.

Edited by Tyler, 26 February 2007 - 03:23 PM.

quit with the gang signs croky, this is a family website.

but seriously.
Brent, is that your girlfriend. if not, HOOK ME UP BRO LOL
i kid, i kid.

^God I hope your kidding...
-JDP

I wish I could've gone. I probably should've. I mean, magical?!? Plus, I need to get there while they're still doing the Rockin' stuff. Maybe next time.

And that video was awesome.

^God I hope your kidding...
-JDP

Well, if he was, I place my dibs, as well.

Sloppy seconds are cool, too.

Hey, did anyone happen to go today? I was there. Happy belated birthday. Highlights of the day include the 50 Years of Disney thing on Main Street. I think I spent an hour in there. Buzz, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder (x2) were great as well.

Why were you back home in San Diego by 10PM? You totally missed the AMAZING fireworks show tonight. I'm pretty sure it was extended a couple minutes with a different ending. I watched it from the Indy Marquee... just awesome. I dunno if you saw me, since I was wearing my friend's name-tag (Leon) today instead of mine, since I forgot mine in my car, lol.

Anywho, glad to hear you had a good time, any pix?

Oh and these past two days til Tuesday is Indy's 12 year anniversary! Big potluck on Tuesday night after the park closes at that Festival arena, lol.

Edited by The Beta Factor, 05 March 2007 - 04:06 AM.

Why in the world would they extend the fireworks and have a different ending?

You also said the Christmas fireworks was different (and had a Jewish section with dradles), but that was definitely not the case when I saw it on NYE.

They have a totally different show for NYE than the regular Christmas Fantasy one.

So... for NYE only, they went and put on the OLD Christmas fireworks show, rather than do something special for that night (besides that actual countdown show)?

You not making much sense, Brent.