18 posts tagged “disneyland”
6:26am It's 6:25am, I'm leaving for Disneyland in about 30 minutes, and I'm doing work? Geez - it's been a busy last couple of wks in June.
7:30am On the way 2 disneyland - forgot phone so had 2 go back. Luckily only 1 block from home.
7:44am Finally up to ticket booth
8:06am Indy not open yet.
8:08am Splash not open either.
8:10am Theres like less 10 people on haunted.
9:43am I like the old small world boats better. [1]
9:56am Est 45 wait on Space Mountain. And Sis wants 2 wait. Uh...
10:26am Turned out only 21 mins,
10:37am Hopefully the wait will b shorter. [Astro Blaster 2]
11:20am Soarin - wait time 30 min. [3]
12:04pm Grizzly Rapids River Run down.
12:18pm Toy story wait - 40 min.
12:54pm Getting close 2 the front of Toy Story [4]
1:07pm CA Screamin - 30 min standby but we have fps.
1:12pm Still a bit of a wait.
1:40pm Waiting 4 Aladdin show.
1:46pm Sitting in the balcony.
1:56pm Still waiting.
2:48pm Tower of Terror standby time 25 min.
3:08pm Up to TOT hotel entrance now.
3:13pm Waiting 4 the elevator.
3:24pm Getting onto elevator at TOT.
3:46pm Im confused - is there a parade or not?
4:02pm Splash wait 70 min or return at 9:50. Right.
4:08pm Indy 55 min or come back past 9. Luckily we have Fast Passes.
4:17pm Almost boarding Indy.
4:55pm Grizz river run was down and is back.
4:57pm Back down again - was abt 2 board, literally - on loading dock.
4:59pm Success! (Boarded Grizz river run)
6:08pm Eating a burger - waiting for Fantasmic. For 3 hrs.
6:08pm $7.59 cheeseburger [5]
10:10pm Leaving Disneyland (through Downtown Disney). [6]
Went to Knott's Berry Farm today (Thanksgiving). Crowds were sparse - perhaps because of the threat of rain (there was puffy white clouds against a blue sky, right next to dark gray clouds). Or because of the economy? Anyway, there were definitely fewer people than last Thanksgiving.
If the bag check at Disneyland is for show only, the bag check at Knott's is even more pointless. They have 1 employee checking bags for two lines - you can just imagine how much attention they pay to the bags (none).
We're not big on roller coasters so we stayed away from most of them. We did spend some time in Camp Snoopy (even though none of us are kids). It was fine, though - except for Timberline Twister. It's a kid roller coaster and riders have to be between (I think) 39 inches and 69 inches. I'm not exactly a toothpick, but I'm on the slender size (compared to the average these days) and I could barely fit in the seat without the lap bar digging into my tummy. I can't imagine how someone 5'9" could fit in there.
The walk up to the loading area for Bigfoot Rapids is wayyyy too long. I guess they need it for the summer time, when the lines are long, but they need a shortcut for the off-season. Lines were non-existant - they were sending rafts through with just 2 or 3 people.
Dragon Swing was a ride that I remember from my trip to Knott's as a 10-year old. We sat near the center so we didn't swing that much, but even that was kind of intense. Thankfully, the ride ended soon.
The Ferris wheel reminded me tremendously of The Office episode. And Log Jam - well, it's not Splash Mountain. I know that Knott's had it first, but Splash is much better.
I think one of the main problems about Knott's (aside from astronomical prices for food - even worse than Dland) is their theming. Or lack thereof. Sure, there's the Peanuts gang, but then they also sell Hello Kitty, The Simpsons, Sesame Street, and even Disney. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it feels like it's a smorgasboard of stuff - none really fitting in.
But the one thing they do have is discounts, and complimentary admission for police/fire dept employees, veterans and county social service workers. So that's a plus for KBF.
Watching 90210... Naomi looks like Jessi Spano (from Saved by the Bell). It's annoying. Except that the other girl, the one who is the star in the play, is Jessi! Taking pills! Hahaha!
Lacrosse - who plays lacrosse?! On other shows, they play stuff like football, soccer, track/field, basketball, but no, in Beverly HIlls, they apparently play lacrosse. Those other sports are too pedantic for them. I mean, the girls played lacrosse on Gossip Girl, but that's Gossip Girl. This is Torrance High West Beverly High.
Erin Silver reminds me of Peyton (One Tree Hill). Jessi Spano Naomi looks really old. The grandmother's character is so much like Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development!
Doesn't Jennie Garth and Silver's conversation sound like it belongs on What I Like About You (Jennie Garth and Amanda Bynes)?
Annie looks a lot like Lori Laughlin (good casting for mother and daughter).
When Dixon pulled out his cellphone (text message reading "ethan is cheating on you, you know it's true") - did anyone else think Gossip Girl?!
Annie singing along with Adriana and the chorus - so Pussycat Dolls!
George and Ethan fighting. Gawd, they're annoying. Send in Chuck Bass. He'll take care of them. Or Quentin from One Tree Hill. Either way.
Wow, just about anyone can get into Naomi's party!
And Naomi's mom (who was Eric's sister on That 70's Show) looks soooo old! She looked better on Hot Properties.
What's with the actors on this show? They're not particularly pretty or handsome, a few of the girls (Silver in particular, but also Annie) are walking skeletons.
Naomi looks a tad bit better with straight hair... not channeling Jessi Spano so much.
Why do they keep showing shots of the beach? This is not The O.C.! Beverly Hills is not that close to the beach.
Ethan squawks. Seriously, trashed hall by rival school is so Saved by the Bell. But no need squawking!
Naomi has yet another hairstyle - straightened, curled with a curling iron, and plastered w/ hairspray.
Why does Ethan keep running after Naomi, when he and Annie clearly like each other.
What is that tattoo on Naomi's back?
Can Dixon stop walking around like a nerdy freshman?
Do classrooms really have all those computers? Do they really need them (in English class?!) And do people really walk around with laptops?
When Naomi came storming towards Ethan (after seeing Silver's blog about his infidelity), didn't she look like a lollipop head?! It looked like the puppet! And really, who wears clothes like that? Is she trying to look old on purpose?
"Where are we? This looks like an airport." Wow, Annie is quite the detective!
Commercial for Confessions of a Shopaholic - I hated those books. With a passion.
Ty is channeling Nate Archibald. But with a little better clothing sense (Nate thinks wearing a ratty white t-shirt and a girl's sweater works for the White Party).
Music from the old 90210! Or it sounds like it.
Kelly to Brenda - "we need to spend more time together... by the way, can you baby-sit my kid? Because we don't have babysitters in West Beverly."
Ty to Annie - "we don't get cell service in flight." Really? I mean, the FAA tells everyone to turn off their phones, but I'm pretty sure you COULD still get service... you're just not supposed to use it.
I was really looking forward to the premiere of Privileged. Arg.
No, really, why was Naomi and Ethan together?
Did Ethan just call Annie "A"? Gossip Girl?!
I love those AT&T commercials - where they show what happens when the person can't get service?
Annie and Dixon seem to fit in just fine. Veronica Mars had more difficulty fitting in, at a school she went to for a few years already, than these two do.
Mr. Mathews - "a lot of schools hate Palisades. It could be any of them."
Mr. Wilson - "the pigs were wearing West Beverly lacrosse jerseys."
Mr. Mathews - "then it was probably us."
What the heck does Silver wear and why? And geez, she is sooo skinny! She looks a little like Lindsay Lohan, but much much skinnier. And less skanky.
The character that both Silver and Naomi have on their backs - the character is pronounced "zhong". And it apparently means "in the middle; second-born; brothers". Hmm, nowhere does it say "friends". Although I guess "brothers" would be close? It reminds me of when my friends and I went to Disneyland this summer - we saw some lady who had a tattoo on her heck - it was the character for stupid. Yep, stupid. My friends wanted me to ask her if she knew what it meant, but I didn't dare!
Finally, Ethan and Naomi break up!
By the way, doesn't Liz Lemon (Tina Fey's character on 30 Rock) look like Sarah Palin?!
I went to DCA for the first time ever... that would be Disney's California Adventure for all of you non-Disney folk.
Not sure when/if I'll be going to DCA again in the near future. It reminds me a lot of Knott's Berry Farm and seeing that it costs the same as a Disneyland ticket, well, I'd rather go to DL. Not that it wasn't a nice experience ('cause it was) though.
DCA officially opens at 10am (DL opens at 8am), but guests can enter in the gates at 9:30am. Soarin' Over California opens early and there was no line so we hopped on that. It's a pretty neat attraction but nothing too exciting.
Then it was off to Grizzly River Run, but we had to wait for it to 10am first. GRR is similar to Bigfoot Rapids at Knotts, but splashier - got super soaked. One foot/sock got wet. We happened to go right through the big fountain at the end.
On our way to Paradise Pier, we passed by PUSH, the talking trashcan.
Over in Paradise Pier: we rode Golden Zephyr (short line - maybe 2 minutes?), Mulholland Madness (maybe 10 minute wait), and Jumpin' Jellyfish (maybe 2 minute wait). Golden Zephyr is like the swing-type ride at carnivals but rather than the single seat swings, we sat in these rocket ship type mobiles (2 people per row). It was okay, not exciting but not too hecic. Mulholland Madness was reminiscent of Gadget's Go Coaster at Disneyland - long lines, short jolt-y ride, fun but not really worth the wait. Jumpin' Jellyfish is kind of like... well, an elevator. Again, not an exciting ride but I guess it would be fun for little kids.
Then we headed to California Screamin', a roller coaster. When we got in line, the wait time was 15 minutes but then it changed to 25 and then 30 (the CM asked us to make sure no one cut while she went to change the wait time - she even gave us permission to yell at anyone who tried to cut ^_^).
I haven't gone on a roller coaster that goes upside down since... Montezuma's Revenge at Knott's when I was like 11? I don't remember - I generally don't like coasters. This one wasn't bad, kind of fun - you don't even really notice when you go upside down and it's so quick and over with.
To relax a bit, we rode King Triton's Carousel of the Sea. Unlike traditional carousels, you ride sea animals, such as dolphins, whales, goldfish, seahorses, seals, otters and sea lions (well, maybe just two out of the last three - but not sure which ones). The CM picks one little girl to be a princess and lead the carousel (basically, all it means is that the girl gets a paper crown, a-la-Burger King).
On to the Sun Wheel, a Ferris-wheel type ride, but where two-thirds of the gondolas (the things you sit in - are they really called gondolas?) are on rails and thus slide back and forth. The line for the non-sliding gondolas (red) was shorter, the line for sliding gondola (purple and orange) was about 30 minutes.
The wheel goes around one full time and then it goes around and stops every so often for people to disembark and board. So you actually go around one full time in "real-time" and then once with stops and starts. It's pretty wild, especially when your gondola is heading towards another one and then (as the wheel shifts) you nearly avoid it. The gondolas seat up to maybe 6 people? The couple behind us (teenagers maybe - bf and gf) wanted to sit by themselves but the CM said that in order to reduce wait times, they were grouping small groups together. I guess they didn't want other people (us) to find out that they were a bunch of wusses. They were actually, well, not scared, but like freaking out a little because of the gondolas' shifting.
Off to a Bug's Land, through Pacific Wharf. We were trying to get to the Aladdin musical at 12:20pm but it was already 12:10pm and we weren't sure where the Hollywood Backlot was so we decided to catch the later show. At a Bug's Land, we rode Heimlich's Chew Chew Train (similar to the Winnie the Pooh ride at DL), Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies (bumper cars), Flix's Flyers (kind of like... dunno; I guess a low-fi version of Golden Zephyr or Astro Orbiters). Francis' Ladybug Boogie was not running. It's an okay area, really more kid oriented (even more than any land at DL).
We passed through Sunshine Plaza on our way to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot - saw Tourist Mickey and Tourist Minnie taking pictures with guests. Took a brief tour of the Disney Animation building - really enjoyed the Animation Academy, where a Disney illustrator teaches you how to draw a Disney character (we drew Winnie, in profile).
Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular was great. The wait time was long - about 45 minutes? But definitely worth the wait. I read that this show is going to be replaced by another show sometime soon... that's a shame because I really enjoyed the parrot and Genie. I mean, the whole show was great, but particularly those two characters.
Rounding the corner, we spotted Cinderella and Woody posing for photos, and then Sorcerer Mickey! We had happened upon Drawn to the Animation, which is this mini-show with singing by Disney animators and appearances by Cinderella, Woody and Sorcerer Mickey. Knowing that the three characters stay around after the show for pictures, I made sure to sit in the right section (next to where Sorc. Mickey was standing after the prior show). So as soon as the show ended and the CM announced that the characters were available for pics - I lined up behind a couple of people standing in front of Mickey. I was like 4th in line. Yay! And the pic was cute!
The line for Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! was long (45 minutes?) so we didn't bother.
We wandered around a bit, looking to spend my $27 gift certificate. Couldn't really find anything to buy - well, plenty to buy but not what I would spend...
Then we staked out seats for Pixar Play Parade. We sat across from the Golden Vine Winery and watched the CMs direct people towards Pacific Wharf in preparation for the parade. The Parade was okay - kind of fun but maybe because I'm not familiar with the movies (The Incredibles, Monsters Inc, etc). I liked the bubbles though, although there were piles of suds at times.
We stopped by the Mission Tortilla Factory for a brief video tour and a free tortilla. Some teens thought the video was lame/corny but come on, just watch it and get over it.
Another ride on Grizzly, wait time was about 20 minutes? We had FastPasses, but my sis didn't know I had them and already stood in line. I didn't get as wet this time, but other people in the raft did get plenty wet. (No fountain this time).
Took another trip to Animation Academy - this time, we drew Minnie!
Then it was time for Hollywood Tower of Terror. I don't think I've rode a free-fall type ride before but this was fun. It's totally cool seeing the view of DCA & DL from the 13th story (or whatever the top story is). The wait time was listed as 45 mins but was actually about 35. A teenage boy took out a quarter as our ride was about to start but the CM told him to put it away (I think the boy said something about tossing it up during the ride).
After that, we headed back to Paradise Pier to see it all lit up in the night sky. We didn't ride any rides but it's pretty neat to see. Reminds me of the Santa Monica Pier (I haven't been there but I've seen pics).
We sat in the same area as earlier for the Electrical Parade. It's a nice parade but the floats move so slowly. I ended up filming the parade with the mini DV camcorder in my left hand, and taking pics w/ my digital camera in my right.
We joined the "parade of random people" as we headed out of DCA - you know, the pile of people who follow the end of the parade to get to another part of the park. We saw the fireworks over DL and stopped in World of Disney to spend those $24 (spent $3 earlier). Ended up getting a Minnie plush (Retro) and a Mickey plush (baseball).
All in all, a great experience.
I've been to DL 5 times and DCA once in the past 9 months!
Race against time - in search of a Disneyland 2fer ticket...
-------------------
Went to the Vons store down the street - they only had one 2fer adult ticket. Plenty of children's tickets, plus the 2 Day Park Hopper. We asked a cashier and a manager, both who said if there's none there, then we're out. (What do you want us to do about it?)
Nice helpful people, don't ya think?
We bought the one 2fer. The cashier was nice and friendly, she asked if we were going now and we explained that we could only find one. She said that we were lucky to find that one ticket (I guess because they were popular/sold out). We commented that we'd have to go to another Vons and she told us to ask customer service to call another location to check if they had tickets.
So we did - the cashier (who came to man the cs counter) was pretty nice too. She tried calling one location but got no answer. She wrote down the phone number for us, and then when we asked if we could have the phone number of another location, she called them for us. They didn't have any tickets though, so she called another one in that city. They had to check but yes, they did - about 35 of them, so we should hurry.
It was actually a Pavilions, and they had about 100 of them.
A couple of interesting incidents at DLand today:
1. Spanish-speaking people not speaking English. Not that it's that surprising, since there are a lot of tourists and whatnot, but like on Small World - the CM had to repeatedly tell this one group "rows 4 and 5". And even though one of the women in the group repeated that in Spanish, some of them were still trying to sit in row 3. The CM had to keep shouting until they finally got the clue.
And getting FastPasses on Splash Mountain. This one family tried getting FPs but they had to wait 5 minutes (they asked the CM and she told them so). But I guess they somehow thought the "not a valid FP" ticket WAS the FP because they put all four tickets in (well, one at a time), got 4 not-valid FPs and then asked the CM. She then explained again about how they had to wait until 12:30pm, in 5 minutes, before they could get a FP.
2. On Matterhorn, there was this group with two teenage boys. It was like a young mother and her daughter, the two guys, and another young couple with two little girls. Anyway, the one teen didn't want to sit in between the legs of the other teen (well, I don't blame them, but then they should have asked to sit separately). Everyone else in their group was already sitting but this teen refused to sit down. The CM kept telling him (in Spanish) that he had to sit in between the other teen's legs. The teen kept shaking his head so then the CM opened the gate and said "well, then you're going to have to exit" (I think in both Spanish and English). So finally the teen sat down (I guess he was hoping they would just give in and let him sit alone - rather than telling him to leave). The CM says "it's just a ride, guys." (in English).
We (meaning me) wanted to ride Splash Mountain first thing in the morning - there's never a line. Unfortunately, it was down and they weren't sure when it would be back up. So we went to Haunted Mansion, with their holiday overlay (it's okay, I guess - at least makes it more interesting/different), and Pirates of the Caribbean. Neither had a wait and Pirates was almost empty (our boat only had us in row 3 and a couple in the row behind us).
Dumbo - short wait, maybe 10 minutes? Casey Circus Train thing (I have no clue what the name is) - I don't know if I've ever rode that before, so that was something new and fun. Then Storybook Canal (maybe 15 minutes?), It's a Small World (no wait - most people go in the left lane so the right lane was super quick). Pinocchio was a short wait (5 to 10 minutes) . Carousel - brief (maybe 5 minutes) wait.
Then AstroBlasters with a 15 minute wait (when we left, the wait time was 25 minutes). At one point, we went back near the wait times board and saw that Splash was only a 20 minute wait (turned out to be 30) so we high-tailed it back over to Critter Country. We got deliciously soaked and then I got FPs for later. The wait time, as we were leaving, was now 1 hr.
Matterhorn wait time was 35 minutes, but I think the line on the side closer to Tomorrowland was faster. Big Thunder Railroad's wait time was 20 minutes, I think. That ride does absolutely nothing for me. I don't enjoy, I don't hate it, it's just blah. Teacups took 18 minutes.
Jungle Cruise was a couple of minutes, Enchanted Tiki Room - no wait. Then we went on AstroBlasters again (with FPs). I think I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome, because my hand hurt from trying to shoot. We also went on Snow White (10 min wait) and Mr. Toad (which had a listed wait time of 30 minutes but was actually 17).
Since this is our last DL trip this year, we also rode the DL Railroad all the way around (that was fun and relaxing) and also the Monorail. The Monorail was probably the longest wait time out of the whole day, actually. Not helped by the fact that there was only 1 car running.
Then it was back to Pirates for a 2nd ride (wait time was 15 minutes) and finally back to Splash to use our FPs. Except that it was down again! It was about 7pm and the ride had gone down about 5 minutes earlier. So we ate some food (including a $6 turkey leg) and rested. Then we headed back to Splash, where we could hear the sounds of the logs running on the tracks - there were some people in the standby line, some people waiting near the FP entrance. That poor CM had to keep fielding people's questions about when the ride would be back up. About 3 minutes later, a guy CM came along and I *knew* that the ride was back up and running. So they opened up the lines and everyone practically ran through to the loading area. We got splashed a lot again, but not as much as the first time.
I can't remember what order we did things in (man, I am getting old!) and I just plain got lazy and didn't keep better notes. Plus, my camera is not recording the timestamp correctly on the pics anymore - when I transfer the pics to my computer, it just shows the time that I transferred the pics over as the created/modified date. Arr.
Went to Disneyland yesterday. We just have 1 more day out of our 4 day tickets... will probably go in October.
The family in front of me, to enter DLand, apparently had some kind of passes which could not beused that day (I thought the CM said City Pass, but CPs don't have black-out dates). Anyway, the CM told them that they could get (by which I think he meant "buy") black-out date passes... not sure if they did or just left. How sad is that, though?! (Another reason why reading is so incredibly important).
Anyway, Hippo had quite a day at DLand. Surprisingly, there weren't very many people there - well, at least not what you would expect for a summer Saturday. In fact, these past 3 trips to DL - a saturday in June, a saturday in July and this saturday in August have been surprisingly not crowded. We keep thinking it'll be more crowded later in the day, but that has never happened.
Splash Mountain - first thing. Always. I got FPs before we went on the ride, for later. After the first ride around, the CM asked if we wanted to ride again, so why not? =) We got sufficiently "splashed" but it was great fun.
Haunted Mansion and Pirates were next. No wait.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - no wait.
Teacups
Matterhorn - 20 minute wait
It's a Small World
King Arthur's Carousel
Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters - 25 minute wait
Innoventions* - no wait. It was okay - but nothing spectacular. Nowadays, most people use computers or play video games all the time. I thought the make-your-own-fireworks show was interesting, but everything else was just "eh".
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience* - about a 10 minute wait, before the pre-show show. There were a couple of teenage girls sitting in the row behind us - that would not stop talking. They commented about everything, including one time when they said the one guy was ugly. I seriously wanted to turn around and say "you're ugly" but of course, I didn't.
Enchanted Tiki Room* - about a 5 minute wait.
Aladdin and Jasmine StoryTale Adventures* in Aladdin's Oasis - it was hot in the oasis, but at least we were in the shade. This show was pretty funny, but I think if you are a foreigner who doesn't really understand English, you might not enjoy it as much.
Jungle Cruise - 5 minute wait.
Parade of Dreams - we watched from the curb just below the Disneyland Railroad station on Main Street. We were sitting in the second "row".
Star Tours* - 20 minute wait.
Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters - 15 minute wait
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - FastPasses
Splash Mountain - FastPasses. The CM at the entrance said FPs would be about a 15 minute wait, but it was less (maybe 5). The FP line went all the way up to the part right before you board the logs (I think before, they merged the FP line with the standby line earlier). My dad didn't want to ride again, so it was just the 3 of us (we had to sit in the back half of the boat). My mom, at the very back, got wet but my sis and I - not so much. We were a little disappointed by this.
Fantasmic - before we went on Splash, we put our stuff down in front of the Rivers. We got a front row spot slightly off to the side (diagonally from the center of the stage) - it was the only front row spot left (it was 6pm). We didn't care if we were sitting close or not, but this spot happened to be opened. While waiting, there were at least 3 groups of people who, after finding out the show started at 9pm (it was only 7-ish then), they left.
* Attractions that we had not rode/seen before. I have seen the Tiki Room, but I was young then (and according to my mom, I was frightened by the talking walls and birds).
Can you see Hippo's distant cousin? (Unfortunately, the lighting was dim, and I had to use the flash which made Hippo washed out).
International Buffet & Grill - (from left to right) 1. Fried shrimp, seafood mix in crab shell, coconut shrimp, shrimp balls, crystal shrimp dumplings, and pastry with lotus or something filling. 2. Fried calamari, fried shrimp, sushi, crystal shrimp dumplings, coconut shrimp, shrimp balls, shui mai. 3. Egg tart, peach bun with red bean, crystal shrimp dumplings, fried shrimp, bun with custard. 4. Oranges, egg tart, bun w/ custard. 5. Soft-serve ice cream.
Other things that they had - river snails, frog legs, crab, king crab legs, crawfish, whole shrimp, oysters (both cooked and raw), clams, mussels, shark fin soup and more sushi. They also had a grill section, where the cooks grill the meat you choose, like whole tilapia fish, lamb, beef, steak, etc.
I think regular price lunch is about $10 and dinner (M-Th) is $13. And I think the Fri evening, plus all day Sat and Sun is $14.
Some of the clothes were nice - cheaper than what you would pay at DL, but still a bit above my budget. But I'm cheap so that's no comparison.
I have a bruise on my elbow.
Here's what we went on (got into DL about 8:10am):
- Splash Mountain - no wait. Just the four of us in a log - my mom was sitting in the 3rd spot, my dad in the 5th, but then he told her to move to the 4th. So she did which earned her a "please sit down!" from the CM. It was dark inside the ride, darker than usual. It was kind of creepy. The ride was pretty splash-y, but fun as usual.
- Haunted Mansion - official wait time was 5 minutes, but was actually about 2. While we and about 10 other people waited in the foyer. The CM closed the door but then about 1 minute later, shook the door and scared the bejezus out of everyone (on purpose).
I think we went through Main Street to get to Tomorrowland and passed by the wait times board. I asked the CM if they had any buttons, like the princess one and she said no, the whole resort was out of them. Bummer. - AstroBlasters - official wait time was 5 minutes, which was about right. I ended up with the lowest points (19500), Dad was 21500, Mom was 30000 or so and my sis was 36600. I was sitting on the left side, with my dad, and so I had to shoot with my left hand and steer with my right - but then I couldn't hit anything so I had to cross my hands so I could shoot with my right.
- Matterhorn - wait time was about 5 minutes. The CM was asking other parties of two if they wanted to sit together or separate, but he didn't ask us. He directed me and my sis to lane 3 and my parents to lane 4, so I said "oh, they want to sit separately". He replied "oh, they're going to have to wait" and then looked around a bit confused, like he was trying to find another party of two so I said "can we sit separately?" The CM said "oh, then take lane 4." Naturally. Lol.
- Storybook Canal - my dad ran into a coworker and his sons while we waited in line. The wait time was about 10 minutes. Some of the guests asked the guide what the name of the boat was and she said Snow White. What?! Snow White was the boat in front, ours was Flora (I took a pic of it when it pulled up). And then she corrected herself and said that the boat she was on was Snow White, that ours was a diff one, but I don't think she actually said what. When she counted to 3, only a few of us stood up (to disembark) - so the boat was a bit shaky.
- Teacups - virtually no wait. As soon as we got in line, we were the next group up. My sis and I were in one teacup, my parents were in another. We were going pretty fast and then we got a little naseous. I looked over to my parents and they had stopped turning the steering wheel - apparently they were feeling a little naseous as well.
- Alice in Wonderland - wait time was about 12 minutes (published time was 20).
- Small World - wait time was about 1 or 2 minutes. Afterwards, wandered around the shop just outside.
Then my sis and I headed to Princess Fantasy Faire to get some pressed pennies and get some coloring pages, plus saw Belle on stage. The voices of the princesses and ladies-in-waiting was a little too much for me - it might be their natural voices but it sounded too baby-ish for me. Then we went to Toontown to find out how to get those honorary Toontown citizen buttons (but apparently they are just for people who book through Walt Disney travel). We saw Pluto, Goofy and Minnie. - Mr. Toad - published wait time was 20 minutes, but it was about 13.
- Big Thunder Ranch - stopped in to look at the animals and get some coloring pages. We also took some pictures of the strawberries and veggies planted outside.
- Pirates of the Caribbean - wait time was about 15 minutes. There was a bunch of teenage girls sitting in the 2 rows ahead of us and they would not shut up. They were talking loudly, laughing, pushing each other and then started screaming at the top of their lungs when the ride began. Nothing even happened yet! Luckily, they pretty much shut up after that (didn't hear a peep out of them afterwards). Some people were taking flash pics - the CM had to announce over the loudspeaker to stop taking flash pics... of course, that didn't stop anyone.
- Submarine - got in line at about 12:50pm with an estimated wait time of 150 minutes. 2.5 hours - can you believe it?! I guess the wait wasn't *too* bad, I guess. There are parts that are under the monorail track and there are a few umbrellas set up so you get a little bit of shade. There was a photo pass photog who asked if we had a photo pass - I said no, but since we're not big photo people (well, photos of ourselves), I said the "no" in sort of an apologetic way and she just smiled and nodded and move on. I don't think the ride is all that - the first part is similar to the old Sub Voyage and that part was good. The Nemo part was boring. They should just put the Nemo stuff in a separate attraction - in a theater or something. Why waste perfectly good subs for this?
- Parade of Dreams - we were trying to get to City Hall to ask about buttons but the parade was going on at the time. We walked along the side of Main Street to the circular part right in front of the railroad station. Then when the parade passed and went around the circle, we crossed over to City Hall. It was pretty funny seeing all those people walking behind the parade. What's that about?
- City Hall - no wait. I asked if they had the princess or pirate buttons (no) and then if they had the little dreamers button. She asked how many (4) and gave them to us. Yay!
- Jungle Cruise - published wait time was 5 minutes, but was only about 3. It's the shortest wait I've ever waited in for JC. We didn't even have to go up the stairs. Our skipper's name was Greg (he was Asian). He said that we were probably our 2nd to last group for him; as in 15 minutes, he would no longer be working for DL (after 5 years).
- Splash Mountain - we used our fastpasses. The wait was about 10 minutes. It seemed like most groups were of 3 or 4. They kept calling for groups of 2. We sat with a middle-aged couple (us in front). The inside of the ride (brightness-wise) was back to normal. It wasn't that splash-y this time around, though my jeans did get wet.
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - my sis and I headed to Big Thunder and my parents went to ride the raft to Tom Sawyer Island. We had fastpasses so our wait time was only 3 minutes, compared to the 25 min published wait.
Afterwards, my sis went to the shop (Pioneer Mercantile?) right across from the shooting gallery (to get pressed pennies) while I went to the bathroom. The line was forever long and a CM said there was another bathroom around the corner - I went to that one but as it's only a 1-person bathroom, there was a line for that too. I ended up joining up with my sis at the shop, without going. My sis was getting a refund for the 51 cents that the machine ate. Then she decided to try again (the person who went right after her got two pennies - hers and theirs - half of the image pressed on each penny). She should not test fate - her penny got stuck again so I had to go get a refund. I went to another cash register and the guy (Asian-American) was asking all these questions like which machine, etc? I guess because the machine wasn't right outside of his shop area - though the two are connected. Then he was finally like "oh, I'll just get you the refund." - Fantasmic - we met up with our parents and picked out a spot - it was about 5:50pm or so. We sat there for most of the time - except for the occasional bathroom break or water fountain trip. My sis stopped by the Pieces of Eight store to get the $6 fill-your-bag with silver/gold coins and jewels.
Someone had put out a blanket in the front row, right in front of us. Nobody came back to claim the spot. The guy sitting to the left of the spot said that when he came at 3 or 4 (I forget), the people were putting down the blanket.
Everyone sitting around the area thought "hmmm, maybe they forgot?" Or perhaps found a different spot. I thought about asking a CM - to see if maybe another group should sit there (or like for the rest of us to move up so more people could fill in). We kept looking around, seeing if maybe someone was going to come along and take the spot, but as the minutes counted down to the start of the show, there was not a single sign.
Until 10 minutes before the show started - a lady and her 4 kids came a-blazing, stepping on people's blankets/tarps to get to their spot. They barely made any gesture of contrition or embarrassment and some of the kids stepped on our spot. So my dad asked if they could walk around, but the mom was kind of b****chy. Then my mom was muttering to herself and the lady was like "what did you say?" My mom said "Nothing!". Then I said something about how some people are so inconsiderate, the rest of us (everyone else) had been sitting here for at least two hours. The lady looks back and me and says "What?" I answered snootily "Oh, I wasn't talking TO you." The perfect line would have been "Oh, I was talking about someone else, someone who was totally rude and inconsiderate. Definitely NOT you."
Apparently (as the lady explained to another lady, I think the kids grandmother, though she kind of looked like a skinny guy), they had gone back because someone was tired so that person took a nap. Then the mom took a nap and I guess they didn't wake up earlier. Whatever - seriously the rest of us had to wait, you should too.
We went to the World of Disney shop and milled around. I got a Minnie doll - a plastic "articulated" doll, which basically means you can move the arms and the legs. Well, the legs can't really move - just rotate (so she can turn out really well). She can't sit down though.
Anyway, it was a pretty good visit. Oh, when I was walking back from the restroom to our Fantasmic spot, I was rubbing my eye (the left one had a bunch of eye boogers all through the day) when I heard someone call out my name. I looked up and saw one of the moms from ballet (her daughter is 13 or so). I guess it is a small world after all!
