Nine Hours at DLR About This Page:

[Dlandmom2]

Oops, I forgot that before Goofy's Sky School, we went on Ariel's Undersea Adventure. There's an underwater scene where Ariel is supposed to floating, and her hair used to twirl up sort of like an ice cream cone. It looked a bit "off" to say the least, lol! Well, they finally changed her hair so that it looks a little more natural. Unfortunately, my picture didn't come out at all, so I can't share it with you this time.

Also, I wanted to add a picture of more new hats available for purchase:



I told the kids I'd buy them those Perry the Platypus hats if they'd really wear them, but neither seemed very interested, so I saved myself a good $50! Honestly, I liked the Perry wearing his brown fedora hat and came close to buying it, but Sophia didn't want me to embarrass her too much!

[lauriep]

Mater's ride is not for me... I can hardly say the words "whipping from side to side" without feeling ! Pretty great that you still had time for Toy Story, Ariel, Goofy's show and for Sophia to ride Screamin' plus time for churros before your return time in Carsland. Oh, and also a trip to the bakery! I'm still amazed at how close all the sections are so you can do this. At WDW you'd be on buses and this sort of thing would take all day!

I love all the new ear hats for sale!

[chezp]

I'm so glad to hear about what they've decided to do about the GACs. When I heard Fastpass waits were running at an hour over the opening weekend, I was thinking "there's no way I can physically do that". It's great news that Disney have already realised there's a problem and put something in place for that. Now hopefully I can experience Radiator Spring Racers in December!

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by lauriep

Mater's ride is not for me... I can hardly say the words "whipping from side to side" without feeling ! Pretty great that you still had time for Toy Story, Ariel, Goofy's show and for Sophia to ride Screamin' plus time for churros before your return time in Carsland. Oh, and also a trip to the bakery! I'm still amazed at how close all the sections are so you can do this. At WDW you'd be on buses and this sort of thing would take all day!

I love all the new ear hats for sale!

Yeah, Mater's won't be for everyone, but it was definitely fun. I was just expecting a spinning ride like teacups, but it turned out to be a little more "spirited" than just spinning around.

Even though the crowds were pretty big, what the CM at guest services told us in the morning was that probably 50% of all the people were in Cars Land, so the rest of DCA and DL weren't so bad. He was right! We didn't need the GAC for Ariel as it was just a 5 minute wait. We did use the GAC for Toy Story Mania and Goofy's Sky School, but the regular line for both looked to be in the 45-60 minute range, which really isn't bad considering the crowds.

Originally Posted by chezp

I'm so glad to hear about what they've decided to do about the GACs. When I heard Fastpass waits were running at an hour over the opening weekend, I was thinking "there's no way I can physically do that". It's great news that Disney have already realised there's a problem and put something in place for that. Now hopefully I can experience Radiator Spring Racers in December!

Yes, they really did a great job with that! There was no way that Evan would've waited an hour in any line, FastPass or otherwise! This system works perfectly for Evan. As long as we tell him a time when we have to go back, he understands that we can do other things until that time.

I did see that Radiator Springs Racer has a single rider line, but I didn't ask how long that wait was. Wait til you see the pictures I post tomorrow of people in line. I just can't see waiting 3 1/2 hours for ANY ride! It was the same way when Star Tours reopened. I was at DL on one of the first days, and the line snaked all the way through and around the hub area. I just couldn't imagine standing in line for 3-4 hours for that ride, great fun that it is! I'm so glad I waited a few weeks and then used a regular FastPass.

[lauriep]

I'm with you-- 3 1/2 hours in line for a ride is WAY too much. I'm glad to hear that the crowds and wait times were really fine in the other areas of the parks. There's so much all over both parks that will be "new" to me I can just do Carsland briefly and spend more time elsewhere.

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures from your morning so far! Thanks for all the details on the rides!

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by lauriep

I'm with you-- 3 1/2 hours in line for a ride is WAY too much. I'm glad to hear that the crowds and wait times were really fine in the other areas of the parks. There's so much all over both parks that will be "new" to me I can just do Carsland briefly and spend more time elsewhere.

I'm sure AbD will help out with the lines. It was great when they handed out FastPasses on Sharon's visit, so hopefully they'll do the same for yours!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great pictures from your morning so far! Thanks for all the details on the rides!

I hope you can make it out to Disneyland again soon! I'm sure your kids would love Cars Land!

[Dlandmom2]

Ok, on to Radiator Springs Racers! One of the disadvantages of going through the FastPass line is that you miss a lot of the queue theming, so at some point I'll try this when Evan isn't with me so I can fully appreciate what the Imagineers have done on this ride!

That being said, you could still see lots of great theming all around.





Darn, I thought I had taken a picture of the lines near the beginning, but I can't find it! Anyhow, here's a picture of the line as you approach the loading area. Disney did a great job of planting mature trees and designing covered areas to provide shade for people in line. The building in the left of the picture is a large covered area where the line snakes back and forth.



Now, I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures that were taken at the beginning, middle and end of the ride...hopefully I'll have them pretty close to the order that I took them (some of them will be a bit blurry due to the motion of the ride and the audioanimatronics...are they called audioanimatronics if they're talking cars?).

























This ride was SO much fun! It's a lot like Test Track (I've only been on Test Track once) in terms of the ride vehicle (seats 3 and 3), the slower indoor portions, and then the zipping around an outside track portions. I'll be honest and tell you that I really wasn't paying much attention to the story line of the ride because I was so busy trying to get pictures of everything! At one point, you meet up with another ride vehicle side by side, and then you race each other (the zipping around outside portion). We all loved the ride and can't wait to try it again on our next visit!

I really hope you'll all be able to experience Cars Land soon...it really is incredible what Disney has been able to do in a relatively small area! Would I wait 3 1/2 hours to ride again? Probably not, but if it were my only choice...I'd actually consider it! I've heard that the line goes down to 1-2 hours in the evening, which is a bit more manageable!

[lauriep]

The pictures really give a feeling for the ride area, Jeannie! This does look like a ride you could do again and again and still see something new. Can't wait!

"are they called audioanimatronics if they're talking cars?" --- good question!

[Disney4us2]

Did you go through the paint area or get new tires before the race? We have done both and I like the new tires part best.

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by lauriep

The pictures really give a feeling for the ride area, Jeannie! This does look like a ride you could do again and again and still see something new. Can't wait!

"are they called audioanimatronics if they're talking cars?" --- good question!

I think you'll really like this ride. I'm really in awe of what the Imagineers created here!

Originally Posted by Disney4us2

Did you go through the paint area or get new tires before the race? We have done both and I like the new tires part best.

Funny that you ask! After the ride, we wanted to buy our ride picture so we could remember our first trip through. We barely saw our picture before it switched over to the next one, so we had to ask a CM to look up our picture for us. We told the CM we were in a yellow car, and she asked us which scene we went through. We had no idea! We must have looked really confused because then she asked if we went through the spray paint scene or the tire changing scene. I never even noticed there was a spot where the cars could branch off in different directions! Luckily we did remember that we had our tires changed, so that helped her narrow down the search. I purchased the 5x7 with digital download option for $16.95 before AP discount. I need to download the pic so I can share it with you!

Marci, I'm still shocked that you guys went on the first day! You were certainly intrepid warriors that day!

[KMB733]

Wow, Cars Land is crazy!!! I wouldn't want to wait 3 1/2 hrs in line for ANY ride!!!

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by KMB733

Wow, Cars Land is crazy!!! I wouldn't want to wait 3 1/2 hrs in line for ANY ride!!!

Yep, it was nuts! And the day we went it was kind of an average hot June day, in the mid 80s or so. It was nice in the shade, but with no clouds in the sky, the sun was really beating down on you. The first part of the line is exposed to the elements, so I really couldn't imagine standing in line out there for a good hour or so before you could get into the covered areas. I'm hoping they come up with something as we get into the hottest part of the summer when it's often well into the 90s with a hot hot sun.

[Dlandmom2]

After our fun ride on the Racers, we decided to head over to do Tower of Terror and then go find some lunch. We took the new path over from Cars Land through "a bug's land" and saw these new guys welcoming us:









We walked through "a bug's land" and over to Tower of Terror. The ride was fun as always! I never tire of this ride, and thought of Princess Sharon as we were waiting to get on.

At this point, we were all hungry, especially me! We left DCA and headed over to DL which had very short lines entering the park. It was probably about 1:30pm or so at this point. I wanted to try Carnation Cafe (which just reopened recently), but Sophia didn't want a sit-down meal. She suggested Rancho del Zocalo, which would've been great because I would've ordered the mahi mahi fish tacos to show Laurie! However, Rancho doesn't have anything that Evan will eat, so we decided to just go to our new favorite, Jolly Holiday Cafe!

For Evan, the grilled cheese and tomato soup combo (Sophia and I shared the soup since Evan does NOT like soup, lol!):


I must have 4 or 5 pictures of that sandwich combo...I eat it almost every time!

Sophia got the kid's turkey sandwich meal, but she was so hungry that she ate most of it before I got my phone ready (by the way, all my pictures are taken with my phone, hence the sometimes not so great quality in the pictures).

I also got the Jolly Holiday Salad to share with Sophia (Blend of Lettuce, with Spiced Pecans, Feta, Red & Yellow Tomatoes and Craisins Dried Cranberries. Served with Raspberry Vinaigrette...thanks, AllEars!):


I've been quite the carnivore lately, because I decided I wanted the Hot Angus Roast Beef on Toasted Onion Roll - Caramelized Onions, Horseradish Aioli and White Cheddar:


All were delicious, but I do have to say that the grilled cheese and tomato soup don't taste quite the same when it's in the 80s as it does when it's in the 50s and 60s!

It's really difficult to get pictures of the food because they're displayed behind glass in a case. There's always a glare. I asked Sophia to go back to the ordering area to try to get a picture of the Caprese sandwich for Laurie (Caprese - Tomatoes, Mozzarella, Basil, Lettuce and Basil Vinaigrette, served on a Toasted Focaccia Bread). This is the best one she got:


Properly fed, we decided to go try out the new ride vehicles on the Matterhorn. The mountain looks great after its refurb, and it was wonderful to see the climbers out again! I meant to take another picture as we got closer but forgot. You can barely see the climbers at the top and one on the left almost down to the treeline.



The cars now have 3 individual "seats" instead of the old 2+2. It was a bit cramped, and I'm not that big! It's a little awkward getting into the ride vehicle. You don't straddle a seat like you used to. You step into the vehicle that's just one level, so you essentially have to squat down to sit on the "floor" and then extend your legs/feet into little recesses to the left and right. Next time I'll try to remember to take a picture of inside of the vehicle for you.


The ride was as bumpy as ever...I'm not sure if I was just tired or if the signs of aging are showing up more, but I really felt jostled on this ride! Still it was fun!

Next, we walked through Fantasyland and over to Frontierland so we could ride Big Thunder, Evan's favorite! The ride was awesome as always. Part of my enjoyment now is watching the excitement on Evan's face throughout the ride. It always brings such a huge smile to my face!

After Big Thunder, we walked back down Main Street and browsed through a few shops. We decided we wanted to head back over to see Muppets 3D since the kids recently saw the Muppets movie and really enjoyed it.

It was now about 3:30 or 4, and my feet and legs were getting tired. I told Sophia I used to spend all day at Disneyland from 8 in the morning until 10 at night when I was her age. I couldn't believe that I was already tired after only being there for half a day so far! I was glad we were headed to see the Muppets...air conditioning and comfy seats! We must have just missed a show because when we entered, the CM said it would be a 20 minute wait. That was fine by me! We sat down in the pre-show area and enjoyed the pre-show movie (and the air conditioning!).

Along the queue:


In the pre-show area:


The 3D movie was fun as always, but the room felt stuffy...what happened to the a/c?! We had fun laughing at (and with) the Muppets and walked out smiling.

At this point, we had to make a decision about the rest of the day. The kids were ready to leave and head home. It was about 4:30, though, so by the time we made it back to the parking structure, it would be close to 5 and then we'd be driving home at the worst part of commuter traffic. I made the decision to stay a little longer and go on Soarin' since we hadn't done that in a while. Just to show how little the crowds were outside of Cars Land (and to compare it with the astronomical waits I hear about for Soarin' at Epcot), the wait time for Soarin' was 30 minutes and there were still FastPasses available. We enjoyed our flight over California.

I still had to kill about another hour before I wanted to attempt driving home, so I decided I had to make the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE for Laurie and try the Fiddler Fifer and Practical Cafe to see what would be in store for her. We found a great booth seat where Evan and Sophia sat down to drink some water while I went to get food. Surprisingly there were several tables open, once again confirming that most of the crowds were confined to the Cars Land area and the rest of the parks weren't overly busy.

I went next door to Clarabelle's Ice Cream and got a double waffle cup with Mocha Almond Fudge and Strawberry ice cream. The kids ate that while I got in line at Fiddler Fifer and Practical Cafe to get a coffee drink of some type. This is where Starbucks made their entrance into DLR, and the menu is pretty typical of Starbucks. There were also food options on the menu. Laurie, there was a paneer cheese and roast vegetable sandwich on the menu that sounded really good! I might try that if I get the chance to go again before your visit so I can review it for you! There were also pastries and desserts on offer. I got a Strawberry and Vanilla shortcake (I think that's what it was called) which was nice. It wasn't overly sweet. There wasn't any "shortcake" in it. It was just hard to describe...not great, but not terrible. Also, it wasn't very big and seemed a bit pricey at $4.99 before AP discount.



Here's the sitting area for Fiddler...the entrance to Clarabelle's ice cream is under the archway to the right. Ordering for Fiddler is on the left part of the picture. Notice the empty tables? It was about 5:30. Prime eating time!


I'll be back later to finish up the rest of the day!

[Disney4us2]

Funny that you ask! After the ride, we wanted to buy our ride picture so we could remember our first trip through. We barely saw our picture before it switched over to the next one, so we had to ask a CM to look up our picture for us. We told the CM we were in a yellow car, and she asked us which scene we went through. We had no idea! We must have looked really confused because then she asked if we went through the spray paint scene or the tire changing scene. I never even noticed there was a spot where the cars could branch off in different directions! Luckily we did remember that we had our tires changed, so that helped her narrow down the search. I purchased the 5x7 with digital download option for $16.95 before AP discount. I need to download the pic so I can share it with you!

Marci, I'm still shocked that you guys went on the first day! You were certainly intrepid warriors that day![/QUOTE]

LOL Jeannie,

We were troopers that first day. I would not trade that experience for anything though. That day we only went on RSR once. The next time (3 days later), we went with our friends who had a hotel (GCH) MM. Went right to RSR and was able to ride twice using the GAC.

Thanks for the heads up on how they are doing that now with the GAC. We will probably try the single rider line. They will take me out of the line and hopefully add Jessica and others to my car as I load in a different area.... worth a try.

As far as the scenes go that is where the track splits up to make up the cars for the race. If you go to the door on the left you get your tires changed. To the right is the spray paint job. When we got the tires we waited for the other car to come out of the paint job and the race was on.

We will have to get together once the passes are valid again.