The Events of 05/05/05
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boosmom96 · 05-08-2005, 05:50 PM

It sounds like you had an amazing time!! Sorry that it rained though. I figured the crowds would be wild!! I'm jealous

that you got to go back again yesterday!! I hope the crowds weren't as bad.
I can't wait to read the rest of your trip report.
Amy H

Tink and co. · 05-08-2005, 09:57 PM

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and Christina Agulara (shudder) sang When You Wish Upon A Star.

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I DID shudder when I read that . . . Christina . . . ew.

Sounds like everybody and their DOG was at DL that day!!! 75 minutes for Indy . . . NUTS!!! But even more nuts . . . 15 minutes just to get a FP for it!?!?! Sheesh!!!

But what a great day to be there, huh?

I am so excited . . . I will finally be back there (after 11 LONG years) on June 25th!!!

[/ QUOTE ] I didn't think the wait sounded too bad for the crowd. We had to wait for fastpasses and the line was that long most of the time we were there during spring break. And of course, Splash Mountain was even worse... 150 minutes at one point! I'm guessing some folks were there just for the ceremony and special events, rather than the rides that day.

BarryH · 05-09-2005, 07:02 PM

I was at Disneyland on 5/5 too. I stayed at the Park Vue Inn across the street. I arrived at the front gates by 8:00 am and there was a mob already there! I entered the park around 9:00 and I thought I had a good position to see the events behind the Partners statues, but then cameras came up and blocked my view! I had to hurry and find a better place to view the events. I was in the middle of the Frontierland entrance and the Partners statue. I got OK video, but I will kick myself for not being closer.

The crowds were huge! Everywhere I went was a mob. Big Thunder Mt. Railroad had a 40 minute wait. Indy had a 120 minute wait and Fastpasses ran out around noon! I rode three rides: Jungle Cruise (30 minute wait), BTMRR (got a FP), and I think Pirates (about a 5 minute wait). I was looking for food around 11:30, but the lines were out the door! I had to flee this crowd, so I headed over to DCA, which was fairly quiet. Soarin' had a 15 minute wait a little after noon! I got a FP anyway because I wanted something to eat.

Grizzly Rapids Run had a 5 minute wait around 2 pm. California Screamin' had about a 15-25 minute wait all day.

As for the events, the Remember fireworks were great! The Parade of Dreams was OK. I really liked the Block Party. It has high energy and gets people dancing. I saw it at the Sunshine Plaza and then saw it again around California Dreams.

Fantasmic! kid · 05-10-2005, 01:03 AM

/\ Did you see Parade of Dreams at night? It's much better then, I actually started crying during that

.

Fantasmic! kid · 05-10-2005, 01:42 AM

05-05-05 Part 3

Mom and I headed toward Pirates because it always has short lines, and it gets more people on per hour then any other ride. However, despite that fact, it was May 5th! The line was 30 minutes long, which is the longest I have ever seen it in my whole life. Still, our feet were beginning to hurt after standing on them for an hour and having them stepped on in the crowds, so we braved it anyway. It still moved along well, and it kind of made me feel happy to know that people still care for Pirates

. The one thing I noticed though, was they seemed to have a bit more extra signs then they always do that say "Yer might be getten wet!", which was weird because I have never EVER gotten wet on the drops. Well, when our boat got to the Cannon fight scene, we saw why. When the cannon balls miss and "hit the water", there are now huge, 20 foot tall water splashes that shoot up and get the entire boat wet

. I really liked the way it looked, but at the same time, I don't go on Pirates to get wet...
When Mom and I got off our boat our feet felt better, so we headed to brave the crowds at Mansion. After checking the wait time (20 minutes-- not bad for May 5th), we got in line and noticed that there was now a huge black spider web on the front of the building, and in the middle there was a big "50". I never did see this, but at night time the 50 lights up with fiber optics

. While in the stretching room, I realized just how much of the people in the park were huge Disneyland fans, because we ALL recited perfectly along with the ghost host (except for Mom who was laughing hysterically

). I felt then like we were all one big family of Disney geeks

. While actually on the ride everyone was talking, so I decided to call my Piano Teacher because he LOVES Mansion-- when ever he comes to the park, he just dose it over and over all day from Park opening till closing. He couldn't stop laughing that I was actually calling him inside my Doom Buggy at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland

. The rest of the ride was just as frightfully funny as always, and was very happy to see that the exit ramp was running again

.
When we got out into the blinding sunlight (the clouds were gone-- YAY!

), we bought a bag of Cheetos and headed for Tom Sawyer's Island because I wanted to walk around the front of the Island and "play" Fantasmic!

. Gosh I wish I could be Mickey just for once in the show...

While on the Island I called my friend from the Cell Phone, and he told me he just checked the Cast List for the Beauty and the Beast show at my theater and he said I wasn't on it. Bummer. But hey, I was at Disneyland! Who cares?

Coming Up Next: "Disneyland: The fist 50 Magical-- DONALD CUT THAT OUT!-- years!"

**chezp** · 05-10-2005, 02:17 AM

Thanks for the warning about Pirates!

I love all the extra touches at the different attractions - it sounds like the Imagineers have had a lot of fun with these celebrations!

GATechGal · 05-10-2005, 08:49 AM

Great report. And I'm just sure that one day you will be Mickey!!!

PrincessSharon · 05-10-2005, 10:56 AM

All the 50th special touches sound awesome! I can't wait to see them for myself! I'm sorry you didn't get the part in B&TB, but at least you had an awesome consolation prize!

Sounds like something funny is coming next! Can't wait!

snoozy · 05-10-2005, 11:32 AM

That is so

about Priates. Its sounds like you had pretty good luck so far with wait times on the rides.

Tom Sawyer's Island was our favorite place to let our imaginations run wild when we were kids. It was the one place that our parents would let us go off on our own without them. We always had such a blast running around trying to get away from our older brother. He was always good at hiding and would jump out and scare us. Great fun.

Kid, I see Mickey in your future, somehow, some way. You keep that dream alive and it will come true for you some day.

**DopeyGirl** · 05-10-2005, 12:06 PM

It's about time they made those cannonball splashes on Pirates a little more realistic!!! And I LOVE your comment about being a big family of Disney geeks . . . ain't it the truth!!!???

I, too, see Mickey in your future!!! When I was your age, I wanted to be Mickey too . . . I actually applied to work at DL in 1995, with the plan of auditioning for Mickey or Minnie later on, but joined the military instead (BIG difference, huh?)

Looking forward to hearing all about the rest of the day!!!

Fantasmic! kid · 05-10-2005, 12:20 PM

Thanks for the positive Mickey comments everyone, but I will never get to be Mickey because already I am too tall to fit inside the costume

. I do have my own Mickey Mouse head from a local costume store, so maybe someday in my theater class...

zacksmom_1993 · 05-10-2005, 03:19 PM

Kid-

Thanks so much for all of the detail around the 50th! Sounds like it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

You remind me of an older version of my own Fantasmic Kid. When he was younger, he'd take all of his Disney toys and do a puppet show version of Fantasmic to the CD we'd bought. He'd

to act out Mickey on Tom Sawyer's Island. He's also too tall for Mickey, but his real ambition is to be an animator for Disney anyway.

Can't wait to hear about more of your day, especially the fireworks!

Karen

Fantasmic! kid · 05-10-2005, 03:43 PM

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You remind me of an older version of my own Fantasmic Kid. When he was younger, he'd take all of his Disney toys and do a puppet show version of Fantasmic to the CD we'd bought. He'd

to act out Mickey on Tom Sawyer's Island. He's also too tall for Mickey, but his real ambition is to be an animator for Disney anyway.

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Yep, that's me! I do mine out by my pool and use hose attachments to create the fountains (or sometimes streamers pushed up by a fan), and use confetti for all the pyro. I even went out and bought professional lasers and lights!

BarryH · 05-10-2005, 09:10 PM

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/\ Did you see Parade of Dreams at night? It's much better then, I actually started crying during that

.

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I missed the Parade of Dreams at night. I did ride BTMRR at night and it was pretty intense. I even saw the end of Fantasmic when the train was pulling into the station!