60th Anniversary 24 Hour Kick-off Celebration TR UPDATED 6/2 - Page 5 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I'm having a bad feeling about the parade from your last line as well... My goodness, even the sweets are 60th anniversary themed. Is there anything left at Disneyland that isn't?
Too bad Splash was down, but any time people mention Pirates at DL, I want to ride it! Lots of Anniversary treats.... I'm not a fan of blue food, though, even for dessert! I do like the blue outfits on the apples. Don't leave us hanging too long to find out how you fared with a viewing spot for the new shows!
Oh no, don't like your tease for the parade & fireworks. Realizing people had snagged spots more than 8 hours in advance the prior day, not sure 80 minutes is going to work....
When we walked through the hub around 2:30pm, I didn't notice anyone staking out spots for the parade yet. That's a big improvement from the 24 hour day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I'm having a bad feeling about the parade from your last line as well... My goodness, even the sweets are 60th anniversary themed. Is there anything left at Disneyland that isn't?
The 60th Anniversary items were everywhere, but they weren't always prominently displayed in some of the smaller stores. There was still plenty of "regular" items all over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
My back aches at the mere mention of the Matterhorn, lol. What a great day this sounds like so far! A bit of an ominous preview, though!
Even with my recent back issues, I didn't feel any worse after riding the Matterhorn. The updated effects were cool though, so I'm really glad I rode it. I'm sure I'll ride it again when I go back with the kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Too bad Splash was down, but any time people mention Pirates at DL, I want to ride it! Lots of Anniversary treats.... I'm not a fan of blue food, though, even for dessert! I do like the blue outfits on the apples. Don't leave us hanging too long to find out how you fared with a viewing spot for the new shows!
You know I'll ride Pirates with you! Yep, I'm not a big fan of blue food either. I'm not a big fan of any colored food, but all that blue frosting is a bit of a turn-off for me. On the 24 hour day, I saw lots of people enjoying it though!
I won't leave you hanging! I had an appointment that just got rescheduled for Wednesday, and I'm still waiting for some answers before I can continue my work, so I'm going to hurry up and type up another update right now!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I won't keep you waiting...here comes the parade and fireworks portion!
Well, our intrepid trio headed out of Adventureland and onto Main Street, only to discover people lining every sidewalk already. Hmm...it's still almost 2 hours until parade time! So, for the next 15-20 minutes we walked around the hub and then down Main Street a little way, but ever sidewalk was covered, most places several rows deep. I did notice that they had created noticeably wider pathways for thru traffic, which of course reduced the amount of curb and sidewalk available for viewing. Even though I hate that seating has been reduced by a bit, I think it's a smart move to ease congestion during parade time...and in this case, during the hours leading up to parade time.
After a while, we gave up looking for a decent spot for both parade and fireworks viewing. We thought we'd wait near the Partners statue, but the CMs there told us there would be no seating at all in the hub area, and the area would be cleared out before the parade started. The entire hub would be a throughway for traffic going from one side of the park to the other. I heard another CM tell a guest that he would recommend just waiting for the 11pm parade because any "good" viewing area was already very full.
We then decided we would just look for a good fireworks viewing spot and headed toward the front of the castle. The castle was already roped off so no one could go through it. The entire parade path was already roped off, so there were lots of people sitting behind the rope on the "street" that surrounds the hub. We discovered some open spots on the sidewalk in front of the castle that would also give us a good view of the parade as it came down the path by the Matterhorn. There would be maybe 3 rows of people in front of us looking toward the castle, and maybe 5 rows of people in front of us looking toward the parade. Plus, we would be on the sidewalk so we were elevated a few inches over the rest of the parade viewers. Ok, done!
It was about 7:30pm now, and I decided I would make a run to the restroom just in case. When I got back, Vicky went off in search of coffee for her and Esty. I had some water with me, and that's all I wanted at the time. So, we settled into our spot, and I chatted with Esty about college life. I also people watched and saw some very interesting characters (thought of you, Colleen!). One poor kid about 7 or 8 years old was deep asleep on the floor next to me. People were walking past us trying to find a path toward the Matterhorn but then had to turn back when they realized the crowd was just packed sitting on the ground, so it was nearly impossible to get through. I watched as the area completely filled up.
Around 7:40pm, I took a picture of the area (Melanie, this is the one I tried to send to you but wouldn't go through). I'm standing in front of the castle and looking toward Tomorrowland as I took this picture.
With plenty of time to kill, the three of us alternately chatted, played on our phones, and took pictures (me).
I love that they keep this gold spire for Walt!
I wondered what the lines going across the above picture were for. It turns out, they were for Tink to fly! Sadly, between my bad view of the castle (it wouldn't have been so bad if people would've exercised common courtesy...more on that later) and being unprepared for Tink, I didn't get a picture of it, sorry!
As the sky got darker...
...I took a picture looking in the other direction. These people would not have a good view of the parade at all. They were probably there just for the fireworks viewing over the castle. This was at about 8:15pm, 8:30pm?
And then one more time looking back toward Tomorrowland:
This was where I was in relation to the castle. I tried to maneuver around that guy standing there, but I was so packed in that I couldn't really get around him. He was there with a tripod right at the rope. I'll bet he got some amazing shots that night!
Enough fluff, this is getting long. I'm going to post pictures from my parade in my next post coming right up!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I'm just going to post my pictures chronologically as the parade came by and comment later. Sorry I wasn't able to get great pictures. Between the crowds, the bright lights, and the constant motion of everything, it was hard for me to focus long enough to take clear shots! I took 300 pictures in the course of the day, most of them during the parade and fireworks. I've tried to pick the best ones to share with you here. Enjoy!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Where exactly did you watch this from? You had a really good view of things. To me the colors and lights look too harsh and bright, but I guess in person this isn't true? Maybe it's just the way they photograph because it sure looks like it would hurt my eyes! I love the innovation in it though. Disney's always thinking and changing and fitting in more and more!
Oooh I can't wait to see your photos of the parade... and mental note for September, get there early for the parade!
Hopefully by the time you get here the "new-ness" will have died down a bit. Plus, it was a Saturday and the beginning of summer vacation for many schools in the area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Wow, that parade is bright!
Yes, it was, but it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. There were lots of dancers in beautiful costumes, but every picture I took of them was blurry because of the constant movement and bright lights.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Where exactly did you watch this from? You had a really good view of things. To me the colors and lights look too harsh and bright, but I guess in person this isn't true? Maybe it's just the way they photograph because it sure looks like it would hurt my eyes! I love the innovation in it though. Disney's always thinking and changing and fitting in more and more!
Looking at the castle, I was standing on the curb, a bit to the right of the castle and turned to the right about 90 degrees. The parade was coming down from my left on the path that runs between the castle/Alice in Wonderland and the Matterhorn. The first parade runs along the Tomorrowland side of the hub and then down Main Street, and then reverses the other way at 11pm. There was a food cart blocking my view to the left (you can see the roof of it at the bottom of some of the pictures), and I didn't have a good view of the dancers who were really awesome to watch. The innovation was very evident, as there were oohs and aahs constantly throughout the parade.
I'm not a huge fan of LED lighting, but the brightness didn't bother me like I thought it would. Maybe being there you just forget about the brightness and enjoy the parade as it goes by!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Last edited by Dlandmom2; 06-01-2015 at 07:06 PM..
Reason: Typo
I'm back again! I'm not kidding when I say I need to punch these updates out while I have time. It took me an entire year to finish the final two days of my last TR!
About the parade...it really was a great parade! The music is great and includes snippets of Baroque Hoedown from the Main Street Electrical Parade here and there. The floats were huge, especially the ice castle. There were lots of dancers in beautifully lit costumes. Yes, the lights were quite bright, but surprisingly it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the parade. I'm hoping to be back there next week with my brother and his family. We can take turns saving a decent spot to view the parade.
The end of the parade passed us around 9:15-9:20pm. Off toward Adventureland/Frontierland, we could see spotlights shining into the sky and some lower fireworks going off for Fantasmic! Oh how I wish I could've seen Fantasmic! I love that show! There was a bit of a wait for the parade to finish its route down at the other end of Main Street.
We had moved a few feet closer toward the parade when people started to push forward and open up space along the curb/sidewalk, so we were now in a position to see both the Matterhorn and the castle. Once the parade finished, people surged forward trying to get closer to the castle. I know it happens, and people want to get a good spot, but pushing and squeezing into 6 inches of space between me and the person in front of me isn't going to endear you to me by any stretch of the imagination! Vicky, Esty, and I pretty much didn't move from our spot. We were there for the parade, and we stayed there for the fireworks. Now there were hundreds of people who decided they could crowd in and push in front of those who had already been standing there for the last 2.5 hours to get a good viewing spot. Sigh...drives me nuts!
I don't mind if you walk up to an open spot (which I actually did later in the evening), but don't block the view of someone who was patiently waiting before you got there! To make things even worse, an adult man with an adult woman on his shoulders squeezed in and stood directly in front of my view toward the Matterhorn...I mean right smack in my line of sight. I even heard the woman say, "This [stinks], now the people around me can't see." She stayed on his shoulders for a few more minutes and then thankfully got down on the ground.
Then, another woman pushes in to my right along with her husband. Ok, fine, stand next to me. Then, she starts to nudge her left shoulder into the 6 inches of space between me and the guy in front of me. As the fireworks started, she pulled a child about 5 or 6 years old in front of her, which nudged me back a few inches. Then another child of about 7-8 years old suddenly appeared, and then a third one. It apparently didn't bother this lady that she was pushing into me because I was standing my ground. Personal space apparently wasn't in her vocabulary. As the fireworks continued, I found myself getting pushed further and further back to the point I was about to fall off the curb I was standing on...and had been at least a foot away from a few minutes ago. At one point, she picked up one of the kids and held her up so that the child's head was about 10 inches above her, effectively blocking my view entirely. Sigh.... I didn't let it bother me too much. I'm lucky that I can come back again and again. They might not have that luxury, so oh well. Oh, this also explains why I wasn't able to get a lot of good castle or fireworks shots. Every time I tried, I'd either get nudged so the camera shook, or I had to hold the camera at a weird angle which also meant I couldn't hold the camera as steady as if it were in front of me. Ok, I'm off my soapbox now. No more whining.
So, here come the fireworks shots...and some surprises from the Matterhorn! Please keep in mind this is the first time I'm using this camera on the fireworks setting (in other words, they don't look so great), as I'm still trying to get the hang of it!
Chimney sweeps dancing on the Matterhorn during Steps in Time!
I don't remember what song was playing when this showed up:
A fuzzy picture of the lanterns from Tangled:
This looked like waterfalls flowing down all over the Matterhorn, it was so neat to see:
And then the Matterhorn erupted!!!
It was a fantastic show! I couldn't see what was being projected on Main Street from where I was standing, but I hope to find out soon!
After the fireworks ended, the music kept playing. People didn't know if the show was over or not. After a little while, people started to disperse, but others came to take their place in front of the castle to get pictures of themselves in front of the castle. Then you heard the voice of the announcer talking about Walt's wish for a kiss goodnight. I've never seen this at WDW, so I wasn't quite sure what it was. I did see that the castle was absolutely beautiful, and I guess the twinkling lights on it was part of the kiss goodnight.
We really enjoyed the parade and fireworks. I can't wait to see it again, hopefully from a different vantage point and without the pushing and shoving.
You may think my day at Disneyland was over at this point, but you would be wrong! There's more to come!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
So sorry about all the pushy people. Good job staying calm!
The shows look great!
Thanks for the info on the popcorn bucket! Maybe I can get one in WDW. I have that Zero in his doghouse too !
My goodness, you were much more calm than I would've been about all that pushing and shoving, especially as you'd been waiting there so long. Unbelievable!
The behavior of people is just beyond rude. It's dangerous. Thanks for sticking it out, though! Your photos give an idea of some of the new effects. Poor thing having to go back again and again to practice your camera skills! I've watched a couple of videos of the fireworks on youtube and it looks like a fantastic show. I just love that they're doing the Matterhorn and Main Street projections because it makes viewing from any location from the train station to the hub potentially really good. Maybe once people realize that for this show being closer to the castle isn't necessarily the best spot they won't be so pushy? Wishful thinking. At any rate, I think you won't get the extremes of bad crowd behavior if you're further down Main Street. Looks like it's amazing having the fireworks in front of you and the projections on both sides. I didn't know the Matterhorn erupts!
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My goodness, even the sweets are 60th anniversary themed. Is there anything left at Disneyland that isn't? 
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Melanie
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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