Disneyland Trip Report: May 31, 2012

My last trip to Disneyland was supposed to be my last hurrah, for awhile, a last chance to see classic Disneyland before Carsland/Buena Vista Street opens and the place gets too, too crazy to just drop in, for awhile. But plans changed, largely because of the price increases. A friend's pass was expired, and I figured we'd renew it over the summer, because if you buy a pass in person, you can use it that day, even if it's a blackout day. But a 30% price increase made that plan make less sense. So I snatched up a voucher for her pass at the AAA office, at the old price, and since we could activate it anytime, we figured we'd go now, right before the blackout days hit.

Now, if you read my last Disneyland trip report, you know that I was concerned about the impact of Grad Night crowds on the parks, and actually pushed my last trip back a day to avoid going on a Grad Night. But this time, getting in under the gun before blackout days kicked in required a trip on a Grad Night. So, were my fears justified? Not really; any impact Grad Night attendees had was dwarfed by the congestion and insane lines caused by a deluge of AP-holders getting one last trip in before blackout days. The park wasn't so crowded you couldn't move or anything, but it was definitely more crowded than I am used to. Before noon or so, lines weren't incredibly bad, but they kept building, and when I went to get a FastPass for Tower of Terror around 5, they were out of FastPasses, and the line was two hours long.  For Tower of Terror! Even the Little Mermaid had a line, not a bad one, but I've become spoiled by constantly walking on that ride, so that a ten minute wait now seems like madness. Of course, it's possible that Grad Night students are responsible for some of the crowd, but I didn't notice many potential Grad Night attendees, or at least enough to make an impact, until at least 6 PM. Late in the evening, I did observe a good number of rowdy groups of high school grads, an obnoxious crowd laughing hysterically at every moment of Captain Eo, but overall the groups I saw were in high spirits but as respectful of other visitors as could reasonably be expected. I did see two students loudly shouting obscenities, but within two minutes I heard a middle-aged woman shouting the same obscenities into her cell phone, so Grad Night cannot be given the entire blame for the coarsening of our society.

So to sum up, it was crowded. As crowded as a Thursday has any right being. Which meant I did not ride on Tower of Terror, a ride that is not as compulsory a part of my Disney trips as, say, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, but a ride I rarely miss. To be fair, I managed to ride both Space Mountain and Star Tours (I usually just pick one, since it's difficult to get FastPasses for both, and still get any other FastPasses, for Big Thunder Mountain, for instance), and while the Haunted Mansion line was quite long at times, by that attraction's standards, I did eventually ride it, as well. I missed Pirates of the Caribbean, which frankly is fine by me, it's a good ride, but not one I feel compelled to ride every visit. And we got a late FastPass for Splash Mountain, but as I was developing a rash after getting a good soaking on Grizzly River Run, I decided I'd rather pass on that. I went on Indiana Jones via the single-rider line, having a longer wait than usual using that shortcut, but still not a bad wait, ten minutes at most. I refuse to ride Indy any other way, both because single-rider saves so much time and because I think the ride is extremely overrated. It always seems like so many effects are broken (if you want to have some idea what a well-executed ride in the Indiana Jones style might look like, try the Transformers ride at Universal Studios, it is incredible). Leaving Indy, a kid jumped out at me, trying to scare his brother, and scared the crap out of me, I just sort of screamed, shoved the kid over, and made a mad dash for the exit; I certainly did not carry myself well in that situation. I did ride Soarin', which I don't ride often, so that gave some variety to the trip. But overall, it was not my most productive visit, rides-wise.

But that's okay. My friend hadn't been since January, and she mostly got all the rides she wanted to revisit (though missing Tower of Terror was a hard pill for her to swallow). And the park had changed since her last visit, especially DCA. In fact, it had even changed since my last visit, as the walls around the Carthay Circle Theatre and its adjacent fountain were down:

I'll reserve full judgement until I can experience Buena Vista Street as a whole, but I was satisfied with the results of this area's transformation, at least so far. It seemed like Disney was doing a thorough job, and the results seem just as high-quality up-close as they did from afar. No one will plan a Disney vacation just to see the Carthay Circle recreation, but it does seem like it will be effective, a la Main Street, U.S.A., in reminding you that you are in a special place.

Standing on the fountain, I could also get a good preview of Buena Vista Street itself, and its shops. I liked what I could see:

Around closing time that evening, I headed over to the Blue Sky Cellar to get a view down into Carsland. It looked good, though not a whole lot had changed. I think the exteriors have pretty much been done for some time now. I did get a better look at Mater's Junkyard Jamboree than I had before, and was surprised by just how large it appears to be. I am very excited to be going into Carsland soon (going to a preview Saturday night), and while Cars as a franchise only modestly appeals to me (I really liked the first movie, and rather strongly disliked the second, though it wasn't as bad as some people make it out to be), I really hope the immersiveness and attention to detail is as well-executed as it appears to be.

I enjoyed seeing the new features of Buena Vista Street, though my friend seemed less interested. But she did seem more taken by the Ellis Island Boys, whom I saw for the first time my last trip, and was able to introduce her to today (Disney, to their credit, had a lot of entertainment scheduled throughout the park; the crowd was not a surprise to them). I enjoyed them just as much as last time I saw them, and this time, they sang, as well.  When Ralf Reynolds took to the mic, I was bit surprised by the softness of his voice. It was a nice singing voice, just not what I expected. I guess I expected something like this.

Katie Cavera sang more like I would have expected her to, having a voice that wouldn't sound out of place coming from a 20's Hollywood Flapper.

 

Overall, it was a very enjoyable set, and I hope they have a good long stay at DCA.

So that was my trip. Considering it was sort of a last-minute trip, suddenly tossed in as a result of Disney's recent price increase, I enjoyed myself. The busy crowds meant I didn't accomplish as much as I normally do on a visit, but I truthfully didn't miss out on much (missing the Tower of Terror was the only truly disappointing loss). I would recommend avoiding the park right before Summer blackouts kick in, but if it's unavoidable, you can still have a pretty good time at Disneyland the last Thursday before blackouts, as long as you're willing to accept that you won't see everything.

So that leaves just one more visit for me, before Carsland/Buena Vista Street opens. I'm going to the preview Saturday night. I didn't get in to the free AP preview, but decided $75 wasn't a bad deal to pay for admission to a preview night, especially as Disney is giving the proceeds to charity. I've read online that if every spot is filled, they will take in exactly $500,000 in revenue, so their $500,000 donation to a children's hospital means they are taking a loss on this, unless they sell a whole lot of churros at preview night.  But figuring that some people are paying $500 a pop for the deluxe experience with dinner at Carthay Circle Theatre, you can see there are not a whole lot of people attending this preview night. The last thing Disney wants to do, after all, is sell people a premium preview experience for real money, then have them wait in line three hours. For a free preview experience, that's acceptable, but people could be pissed off if they feel they didn't have time to experience the whole park they paid to preview. The take-away is, I have a feeling the paid preview days might be a very uncrowded way, relatively-speaking, to preview Carlsland. Expect a full report here soon, and see if I'm right.