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An overly long diary from last Sunday.
It takes a certain kind of idiot to wake up before the sun so that she can go stand in an over-two-hour line to get into Disneyland. I am that idiot.
At 5 a.m. when my alarm went off, I was still in a dream-like state. I was seeing animated "5a.m." creatures with wings smacking me in the face and I kept wondering why no one was putting them back on their shelves. Yeah, this was a great start.
I stumbled out of my place thirty minutes later with my coffee (in a Disneyland plastic travel mug, thank you very much), and surprisingly enough, fully clothed and sporting a fanny pack. There, I said it. FANNY PACK. You know what? I refuse to carry a purse at Disneyland and I don't have a woman's alternate purse, otherwise known as a man. And why would I want to lug around a big, hot backpack? *moons certain people and their fashion savvy*
I got to the Mega Parking Structure of Doom around 6:30 and even then I had to park in the back. Apparently I wasn't going to be the only one at the park that day. Behold the power of a promised free hat. At least there really wasn't a line getting on the parking tram. However, getting off the tram at the entrance plaza...
There was a *wee* line.
If you've ever visited Disneyland, let me paint a picture.
It started at the security tents, went straight down through Downtown Disney, over the bridge and to the monorail station, looped back around through Downtown Disney, back up to the security tents, then curved around up through the tram unloading platform, doubled back, then curved around to the secondary tram platform on the other side. This did not include people who had camped out in DCA the night before and were already lined up at the gates. I later heard that the whole pre-opening line was around 10,000 people. Getting there at 6:30 (when the gates were scheduled to open at 8), I was probably # 6,843.
Fortunately I was right in front of a couple who were clearly Disneyland fanatics (okay, who in the line that morning wasn't?) but were also really funny. Cracking jokes and mocking people who were trying but failing to weasel/fast talk their way ahead of the line helped make the time pass. It amazed me there were people who were actually getting irate at some of the cast members because the line wouldn't be moving – anyone going to Disneyland on July 17, 2005 that didn't expect they'd be pretty much standing around all day, was a moron.
Finally at 8:45, I made it through the gates. HUZZAH! And was promptly handed a gold mouse ear hat that had "July 17, 2005" stitched on the back. HUZZAH! And a special "Happy 50th Birthday" brochure. HUZZAH! But no cupcake voucher. HUZZ…wait. I had read that there were going to be free cupcakes handed out, but there were no coupons. This started to worry me since I didn't wake up at 5 a.m. to not have a cupcake, dammit!
My actual brochures.
Not my actual hat.
But another thought entered my mind - Space Mountain had officially opened up two days before after having been closed for two years to replace the track. If I rode one ride that day, I'd want it to be Space Mountain. So I put on my gold hat and joined the river of gold hats flowing down Main Street. Cupcake forgotten, my mission was now clear: Space Mountain.
Space Mountain. Space Mountain. Dodge stroller. Space Mountain. Space Mountain. Move, you slow-type person! Space Mountain. Space Mountain. SPACE MOUNTAIN. And only a 40 minute wait! WOO!
What can I say about Space Mountain 2.0? I knew it was going to be exactly the same track, but I still felt like, "That was it? That was what they closed it down for 2 years for?" Don't get me wrong, it's still very fun and one hell of a ride. And the queue is a whole lot nicer now. The giant orange ball inside the actual ride is gone (as is the giant cookie) so you're riding through a dark star field. I kind of miss the cookie. And the lift tube is now doing a spinny thing that makes me dizzy. The music has also been changed. I don't like it as well as the Le-Carnaval-des-Animaux-on-speed they had before. The former soundtrack seemed perfectly timed to the ride, what's more, it was memorable. The new – couldn't even tell you what it was like 5 minutes after the ride. Ah well. I'm probably just a cranky grouch that likes "the old way." Well, maybe if they're not going to use the former soundtrack on Space Mountain anymore, they could move it to California Screamin'. I don't like that music either.
But moving on. It was now about 9:45 and I hadn't had breakfast yet. So I got some bacon and eggs and CUPCAKE. HUZZAH! Apparently they were handing them out when you bought something at a consession stand. Not that a cupcake is wonderful along side bacon and eggs, but Disney gave me a free cupcake! It's the principle, dammit.
At 10 a.m. there was going to be a ceremony in front of the castle, which was to be broadcast all over the park on jumbotrons. I did *not* want to stand in front of the castle where there were sure to be thousands of people packed in there. So I really lucked out with breakfast. I got a nice table under an umbrella that was in direct line of sight of the jumbotron in Tomorrowland. I had my breakfast and drank my coffee as they did the ceremony. The ceremony was nice. They had Art Linkletter (who M.C.'d the televised opening back in 1955), Ahnold, Disney CEOs, one of Disney's daughters, singing and fireworks. People everywhere donned their gold hats and sang "Happy Birthday" to Disneyland. Nice.
(By now I'm sure you've realized that I not only drank the punch, but ate the cupcake. *waves Disneyland4eva flag*)
After that was all finished, I pranced ("went" sounds so blah) across the street to Innoventions. They have a demonstration of ASIMO there right now that I've wanted to see. It was really cool – what an amazing piece of robotics technology! I was kind of wondering though, if it was a pre-programmed routine or if the robot was actually responding to voice commands. It does have face/voice recognition, so I wasn't really sure. I still say that the best way not be enslaved by robot overlords someday is to limit ourselves to toasters on roller skates. Then all you need to worry about is taking a bath.
By this time it was around noon and I decided it was probably about time I got out of Tomorrowland. So I thought I'd take a walk through the castle, but they were still clearing equipment from the earlier ceremony. So...New Orleans Square sounded like a good choice. I skipped (okay, not really) through Frontierland, rounded the corner and...
OMFG.
I think I may have actually said that. A *SEA* of gold hats were crammed into the whole Adventureland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country corridor. In that second I decided that I was probably done for the day. One thing nice about an annual pass, you don't have to try and get your money's worth in one day. However, I did have an urge to ride Soarin' Over California over in DCA – the second park called Disney's California Adventure. So I swam upstream on Main Street and went over to the other park.
DCA was deserted. I walked right on the Soarin' ride. Like Disneyland, they were also handing out hats and cupcakes, but unlike Disneyland there were so few people in the park, people were running around with trays trying to foist cupcakes on you. The cupcake to human ratio was frightning and as the day went on, people starting avoiding eye contact with the cupcake pushers.
"Mommy, I don't want anymore cupcakes!"
"Just don't look at her. And run!"
"Mommy, she's gaining on us!"
Let's just say I had my share of cupcakes that day. I may not need another cupcake for years.
Starting to get sunburned and bloated by cupcakes, I decided to call it a day. Overall I'm glad I went. Yes, it was as crowded as I've ever seen it, but now I can always say that I was there on July 17, 2005.
And I have the hat to prove it.
At 5 a.m. when my alarm went off, I was still in a dream-like state. I was seeing animated "5a.m." creatures with wings smacking me in the face and I kept wondering why no one was putting them back on their shelves. Yeah, this was a great start.
I stumbled out of my place thirty minutes later with my coffee (in a Disneyland plastic travel mug, thank you very much), and surprisingly enough, fully clothed and sporting a fanny pack. There, I said it. FANNY PACK. You know what? I refuse to carry a purse at Disneyland and I don't have a woman's alternate purse, otherwise known as a man. And why would I want to lug around a big, hot backpack? *moons certain people and their fashion savvy*
I got to the Mega Parking Structure of Doom around 6:30 and even then I had to park in the back. Apparently I wasn't going to be the only one at the park that day. Behold the power of a promised free hat. At least there really wasn't a line getting on the parking tram. However, getting off the tram at the entrance plaza...
There was a *wee* line.
If you've ever visited Disneyland, let me paint a picture.
It started at the security tents, went straight down through Downtown Disney, over the bridge and to the monorail station, looped back around through Downtown Disney, back up to the security tents, then curved around up through the tram unloading platform, doubled back, then curved around to the secondary tram platform on the other side. This did not include people who had camped out in DCA the night before and were already lined up at the gates. I later heard that the whole pre-opening line was around 10,000 people. Getting there at 6:30 (when the gates were scheduled to open at 8), I was probably # 6,843.
Fortunately I was right in front of a couple who were clearly Disneyland fanatics (okay, who in the line that morning wasn't?) but were also really funny. Cracking jokes and mocking people who were trying but failing to weasel/fast talk their way ahead of the line helped make the time pass. It amazed me there were people who were actually getting irate at some of the cast members because the line wouldn't be moving – anyone going to Disneyland on July 17, 2005 that didn't expect they'd be pretty much standing around all day, was a moron.
Finally at 8:45, I made it through the gates. HUZZAH! And was promptly handed a gold mouse ear hat that had "July 17, 2005" stitched on the back. HUZZAH! And a special "Happy 50th Birthday" brochure. HUZZAH! But no cupcake voucher. HUZZ…wait. I had read that there were going to be free cupcakes handed out, but there were no coupons. This started to worry me since I didn't wake up at 5 a.m. to not have a cupcake, dammit!
My actual brochures.
Not my actual hat.
But another thought entered my mind - Space Mountain had officially opened up two days before after having been closed for two years to replace the track. If I rode one ride that day, I'd want it to be Space Mountain. So I put on my gold hat and joined the river of gold hats flowing down Main Street. Cupcake forgotten, my mission was now clear: Space Mountain.
Space Mountain. Space Mountain. Dodge stroller. Space Mountain. Space Mountain. Move, you slow-type person! Space Mountain. Space Mountain. SPACE MOUNTAIN. And only a 40 minute wait! WOO!
What can I say about Space Mountain 2.0? I knew it was going to be exactly the same track, but I still felt like, "That was it? That was what they closed it down for 2 years for?" Don't get me wrong, it's still very fun and one hell of a ride. And the queue is a whole lot nicer now. The giant orange ball inside the actual ride is gone (as is the giant cookie) so you're riding through a dark star field. I kind of miss the cookie. And the lift tube is now doing a spinny thing that makes me dizzy. The music has also been changed. I don't like it as well as the Le-Carnaval-des-Animaux-on-speed they had before. The former soundtrack seemed perfectly timed to the ride, what's more, it was memorable. The new – couldn't even tell you what it was like 5 minutes after the ride. Ah well. I'm probably just a cranky grouch that likes "the old way." Well, maybe if they're not going to use the former soundtrack on Space Mountain anymore, they could move it to California Screamin'. I don't like that music either.
But moving on. It was now about 9:45 and I hadn't had breakfast yet. So I got some bacon and eggs and CUPCAKE. HUZZAH! Apparently they were handing them out when you bought something at a consession stand. Not that a cupcake is wonderful along side bacon and eggs, but Disney gave me a free cupcake! It's the principle, dammit.
At 10 a.m. there was going to be a ceremony in front of the castle, which was to be broadcast all over the park on jumbotrons. I did *not* want to stand in front of the castle where there were sure to be thousands of people packed in there. So I really lucked out with breakfast. I got a nice table under an umbrella that was in direct line of sight of the jumbotron in Tomorrowland. I had my breakfast and drank my coffee as they did the ceremony. The ceremony was nice. They had Art Linkletter (who M.C.'d the televised opening back in 1955), Ahnold, Disney CEOs, one of Disney's daughters, singing and fireworks. People everywhere donned their gold hats and sang "Happy Birthday" to Disneyland. Nice.
(By now I'm sure you've realized that I not only drank the punch, but ate the cupcake. *waves Disneyland4eva flag*)
After that was all finished, I pranced ("went" sounds so blah) across the street to Innoventions. They have a demonstration of ASIMO there right now that I've wanted to see. It was really cool – what an amazing piece of robotics technology! I was kind of wondering though, if it was a pre-programmed routine or if the robot was actually responding to voice commands. It does have face/voice recognition, so I wasn't really sure. I still say that the best way not be enslaved by robot overlords someday is to limit ourselves to toasters on roller skates. Then all you need to worry about is taking a bath.
By this time it was around noon and I decided it was probably about time I got out of Tomorrowland. So I thought I'd take a walk through the castle, but they were still clearing equipment from the earlier ceremony. So...New Orleans Square sounded like a good choice. I skipped (okay, not really) through Frontierland, rounded the corner and...
OMFG.
I think I may have actually said that. A *SEA* of gold hats were crammed into the whole Adventureland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country corridor. In that second I decided that I was probably done for the day. One thing nice about an annual pass, you don't have to try and get your money's worth in one day. However, I did have an urge to ride Soarin' Over California over in DCA – the second park called Disney's California Adventure. So I swam upstream on Main Street and went over to the other park.
DCA was deserted. I walked right on the Soarin' ride. Like Disneyland, they were also handing out hats and cupcakes, but unlike Disneyland there were so few people in the park, people were running around with trays trying to foist cupcakes on you. The cupcake to human ratio was frightning and as the day went on, people starting avoiding eye contact with the cupcake pushers.
"Mommy, I don't want anymore cupcakes!"
"Just don't look at her. And run!"
"Mommy, she's gaining on us!"
Let's just say I had my share of cupcakes that day. I may not need another cupcake for years.
Starting to get sunburned and bloated by cupcakes, I decided to call it a day. Overall I'm glad I went. Yes, it was as crowded as I've ever seen it, but now I can always say that I was there on July 17, 2005.
And I have the hat to prove it.
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I stumbled out of my place thirty minutes later with my coffee (in a Disneyland plastic travel mug, thank you very much), and surprisingly enough, fully clothed and sporting a fanny pack.
OMG. Disney-themed paraphenalia. And a fanny pack. *sobs*
Huzzah? What the fuck? You went to a British boarding school in the 50s, didn't you?
The cupcake to human ratio was frightning. While I mock you for the typo, I also think you should icon that :D Ha. Or 'lol'. Whatever.
I hope you wear your hat with pride, MV. Your actual hat.
*SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH*
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And links! I had links!
OMG. Disney-themed paraphenalia. And a fanny pack. *sobs*
I'm afraid you never knew the full extent of my geekness.
Huzzah? What the fuck? You went to a British boarding school in the 50s, didn't you?
HA! I love using Huzzah with some sense of sarcasm. People who say huzzah are generally people who work at Ren-Fests.
I hope you wear your hat with pride, MV. Your actual hat.
My actual hat his hanging off the mirror in my bedroom. (So classy.)
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You might just be the cutest dork alive.
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And I love the hat.
With your explanation of the crowds I don't think I'd ever have the stomach to deal with Disneyland.
Crowds drive me crazy. Big crowds drive me big crazy!
But I'll never have a hat..
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http://www.livejournal.com/users/mrv3000/237511.html
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Fucking mouse.
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This part was priceless: "Mommy, I don't want anymore cupcakes!"
"Just don't look at her. And run!"
"Mommy, she's gaining on us!"
And you can tell I'm tired because I read this:
They had Art Linkletter (who M.C.'d the televised opening back in 1955), Disney CEOs, one of Disney's daughters, Ahnold, singing, fireworks. People everywhere donned their gold hats and sang "Happy Birthday" to Disneyland.
And what I got out of it on first read was "They had Disney's daughter, Ahnold, singing." I found that very frightening until I re-read it and figured out what you'd actually said. ;)
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And am happy to share - overall it was pretty fun!
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;)
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ME TOO! I thought, "That has to be the UGLIEST name for a girl, EVER. Who'd name their daughter Ahnol- OH!"
*headdesk*
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There's something about that that requires an icon.
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*loves*
My I was born the next day... *tries to do simple math* 27 years later. And now I'm 28... no, that's not right...
*tries again*
22. Twenty TWO years. Whoo.
Um, love you! :D
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HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY!!!
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Let's just say I had my share of cupcakes that day. I may not need another cupcake for years.
Dude. Should have taken all the cupcakes and bronzed them and sold them on ebay. Special 50th Anniversay Disneyland Cupcakes!
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I now have a very good idea what it is to be a lemming!
Dude. Should have taken all the cupcakes and bronzed them and sold them on ebay. Special 50th Anniversay Disneyland Cupcakes!
It wouldn't surprise me if there were already.
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Second thought:
teeheehee! i am actually pissing myself laughing... seriously. nearly actually peeed my pants. twas very embarrassing for me... but funny... yeah....
um... aaaaanyway.... um... glad you had fun. glad it didn't take too long and glad you have an annual pass. apparently i'm very glad.
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let's make a club - the let's all be glad together club... or something to that extent... ok, going to be quiet now.
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The cupcake to human ratio was frightning
Bwahahaha!! It's an ARMY of them!!!!!!!!! Ahem. ;)
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That is not a sentence commonly found in my experience. Tee-hee. Glad you had a great time. I like the hat.
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I like my hat too. *pets*
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