Photo TR: New Year's Eve 2006 at Disneyland

[Corkscrewed]

So my friend, Chris (I think he goes by radikal on these forums), and I were the only ones to make it to Disneyland on New Year's Eve, but that makes sense, since I decided to go all of two days beforehand.

 

Long story short: it was crowded. EXTREMELY crowded. A definite sellout and probably the busiest I've ever personally seen the park (although I've seen close). It was okay, though, for me, since I was perfectly expecting a crowded day and didn't anticipate getting much done.

 

Well, we still did all the major e-tickets, though: Space Mountain twice, Indy twice, Jungle Cruise three times (all with amazing spielers), Matterhorn, Haunted Mansion Holiday (which keeps on getting better and better; or maybe I just keep noticing new things), Pirates, Splash Mountain (gotta love that single rider line), and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We could have done more if we were in the "rush to do everything" mode, but we actually took it pretty easy during the day. And we never waited more than 45 minutes for anything--and the 45 minutes was for food!

 

We also met up with our friend, Brent, (goldrusherrocks, aka resident Clipper fan, from WC), who was working Indy, when we went on after midnight. We had tried earlier before around 7, but he was on break. It was good catching him the second time, though.

 

So all in all, a pretty fun day. Of course, the countdown at night was what everyone was here for, and that didn't disappoint. It was a fantastic fireworks show that suddenly made me remember that this was the way fireworks shows at Disneyland were before the most recent barrage of Anaheim resident bitching about smoke and crap like that. I can see their point about the smoke, because the fireworks were INTENSE. However, they moved around the park knowing it put on shows, so they have no right to complain. I still think the Remember... show is better from an overall production standpoint, but if that show had been able to get more intense fireworks sequences like the older but shorter shows used to, then it could have very well been the best fireworks show ever put on.

 

Not that I'm biased or anything.

 

Jungle Cruise was really fun too. We did two rides in the morning, and the second one was with Chris's friend, Jason. Jason was hilarious, and I get the feeling he might have gone a little extra for us, just because his friend was in the boat. But he played the disgruntled skipper (my favorite type) perfectly down to a tee, and it was hilarious. Even if some of the jokes might have been a risque and not Disney-approved. (*passing the lost safari being threatened by the rhino* "And here's why it's called the Happiest Place on Earth..." *pauses as the joke dawns on the boat and a lot of riders go OHHHHHH!!! and start laughing hysterically at the joke* "Yup, you don't argue with a rhino. He always gets his point across... in the end.") Great stuff. Although our night ride might have been better. Taking advantage of three boat operation (meaning they're spaced pretty far apart), our skipper went past the attacking natives part saying they were going to ambush on the right. They're on the left of course, so he stopped the boat, yelled at them for being unprofessional, told them to go back to hiding and go on the other side, and then REVERSED THE BOAT to do it again! And of course, they attacked from the left again, to which he promptly apologized for their unprofessionalism. I don't think Chris and I have ever laughed harder on the Jungle Cruise than during that sequence.

 

The only down point was that Chris lost his phone (apparently on the Matterhorn) during the afternoon, and when we went to City Hall Guest Relations to report it, the overweight b***h behind the counter rudely told Chris "The Lost and Found is in the other park. NEXT!!" Yeah, way to have good guest service. Apparently, she was rude to several other people too, as we found out later in a conversation with another guest. But seriously... that's just messed up. I don't expect Disneyland employees to be that rude, because the company still holds high standards. And of course, we couldn't really file a complaint, since she would have simply tossed it away, being the person who handles it.

 

Despite that negative, it was a really fun time, and our only regret was that Ed wasn't there. I might very well do it next year. $63 admission price or not, it was definitely worth it.

 

And now... pictures.

 

Disneyland was still decked out for Christmas as we entered. It was, of course, still the Holiday season, which I think stretches from November 1st into May now or something...

 

I was trying to take a nice horse photo. Oh well.

 

Onride photo from our first ride on Space Mountain. I'm trying to do the "rock on" sign. I'm NOT flicking the camera off.

 

Of course, no trip to Disneyland is complete without a little DDR.

 

Random atmospheric shot of Tomorrowland.

 

They had turkeys at Big Thunder Ranch. Really showy, billowy birds too. Quite ugly. They'd look better roasted. Or in my stomach.

 

"Come 'ere, Jessie!"

"No, Woody! I'm not Dakota Fanning in Hound Dog!!!"

 

Random nice atmospheric shot of the Rivers of America.

 

This one's for Chris.

 

"WHAT'S THAT? I CAN'T HERE YOU BECAUSE MY PANTS ARE TOO LOUD!!!"

 

We found proof that Disneyland is evil. Or at least cinammon buns are evil, because this is the cost when you buy one with a YooHoo.

 

Did I mention it was crowded at the park?

 

Mad crowded.

 

Total sellout. They DID end up shutting the gates probably a few hours before midnight.

 

Haunted Mansion Holiday. Jack says Happy Christmaskahkwanzaa.

 

This has got to be the best photo I've ever taken on Pirates of the Caribbean. It's effing hard to take a good shot on the ride, since even when the boats back up, they're still drifting ever so slightly on the water.

 

Second on-ride photo of Space Mountain. Despite what it looks like, I am NOT heiling Hitler.... :unsure:

 

Waiting for the countdown. Main Street was decked out in all its festive holiday cheer.

 

We were stationed by the Photo Supply Co. store, right at the end of Main Street.

 

Chris poses for a photo as we wait.

 

Lots of people waiting as well. LOTS. Did I mention it was crowded?

 

I can't believe I this picture to come through, since I zoomed in as far as my optical zoom went to take it. I almost never get crisp night shots when I use zoom, and I've definitely never gotten a good shot when maxing out my zoom. Yay me.

 

After the fireworks show, we hit Indy, then Haunted Mansion, then Jungle Cruise. Here's me in between two of those rides.

 

Haunted Mansion Holiday at night. I've always enjoyed the holiday version, but now I'm starting to really love it.

 

SCARY JACK-O-LANTERN-CROW!!!

 

Within an hour after midnight, the park had emptied out dramatically. I love Disneyland when it's near deserted at night though. It's good for photos, and it's just very tranquil and lovely.

 

 

 

And as promised, here's the full fireworks show I filmed, hosted on YouTube:

 

Enjoy!

[YoshiFan]

Nice photos, it looks just as crowded as WDW was this week. That sucks you ran into a rude employee. Although the large majority of employees at Disney are nice, I am noticing more and more aren't as acting as nice as in the past. At Splash Mountain, the guy at the fastpass was telling everyone that unless your fastpass said 4:00 or earlier, he suggested you play in the park as you aren't getting in (someone even told him he didn't have to be so mean about it as the worker also said it in a mean tone).

[Ryan King]

One of the BEST PTRs Ive seen of Holiday Disneyland thus far! I was REALLY enjoying them man! Good Job! Ive laready decided come my next trip to Disneyland...probablly next month (WITH JAHAN ) and take nothing but nice pictures. Im always so busy running about the park and hitting rides.

 

Good humor, AWESOME photos! Thanks!

 

-Ryan

[arrowfanman]

Excellent PTR! I considered going, but decided to not risk the crowds!

 

 

 

 

BTW....may I ask what you shot this with? I really like the colors in those photos!

 

-Jahan "Not a photographer...just curious" Makanvand

[Corkscrewed]

Canon Powershot G3. I've had it for about four years now and have taken over 20,000 photos with it, and it still functions quite well. I love Canon cameras.

 

 

Thanks for the comments!