Jakes' Disneyland Update Thread!

[ghost007jas]

Some of you may know (although most probably do not) that I go to Disneyland on a nearly weekly basis. And a vast majority of the time I bring back at least a small update of what is going on at the park. So I am going to the park tomorrow, to get some pictures of Toy Story Mania, and hopefully some testing shots of the new Monorail trains.

 

Here is my first Disneyland trip report:

 

Welcome to the Disneyland Resort… oh jeez.. it looks crowded already.

 

This looks.. promising.. not.

 

This tram is different then most at the resort.

 

Oh, the lines aren’t so bad at all!

 

We went to Indiana Jones to snag some fast passes, in order to maximize our ride time.

 

The dreams suite above Pirates of the Caribbean

 

The first stop of the day, and my personal favorite, Haunted Mansion!

 

Ah! A ghost! Oh.. wait, it’s just a flash.

 

One of the stretching portraits in the elevator. I bought a deck of cards where all the face cards were one of the four portraits! And for only five dollars! Gee.. I’m a sucker.

 

One of the infamous bat chain knobs. They look pretty cool, actually!

 

After our ride on the Haunted Mansion we strolled over to the Pirates of the Caribbean. We then got a fastpass for Splash Mountain.

 

One of several “Mountains” to be found on the resort, a fantastic log flume.

 

After we got a couple of fastpasses we went to use our passes for Indiana Jones. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures of our favorite adventurer, so on to the Jungle Cruise to burn some time while waiting to ride Splash Mountain!

 

All bow to the ancient elephant god!

 

This is new since the last time I rode, a cool sequence actually. There is an explosion over near the cans of gasoline, followed by a cheesy Cast Member line.

 

It’s the backside of water!

 

A one of a kind, elephant.. except.. not.

 

Animal activists complained due to the terrible ear wiggling disease that has infected all the Hippos!

 

Well after a ride on Splash Mountain (No photos as I had my camera in the backpack to keep it dry. So over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad we go!

 

Big Thunder signage.

 

The finale here used to be much cooler, if I remember correctly.

 

The mountain of Big Thunder.

 

Big Thunder has a great train, very well themed.

 

The second lifthill of the ride, the ride utilizes three lift hills for multiple show sequences I believe. Someone correct me if I am mistaken.

 

There is some decent airtime on this ride. Well, for a Disney attraction at least!

 

After our spin on Big Thunder we decided to go ride the Matterhorn, in order to finish up our rounds of the park!

 

My favorite mountain at the park, the Matterhorn!

 

This paint scheme seems so.. 1970 to me.

 

“May the power of Christ compel you!” (He’s exorcizing the Arrow from this attraction)

 

After we rode the Matterhorn, it was time to head over to Disneyland’s younger sibling that no one likes, California Adventure! Yay!

 

They were running at max capacity over at California Screamin’. This train is about to launch.

 

Now on to the Toy Story Mania update portion of this trip report.

 

The building is looking great!

 

Another look.

 

There will be a gift shop at the exit of this attraction.

 

The logo for this attraction, a little small, but it gets the point across, right?

 

At this point we had gotten a fastpass for California Screamin’ and we’re off to tour the rest of the park.

 

This ride is great, but lacks in popularity.

 

We walked to Mullholland Madness and hopped into the twenty minutes queue.

 

The work is moving along for the added rooms for the Grand Californian hotel.

 

An interesting map attached to the side of the ride.

 

After we took a spin on California Screamin’ (we saw the Toy Story Mania vehicles testing) we headed back to Disneyland. After spending an hour trying to find something to eat on main street (due to indecision on my brothers and I’s part) we met up with the rest of our family at Indiana Jones.

 

They want your blood. But your first born would be good too!

 

After a few more re-rides and a cancellation of the fireworks it was just about time to head home.

 

The secret to surviving a shark attack, revealed!

 

To infinity and.. dorks..

 

Main Street all lit up pretty .

And that was our day at the Disneyland Resort! I had a lot of fun, as usual and hope to go back soon. Thanks for reading!

[robbalvey]

Nice report! Thanks for posting it.

 

http://www.amusementcast.com/users/jake/images/disneyland_resort/tpr_ptr/IMG_6753%20(Small).JPG

I really like the look of the building and the logo. It bums me out that it blocks the view of the loop now, but oh well...

 

--Robb

[Mr Stratosphere]

Great Report!!

I love seeing whats up at the DLR.

Has anyone heard anything about the new trains for the Matterhorn??

 

John

[robbalvey]

^ Only that there have been reports that a new matterhorn train prototype did exist and that they look like the newer WDW Space Mountain trains.

 

I've heard nothing about them since.

 

--Robb

Here is the blurry photo I've seen posted before.

[Ghost]

Now that the secret is out (for some of us) will we get a picture trip report every week? (I do hope so)

[ghost007jas]

Nice report! Thanks for posting it.

 

http://www.amusementcast.com/users/jake/images/disneyland_resort/tpr_ptr/IMG_6753%20(Small).JPG

I really like the look of the building and the logo. It bums me out that it blocks the view of the loop now, but oh well...

 

--Robb

 

From across the pier, you can still get a good view of the loop. It's only right up close that you can't see it. Thanks!

 

Great Report!!

I love seeing whats up at the DLR.

Has anyone heard anything about the new trains for the Matterhorn??

 

John

 

There were photos posted, as Robb said. I have a feeling we'll see them running for the Matterhorn's 50th anniversary. (2009)

 

Now that the secret is out (for some of us) will we get a picture trip report every week? (I do hope so)

 

I'm not sure I follow.. is there a secret I don't know about?

[robbalvey]

Yeah, Ghost what are you talking about? Do tell....you've got me very excited now!

 

--Robb

[Fredlv1]

^ Only that there have been reports that a new matterhorn train prototype did exist and that they look like the newer WDW Space Mountain trains.

 

I've heard nothing about them since.

 

--Robb

 

Robb,

 

I spoke to a cast member at the Matterhorn about the new trains they are supposed to be getting. She told me that they won't be getting them until 2010.

 

Fred

[RaptorBoyASU]

Cool PTR. I can't wait to ride Toy Story Mania. It's been taunting me for far too long.

 

If you end up doing these every week though, you might want to stick to what's new and different in the future updates, or it's going to be waaaayyy too many pictures to sort through.

[ghost007jas]

I go usually every two weeks, but there are times when I'm going every week. Most reports will not be as long as this, as it would get very repetitive and boring. So after this initial report to "Kick things off" I'm going to stick to what's new around the resort!

 

Thanks for the comments, they're appreciated!

[dino]

Great report. I'm really liking the Toy Story Mania Marquee, it's got that old time charm to it. I go to the Disneyland Resort fairly often myself so I always like to see what's new or different. Hopefully you'll do these updates semi-frequently as I never get tired of Disney TRs .

[ghost007jas]

Thanks! I'll do my best to keep them coming at a fairly steady pace .

[ECZenith]

FYI, the best time to catch the new Mark VII monorail (Monorail Red) is between midnight and 2 am, and you can see it pretty good from the McDonald's parking lot on Harbor Blvd. I've seen it a few times last week when I worked late shifts, it's so pretty...

[ghost007jas]

If I'm ever still at the park that late, I'll be sure to remember that, thanks!

 

Also, I made a music video using footage I took on this day.

 

Check it out:

 

 

Thanks!

[robbalvey]

^ I fixed the video for you. Remember you can embed a video into your post by clicking "Video" (copy the YouTube URL) click "video" again.

 

Nice video, but I think you could have done something a bit 'stronger' with the footage you had and the song you used.

 

Here is a little video editing tip from Robb.

 

HIT THE BEATS - When you are using such a song like "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan where you have these really great STRONG beats, try to hit them!

 

At the moment you hear the beat, change your clip so that something happens when the beat strikes.

 

For example, at :21 when that first beat strikes, think about using that clip of Maliboomer taking off that you have at :33.

 

When you have exciting clips like onride footage, coaster launches, space shots taking off, etc, and you have strong beats, try to match them up.

 

That's Robb's video editing tip for the day! I hope that helps.

 

--Robb

[ghost007jas]

^ Thanks! I'll keep that in mind for next time!

 

I edited the video, and re uploaded it to youtube. I think it turned out much better this time around!

 

Thanks again!

[robbalvey]

^ It's better. I think I see what you're going for and I hope you don't take offense to this, but I did a little re-edit with the first few seconds of the video to give you a few pointers.

 

First off, remember that the human brain and process a great deal of information in a short amount of time, so sometimes you can get your point across in shorter clips.

 

The example here is your intro as you are driving into the park. Change the clip when the music beat changes. For this song in particular you'll use shorter clips to tell the same amount of "story" (with the story here is "I'm driving into the parking garage...") and you'll get to the point much quicker.

 

You know how you hate it when people ramble on and it takes forever to tell a story? Same thing with editing a video.

 

Next, when your song hits a powerful beat, cut away to ACTION! I see that in you re-edit you did cut away to Maliboomer, but when the strong beat hit, Maliboomer was just sitting there. Cut away to the LAUNCH! Because that is your action.

 

And then your next strong beat, cut away to more action. Keep the pace up and keep things moving.

 

Now you don't ALWAYS have to cut away to action every time there is a strong beat. Especially later on in a song as then it can become repetitous. If you want to be ironic later on when the viewer would expect action, cut away to something slow. If you want to be funny, cut away to someone doing something silly, etc.

 

Anyway, here is my take on the opening of your video...again, please don't take offense to this, I just thought it might help for you to edit better stuff in the future.

 

--Robb

disney_example.wmv

[jtizzle]

^Robb is awesome. I learned something from this post.

 

Cool TR love Disney TRs and I'm glad you enjoyed yourself there.

[devol4]

^^Yeah that post really helped, explains why some of my vids put people to sleep..

[ghost007jas]

That helped a lot, thanks! I wont be trying this video again, I'll wait for the next one, haha.

[robbalvey]

^ No problem. I always love to give people pointers on videos, but I don't even want people to think that the way I do a video is the end-all be-all way to do it.

 

--Robb

[ghost007jas]

So I'm heading back to the park on the 12th of May. If anyone plans to be there that day and wants to meet up, post or message me .

[ghost007jas]

Welcome to the second installment of my Disneyland update thread. I was at the resort on Monday and had the opportunity to not lonely get on many rides several times, but I also go the chance to enjoy the park in the rain, which doesn’t happen often enough in Southern California. So, without further ado, let us begin.

 

Unfortunately, because of the rain the lighting was terrible for picture taking. As such, many of these pictures are not up to my standard quality, so I apologize in advance.

 

Ah! A Sebring! The Office fans may find this amusing. Sadly, not a convertible.

 

This struck me as a little creepy, perhaps I just need to get my mind out of the gutter.

 

It’s raining it’s pouring..

 

Well, sort of. It rained heavily right before and during the tram ride, but after that only sprinkled the rest of the day.

 

Mainstreet about fifteen minutes after the opening of the park.

 

This area will soon hold the Indiana Jones stunt show. I’m very excited to see it in action soon!

 

Speaking of Indiana Jones, it was the first ride of the day with a ten minute wait!

 

If you look at these inscriptions for long enough you can begin to see real letters “hidden” inside the symbols. I believe you can still print the decoder off of the internet.

 

The Dreams Suite was newly occupied by a family from Washington if I remember correctly.

 

It has been far too long. I was able to make up for it by getting five rides in, four of them back to back.

 

It interests me that Disney left up some of the off island Tom Sawyer theming.

 

Perhaps Tom Sawyers Island will overthrow the pirates?

 

Well, probably not – but check out this cool cave!

 

Big Thunder remains one of the rides that can not seem to get a wait less then twenty minutes – no matter what that silly sign says.

 

Something I haven’t seen in a while, an open Storybook land!

 

No, I didn’t ride it – but it was open, see?

 

The rest of my family apparently saw one of the new monorails that morning, but I wasn’t with them at the time – ah well.

 

Look everyone! Lets wait an hour for “Submerged Bench – The Ride”.

 

Eh... maybe not.

 

Star Wars mural > Buzz Lightyear mural.

The upstairs of this building has been closed for a very long time. Does anyone know why?

 

Here is another look at the blocked off escalator.

 

Here is an obligatory castle shot. Hi castle!

 

Just think of all the memorable photographs that will not be able to be taken once these are gone… Thank God they’ll be gone.

 

They were doing some kind of maintenance on the fountain I would presume.

 

For those of you who have read my previous updates, I had just noted that this waterfall was turned back on. And now it’s off… again.

 

Hello Paradies Pier, long time no see!

 

Here is the Toy Story Mania segment of my update so I’ll let the pictures do the talking. These first few are of the wooden.. cabanas? That the overflow queue will be put under if the line gets too long for the regular queue.

 

 

 

 

These next few pictures are of the Midway Mercantile, the retails tore you’ll be dumped into after the ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the exit to the ride, blocked off of course.

 

See? I told you!

 

This is the exterior to the store.

 

No, it isn’t perfect, but you can still get a shot of the loop if you want.

 

The last shot of Toy Story Mania, set to open June 17th according to the park map I believe. (Someone threw out my map… so that’s strictly from memory.)

 

The Corn Dog Castle was closed for refurbishment. This place has the best corn dogs I have ever had, period.

 

One of my least favorite Disney attractions, Soarin Over California had a fifteen minute stand by wait, quite rare for this ride. However, I was hungry so I didn’t wait.

 

My lunch receipt. I’m still disappointed they took out the touch screens, but the food is good and it isn’t all that expensive, so I wont complain.

 

After lunch I moved back to Disneyland for the rest of the day. I was able to get on California Screamin’ with a ten minute wait, same with Madness. My first stop while in the park? Haunted Mansion of course! After a few rides on that I somehow made my way over to Space Mountain.

 

The picture didn’t turn out, but this says fifteen minutes.

 

I’m not a fan of the ride, so waiting for about fifteen minutes is the most I’ll do. This line ended up being thirty minutes.

 

I decided to check out Innoventions again to see if anything new had opened and I was not disappointed!

 

Here are a few pictures that I do not wish to come up with captions for, yay!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like this floor of Innoventions is nearly complete, I’ll be sure to check again next time I visit.

 

The deck offers a nice view of the park.

 

The monorail is very photogenic, so pretty…

 

It’s a Fat World is still being refurbished.

 

A sign on the wall.

 

More signage.. getting bored yet? Me too, lets wrap this up.

 

I discovered this little area in New Orleans Square.

 

It’s nice and quiet and the theming is very immersive.

 

Okay, this is the last picture from this area I swear.

At this point we had ridden everything, were tired and ready to go home. So thanks for reading this installment!

 

Until next time…

 

-Jake!

[dino]

I liked the Midway Mania Pics. As for "Submerged Bench: The Ride", Hilarious. No love for the DCA entrance though? I know it's not one of the best, but the California letters was one thing I always liked about it. You're so right about Corndog Castle making some of the best corndogs though. As for the "Your friends want to come out and play" comment... . Anyway cool update.

[RCFreak]

The Court of Angels is beautiful (the are you just discovered in New Orleans Square) especially during the holidays when it's all decked out in lights. many people have their family pictures taken there and I know a few people like to propose in that little spot. It always makes me smile passing the coffin penny press too.

 

 

Thanks for the pics, it's been killing me not having my pass and not being able to go, so pics will have to do for now!