My Disney Trip

I should probably split this post into a few different ones because my day at Disney was BUSY. As I was boarding Winnie the Pooh, the worker asked about my shirt and I explained my goal for being efficient in the park. She told me the average rides ridden in a day is 7. We more than tripled this!

I am going to list the order of events and describe some newly discovered things in this post and tell you about wait time accuracy in another post where I will calculate standard deviations between posted time on the app, posted time on the signs, and the actual wait time.

Order of Events

1. Space Mountain
2. Peterpan
3. Mr Toads
4. Snow White
5. Pinocchio
6. Space Mountain
7. Star Tours
8. Indiana Jones
9. Haunted Mansion
10. Winnie the Pooh
11. Indiana Jones
12. Splash Mountain
13. Pirates of the Caribbean
14. Fantasy Fair
15. Captain EO
16. Star Tours
17. Buzz Lightyear
18. Haunted Mansion
19. Winnie the Pooh
20. Asimo
21. Train
22. Soundsational Parade
23. Small World
24. Splash Mountain
25. Fireworks
26. Space Mountain
27. Space Mountain

We left the park about an hour before it closed because we were EXHAUSTED. If you notice, we did not do Matterhorn. The stupid thing was closed for about 6 days and we happened to be there at that time. Of course you all know Thunder Mountain is closed until October so we didn’t do that ride either. We were going to head to Fantasmic after our two times through Space Mountain but decided we should save our selves for California Adventure the next day.

Some things I learned and Observed

We did Indiana twice and had plans to do it a third time single rider so I could post a video of the new effects but it was closed! I was right in my last post when I said Indiana has a new effect right when you go through the doors. I was so happy we went through two different doors because it turns out each door has a different effect! It was very neat.

Fantasy Faire is actually kind of fun. I never really went to meet characters because my mom never bought me the autograph books or dressed me in anything cute (poor deprived me) BUT the wait was only like 10 minutes and it was kinda funny. Turns out I’m the right height for Sleeping Beauty. Observe.

Too bad I’m not graceful or beautiful. I do have the height thing going for me though!

Asimo is still very cheesy and not worth seeing more than once. I’ve seen it twice and I don’t care to ever see it again.

I went at a very fast pace and ended up walking 10.5 miles or 27.300 steps. I. Was. Tired.

Thanks to everyone who came up and said hi! I met some wonderful new people.

California Adventure on Tuesday (8/20/13)

This will be my first official plan for California Adventure so that’s news I guess. Now you know how I do California Adventure (or will do it.)

1. Head to the Car’s Fastpass distribution. For those of you who haven’t been to California Adventure recently and haven’t seen the new Car’s Land, I’ve heard complaints of struggles with finding the Fastpass distribution. I will provide you with a map. Ok maybe I won’t because this computer won’t let me do it. 😦 It’s right by the entrance to Carsland though. So don’t go all the way to Radiator Springs.
2. Yesterday at 8:00 AM the wait time was only 25 minutes for Radiator Springs so if that’s the case next week, I will ask my friends to wait in line.
3. We will then probably head to Tower of Terror for the party to wait in line.
4. Monster’s Inc
5. If I’m forced to watch Muppet’s again I might go crazy but this would be a convenient time.
6. If it’s early than 11:00 then Grizzly River Run would be a good one, if it’s after I would grab a Fastpass.
7. California Soarin’ Fastpasses
8. Paradise Pier. The rides on Paradise Pier are a little too scary for my sensitive stomach so I will probably swing on the Silly Swings and maybe do the Ferris Wheel. I don’t like the Swinging cars on the Ferris Wheel which is good because the wait is usually about twice as long!

So hopefully this will all work out and life will be fabulous as always. I’ll let you know how it goes!

I just BARELY read a post by Confessions of a Disnerd that new updates to Indiana Jones have been made. Check out the link to see the video from Touring Plans. Touring Plans has a primary focus of Disney World so this may not be true for Disneyland.

Brief Discovered Tips

Because I have failed to update you recently, I have way too much data that really isn’t terribly fascinating. I’ve decided to summarize a few random things I’ve found over the weekend and past week.

Closed Rides

I know before I started doing this I always had little mini anxiety attacks when I noticed one of my favorite rides was closed. I have never been to Disneyland longer than two days at a time so I thought for sure I wouldn’t be able to ride the ride. The fact of the matter is rides are typically not closed for longer than an hour. If you notice a ride is closed, go to something near by and check back. One thing I have noticed though,  is right after the ride has opened up after being closed for some amount of time, the wait is about 50% longer. It goes back down to an average wait time after about an hour though. This isn’t the case for every ride but I have noticed it occasionally with Radiator Springs Racers, Slash Mountain, Space Mountain and Indiana Jones.

First Thing’s First

If you are going to be in Disneyland or California Adventure for only 1-2 days I highly suggest getting to the park as soon as it opens. For the first two hours of the day, park capacity is at about 20%-40% and the wait times are substantially shorter. However, everyone thinks “I’m going to run right for the ride that has the longest wait first thing in the morning and then I won’t wait as long”. Let me show you the data from June 4th of Radiator Springs Racers:

Granted this is an extreme example. The highest point of the day for this ride is not always first thing in the morning but it does get pretty close to it’s max because everyone thinks to rush there first. Where you want to go first is the Fastpass line for this ride. My sister and I went right after this opened last August and I waited in line to just get a fast pass first thing in the morning for 40 minutes. It is not THAT popular anymore (thank goodness) but I still expect it to be a pretty populated area and I would go there first. Then I would head over to do California Soarin’. (I’m not much of a roller coaster fan or I’d suggest Tower of Terror.)

At Disneyland I would definitely go get a fast pass for Space Mountain and then get right in line to ride it. That is my favorite ride so I try to get fast passes every chance I can and will wait in line if the wait is less than 20 minutes. If it looks too long for comfort, I’d go to Matterhorn. That one doesn’t have a fast pass so if the wait is less than 30 minutes I will wait in line.

Staying Until Close

I’ve been trying to see if it’s really worth it to stay until close. I have had troubles staying up late enough everyday to really see if it’s worth it but looking at my data it doesn’t look like the rides really decrease much in wait time. I will stay until close because I like to get my money’s worth but if you are going to be in the area for more than three days I’d just say go home when you’re tired.

I still don’t have a computer of my own yet so my  posts are brief and I apologize. I am staying on top of data so will update any MAJOR findings. “I do apologize but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”  Watch this. You’re welcome. Bad News Commercial.