6/17/2008- Toy Story Midway Mania!

Today Adam and I ventured out to the parks for the opening of Toy Story Midway Mania. California Adventure was probably the busiest I have ever seen it with the wait time for Grizzly Rapids at 80 minutes. We did not arrive at the park until close to 5:00 because of other things that we had to do today (Adam got a hair cut for the first time in forever). We thought ahead from the heat and purchased bottles of water before beginning our wait for TSMM.


We began our wait through the sun and the heat. The start of the long line is right alongside the water side of the pier which provided us the constant launch noise of California Screaming, which gets pretty annoying fast. As the line stretches on they hold up the sidewalk to get groups past and from there we had to zig and zag through the lovely lines until we got to the first indoor portion of the line. Inside here were posters for some of the games we were about to play, but to easily make one forget about that was the heat. The room does not do well with the summer and body heat, while there are fans inside the room they do nothing, except probably make it hotter. Added to it all the screaming and crying kids who definitely did not want to be standing in that line for 5 more minutes let alone another 30+


The heat enjoyed making my hair wavy. Also Disney asks that you wear your 3-D Glasses over your sunglasses to make the game that much more fun.

The Ride itself is everything I hoped it would be and more. Though it was only the first time I rode it the guns are fairly easy to use. My only mistake was that I was not letting the string that you use to fire the gun return all the way before attempting to fire again- or I was not pushing it back in enough. Once you get the hang of aiming and firing the weapon its a blast to play the different games throughout the ride, be careful though because some targets may do some various things that catch you off guard.


Obviously Adam having already been on the ride and knowing what to expect beat me though I feel that I did pretty good.

This was in the exit its the ride in actual size.

Afterwards we were going to go to ESPN Zone for dinner and to watch the game- but we were informed there would be no free tables till after the game. When we left we noticed the large crowd sitting outside just watching the game on the tv.


We ended up leaving the overcrowded parks to have dinner and watch the game at Red Robin where Adam and I laughed.


Hopefully we will take a trip soon with our pal Yoda to continue on our Disneyland quest.

6/14 Update

Ruben and I (no Yoda) went to the park tonight between 10pm-12am. I FINALLY saw "Bones" on Indiana Jones. Total ride counts have been updated. Enjoy.

We will be returning to Disneyland on Tuesday for the grand opening of Toy Story Midway Mania, so expect an update from that glorious day soon.

Also, here are some pictures from the night..



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What Adam did fail to mention was that last night happened to be the unofficial (or maybe official? Nobody ever really tells me these things) "raver" or "candy kid" or whatever you want to call them, day at Disneyland. This was learned when we thought about the fact that we happened to be at Disneyland on this same day last year (as in second Saturday in June) to ride the ever so hard to see out of for people who are taller that 5'5" Nemo Subs, the park was filled with the exact same children as there were last night- crazy kids if you ask me.

We almost didn't go on Indiana Jones. It was about 5 minutes till the park closed and we were standing between Jungle Cruise and Indy. A little over an hour before than we passed by Indy with a wait time of 75 minutes, then the wait was only 20. A coin flip decided our fate.

When we sat in the car we were on the right hand side, Adam turned and said to me "Man I'm not going to be able to see Bones this time" then moments after we passed by Bones on the ride he turns to me and excitedly goes "I finally saw Bones!!"

Here are additional pictures from the night

Toy Story Midway Mania

About a month ago, I entered my name into the Annual Passholder lottery for a sneak preview on the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride, opening at DCA on June 17th. For last year's similar contest for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, myself and four people I know entered and none of us won, so needless to say, I didn't have very high hopes for this year's lottery. However, on the morning of June 2nd, I was more than delighted to see an email proclaiming I had won a sneak preview on the ride, on June 10th between 10am and 3pm. I think describing myself as incredibly ecstatic would be a bit of an understatement. I did my best to keep my excitement to myself and not brag to my friends TOO much in the week between the email and my date to ride, as I was only allowed to bring a fellow passholder with me to ride, and unfortuantely, my fellow passholder friends all had prior engagements for the special day. But would that stop me from fulfilling my destiny as one of the first to ride this spectacular ride?! I DON'T THINK SO!

I got to the parks around 1:15 and went straight to the booth in Downtown Disney to be awarded my pass to preview the ride. From there, it was off to the pier to make my dream a reality. At the front of the line, a couple CM's were stationed to make sure that you had a pass for the preview, as well as an annual pass for each member of your group. The line and theming are very impressive, except for the fact that a decent portion of the line is uncovered from the sun, which will not be fun for the long lines expected this summer. The first covered room of the queue features a number of posters, previewing the various games that you get to play on the ride (a picture of my favorite poster is included later in this post). Upon getting in line and eavesdropping on other people's conversations, I learned that CM's were allowing people to re-ride as much as they wanted, as long as the line stayed relatively short. Luckily for me, it did, and I got to ride not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE times in a row, waiting only about 10 minutes each time. By my last trip, the CM's started joking around with me about going on so many times in a row, but really, how could I resist?!

The ride itself is absolutely incredible. I had a pretty good idea of what the actual games were going to be like, but really didn't know what to expect for the surrounding areas and the actual movement of the cars between games. The attention to detail is stunning of the sets is stunning for a Toy Story fanatic like myself, and I especially enjoyed seeing the blue wallpaper with white clouds on it, just like in Andy's room in the movies. As much as I want to, I don't feel I should give anything else away, but just know that you will all be extremely impressed once the ride opens to the public next week.

Here are some pictures from the queue, ride, and my final score screen on four of my five rides (my fourth ride's score didn't show up on my screen unfortunately).

My special pass!

My favorite poster from the queue.

The beginning of the ride!

My first score.

My second score.

My third score.

My final, and best score!


[For the record- I hate the fact that Adam was able to ride it while I was stuck at work. He was sending me text messages that made me wish I was able to get that day off -Ruben]

5/31 Updates

Last night, Ruben and I (no Yoda) went to the park between 9pm-12am. Total ride counts and the Astro Blasters challenge have been updated. Enjoy.

5/13/08

On May Thirteenth, in the year Two Thousand and Eight, two young men and a Jedi master set out to do the impossible.. to experience every ride, show, and restaurant that Disneyland has to offer, 80 in all. On this first day of their incredible journey, 15 of the 80 were conquered. Here are the pictures as proof, plus a few others just for fun:

Yoda on the Tram from the Mickey and Friends parking structure.

Yoda on Monsters Inc.

Yoda with the future Jedi, Wall-E.

Yoda on the Horse-Drawn Streetcar.

To infinity.. AND BEYOND!

Yoda on the Disneyland Railroad, Tomorrowland Station.

The gang taking a break with Goofy in Toontown.

Yoda at Minnie's House.

Princess Adam in Minnie's House.

The obligatory mirror shot in Minnie's House.

Yoda on Gadget's Go-Coaster.

Adam <3's Gadget.

Yoda at Chip 'n Dale's House.

Yoda at Donald's Boat.

Yoda at Goofy's House.

Yoda on Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin.

Yoda on Big Thunder Mountain.

Yoda on the Mark Twain.

Yoda on Jungle Cruise.

The gang on Astro Blasters.


It will be a long and strenuous journey for the three comrades, but please do not give up on them because they will not give up on what they have set out to accomplish. This is only the beginning..

Challenge: Astro Blasters

The competition of Adam vs Ruben lives strong throughout the year. Who is the better Space Ranger?

Current Standings
Ruben: 3 - 2 :Adam

Trip #1 2/15
Victory- Ruben

Trip #2 2/15
Victory- Adam



Trip #3 5/03
Victory- Ruben



Trip #4 5/13
Victory- Ruben



Trip #5 5/31
Victory- Adam

Rides by date, and total ride count for 2008.

2-15-08: Animation Academy x2, Disney's Electrical Parade, Monsters Inc., Tower Of Terror x2, Turtle Talk x2, Disneyland Railroad x2, Indiana Jones, Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Winnie The Pooh, Big Thunder Mountain, Mickey's House, Roger Rabbit, Alice In Wonderland, Dumbo, Matterhorn, Mr. Toad x2, Pinocchio, Snow White, Astro Blasters x2, Space Mountain, Star Tours. (29)

3-14-08: Disney's Electrical Parade, Tower Of Terror, Turtle Talk, Jungle Cruise, Alice In Wonderland, Casey Jr., Dumbo, Mr. Toad, Pinocchio, Snow White, Storybook Land, Teacups. (12)

4-5-08: Disney's Electrical Parade, Monsters Inc. x2, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Winnie The Pooh, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain. (9)

5-3-08: Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Winnie The Pooh, Dumbo, Matterhorn, Astro Blasters. (7)

5-13-08: Monsters Inc., Tower Of Terror, Horse-Drawn Streetcar, Disneyland Railroad, Gadget's Go-Coaster, Minnie's House, Donald's Boat, Goofy's Playhouse, Chip 'n Dale Treehouse, Roger Rabbit, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Mark Twain, Astro Blasters, Space Mountain, Main Street Cinema. (17)

5-31-08: Jungle Cruise x2, Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Winnie The Pooh, Disneyland Railroad, Astro Blasters, Alice In Wonderland, Carousel, Casey Jr., Dumbo, Mr. Toad, Snow White, Tea Cups, Main Street Cinema. (15)

6-14-08: Pirates Of The Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Teacups, Alice In Wonderland, Dumbo, Casey Jr., Indiana Jones. (7)

6-17-08: Toy Story Midway Mania. (1)

7-15-08: Toy Story Midway Mania, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain, Casey Jr., Teacups, Alice In Wonderland, Astro Blasters x3, Astro Orbiter. (10)

7-23-08: Jungle Cruise x2, Haunted Mansion, Winnie The Pooh, Fantasmic, Teacups, Space Mountain, Star Tours. (8)

8-10-08: Toy Story Midway Mania, Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Mr. Toad, Dumbo, Storybook Land, Casey Jr., Peter Pan, Teacups, Alice In Wonderland. (11)

8-14-08: Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies, Disney's Electrical Parade, Disneyland Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Casey Jr., Matterhorn, Mr. Toad, Snow White, Pinocchio, Teacups, Alice In Wonderland, Storybook Land, Main Street Cinema. (16)

8-20-08: Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Winnie The Pooh, Splash Mountain, Casey Jr., Alice In Wonderland, Mr. Toad, Dumbo. (8)

9-17-08: Monsters Inc., Tower Of Terror x2, Animation Academy, Turtle Talk, Soarin' Over California, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Jumpin' Jellyfish, Pixar Play Parade, Toy Story Midway Mania, Roger Rabbit, Parade Of Dreams, Teacups, Alice In Wonderland, Space Mountain, Star Tours. (16)

9-20-08: Disneyland Railroad, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Pixar Play Parade, California Screamin', Tower Of Terror. (5)

10-22-08: Toy Story Midway Mania. (1)

11-15-08: Toy Story Midway Mania x2, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Tower Of Terror, Turtle Talk, Monsters Inc., Astro Blasters, Space Mountain, Winnie The Pooh, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Monorail, Disneyland Railroad, Mickey's House, Matterhorn, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mountain, Casey Jr.. (19)


DLR Ride Totals for 2008:
Jungle Cruise: 13.
Alice In Wonderland: 9.
Astro Blasters: 9.
Casey Jr.: 8.
Haunted Mansion: 8.
Disneyland Railroad: 7.
Dumbo: 7.
Mr. Toad: 7.
Teacups: 7.
Winnie The Pooh: 7.
Space Mountain: 6.
Big Thunder Mountain: 5.
Matterhorn: 4.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: 4.
Snow White: 4.
Splash Mountain: 4.
Tiki Room: 4.
Indiana Jones: 3.
Main Street Cinema: 3.
Pinocchio: 3.
Roger Rabbit: 3.
Star Tours: 3.
Storybook Land: 3.
Mickey's House: 1.
Astro Orbiter: 1.
Carousel: 1.
Chip 'n Dale's Treehouse: 1.
Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years: 1.
Donald's Boat: 1.
Fantasmic: 1.
Gadget's Go-Coaster: 1.
Goofy's Playhouse: 1.
Horse-Drawn Streetcar: 1.
Mark Twain: 1.
Minnie's House: 1.
Monorail: 1.
Parade Of Dreams: 1.
Peter Pan: 1.
(147)

DCA Ride Totals for 2008:
Tower Of Terror: 8.
Toy Story Midway Mania: 7.
Monsters Inc: 6.
Turtle Talk: 5.
Disney's Electrical Parade: 4.
Heimlich's Chew Chew Train: 4.
Animation Academy: 3.
Pixar Play Parade: 2.
California Screamin': 1.
Jumpin' Jellyfish: 1.
Soarin' Over California: 1.
Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies: 1.
(43)