WonkaKid
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2009
Folks, I arrived at the parking structure slightly earlier than usual today. I guess it wasn't yet open so I went for a little drive. I decided it would be fun to park on a residential street and walk over, just to see how long it would take - I've often wondered.
I sauntered into the parking structure and cut through it to use the bathroom.... which was locked, inexplicably. Then I saw that the security gates were all closed. Not wanting to bother anyone, I simply climbed over and walked to the park (trams weren't yet running yet either??? Nice job, Disney).
To my great surprise, there were absolutely zero guests at the gate. I've never seen this in my life. But I guess it was my lucky day.
By 7:30, there were *still* no other guests. Perhaps everyone was concerned about rain or raised ticket prices. However, when there were zero CMs at the gates at 7:50, I began to become concerned. That's when it occurred to me that something was seriously wrong. I’d checked the park schedule the day before and it showed that it would open at 8:00 (see pic below).
At 7:55, I was *still* the only person there. It began to dawn on me that there must have been some oversight. So, again, not wanting to bother anyone, I climbed the gate and stepped on to Main Street. There was no music, no guests, no CMs. Perhaps it was ealier than I thought? Also, no rope at the usual rope-drop location.
At exactly 8:00, my phone chimed and I took off at top speed (just in case) for Peter Pan. Still no sign of a single other guest or CM. There’s a security CM with whom I’m acquainted who seemed to be there. He shouted something as I rushed off. I couldn’t make it out but I presume it was simply “Hello.” I smiled, waved and kept going.
For reasons unknown, the attraction appeared to be closed. But I've been on it enough times to know how to start it. So I jumped onto one of the galleons, reached over to the console and fired it up. It's always fun to be the first person on PP.
BTW, I was still unable to score a BG for ROTR. When the hell are they going to improve that schlocky system?!?!
When I emerged from the ride, the place was still vacant. Man, there must have been something going on that no one told me about. But whatever - crowds were low (non-existant, really) and my morning was already off to a great start.
I sauntered over to Buzz. By that point, I was accustomed to no one being there so, again, I started the ride myself. I scored a paltry 1.2M on my first ride. But later I managed a respectable 2,055,400. Yet another great achievement for the day.
I beleive that every single restaurant was under refurbishment because not a single one was open. Good thing for me that I always bring my own lunch.
I was also first on Pirates, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Mr. Toad, Dumbo and just about every other attraction in the park! That's only happened one other time before.
Since I’d ridden absolutely everything in record time, I decided that it was time to get home. I had guests coming in the afternoon and I'd already been on every single ride, several more than once. And you know how sometimes guests are allowed to pilot the Mark Twain? I was able to do that with both ships, Finding Nemo, The Monorail and the canoes. What a day!!
Did anyone else happen to make it there today? I was gone early so I'm not sure if crowds got worse later in the day.
Tram wasn't operational (again. Nice work, Disney. Way to treat your AP-holders) so I walked back to my car. Just as I was about to drive off, I checked the app. As expected, ROTR still wasn't working. Althoguh crowds were insanely low today, I was disappointed in not being able to ride that again. Oh well.
I've got park maps for anyone that would like a set.
I sauntered into the parking structure and cut through it to use the bathroom.... which was locked, inexplicably. Then I saw that the security gates were all closed. Not wanting to bother anyone, I simply climbed over and walked to the park (trams weren't yet running yet either??? Nice job, Disney).
To my great surprise, there were absolutely zero guests at the gate. I've never seen this in my life. But I guess it was my lucky day.
By 7:30, there were *still* no other guests. Perhaps everyone was concerned about rain or raised ticket prices. However, when there were zero CMs at the gates at 7:50, I began to become concerned. That's when it occurred to me that something was seriously wrong. I’d checked the park schedule the day before and it showed that it would open at 8:00 (see pic below).
At 7:55, I was *still* the only person there. It began to dawn on me that there must have been some oversight. So, again, not wanting to bother anyone, I climbed the gate and stepped on to Main Street. There was no music, no guests, no CMs. Perhaps it was ealier than I thought? Also, no rope at the usual rope-drop location.
At exactly 8:00, my phone chimed and I took off at top speed (just in case) for Peter Pan. Still no sign of a single other guest or CM. There’s a security CM with whom I’m acquainted who seemed to be there. He shouted something as I rushed off. I couldn’t make it out but I presume it was simply “Hello.” I smiled, waved and kept going.
For reasons unknown, the attraction appeared to be closed. But I've been on it enough times to know how to start it. So I jumped onto one of the galleons, reached over to the console and fired it up. It's always fun to be the first person on PP.
BTW, I was still unable to score a BG for ROTR. When the hell are they going to improve that schlocky system?!?!
When I emerged from the ride, the place was still vacant. Man, there must have been something going on that no one told me about. But whatever - crowds were low (non-existant, really) and my morning was already off to a great start.
I sauntered over to Buzz. By that point, I was accustomed to no one being there so, again, I started the ride myself. I scored a paltry 1.2M on my first ride. But later I managed a respectable 2,055,400. Yet another great achievement for the day.
I beleive that every single restaurant was under refurbishment because not a single one was open. Good thing for me that I always bring my own lunch.
I was also first on Pirates, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Mr. Toad, Dumbo and just about every other attraction in the park! That's only happened one other time before.
Since I’d ridden absolutely everything in record time, I decided that it was time to get home. I had guests coming in the afternoon and I'd already been on every single ride, several more than once. And you know how sometimes guests are allowed to pilot the Mark Twain? I was able to do that with both ships, Finding Nemo, The Monorail and the canoes. What a day!!
Did anyone else happen to make it there today? I was gone early so I'm not sure if crowds got worse later in the day.
Tram wasn't operational (again. Nice work, Disney. Way to treat your AP-holders) so I walked back to my car. Just as I was about to drive off, I checked the app. As expected, ROTR still wasn't working. Althoguh crowds were insanely low today, I was disappointed in not being able to ride that again. Oh well.
I've got park maps for anyone that would like a set.
Last edited:
Friend of mine planned her trip and of course she (unwisely) picked a third party company with no refunds and lost $2000 she can’t get back. 
