Diamond Celebration: 24 Hour Event @ Disneyland Resort May 22-23!

[Aladora]

:: Update ::

I just called Disneyland's Lost and Found to check and see if my wallet turned up.

My wallet with the entire contents was turned in. I'm so relieved! I didn't cry yesterday, but I am now. lol That person has my heartfelt thanks and gratitude

That is amazing news!!!

 

[rwhistler92]

That is amazing news Mary Jo.
Now you have to pick it up and you might as well pick up a spare while you are there.

 

[Clawdya]

I think we lucked out. Got to Disneyland at 5:30pm and were told that they were closed to new guests but they ended up letting us in because of our dinner reservations. The first person that I asked said no not even with dinner reservations, the next person I talked to said yes and personally walked us to the turnstile. Once inside we were in no rush so we went into some stores, Main Street was packed. We went straight to critter country to get some treats and saw that splash mountain still had fast passes available. We got our FP and went and got our treats, ate them took our pics with a clock, then got on splash mountain. After that we were walking back and saw that the lines had gone down considerably, got on a lot of rides, our longest waits were Matterhorn & Haunted Mansion (the first time, the second time we rode it, it was a walk on) at almost 20mins. The rest of the rides were 5-15 mins or walk ons. I think most people were waiting on parades which made all the lands look nearly deserted. We left at 3am, we got to ride a lot of rides and some twice. It was crazy though we saw a lot of people coming into the park at that time. There were lines at DCA and at security. All in all, we had a great time, I think I will have a better plan to get in next time since I think this time we got in by pure luck.

 

[Angel Ariel]

:: Update ::

I just called Disneyland's Lost and Found to check and see if my wallet turned up.

My wallet with the entire contents was turned in. I'm so relieved! I didn't cry yesterday, but I am now. lol That person has my heartfelt thanks and gratitude

Yay!! Now the 50th wallet can have a 60th anniversary friend . In all seriousness, I'm really glad someone turned it in!!!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I am glad that they found the wallet and dint steal anything that is some good luck pixie dust Mary jo.

 

[figment_jii]

I haven't scoped out all of the popcorn stands today, but the Town Square (Cinderella) and Hub (blue balloon) had the same ones from yesterday. I saw someone with the purple one, so I'm thinking they're still available as well. Also, the blue balloon is available at the Buena Vista Street stand.

I asked at Jolly Holiday and the castle stein is $11.01 with tax. I got mine at Plaza Inn yesterday.

 

[bearette]

We arrived around close to 10:30pm. Ball road was backed up for a mile or so down to the McDonald's. Similar experience for my cousin who met us there from the five freeway. About two miles of traffic to get off. We both went around and after a 30 minute wait to get into the parking structure as we p pulled up there were signs that all of the lots were full and closed. We had my mom with a handicapped placard so we parked by Springhill suites at then post office. The other spaces there were green so my cousin pArked in a neighborhood a little bit farther away. (Check if you try that because some neighborhoods require parking passes).

The lines were not to bad to get in and almost no one on the tram. DCA was super busy so we rode only two. We got a snack at Ghirardellis which had the shortest line.by now it was 2:30am and they just opened Disneyland. We headed over and it was crowded by main street but the rest of the park was empty. It reminded me of previous years when there was an off season.

We made it, even the toddlers, to 6am. (Well 5:55am).

 

[HappiestHaunt]

Our Plan was to head in at 2 am and spend this morning worked out so well! We arrived and found tons of parking in Mickey and Friends Parking. And they were not charging, we drove right in and were directed to parking on the third floor with a spot right near the escalators. With no wait we walked onto the trams, walked through security, and walked right into Disneyland. Since we were going to be unable to be there prior to 3pm 5/22, we decided to go for the early morning/sunrise over the castle. It was terrific, we enjoyed the last of the party, grabbed a special treat, rode a few rides, and watched the clouded morning awaken by the castle before heading down main street to watch the characters dance to the MM club song to close the park. We walked out of Disneyland close to 6:30am and headed over to WW snacks and had breakfast when they opened. Then we grabbed a cup o joe at Starbucks and headed back to the park for the new day. Sure we did not see the new entertainments (but we have a long trip in July coming to see them). Since our goal was to enjoy the sunrise at the park, something that is normally not available to experience, we felt we were successfully and did it without stress. We would do it this way again in a heartbeat!

 

[kangamama]

Oh my GOD you guys! What an amazing experience! I'm thoroughly wiped out today, even after a good night's sleep last night, but it was so worth it. I wanted to share my experience here with you guys, and I'd love to hear about your days as well

My friends and I arrived on Thursday evening and checked into our room at the Sheraton Park. We got to our room (which had a view of the park) just in time to watch the test run of the fireworks from the balcony (with a glass of wine, I'll add!), then we got some sleep. We were almost ready to leave the room the next morning when we saw the opening ceremonies fireworks go off behind the castle. Right after that we walked up to the Park. We had no trouble getting in, whatsoever. It was crowded on Main Street, but we made a bee line (via the train) to NOS, which was nearly deserted. Honestly I can't believe how much we got done in our day. We made good use of fastpasses when they were available, and single rider lines, too. We made it the full 24 hours and had a blast. I broke it down in numbers for my friends on Facebook

27 = # of rides ridden
24 = # of hours in the park
13 = # of miles walked (or so says my fit bit)
4 = # of rides ridden that is never ridden before (Splash, Roger Rabbit, Pinnochio, and Tower of Terror)
3 = # of nighttime shows enjoyed (Fantasmic, Fireworks, Paint the Night)
2 = # of meals consumed (lines for food were out of control!)
1 = # of previously never ridden rides that I will never, EVER, ride again (Tower of Terror)
1 = # of times park hopping
1 = # of caffeinated beverages
0 = # of naps taken

A note on Fireworks: I had really wanted to see the fireworks from Main Street, but people were filling Main Street up so, so early (as in: people were already strting to camp out starting at 11:30 or so, and we didn't want to waste our precious disneyland time with that kind of waiting). So we decided to watch them from ROA, which is where we were going to need to be for Fantasmic, anyway. We got over there so early, though, that we were able to see most of the earlier Fantasmic (side note: I'd never seen Fantasmic, and I've got to say I didn't get the fuss that people make over it, but we can save that for another thread), and then watch the Fireworks. They did project on to the water screens, but my guess is that ROA was probably the worst place in the park to take the fireworks' show in. We saw everything, but definitely missed out on what I understand was a truly immersive experience in other areas of the park.

I felt bad when I started hearing that the gates were being shut so early in the day, but then I also thought to myself, you snooze you lose... My friends and I were truly glad that we had taken advice that we had received from a Cast Member on Thursday night which was, "Once you enter Disneyland, do not leave until you've done everything you want to do there, because you will not be able to get back in."

The Cast Members in the Park were great. They were working their tails off, and every single one I interacted with was smiling and happy to be there.

Thanks to those of you in this thread who shared so many great tips for surviving a 24 hour day!

 

[Castillo Mom]

Oh my GOD you guys! What an amazing experience! I'm thoroughly wiped out today, even after a good night's sleep last night, but it was so worth it. I wanted to share my experience here with you guys, and I'd love to hear about your days as well

My friends and I arrived on Thursday evening and checked into our room at the Sheraton Park. We got to our room (which had a view of the park) just in time to watch the test run of the fireworks from the balcony (with a glass of wine, I'll add!), then we got some sleep. We were almost ready to leave the room the next morning when we saw the opening ceremonies fireworks go off behind the castle. Right after that we walked up to the Park. We had no trouble getting in, whatsoever. It was crowded on Main Street, but we made a bee line (via the train) to NOS, which was nearly deserted. Honestly I can't believe how much we got done in our day. We made good use of fastpasses when they were available, and single rider lines, too. We made it the full 24 hours and had a blast. I broke it down in numbers for my friends on Facebook

27 = # of rides ridden
24 = # of hours in the park
13 = # of miles walked (or so says my fit bit)
4 = # of rides ridden that is never ridden before (Splash, Roger Rabbit, Pinnochio, and Tower of Terror)
3 = # of nighttime shows enjoyed (Fantasmic, Fireworks, Paint the Night)
2 = # of meals consumed (lines for food were out of control!)
1 = # of previously never ridden rides that I will never, EVER, ride again (Tower of Terror)
1 = # of times park hopping
1 = # of caffeinated beverages
0 = # of naps taken

A note on Fireworks: I had really wanted to see the fireworks from Main Street, but people were filling Main Street up so, so early (as in: people were already strting to camp out starting at 11:30 or so, and we didn't want to waste our precious disneyland time with that kind of waiting). So we decided to watch them from ROA, which is where we were going to need to be for Fantasmic, anyway. We got over there so early, though, that we were able to see most of the earlier Fantasmic (side note: I'd never seen Fantasmic, and I've got to say I didn't get the fuss that people make over it, but we can save that for another thread), and then watch the Fireworks. They did project on to the water screens, but my guess is that ROA was probably the worst place in the park to take the fireworks' show in. We saw everything, but definitely missed out on what I understand was a truly immersive experience in other areas of the park.

I felt bad when I started hearing that the gates were being shut so early in the day, but then I also thought to myself, you snooze you lose... My friends and I were truly glad that we had taken advice that we had received from a Cast Member on Thursday night which was, "Once you enter Disneyland, do not leave until you've done everything you want to do there, because you will not be able to get back in."

The Cast Members in the Park were great. They were working their tails off, and every single one I interacted with was smiling and happy to be there.

Thanks to those of you in this thread who shared so many great tips for surviving a 24 hour day!

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's experiences on this lazy Sunday!

In the days leading up to the event I began to feel like I needed to makes some adjustments to our plans which worked out well. We were a group of nine adults and we originally had reservations for Carthay Circle WOC package and breakfast at 2:00 a.m. at Cafe Orleans which I ended up canceling. I figured it would be best to not be tied to any reservations and I'm so glad we cancelled!

We're local premium AP holders and at first planned on arriving around 9:00 or 10:00. We ended up arriving at 5:30 a.m. and got through the DCA turnstiles at 6:00. First stop was to get celebration ears and a few souvenirs. From there we headed over to get 3:00 a.m. FPs for WOC. I figured the last showing would be the safest since my fear was getting locked out of DL had we kept our WOC package which was tied to the 9:00 p.m. show which in retrospect would've ended up happening.

After getting our FPs the plan was to head over to DL for breakfast somewhere on Main Street but I had a feeling the lines for food and caffeine might be pretty long so instead we got our Starbucks fix at Fiddler Fifer & Practical Cafe. Ordering took about 20 minutes which I didn't think was unreasonable.

After our leisurely breakfast we headed over to DL where we took some pictures and then hopped over to Tomorrowland and rode Space Mountain, Star Tours and Buzz. From there it was time to hop over to Frontierland to grab a FP for BTMRR. It was on the way over that I first noticed all the people lined up in Main Street and in the Hub. I flagged down a CM who confirmed that folks were already camping out for the first Paint the Night show. I thought we'd be fine by staking out a spot two hours before showtime. Wrong! Time for another change of plans. I decided that we should try to get a spot for the 1:00 a.m. show in hopes that people would leave the park after the fireworks but more on that later.

Anyway, we grabbed our FPs then went over to New Orleans Square and watched a couple street performances followed by HM. By then it was time to ride BTMRR. We went back to New Orleans Square, rode HM and POTC and then it was time for lunch. One of our favorite spots when it's super crowded is Hungry Bear, plus they were serving the pulled pork hot dog so bonus! It took only 10 minutes to order and we had no problems finding a table for our large group.

By this time we were ready for a repeat of Star Tours so we grabbed FP for that and just lingered in Tomorrowland for a bit and then went over to Main Street for a snack and all had a Celebration ice cream sandwich and they were huge, so much so that we didn't have dinner until after WOC.

I won't bore you with a ton of more details but we rode more rides and then game planned on how we'd get a spot for the fireworks and Paint the Night. I thought if we were to have even the smallest chance we'd need to position ourselves somewhere on Main Street. So right before the first parade started, we went over to Starbucks to grab a drink. Drinks in hand we waited in the little alley and as soon as the parade was over, we booked it to the curb! Perfect timing! All I can say is that the fireworks were amazing! It was a sea of people unlike any I've ever seen at DL so we were very fortunate to have gotten the spot we did.

After the fireworks I spread our blankets and we parked our butts for the next couple hours. Thank goodness for iPads and hand held video games! During our wait was when I began to read about the horrific lines of people trying to get into the parks. Yikes! We also had the opportunity to meet a super nice CM who works at WDW and was visiting DL for the first time.

As for Paint the Night, what can I say? Disney really outdid themselves! It was worth the wait and braving the crowds. Actually the couple of hours went by really fast and paled in comparison to the wait time for thr first show.

After the parade we got a few castle pictures then went over to DCA and got our spots for WOC. My thoughts on thr new show? Hmm. I think I like the prior one a little more. I think there was more of an emotional connection in the first one and a little too much Niel Patrick Harris in the new one, but that's just my humble opinion, and I enjoyed it nonetheless.

After WOC we were starving so we had a slow paced dinner of bread bowls at Boudin Bakery. After that we spent the rest of our time riding rides at DCA and ended our 24 hours there. We did it! We got home by about 7:30 a.m. and knocked out for the next several hours as soon as our heads hit our pillow.

We had an absolute blast and we wouldn't change a thing but I know not everyone had the same experience. I don't blame Disney for closing the parks for as long as they did and also was t surprised. With so much media attention, three brand new shows and a holiday weekend it was bound to happen and we saw it coming. Would I go next year for another 24 hour event? Absolutely and we can't wait!

 

[mgd]

Nice report Castillo Mom!
I agree on the new WoC. It wasn't as great as I was hoping. I saw it Thursday, and felt it was trying to be nostalgic for the older folks, but might bore younger kids, and didn't really hit as it should in most segments. Also the graphics seemed blurry (maybe too windy that day?), and when there were words, they were put unnecessarily low on the water screen. But I really enjoyed some of the new extreme fire effects and star wars segment, which I thought were well done.

 

[elaine amj]

Thanks so much for the reports...it was fabulous to hear about your experiences.

 

[ParkHoppa]

This is my version of a trip report! It was a LONG 24 hours!

 

[ParkHoppa]

We had a lot of fun at the 24 hour Disneyland event! Here is my trip report in the form of a video!

 

[YukonMommy]

Thank you so much!! Your video report was amazing and I cant wait to show it to my kids!!
Disney Love!!!!

 

[Castillo Mom]

ParkHoppa I think I was standing behind you when you were taking a picture of Chip and Dale at DCA right before 6:00 a.m. Anyway, love your video!

 

[Disneyluvr2]

Great video! Thanks for posting for those of us that didn't get to attend.

 

[ParkHoppa]

Thank you so much!! Your video report was amazing and I cant wait to show it to my kids!!
Disney Love!!!!

Great video! Thanks for posting for those of us that didn't get to attend.

Thanks guys! It was a lot of fun (even though we were EXHAUSTED by the end, still and AWESOME memory)

 

[VandVsmama]

AWESOME VIDEO!!!

 

[darcie2000]

I've only been able to watch the first 10 or so minutes because we are going out shortly, but wow, I can't wait to come back and watch the rest. It looks like you had an incredible time.