Figment’s 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure

[figment_jii]

Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure

Figment had read about the 24-hour Leap Day and 24-hour Monsterous Summer events the last few years and thought they sounded fun. The reports of capacity crowds had him a little worried, but he decided that this year, if Disneyland did another 24-hour event, he would go. They announced the event back in late February (coincidentally, on the day he was driving down to Disneyland for Mardi Gras!), so he booked his hotel and made plans to be there on May 23-24, 2014.

Entertainment Guides: Each park had their own entertainment guide which listed the special activities, show times, foods, etc. for the 24-hour day. Initially, the guides were only available in their respective parks, so it meant having to visit both parks early in the day so Figment could plan out his schedule.

Lockers – Disneyland’s lockers were closed, so there were only lockers available in the Esplanade (two sets) and inside DCA.

The lockers on the Esplande opened at 3:00 am, which is when guests were allowed into the Esplanade area. The lockers in DCA were available from 6:00 am, which is when the park opened. Outside each of the locker areas were signs saying that the lockers would be cleared at 7:00 am on Saturday. So, guests had essentially one hour after the parks close to get their stuff out of the lockers.

Coming up next, the hour-by-hour breakdown...

 

[luulu1999]

following along

 

[figment_jii]

Continuing with Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure...

5:00 am to 6:00 am - Figment entered into the Esplanade area a little after 5:00 am. It was still dark outside! As normal, he stayed at the BWPPI, so it was a quick walk from the hotel to the Harbor Blvd crossing.

He was expecting a huge line at bag check, but surprisingly there were only a handful of people. Figment was one of the last guests to get one of the Rock Your Disney Side lanyards that they gave to the first 2,000 or so guests. Sounded like the lanyards ran out on the DTD side first...Figment was pretty stunned he got one, but he was happy!

Figment wore a special clock, so that he would know what time it was throughout the day! His goal was to take one picture (at least) per hour. He tried to take them "on the hour," but a few ended up at odd times. So, photo #1 was at about 5:20 am!

The Esplanade was pretty full, but not packed; there was plenty of room to move around. In the center of the Esplande was a media area, with a stage and the Olaf sand sculpture (more on that later). There was a DJ hosting music and a few Disney characters (Figment saw Chip & Dale, Minnie, and Cruella).

Just before 6:00 am, Josh Gad (the voice of Olaf) came to the main stage in the center of the Esplanade to help count down the seconds. When 6:00 am struck, fireworks went off and the 24-hour day began!

6:00 am to 7:00 am - Despite the crowds, it only took about 8 minutes for Figment to get into Disneyland! He started about halfway between the monorail beam and the center of the Esplanade. So that was pretty great! He grabbed the Disneyland Times Guide for the day and the Maleficent button being handed out. Like lots of other guests, he headed straight for the shops on Main Street to pick up the special event merchandise. There was a t-shirt, sweatshirt, glow stick, pin, and mousears! Lots of fun stuff. Figment was so happy they had the glow sticks...another souvie toy!

He stopped by Guest Services to ask if they had the DCA Time Guide, but they did not. So while part of his family dropped off the souvenirs at Package Pick-Up, Figment headed over to DCA to get the times guide. By this point, there were no more lines at the ticket gates, so Figment could easily hop into DCA, get the Times Guides and then hop back into DL.

While walking over to DCA, Figment stopped to check out the Olaf sand sculpture. The sand carvers had been working on it on Wednesday and Thursday, but it was now finished!

Wednesday night...

Thursday afternoon...

Friday morning...

Josh Gad was giving interview to the media next to the sand sculpture.

It only took about 35 minutes to get into DL, go shopping, hop to DCA for the Times Guide, and then hop back into DL. Figment was about to head down Main Street when one of the vehicles pulled up! So he hopped on and headed down Main Street.

Figment headed for Pirates of the Caribbean for the first ride of the day. PotC had been closed recently for rehab, so he figured it would be popular (i.e., long lines) later in the day. There was no line, so Figment walked right on and went to say "hello" to the Pirates. The ride looked pretty much the same (no major changes that he noticed) and, luckily, Figment did not get wet on the drops.

7:00 am to 8:00 am - After Pirates, Figment decided to head over to Fantasyland to see what the line for Peter Pan looked like. Like normal, the line had already grown, but it wasn't too bad (25 minutes).

At this point, Figment had been awake for almost 2.5 hours without anything to snack on! Figment had read about the Olaf Souvenir Cups in Fantasyland on the Disney Parks Blog, but had found out that they only have a limited supply each day. When he stopped by the cart on Thursday late afternoon, they were already sold out, so he decided to head their bright and early on Friday. They come filled with frozen lemonade with either raspberry or cherry syrup. What a great breakfast!

 

[crystal1313]

Can't wait to read more! Got to remember to snag those Olaf cups next trip! My boys will go crazy

I wish we would have gotten there earlier that morning. Oh well. The extra sleep was nice!

 

[figment_jii]

Continuing with Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure...

8:00 am to 9:00 am - After a nice break at the Village Haus seating area to drink the lemonade, it was time to head to Small World. Like PotC, IaSW had also been closed for a rehab. There was no line and it was "walk-on." Like PotC, IaSW looked the same. Some of the façade still looked unfinished and some of the dolls weren't moving, so Figment was sure if the rehab was only on backstage stuff or if it wasn't entirely finished.

Next up was the Train! Figment decided to ride the train to get to New Orleans Square. The crowds heading into Toontown were still pretty light.

The crowds getting into the park was also pretty light and there weren't a lot of people in the front entrance area when the train stopped by Main Street Station.

9:00 am to 10:30 am - At 9:00 am, Figment was riding the train to New Orleans Square!

At this point in the morning, Figment (and his family) was getting pretty hungry. So he decided to head over to the River Belle Terrace to get something to eat. The line was pretty long (out the door) and slow moving. He got a cinnamon roll and the Steamboat (three pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage). The River Belle Terrace also had the new 32 oz travel mug that was making its debut during the 24-hour day. It's huge! One side features the villains (Hades, Gaston, Shan-Yu, Madam Mim, Maleficent, and Mother Gothel) and the other side features the Heroes (Hercules, Beast, Mulan, Merlin, Mickey, and Rapunzel). It was a lot of soda, but the jolt of caffeine was what Figment needed at that point!

Coming next...mid-morning break, pin trading, and Star Wars goodies!

Can't wait to read more! Got to remember to snag those Olaf cups next trip! My boys will go crazy

I saw the cups at the lemonade/fruit stand across from Village Haus in Fantasyland and in the Village Haus itself.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

YAY---a "Figment" Trip Report!!!!

Can't wait for the rest!

By the way, I am very partial to Figment's Cheshire Cat hat!!!(Where in the heck does one find something like that---is it a keychain?)

 

[tstidm1]

Figment seems to be very happy at 8 AM in the morning. Hopefully, he's still that happy as the day goes on. I'm also impressed by that travel mug. That's a good size travel mug and may get one while I'm there.

 

[figment_jii]

Continuing with Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure...

10:30 am to 11:00 am - After breakfast, Figment headed over to Tomorrowland. It was time to ride Buzz Lightyear. On his way, he stopped by the statues in the hub to pose with the Chip & Dale figure.

11:00 am to 12:00 pm - After riding Buzz it was nearly 11:00 am! Figment sent his ride photo home, but it didn't show up. He's used to it taking a few hours, but after a day, he figured it was "lost". Surprisingly, it did show up...nearly two weeks later. Talk about slow inter-galactic transmissions. Figment decided to go check out the Star Traders. He made a few Vinylmation trades (the goat with the dynamite in his mouth from Park Series #12!) and did some pin trading.

Figment just signed up for the Disneyland Twitter feed and was keeping close tabs on it throughout the day. Sure enough, he saw a tweet saying that there would be some special pin trading going on in Tomorrowland near Innoventions at 11:30 am! He was already in Tomorrowland, so he figured he'd hang out for another 30 minutes and see what was happening with the pin trading. In the mean time, as he wandered past the popcorn cart, he noticed the new Darth Vader bucket! Figment had seen photos of them for the Star Wars weekend over in DHS (at WDW), but he didn't think they'd make it to Disneyland this soon! A quick recon of the area also revealed that the Stormtrooper mugs had made it too!. So Figment got some snacks and waited for pin trading.

Pin trading was fun! At about 11:30 am, several CMs (probably about 8 or 9) appeared with lanyards full of hidden Mickey pins and a few LE/rack pins as well. The rules were slightly different, only one trade per guest per lanyard (the usual is two trades per lanyard allowed).

[Note: It was clear that the CMs had "stocked' the lanyard with real (non-scrapper) pins before coming out. At least as far as Figment could tell, the pins all looked like legit pins...no funny colors, mis-spelled words, etc.]

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm - After pin trading finished up, Figment decided to take the Train from Tomorrowland to Main Street. By this time, Figment had the two Olaf glasses, the Darth Vader popcorn bucket, the stormtrooper mug, and the 32 oz travel mug to carry around. It was time to visit the locker! The crowds were picking up in the front, but still not a zoo!

While riding the train, another pin trading event was announced on Twitter. This one was at 12:45 pm over by Pooh Corner (the exit to Splash Mountain area). Yikes! Figment had to hustle to get to the locker! Just as he was getting back into the park, the train pulled into the Main Street Station, so Figment decided to ride the train to New Orleans Square and then walk to Critter Country. It was another successful pin trading session (lots of great pins!).

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm - After pin trading, it was time to ride Indy Jones with the FPs, Figment had pulled earlier in the morning (after breakfast). The ride window was for 12:40 pm to 1:40 pm. The ride went down briefly while in line but it came back up quickly and Figment was able to ride. He promises that he wasn't the one the looked into the eyes of Mara!

Next up...time to hop to DCA...

YAY---a "Figment" Trip Report!!!!

Can't wait for the rest!

By the way, I am very partial to Figment's Cheshire Cat hat!!!(Where in the heck does one find something like that---is it a keychain?)

Thanks! The hats start off as the Mickey Ear Hat keychair or ornament. Then Figment adds some felt, glue, thread, and other embellishments to make them look like a character.

Figment seems to be very happy at 8 AM in the morning. Hopefully, he's still that happy as the day goes on. I'm also impressed by that travel mug. That's a good size travel mug and may get one while I'm there.

Figment was smiling the whole day! Yes, the mug is huge...very useful if you don't want to get a lot of refills. It does not fit in the standard sized car cup holders.

 

[crystal1313]

We got our Buzz photo way later too! I was happy cause you could tell our costume was on! I was hoping you got yours as well

I saw the Vader popcorn bucket while there. I think my kids will want that too!

 

[figment_jii]

Continuing with Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure...

2:00 pm to 3:00 pm -– It was time to go check out DCA. Figment stopped at the time board on his way out just to see what the wait times were like. The lines were getting long (e.g., an hour for Space and Big Thunder), but they weren't super crazy.

It was a little after 2:00 pm when Figment got into DCA.

Now it was time for a snack! There was a special Heroes and Villains cupcake. Figment opted to try the purple and orange version just because it seemed more event specific (and it was purple)! It also came in chocolate. The cake itself was purple and orange! It tasted like a regular vanilla cupcake with frosting...so nothing terribly special, but it was still neat looking.

3:00 pm to 4:00 pm –- After a short break, it was time to head over to Award Wieners to try their special 24-hour event offering: the Raven’s Feast. It was hot dog in a garlic chive brioche bun, topped with pulled pork, and seasoned red cabbage slaw. The slaw had quite a kick! The pulled pork had good flavor.

After finishing up the hot dog, it was time to head to the place where Route 66 met the Bug’s Life for more pin trading. This one was a little harder to find, but it turned out to be on the path that leads from Luigi’s Flying Tires to Bug’s Life Land. Again, there were lots of great pins!

4:00 pm to 5:00 pm –- After pin trading, Figment decided to head over to Carsland for another break. He has to admit, by this point, he was starting to feel a little tired and his little feet were hurting. So he spent quite a bit of time perusing the stores in Carsland and then taking a soda break at Flo’s.

 

[smiles33]

Following along! I love reading about Figment's adventures (especially your great photos of delicious food!) and I cracked up when I saw Figment's photo with Chip and Dale--what a perfect statue for him to pose with.

 

[figment_jii]

Continuing with Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure...

5:00 pm to 6:00 pm –- Figment had a 6:30 pm dinner reservation over at Café Orleans, so he wasn'’t sure how difficult it would be to get back into DL. (He had read all those reports about huge crowds when the locals got off work.) So he decided to leave early and head back to DL. One last photo in Carsland as the clock struck 5:00 pm!

Overall, even for being 5:00 pm, the crowds in Carsland were pretty light.

On his way over, Figment checked out the list of special food offerings for the 24-hour event. There were sign boards posted at the time boards and at some locations throughout the parks.

The lines to get into DL were pretty short, so Figment decided to ride Haunted Mansion before heading to dinner. The ride was fun!

6:00 pm to 7:00 pm –- After riding the Haunted Mansion and checking out the Nightmare Before Christmas cart, it was time to head over to Café Orleans for dinner! Figment was very glad he had made a reservation because the hostess was telling folks they were unable to take walk-ups at that time, but they did have reservation times available for after 9:00 pm! Yikes!

Figment was seated a little after his reservation time at a wonderful table by the walkway. It was perfect for people watching while eating.

7:00 pm to 8:00 pm -– Figment was still eating dinner when the clock struck 7! He started his meal with an order of the pomme frites, a bowl of gumbo, and a bowl of the French Onion soup. Yum!

For his entree, Figment had to try to the special 24-hour event entree: Mickey-Shaped Frittata and Short Ribs! “Slow braised short ribs dressed with a Nora Pepper Sauce accompanied with a Mushroom and Asparagus Frittata with Frisee Lettuce and Fig-Goat Cheese Crumble.” Figment opted to forgo the fig-goat cheese crumble, but the rest of the dish was outstanding.

 

[figment_jii]

Continuing with Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure...

8:00 pm to 9:00 pm -– After dinner Figment checked out the shops in New Orleans Square for a little bit. It was pretty closed off, with the pin shop being closed and the walkway between being blocked off. It was starting to cool off, so Figment decided it was time to head to package pick-up and get the sweatshirt he bought earlier in the day, pick-up the glow sticks, and then drop stuff off at the locker. He planned to watch the fireworks at 9:25 pm, so he figured he might as well head towards Main Street.

Package pick-up was slow…but luckily there was still time left!

9:00 pm to 10:00 pm –- Figment met back up with his family on Main Street and waited for the fireworks. The glow sticks were fun…they lit up (red, blue, green or alternating).

At about 9:30 pm, the fireworks started! It was Magical…which featured both Tinkerbell and Dumbo! Figment knows that some folks don’t really like Magical, but he does. It has fireworks and a flying elephant!

10:00 pm to 11:00 pm –- After the fireworks ended, Figment joined the masses heading towards Frontierland for Fantasmic. He finally made it there, but all of the tables at the River Belle Terrace/Stage Door area were filled, but suddenly a group left. Figment was very happy to get a table…it was way in the back (against the building), but it was a table! Besides, Figment has already seen Fantasmic and he primarily wanted to see the Peter Pan sequence and Murphy (the dragon). About 20-30 minutes before the show started, there was announcement over the PA saying that the viewing area for Fantasmic was now full! Figment had never heard that before, but the areas around the Rivers of America did look pretty packed.

Figment decided to try one of the funnel cakes at the Stage Door Café. The 24-hour Event Funnel cake was a red velvet one, which isn't really Figment’s thing. So instead he got a strawberry funnel cake! The CMs were warning folks that it was a 20 minute wait for funnel cakes, but Figment figured he had enough time before Fantasmic started. It didn't take nearly that long, so Figment had a nice snack before watching Fantasmic.

11:00 pm to 12:00 am - After Fantasmic ended, Figment decided to go use his FP for Big Thunder! He liked the new ride and the new effects were neat. Just after Fantasmic ends isn't necessarily the best time to ride Big Thunder, even with a FP. The line was long, but at least with a FP Figment bypassed most of it.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

I agree with Figment….I like "Magical" as well!

I am drooling over that cupcake(which appears to have been chowed down on by Figment), and I am wondering….did Figment find the Strawberry Funnel Cake to be worth purchasing?(We've never had one, and are curious if they're good?)

 

[figment_jii]

I am wondering….did Figment find the Strawberry Funnel Cake to be worth purchasing?(We've never had one, and are curious if they're good?)

Figment liked it...especially when it was fresh from the fryer. It was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The strawberry topping was more like the stuff you put on an ice cream sundae, but it was still good.

 

[petals]

Figment is awesome and I love his trip report.. I also need a Frozen cup where in Fantasyland did Figment get it?

 

[figment_jii]

Figment is awesome and I love his trip report.. I also need a Frozen cup where in Fantasyland did Figment get it?

Figment got his at the frozen lemonade stand across from the Village Haus. It's all the way to the back of Fantasyland, near the entrance to Casey Junior. They come filled with frozen lemonade. He also saw them inside the Village Haus (counter service venue), but he didn't remember to ask what they come filled with there.

 

[petals]

Figment got his at the frozen lemonade stand across from the Village Haus. It's all the way to the back of Fantasyland, near the entrance to Casey Junior. They come filled with frozen lemonade. He also saw them inside the Village Haus (counter service venue), but he didn't remember to ask what they come filled with there.

ooh great thanks May search for one in November

 

[lucysmom]

Figment, you have the cutest little hats! I can't wait to read the rest and see if you made it till six.

 

[figment_jii]

Continuing with Figment's 24-Hour Day in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure...

12:00 am to 1:00 am –- The Mad T Party is one of Figment’s favorite things over at DCA. So after riding Big Thunder, Figment headed over to DCA. He got there just in time to catch the Band’s midnight performance.

The lines for the drinks were super long! They stretched on for quite a distance. Figment thinks they closed up the drink line somewhere around 12:30 am, which is well before the 2:00 am closure time for bars. Even the food lines were super long at midnight. The line for Award Wiener reached the corner where the Sophia the First merchandise is normally sold.

1:00 am to 2:00 am -– The Mad T Party Band came back on at 1:00 am to do their last set for the night. It was a long set! Normally, the sets last about 20-25 minutes, but this one went for about 40 minutes.

2:00 am to 3:00 am -– After the band finished, Figment decided it was time to head back to DL. He had a good time over in DCA during the 24-hour event, but he was pretty sure he wasn't going to “hop” back in the last four hours of the event. So he bid DCA good-night!

Back in Town Square, Figment saw the characters out and about in the pajamas. He saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Chip & Dale.

Line lengths were still long for some things (e.g., Space and Indy), but not to bad for other rides.

Figment realized that if wanted to try any of the other special 24-hour event foods, he’d have to get started soon because several of the food places were closing soon. He headed over to Rancho del Zocalo to try the Street Taco Trio with beef, chicken or carnitas on corn tortillas with cilantro and onion and topped with salsa casera or salsa verde. They were pretty good!

Figment also wanted to try the apple berry flatbread at the Village Haus, but they had already sold out!

3:00 am to 4:00 am -– After his late night snack, Figment decided to ride the Mark Twain. Figment really likes riding the Mark Twain when it is dark out, but most times, that doesn'’t happen because of Fantasmic. So this time, Figment decided to take a ride on the Rivers of America.

After riding the Mark Twain, Figment headed over the Haunted Mansion for a late night visit with the Ghosts!