Update: 5/11 -Bleachers, Splash Mountain ALMOST open, Columbia, Pirate Island &more!

[Mac Daddy]

Hoping to be one of the first to ride Splash after the refurb, I set off bright and early this morning for Disneyland. I got there about 20 minutes before the rope drop at 8:40. (I thought they usually opened at 8:00 AM on Fridays...hmmm....)






FINALLY!




Here they come!




Ah! No one in Frontierland! Now's my chance to make a break for Splash! Whoo hoo!




What the...? What do you MEAN I can't go through this way?? What is this CM telling me? I have to walk back around and go through Adventureland??




This can only mean one thing...




The bleachers are back.






Which means you can't walk straight across to Splash from the entrance of Pirates. You have to backtrack and go UP across the bridge.




Looking back across the ROA, you can see what was behind the lattices they have installed to close off the Columbia dock:




Tom Sawyer's Island was again bustling with activity in order to meet the big deadline:




Of course, THESE guys have their work cut out for them over the next several days...



More shots of the closed off walkways and Bleechers. Can you say....GRIDLOCK?








More to come....

[Goofy Daddy]

It's a trap!!!

[RPerez3]

"Ah! No one in Frontierland! Now's my chance to make a break for Splash! Whoo hoo!"

FOILED AGAIN! Dang that smarts. Great Update So Far...Looking forward to the more to come.
Cheers

[bella]

I think I am one of the only ones excited about the bleachers being up. I will probably hate them when I am there later and have to back track everywhere but it just brings the excitement that the premiere is next weekend!!

[InspiredByWalt]

Love the pix and the commentary. Keep 'em coming!

Did you ever get to ride Splash today?

[Abominable Snowman]

The dreaded bleachers have returned *sighs*

[Berd]

Nice update (even if you did have to backtrack). I'm glad we were there last weekend instead of this weekend. Thanks for sharing your pics!

[Duffy]

what the heck? are you LIVE at the park?

[barfownz]

Awesome TR!

[Mac Daddy]

PART II

After a couple of detours, I finally made it to Splash Mountain!






I guess it was silly for me to be hoping for a fastpass today, eh?




Bummer. Well...for all intents and puposes, it looks like this ride is ready to go:




No! Don't use testing dummies! Use ME!! I'LL be the testing dummy!






The lights are on and the soundtrack is playing. I'm telling you...this ride is ready to go!






The CM's are in place...




So WHEN will this open?? I'll ask this guy. I'm SURE he'll know...




Brer Fox didn't say much, but I did eavesdrop on a couple of CM's. The unofficial word is that they hope to open today, but nobody seems to know when. If they DO open, it will be on an off and on basis.

I STRONGLY suspect that some lucky Micechatters will be riding it at SOME point today, even though it is not officially scheduled to open until next week.

Upon leaving Critter Country, I saw where the Columbia was hiding...




Heading back across Frontierland I ran into more obstacles:








Looking across the ROA, you can see what looks to be one of the bridges that Al was talking about. Or is this just a temporary walkway to move supplies? Hmmm...




Work continues on Tarzan's Treehouse...




Another shot of the bridge/walkway...




I found the Columbia!




And finally...here is visible evidence of why you would want to be in the park for the rope drop on what could be a crowded day. When I arrived, I waited behind four people at the gate. When I left before 10 am, it was hard to tell where the Disneyland line stopped and the DCA line began!




(More to come from 5/9/07...)

[MollyTrolly]

YIKES, dont all those people know its not Summer yet...
Great update!

[Goofy Daddy]

Great update...too bad you didnt get on SM.

[Mac Daddy]

what the heck? are you LIVE at the park?

Heh....

I aim to try that one of these days as I just received a mac powerbook pro a couple of days ago. I've heard you can get wireless in certain spots around Disneyland, so I'll have to try that out.

Sadly, I couldn't stay too long this morning as I have to plan a birthday party and go shopping like a maniac in a couple of minutes, but I just had to give Splash a shot before heading off into my day.



Next week for sure!

[penguinsoda]

Where did all those people come from??? Why are they all there!?? Didn't anyone tell them its not a holiday, its to early for "summer" crowds, its not Saturday....

But awesome pics!! Sorry you didn't get on Splash yet.

[chadb14]

Thanks for the update. Don't go near the bleachers!