Leap Day Event - Disneyland Is Full, Streets Gridlocked

[TP2000]

As I think this is going to be quite the little news story on Thursday, at least locally here in SoCal, I thought I'd give it it's own thread.

It's not even 11PM here on the West Coast, but Disneyland has closed its gates and is now declaring itself "full", with massive gridlock late at night on the freeways and surface streets leading to the park. Here's a twitpic of someone stuck in the surface street traffic that sums it up... http://twitter.com/#!/btr0n/status/175109697794347008/photo/1

I was caught in that as I naively tried to go over to the park around 9:30PM tonight. By 10PM I had had enough, and I made a u-turn and got out of there. The view of the gridlocked Santa Ana Freeway with traffic that stretched for miles to the LA County line was enough for me.

It should be interesting to see how the media covers this, especially on the upcoming eleven o'clock news shows tonight that begin in a few minutes. Never underestimate the power of Disneyland in Southern California! :lol:

 

[NemoRocks78]

We got there at 2pm and left the parking lot just after 8. Disneyland was manageable early, but DCA was a madhouse. Tower was 85 mins. and Soarin'/Screamin'/TSM were 45 mins. Blue Sky Cellar also had a small wait. We went back to DL around 7pm to use FPs for Space and we bounced after.

Soundsational ended on our way out and Main Street was a disaster at the time. The street and sidewalks were basically treated as a giant garbage dump and a sea of people came right at us as they were heading into the park. More insane was the amount of people outside the gates… the line to get in to DL started basically right up against the the line to get into DCA. :dazzle:

It was fun and I'm glad I got my button and cupcake but I definitely wouldn't want to be there right now with the massive crowds and the fact that it's hella cold outside. :hammer:

 

[nemofinder22]

Even with most if not all the food facilities open, a 90 min wait is being reported for Jolly Holiday Bakery! eek!

https://twitter.com/#!/MiceChat/status/175109633403404288

A 90 min wait for jolly holiday bakery? Lol! You will need more than a spoonful of sugar! #Disneyland

 

[Nicole220]

I was in the area coming home and got caught in the madness. I found the sight of all the streets and freeways completely jammed hilarious. Why people are trying to go right now is beyone me! Stay home and sleep, people.

 

[nemofinder22]

Wow there are so many various reports of how yesterday went mainly at night seem to take a NYE atmosphere crowd wise for the rest of the night.

http://miceage.micechat.com/

EDITOR’S NOTE 3/1: The horror stories from One More Disney Day at Disneyland don't come from inside the park that was filled to capacity. The worst of it was actually with the angry hordes waiting to get in until 3AM and the gridlocked traffic all night long on streets and freeways surrounding the Resort. This entire marketing gimmick was fine for FL, but a disaster for the SoCal demographic. There will be lots of damage control to do.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals...ource=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=70653

But Disney's "One More Disney Day" event turned into "One More Disney Disaster" as one disgruntled fan put it on Twitter when Disneyland announced the park was "full" at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Disneyland cut off ticket sales from 11 p.m. Wednesday until 12:30 a.m. Thursday before announcing that "access" to the park had resumed at 2 a.m. Thursday.

This picture really speaks of how things seemed to have gone, how some.
http://www.laughingplace.com/showpi...rmath+of+"One+More+Disney+Day"+at+Disneyland.

It seems that many did have an overall good time, busy though.

Oh and Fantasmic! looks quite nice.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150644912690742.406988.11081890741&type=1

A great video from OC Register
http://ocresort.ocregister.com/2012/03/01/fans-leave-disneyland-after-crowded-24-hour-party/109422/

Thousands of fans poured out of Disneyland at 6 a.m. Thursday, much like they had entered 24 hours earlier by getting “high fours” from employees wearing Mickey Mouse hand gloves for the 24-hour Leap Day party

 

[sponono88]

The 6AM closing announcement at Disneyland:

[youtube]9UYR8ynf0S8[/youtube]

video by MouseInfo

 

[TP2000]

Al Lutz has the scoop on the numbers this morning. Disneyland set attendance records for the park and for the resort as a whole on the One More Disney Day!

http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al030212a.htm

88,000 for Disneyland, and 106,000 for both parks combined! So glad I turned around after being stuck in the traffic and seeing the freeway backed up for miles!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Darn, I wish I could have said this before so I could sound smart now, but I was not surprised at all that Disneyland was mobbed. Create the "one night only" atmosphere of a New Year's Eve type event without the plethora of other entertainment options available in LA on a real holiday like a New Year's Eve... 20 million people or so live within a three hour drive... 900,000+ APs... big mess waiting to happen.