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06/01/12 - My thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort including the return of the Pixar Play Parade and soft opening of Ghirardelli.
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Welcome to the disneygeek.com Geek Speaks section. In this section I will post my comments on trips to the parks or other Disney related events.

06/01/12 - My thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort including the return of the Pixar Play Parade and soft opening of Ghirardelli.

Hello all,

I decided to take advantage of the great weather and head down to the Disneyland Resort. I was hoping for mild crowds, but seems others had the same idea and add in that another Grad Nite was going on and the parks felt crowded. The wait times were reasonable for most attractions except the ones the Grad Nite groups descended upon, like Tower of Terror.


Jason

Trip logs and mileage reports are in the Park Miles section.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Only two weeks until the Grand openings and only one day till the previews start. Saturday marked the first really big preview, Imagineering at Cars Land and then for the next week are other Disney units and Disneyland Resort Cast Member events leading up to the charity preview next week (which was open to Annual Passholder, D23, and Club 33 members to buy tickets to) then the following week starts off with a free annual passholder preview (which was awarded via lottery system) and then starts the media events. So the work around the parks is done for the most part, just some finishing details and tweaks. So not much in terms of construction progress this time around. I did go for a spin on the Fun Wheel since I did not go last trip but no real visible changes which was expected so maybe I am done on the wheel for a while... hopefully... maybe one more once it is open to see the crowds?

  • The unofficial theme of the update turned out to be signs... as I roamed around that was the most noticeable change around DCA. Signs were now in place ranging from small street signs, to the Red Car Trolley to large billboards on the roofs of Buena Vista Street not to mention the Carthay Theater ones. I really enjoy taking the time to look at all these details, hope you enjoyed it too.

  • The Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Store officially opens its doors Thursday June 7th, but Friday marked the first day of soft openings for guests (the day before was for cast members). As you saw in the pictorial update the store itself is a large single room rectangle inside with an open floor plan. The detail and pictures inside are a nice touch and the space seems to be maximized as best as they could given the the small footprint. As tradition with Ghirardelli they were passing out free chocolate squares as you entered. I thought it was a little odd that as soon as you entered you were in line to order. You had to go around/through the registers to reach the gift shop area which was spread out, basically the waiting area for the soda fountain. The menu is a traditional Ghirardelli one. You are also able to use your Annual Pass discount inside. There is no indoor seating so you must aim for one of the few tables right outside or go to the main Wharf area right now. I am willing to bet once Cars Land opens though many will venture that way to eat their ice cream with the great views around them.

    Here is a clip of the mural in action:


  • Next stop on my tour was the Cove Bar. It reopened last Saturday after a couple month rehab. The entrance from the Pier was restructured a bit and then some new furniture but no other substantive changes jumped out to me. There are plenty of great signs and fun pictures up now that tie the Cove directly to the Paradise Pier. I really enjoyed the old photos showing workers creating the Pier. What a fun idea.

  • Ate an early dinner at Taste Pilots and it was jammed. It was around 4pm and the lines were long and slow moving. They were training some new cast members on the register which slowed things down a bit but not too bad. Then to top it off they ran out of burgers for several minutes. This sure seems to happen more often since they switched to the Angus burgers and new kitchen equipment.

  • There was a soft opening/preview of the Pixar Play Parade Friday. I thought it was great they had the park wide announcements playing saying the parade was later today and to check your guide map for the time. The parade was not listed though and the first Cast Member I tried to confirm the time with was funny. He said they were not allowed to share the time. I then said can you confirm it is a 5pm start and he said it should be. Sometimes Disney answers just make you laugh.



  • I found a spot across from the Carthay to take pictures of the parade, along with several other websites who had photographers scattered around Carthay Circle. The Carthay has light that rise up on lifts for the parade then retract. Too bad much of the lighting along the rest of the route is static and visible.

  • The parade itself had no major changes. The Incredibles unit that featuring the flame throwing Jack Jack had been shortened. Jack Jack is now on the front and not shoot fire. It also features Violet on the back now. Other than that noticed Mr. Potato Head in the dump truck for Toy Story. Nothing else jumped out as changed. The Ratatouille unit was not back and no new characters or units were added. This was the first public run I believe so maybe by the Official Start in two weeks some additions will come? The water was on Friday but not as bad as in the past. Also did not notice the bubbles during the Nemo segment, but could be because of where I was standing. I would have much rather seen a new parade come in but I know with all the other changes some compromises had to happen. The Play Parade is ok but to me it is not up to the level of the Disneyland Parades, especially Soundsational.

  • I made a quick pass through Disneyland as daylight was quickly going away. I was disappointed to see just Mona and Manny monorails on the beam again... I have yet to hear Mandy and would like to complete the cycle...

  • Spent some time at the Disneyland Hotel. The map at the entrance to the Fantasy Tower now has some animations on it. They are a nice touch but cycle really slowly for my patience. Also I would have liked to have had some music or something to help guide your eyes around the large map. The lighting was odd/a challenge too. No one else seemed to really notice it and I got some odd looks by other guests as I stood there staring at the map with two cameras out one clicking away and the other doing some video.


  • Wandered through Downtown Disney then back to Disneyland. Caught the first set of Scot Bruce/Elvis which had a decent crowd and then made a quick walk through the park as the sun was setting before heading back to DCA.

  • Stopped by the Mad T Party which is still in Sneak Preview mode for the next two weekends. The crowd was much lighter this week than last you could actually move around more freely this week. I did not notice any substantial changes. There was a different Mad Hatter and White Rabbit this week. Also right after the band they did not go to the entertainment on the House of Cards stage as they had last week. Not sure if they did later or if those acts had the night off.

  • As I was hanging out on the Blue Sky Cellar Patio looking at Cars Land I was lucky enough to see Lightning and Mater roaming around. Looked like they rolled over to the Cozy Cone for a photo shoot then headed back out toward the Racers.

  • I returned to Disneyland just before Magical and was surprised to find Main Street was not that crowded. I was able to find a spot with no problem and enjoy the show from a relatively open area right in front of the Disneyana store.


Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
Below are some interesting links, notes, and rumors I found/stumble across/or have been informed of since the last Geekspeaks column.

Be sure to check out the picture update that goes with this Geekspeak column, it can be found in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

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