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Visit Date: 2/14/14
Steps: 20,103
Parks Miles: 7.6
Time in Parks: 8

 
Trip Log:

Started off the holiday weekend taking the tram to the parks. Made a quick detour to check out the Starbucks construction then headed for Disneyland. Wandered around Town Square and then down Main Street USA to the hub. Circled the area and then strolled through Adventureland, New Orleans Square, and out to Critter Country. Doubled back along the Rivers of America and went for a voyage on the Mark Twain. Once back on land continued on around the Big Thunder Trail stopping at the Ranch before reaching Fantasyland. Made my way out to Small World then Toontown before turning around and going around the Matterhorn to Tomorrowland for a round trip ride on the Monorail. Once back in the park wrapped up my grand circle tour by walking back to Main Street and Town Square for a showing of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. After the show decided to grab a quick bite at the Village Haus then back to Town Square for the nightly Flag Retreat. Then headed across the Esplanade to Disney California Adventure. Spotted a new issue of the Buena Vista Bugle on news stands so picked up a copy and gave it a read. Continued on down Buena Vista Street to Carthay Circle then made my way through Condor Flats, around GRR and out to the Pier. Decided to stroll through the Wharf then into Cars Land. Walked down Cross Street and arrived at Route 66 just as the neon was coming on for the evening. Hung around Radiator Springs for a while then continued on Cross Street, through Bugs Land, and into Hollywood Land. Passed by the Mad T Party just as the band was opening up the show for the night so stuck around for their set. Then walked down Hollywood Blvd back to Buena Vista Street. Made another pass through Cars Land and then around GRR and back to Buena Vista Street. Headed back to Disneyland. Wandered down Main Street USA and out to Frontierland to check out the lights on Big Thunder. Hung around there a bit then went to find a spot for Remember and Fantasmic along the Rivers of America. Fantasmic was stopped early in the show due to the water screens not coming on, so waited around to see what was going on and let the crowd thin a bit then waded through the masses and headed for Main Street and the exit. The trams were backed up so made the hike out to the Mickey and Friends Structure then headed for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 14,646 steps, 129 minutes.


For Comparisons to other trips or more park miles click here to visit our park Miles Section.

Note: These totals may be skewed because the pedometer is zero'd when we start and then left alone and read when we leave. So attractions, and other things may cause extra "steps" to be counted. The pedometer that we use basically measures up/down motion as a step, so if your standing in line and moving up and down it may be counting steps, etc.. so the total distances traveled and steps may be off.. so use these as rough distance comparisons between trips and they may not be accurate in terms of actual distance traveled.
Pictures & Video From this Trip:


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My Thoughts & Observations:

Hello all,

Friday was one of those picture perfect Southern California days. Temps were in the mid 80s when I arrived at the resort and cooled down to the 60s by the time I left (and low 50s by the time I reached home). There was a slight breeze and not a hint of a cloud in the sky. Combine this with President's Day weekend and Valentine's Day and the parks were on crowded side. Add in several attractions down for work at Disneyland (Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Small World, and the Subs) and it made the park feel even more crowded.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • The security lines were really backed up this afternoon when I arrived. Not sure why, the trams were not crowded. While waiting I had some time to look around the area and it made me really think about this being a guests first impression of the resort. You park your car in the huge parking structure. Find your way down to the tram. Eventually make it to Downtown Disney and follow a mass of people to some temporary tents surrounded by barriers. Not a very Magical or interesting first impression. I understand it is not a money maker but it really seems that they could invest to make a cleaner looking and more permanent solution. The bag checks are here to stay, they are 13 years old now. So seems time to redo them. Also it seems they could be re-engineered for more efficient traffic flow.

  • First stop today was Disneyland. I spent most of my day there come to think of it. I did a walk around the park checking out all the various projects and just enjoying the afternoon/early evening. As you saw in the pictures nothing too over whelming to talk about. There were only minor references to Valentines Day this year. Unlike the promotion of True Love Week last year. I spotted some hearts in the planters in Town Square, same as last year. Then some displays in the stores, like Trolley Treats. But nothing else jumped out to me as I roamed the parks.

  • Thanks to the warm weather the newly expanded Dole Whip stand was put through its paces. The lines still seemed long. I did not wait so no idea if they were moving any faster. The couple times I walked by the outside line stretched almost to the Tiki Room exit. Inside the queue seemed to fill the area too.

  • I walked through the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree and it was fairly empty. There were no real waits to see the characters. Not sure if its a new cut back or just because there was a performing arts group on stage but there was no horse leading the characters out during the one turn over I saw.

  • In reflecting on my day I only visited three attractions.. the newest of which was from 1964! The Mark Twain (1955), Monorail (1959), and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (1964 Worlds Fair). I thought that was an interesting bit of trivia.. not sure why it popped to mind but it did so thought I would share it.

  • Big Thunder seems to have stalled. You cannot really see any of the work going on. But you can spot trains on the tracks and workers, Imagineers, and Cast Members from time to time. In the evening Friday they were cycling trains around the track again.

  • As you saw in the pictures the sub lagoon is drained and work can start on the renovation. The sign out front had been updated to say returning in Fall 2014.. guess it was a frequently asked question? Looking at the lagoon from the Monorail it really seemed faded to me. Not nearly as bad as the original but the way the new paint/coating process was described I was expecting it to stand up better after 7 years only.

  • To mark President's Day and Lincoln's birthday I took in a showing of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the nightly Flag Retreat in Town Square.

  • Over at DCA the big news on Buena Vista Street is a new Buena Vista Bugle has hit news stands. This fun (FREE) newspaper is available near the Red Car stops, the Chamber of Commerce and is in the Cafe along the windows. It features some of the latest news from around the park and changes seasonally. This issues topics include the Fun Wheel Challenge, dining at the Carthay Circle, as well as ads for Lunar New Year and Celebrate Gospel. My favorite celebrity sighting is Statler and Waldorf. The caption reads Catch the original heros of heckle at MuppetVision 3D in Hollywood Land!

  • Out in Cars Land I noticed Red making his way through the crowd in the evening, which seemed odd.. usually he is not out that late. He drove over to the Cozy Cone and stopped there for pictures. I had only seen Mater and McQueen there before. Is this new or have I just managed to miss him?

  • One of my main reasons for visiting was to catch the return of Fantasmic! I have always enjoyed the show and I think its great Disney continues to upgrade it regularly. Unfortunately the show had some technical difficulties, the water screens did not come on. So it was stopped and eventually cancelled. I was only able to catch the opening sequence, but that was long enough to see the new fountains in action. They are smaller versions of the World of Color fountains and add just a little extra to the show. If you have never seen the show or only a couple times you probably would barely notice them but for those who have seen it numerous times its a big improvement. Here is a video clip of the sequence. The show was stopped right after I stopped my recording. I plan to see it again on my next trip to see what else was upgraded/changed.

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

Stop by the Geek's Forum to discuss this and other Disney topics.. click here

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
Pictures & Video From this Trip:


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