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2/04/22 - Disneyland Resort - Magic Key Celebration
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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.

2/04/22 - Disneyland Resort - Magic Key Celebration

Hello Everyone!

Friday was a relaxing day at the Disneyland Resort for me. The weather was mild and the crowds did not really impact what I wanted to do. The parks both felt like an average crowd with a good number of guests moving about all day. Wait times varied as has become the norm with Genie. Based on timing you could still make it onto many attractions with reasonable waits but many others were inflated or just long due to ratios.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I arrived at the Disneyland Resort just before noon and was greeted with only a few cars in each line at the parking structure toll both but the lines were not moving. I noticed a small sign by booth saying Cash only, so it seems they were having a credit card issue. My Magic Key Pass scanned no problem and I was directed into a spot only a few minutes later in the Pixar Pals parking structure. This was nice to have a shorter walk to Downtown Disney but I really do not like how they have the exit set up. Forcing you to exit out to Magic Way and Disneyland Drive means a lot of lights and waiting. Not a great way to start the drive home or end your evening.
  • Construction walls are now up in Downtown Disney and the early demolition prep work is underway. Next month the Monorail is slated to close and that is when the heavy demo should be underway. On Friday you could hear work going on but could not tell what it was thanks to the large walls. The walls themselves are colorful and have artwork for Celebrate Soulfully on them. No concept art for the new area, maybe that comes next after this event ends.
  • I finally remembered to stop by the Star Wars Trading Post and as luck would have it they still had Boba Fett postcards. These were released last month for Magic Key Holders. The cast member had to look in a couple spots to find the pack for me, so seems the stock is running low.
  • Celebrate Soulfully is going on throughout February. This event includes artwork, music, food and merchandise throughout Downtown Disney. I took a look around at the art work outside but did not venture into the stores. I returned in the evening for a performance by a Midnight Hour. They drew an ok crowd with the mix of music they performed.
  • February is Magic Key Holder Celebration Month. This includes photo ops, hand outs, PhotoPass opportunities, food and merchandise. I picked up a map of Avengers Campus in Downtown Disney and a small poster in Disney California Adventure. Both are ok, but a bit awkward to carry around a theme park all day. I would have preferred buttons, magnets or post cards as they are easier to manage. The Avengers Campus map was especially awkward given is slightly larger size and poster paper feel. At least the small poster was on heavier stock. The lines were short the few times I walked by both distribution locations and it was a quick process to pick up your items.
  • The Mickey and Friends tram stop renovation work looks to be completed. Hopefully that means the trams will be returning sooner rather than later. No official word yet.
  • While walking through Cars Land the line for Radiator Springs Racers looked mild (posted at 55 minutes) and Lightning Lane time was nearly instant. So I decided to give single rider a try. Turned out to be an 8 minute wait and a pleasant ride. I did notice they were only using 3 of the 4 load/unload stations. This turned out to be my only ride of the day.
  • I decided to grab a late lunch at Smoke Jumpers Grill. No issues mobile ordering. Interesting this time when I walked in they had my food at the front counter and it was ready for me. Usually you have to wait.
  • I ate outside on the side facing Soarin and I watched the queue while eating. The posted wait time was 85 minutes and it went down to the end and back, but not to the extended area and only the single switchback. As I ate there was a steady stream of Lightning Lane returns, the line never went beyond the door though. What I noticed though was the stand by line barely moved. It seemed as if they were letting every Lightning Lane person that showed up through first with no wait.
  • It is interesting the construction signs for Nemo have been upated to say this winter, guess that means it is not reopening soon, but winter only had another month and a half.
  • I stopped by Toontown to check out the construction. It was great to see some visible progress. The new hills are taking shape and there were a number of crews working on sculpting them.
  • As I walked by Car Toon Spin a half dozen maintenance cast members were exiting. The attraction was still down though. As I was leaving the area I noticed it had reopened so I went walked the queue. A few minutes later I was ready to board and the attraction went down. I could not tell if it was a problem or caused by a backup. There was a mask issue with a group before it all went down and things were held up as there was a discussion then half the party ended up exiting. They said we could wait in line but since they were walking people off I left vs waiting around.

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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

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

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