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2/09/18 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort.
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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.

2/09/18 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort.

Friday was a relaxing day at the Disneyland Resort for me. I did not have a lot planned except to check in on the various projects. The weather was mild, topping out in the 70s and dropping to the low 60s by the time I left. Crowds were average for a Friday with mild waits early in the day and increasing as usual as time went on.

Note: As of Sunday 2/11 Ticket Prices have changes (with most going up). Here is a quick post showing some changes from both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Parking was really slow this afternoon. It took nearly 20 minutes from the freeway to a parking spot. The Ball Road overpass was open, but the toll booths had a dozen or so cars per lane and of course I picked one where it seemed every car had a question. Cars were backed up almost to the toll booth all the way up the ramp and into a spot. They were filling the last two rows of Daisy when I arrived and it was a slow process. They had cast members by the ramp so I do not understand why they were not dividing up the flow more to send some to the other floor that was going to start parking. So it was a very very slow crawl to a spot and I was directed into a spot a handful from the far corner of the garage.

  • Not a lot of visible change on the Star Wars Project except for more steel support structures being added for rock work. Also a couple glimpses of steel for additional structures within the land have risen in a few instances.

  • I made a quick trip into Disney Califiornia Adventure to try for a FastPass for World of Color and lucked out that they were still distributing for the blue section when I arrived so it was worth the walk. It would be nice to see these added to MaxPass... even nicer would be if they allowed you to pick the show time and section.

  • The number of walls for various projects within Disneyland continues to increase. This visit more were added to Main Street, Casey Jr., Storybook Land, and the it's a small world walls were shifted.
    • The track replacement on Main Street continues to move along. The straight part of the street is now behind walls with three crossing. In Town Square the new track is laid and looked to be ready for concrete and bricks. I am guessing the hub is the same, if not slightly ahead.
    • The walls in Fantasyland feature some great concept art from the attractions attractions, nice to see more than just a plain wall for most of it.
    • The parade route/queue project in the small world mall area looks extensive from the Monorail. The attraction has reopened but to reach it you walk around the walls through a narrow path right now.

  • The Lunar New Year celebration continues at Disney California Adventure for another week (through the 18th). I took in a showing of Mulan's Processional. This week there were some different performers which was nice to see. The rest of the celebration seemed to be the same as the first week. The marketplaces and Paradise Gardens both seemed to have healthy crowds for the event.

  • The Pixar Pier work is slowly moving along. Still more removal and preparation work going on so no real visible changes or new elements to see yet. More scaffolding has been added plus more signs, covers, and structures have been removed.

  • Decided to grab a burger from the Hungry Bear and enjoy the view. The burger was not very good.. they went heavy on the seasoning/pepper and it was too strong for my taste on several of the bites. Also the fries were only luke warm. So all in all not the best meal, but a great view.

  • The Silver Dollar Six have shifted to afternoon/evening sets and perform a half dozen times inside the Golden Horseshoe. They alternate sets with the Laughing Stock Company in the afternoon. It is great to hear live music again in th eGolden Horseshoe. I thought the band provided some great background music. I would have liked to have seen them liven up the show a bit more but it was entertaining.

  • I walked through the Star Wars Launch Bay to see if they were passing out any trading cards today, they were not. There were four cast members in the area but they were more interested talking to each other in the corner than interacting with guests and I saw no signs of cards so I did not interupt them. This seems to be more of a trend around the parks in recent visits.. groups of Cast Members talking to themselves. I have noticed this frequently at the security check point, sometimes at the tram stops and front gate and now at some attractions.

  • I walked through Downtown Disney and there are signs up for the two new dining locations taking over for RideMakerz and Build-A-Bear saying opening in 2018 and their names. Also Splitsville is in a soft opening phase. On Friday the first floor and outdoor areas were open for business.

  • A Wrinkle in Time sneak peek has moved into the Sunset Showcase Theater in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure (the former Muppets Theater). The preview follows the format of previous ones. There are three costumes on display in the lobby then inside there is an extended look at the film, clocking in at over 10 minutes. The preview is presented in 3D and some of the in theater effects are used - wind and side screens. I vaguely remember reading this book in school and enjoying it, but so far from the clips I have seen I am not that interested in the movie and this preview did nothing to change that.

Here are some recent posts to the Geek's Blog:

Geek’s Blog Postings Recap January 17-31, 2018

Disney Related Press Releases

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.

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
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