Hello Everyone!

Friday was a relaxing visit to the Disneyland Resort. I had very little on my list so I spent time visiting family and friends. The weather was perfect topping out in the mid 80s and cooling down to the low 70s with a slight breeze. Crowds varied from light to moderate depending on where you were and the timing. Attraction wait times seems to fluctuate throughout the afternoon too, but that did not really impact my day.

Thoughts and Observations:

• Arrived at the parks just before noon and found no wait at the tollbooths or on the floors to park in the Mickey and Friends Structure. I was guided into my best parking spot in a while only a couple dozen spots away from the Elevators/escalators on the Mickey level. The big news this week on the parking front is the trams will resume operations on February 23rd. In preparation for this the security screening flow has been reversed back to normal so you enter from the outside courtyard then walk through the tram stop to the tram way. Just as you would if the trams were operating.
• I started my day walking to Downtown Disney. Unfortunately the security there has not changed and you still have to walk to the west security check point closest to the Disneyland Hotel to enter. No real visible progress on the demolition project this week from ground level. Assuming they are working on removing things from inside the building and preparing for their removal. As part of the Celebrate Soulfully events there was a new piece of chalk art this week, but nothing else different from last week. ESPN was setting up an activity area near Splitsville when I walked by and when I revisited later in the evening it was already cleaned up and gone. It appeared to only be a photo op and game. I was expecting more for Super Bowl weekend.
• Disney California Adventure did have more with live broadcasts occurring throughout the afternoon into the evening on a stage in Paradise Gardens Park. The stage is set up where the fountains are in the middle of the park. So guests can stand behind the set and be in the background. There was a steady stream of fans on hand, as expected many more Rams than Bengals fans the few times I walked through the area. Characters were out from time to time to get on camera as they went to/came back from commercial. I saw Donald and Pluto and a friend saw Mickey and Minnie at another time. I thought at night Pixar Pier looked good in the background. Too bad they could not use the World of Color fountains to add a bit more.
• This is the final weekend of the Lunar New Year Celebration. This week to promote the upcoming Pixar film "Turning Red" they is a handout with artwork inspired by the film and 250 free Disney Movie Insider points for Magic Key Holders, you pick it up under the swings with the Lunar New Year button. Speaking of hand outs, no sign of the sun glasses yet, but plenty of posters and buttons were on hand at the distribution locations. The marketplaces for Lunar New Year Marketplaces continue to have long waits for food. In the afternoon they were moderate but come nightfall they were long. I talked to some people in line and they commented how there was no wait to order then they were directed to the end of the long line for food. They wish they had known ahead of time and they would have skipped it since it was so long.
• We ate at the Stage Door Cafe. Two notes from the meal. First is they changed the chicken strips, so they are the same as Smoke Jumpers now. I preferred the old ones. Also the basket the meal came in seemed slightly larger which meant more fries this time.
• The Fantasmic renovation project continues to inch along. All three platforms were raised and in dry docks to be worked on. This impacted the operation of Tom Sawyer Island. The normal dock on the island was unavailable so rafts had to dock further up river near the fort, across from the Hungry Bear. Then they were traveling all the way around the island to reach the shore. When I went by only one raft was in operation which mean a healthy wait on both sides.
• The facade work on the show building for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway in Toontown continues. This week they were installing panels over top of the steel frame. Assuming these will then be painted as the backdrop. The hill look across the top of the building they were working on last week had wrapped up just past the building midpoint. I was expecting something more dimensional to be attached to the steel, maybe that is coming still.
• Unfortunately I failed to experience the one attraction I had wanted to this week. I wanted to go for a ride on the Monorail to check out the sub lagoon work one last time before the Monorail closes because of the Downtown Disney project. Unfortunately the Monorail was out of service the time I was in the park. Not sure if there was an issue or if it was due to the heat. As the sun was setting they were bringing the trains back onto the beam way, but it looked like it would be dark before they resumed operation.
• Instead I opted of another type of train, which turned out to be my only attraction of the day. I went for a Grand Circle Tour onboard the Disneyland Railroad. Nothing too interesting to report except it was a nice ride around the park. We drew a set of forward facing cars unfortunately. I prefer the excursion/inward facing cars as the view is better and less awkward.
• Spent some time in Downtown Disney to close out the evening. World of Disney is still operating with a single entrance and traffic flow through the store. I am kind of surprised this has not changed to more normal operation yet. The crowd as we walked through felt like a regular Friday night crowd. The Midnight Run was performing on the west end stage. I did not see any other entertainment going on this evening.
  

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

• 02/12/22 - Twentieth Century Studios’ “Death on the Nile”: Maggie’s Review
• Disneyland Resort Posts from 2/11
  • Pictures: Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Construction (2/11)
  • Pictures: Rafts Circle the Island to Return Due to Fantasmic Renovation
  • Pictures: Royal Theatre Renovation Walls
  • Pictures: ESPN Broadcasting from Disney California Adventure
  • Pictures: ESPN Activities in Downtown Disney
• 02/08/22 - Preview: Pixar’s “Turning Red”
• 02/07/22 - Review: Disney Encanto Home Video Release

Disney Related Press Releases

• 02/12/22 - Disney Wish – Float Out
• 02/10/22 - Disneyland Resort Serves Culinary Fun at Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival, March 4 to April 26, 2022
• 02/09/22 - Disney+ Limited Series "Obi-Wan Kenobi" Debuts On May 25
• 02/09/22 - Steven Spielberg's Award-Winning, Critically-Acclaimed "West Side Story" To Debut On Disney+ Beginning March 2
• 02/08/22 - Action-Packed Trailer Now Available For Disney And Pixar's "Lightyear"
• 02/08/22 - Disney+ Announces Critically Acclaimed Series black-ish and grown-ish are Coming to the Service in the U.S.
• 02/08/22 - The Walt Disney Company Earns 23 Academy Award® Nominations
• 02/07/22 - Catherine Zeta-Jones Joins Disney+ Original Series "National Treasure"
• 02/07/22 - Disney+ Releases Trailer And Poster For The Original Movie “Cheaper By The Dozen”

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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