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02/24/17 - Thoughts and observations from a Friday trip to the Disneyland Resort including the Red Rose Taverne and AP Days Week 3
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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.

02/24/17 - Thoughts and observations from a Friday trip to the Disneyland Resort including the Red Rose Taverne and AP Days Week 3

Hello everyone,

The good news is it was not raining on Friday. The bad is it was crowded and cool/cold day at the Disneyland Resort. The highs barely topped 60 degrees and by the time I left the parks were in the low 50s (by the time I reached home it was around 40). The crowds within the parks were much more than I had anticipated. Wait times for attractions rivaled summer and many food and restroom lines were long too. Someone told me there was a convention in town, cheer leading events this weekend and ski week (a fair number of school districts give a full week off for Presidents day). Also a contributing factor I think has been the bad weather so on the good weather days it is even more crowded. The one thing that is for sure the recent price increases show no sign of slowing attendance yet.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I knew I was in for a busy day when it appeared most levels of the parking structure had cars on them and there was a heavier than usual stream at the toll plaza. There were no real delays in parking nor security which was a pleasant way to start the day.

  • First stop for me APDays at Disneyland. Friday marked the start of week 3 of 4. This week the featured characters were the Country Bears. There was also a new Main Street Electrical Parade button available. My timing was poor for the button with a couple dozen guests ahead of me in line, but ok for entrance to the lounge with under a 10 minute wait. Inside the lounge they had buttons available from week 2 still which was great since I missed last week due to weather. There was no line for the Country Bears so I went over and the cast members said it was FastPass only. So I returned to table to get a FastPass. This was around 2:15 and the return time window was 2:00-3:00. So I walked over and then up to the bears with no delay. The Opera House was once again hosting the same Disney Channel Special on the parade so I skipped it this week. I would have liked to have seen other shows throughout the weeks.

  • As I walked around Disneyland and waded through the crowds I crossed paths with a lot of live entertainment throughout the afternoon. But as night fell those options dried up. There was very little scheduled after the 5pm hour in either park. It would have been nice to have seen the Tomorrowland Terrace back in operation at night.. seems like it could have been tied into AP Days somehow and drawn good crowds.

  • The Red Rose Taverne officially opened in Fantasyland on Friday. This is a temporary overlay to the Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant. The menu has been modified slightly with some new offerings and additional options for the classic ones. I have pictures in the update but they are not the most clear. Disneyland.com has the full menu. The initial response has been extremely positive. The line was out the door and around the corner all afternoon and evening Friday. Seems they underestimated the popularity and when I was there at 3:30 they had already run out of the desserts for the day. I spoke to some who tried the new menu items and they all had positive reviews. The decor as you walk around is a good overlay with a lot of detail. They spent some time and effort and it shows. It is temporary but does not feel cheap in most instances. This surpassed what I was expecting to see. One question that has surfaced is how long is temporary. I have yet to see anything official but if demand stays relatively high I would think temporary is going to be a while. The park guide maps on Friday still listed the Village Haus in them.

  • I made a quick walk through Disney California Adventure as the sun was setting before dinner. It was interesting to see they have covered up the Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! exterior again. I was expecting to see more unveiled but instead saw less this week than last. They have three months until the announced opening date of May 27th.

  • Another contributing factor to the parks feeling more crowded is the number of closed attractions and entertainment offerings at both parks. DCA has Grizzly River Run, the Fun Wheel, Redwood Creek and World of Color all closed. Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean and the Matterhorn. Neither park has a day time parade right now. So at night the only things going on were the Main Street Electrical Parade and Remember Dreams Come True fireworks. Saturday and Sunday Frozen is added to this list because of events taking place in the theater.

  • As is the norm Disneyland as the sun set it became even more crowded. The Main Street Electrical Parade continues to draw big crowds with announcements of all viewing gone a half hour or so before the parade. I saw a fair number of guests and curb seating gone by early afternoon.

  • It was nice to see Remember Dreams Come True again. The E-Ticket in the sky segment is my favorite Disneyland fireworks segment and it has been plussed with the return. There are new projections and the show uses the new spotlight system to enhance the show. I wish they would have brought in projections along Main Street vs only the Castle and Small World though. Also I would have liked to have seen a new intro/conclusion.. I am not a fan of Wishes.

  • Leaving the park took longer than usual. The trams were backed up and seemed to be moving slowly. With the walkway now closed and your only path through Downtown Disney that is a much less attractive alternative. It would be nice to see them open that walkway for exit only at park closing.

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

Geek's Blog Postings Recap – February 5-18, 2017

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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