* After you read this report you may want to check out the pictorial updates in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

Hello all,

I had the rare (well rare for me) opportunity to visit the Disneyland two weeks in a row and jumped on it. Unfortunately this Friday the weather here in Southern California decided to be winter.. so it was mid 50s -> low 60s and rainy most of the morning.. but luckily the rain held back in the afternoon so I headed to the park. It only rained for about 5 minutes the whole time I was there. Considering the weather and time of year I thought the parks were crowded. (In reality it really was not that bad but I was expecting it to be much less). Most attraction wait times were under 15 minutes with the biggies under 30 minutes most of the afternoon but as evening came and no rain they went up to 45 minutes minutes or so.

Jason

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

DCA & Disneyland Notes:

• As you saw in the pictorial update only a handful of attractions had weather related closures that we could tell. For the past year I was wondering why on the Disneyland entertainment schedules it would say the early afternoon Billy Hill show would be canceled if it was raining.. Friday I learned its because they move the Birthday celebration into the Golden Horseshoe so Billy has to skip a show. Also thought it was interesting that this week the entertainment schedule did not have that warning printed..

• I grabbed dinner at the Village Haus and was pleasantly surprised. I have not eaten there in years and decided some pizza sounded good. They had a combo, pizza and salad (or French fries if you asked) for $6.29. This may sound high for an individual pizza but compare it to nearly $6 for a slice over in DCA and it seems like a reasonable (by Disney standards) price. Add in the 15% annual pass discount and its $5.77 for dinner.

• Caught two sets of Scot Bruce - A Tribute to Elvis at Club Buzz. He and the band put on a high energy set that is never a disappointment. I am not that big of an Elvis fan but I am always entertained and find them among the best groups that come through and they always seem to draw a large crowd that has a great time.

• Friday marked my last trip on Pirates before it closes down for the next few months to undergo some additions, rehab, and changes. I was trying to figure out how to summarize my thoughts and have not come up with a really good way to. I was participating in a discussion over on the disney echo forum and here is the best I have come up with so far on my thoughts on this "last ride through":
  
  The best comparison I have is when I went to see some of the final showings of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln several years ago before they redid it to add the 3D sound. I really enjoyed the show (as I do Pirates) and thought it was good as is, but the idea of something new and better really intrigued me too. I agree with many who say Disneyland is not a museum and it needs to change and reinvent itself to remain a leader. But on the other hand change for the sake of change and to not enhance the story(notice I choose story not show) really grinds on my nerves.

  Back to the original question.. I road Pirates with a look to the past and hope for the future. I was trying to get a good mental picture (as well as digital pictures) of the attraction and tried to sit back and relax and remember some of the original attraction, before the last two rounds of changes. I wanted to just enjoy the trip and did.

  As we look forward to the future I really hope the enhancements to Pirates succeed and are not like those of Mr Lincoln. I really enjoyed the original show and the combined speech he gave was great. The show that was last in there with the "cheap" sound gags and effects really did not work for me. Most of the time I would watch the show without the headphones on (did you know you can hear Mr. Lincoln as well as the finale music without the headphones). That made the show tolerable to sit through but still it frustrated me.

• Now for the contest. When I went to ride Monsters Inc there was a Cast Member at the entrance passing out Virtual Magic Kingdom flyers. Each one contained a card good for a Golden Door Teleporter (card 18 of 30 in series 2). Anyways I ask for one and he handed me a handful of them. So needless to say I do not need all of these. So for you Virtual Magic Kingdom players out there here is your chance. I want to hear from you and your thoughts on Pirates as it is undergoing these changes and the most interesting/engaging/funny/entertaining ones I will publish on the site as guest columns and I will send you each the code for a teleporter door. Now if you have no real connection to Pirates and want to write about something else it its interesting I we want to use it I will make exceptions to widen the topics covered. So send in your thoughts/observations. Only rules are you have to keep our family audience in mind (so clean and appropriate), we want it to be honest/truthful to the best of your knowledge, no wild rumors please, and we want it to be interesting. Send submissions to disneygeek@disneygeek.com by Friday March 17th (St. Patricks day) to be eligible for the teleporter code.. or you can submit anytime as we are always looking for guest columns.
  

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

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