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

Hello all,

Friday was a mild day at the parks, the crowds were more than I expected but then it dawned on me that some places are starting spring break so that season is now ramping up, add in the decent weather, and the parks felt like a healthy crowd. Lines were still not bad for most attractions throughout the afternoon. By evening they were growing slightly, but almost all I saw were under an hour (Toy Story was 40-50, Screamin 15-30 at DCA, even Matterhorn which only had one side running looked to be around 30 minutes).

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• As you saw in the pictorial update we roamed around the Disneyland Hotel a bit and saw the paint/room tests. They looked similar to one of the older schemes, wasn't there a blue several years ago... I would have to dig through my photos but it looked familiar to me.
  
  
• I thought it was odd that the fast food locations at both the Grand Californian and the Disneyland Hotel were both down for rehab at the same time. So if you wanted a quick bite at either hotel you had to find an alternate location.
  
  
• The work at DCA is kicking into high gear with the first round of changes slated to open in a little over a month with the Boardwalk Games and Mickeys Fun Wheel. The heavy installation and changes to the Bay have really kicked in and the equipment for the World of Color show is impressive to see (and this is just the supports, framework). I think the new look for the Midway Games really changes the area for the better and I cannot wait to see how it looks/feels to walk through there once the stores are done too. It should bring the experience up to a new level, in my opinion the level it should have been at when the park first opened.
  
  
• The new sign for the Celebrate today that is at the point in Town Square is interesting and people seemed to like having their picture in front of it. I do not have too much of a problem with the sign itself (the envelop and balloons), but I do not like the location. It does not go at all with Main Street and it gets in the way of shots down the street. I would have much rather liked it out front by the turn styles or even in the esplanade.. seems to me somewhere between the two parks would make sense since the campaign is for both.
  
  
• I grabbed a quick dinner at the Village Haus and since my last visit they changed the menu slightly. I think prices were up a bit (but cannot remember exactly) but they did change the sides from a salad to apple slices with the pizza. I think you can still substitute fries too. I ordered it with nothing. Guess it is another cutback... speaking of which I thought it was crazy that at 6:00pm on a Friday they had one register open only. They did have the person working the CM register (the one off to the far right at the pickup counter) take some of us waiting in line. Seems to me bad staffing to have several people filling orders and only one taking orders.. once you ordered your food it was ready instantly almost, but the bottleneck was placing the order.
  
  
• We only saw Monorail Red running on Friday but the good news was they were not restricting the cars.. meaning you could load as many people as you wanted in, no more 15 person limit. I guess this is due to the new half windows and/or the cooler temps. They were making you disembark and get back in line at both sides. Anyone know what is going on with Monorail Blue? Is it just receiving the half windows too or something else? I have not seen it for a couple trips now. Also anyone hear a timeline for Orange? The CMs looked too busy to bother so I did not quizz any of them.
  
  
• The parking lot trams were slow and had at least a 2 tram wait the couple of times we walked by. I overheard several people questioning what was going on and I will echo that... it seems the tram service is getting worse... slower loading, slower turn arounds, and maybe less trams (not sure on this) but I do know the wait times seem longer most of the time.
  
  
• The door to the alternate experience for the Castle Walkthrough was open so I poked my head in and grabbed some pictures. The movie that was playing seemed very similar to the Blu-ray virtual tour. I thought the room looked good and the jewels display case and artwork were nice touches. I was surprised the door was open and no CM in the area.
  
  
• I made a point to visit Small World after dark to see the new facade lighting and I think it is a nice touch. First the regular lighting and lighting for the clock chimes seems crisper and brighter. Then a great little touch is when the Disneyland Railroad passes by the area turns red and then fads back to the regular color and this happens in a wave as the train goes by. I thought this was a great plus!
  
  
• So have you all signed up for the D23 program? I am withholding judgment till I see what the magazine and gifts are, but my initial reaction was the price was rather steep (it came to just over $80 for the year including tax). Any thoughts? (I posted the press release for this as well as the Food and Wine Festival in the Press Release section)
  

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