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3/07/14 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays visit to 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.

3/07/14 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays visit to the Disneyland Resort.

Hello all,

Friday was a relaxing day at the Disneyland Resort. The crowds were higher than expected but did not really seem to effect me since most of what I wanted to do did not put me in their path. And thanks to some good timing I even managed to visit several attractions with no wait at all which was completely unexpected. The weather was cooler than my past visits with the highs topping out in the lower 70s but it really did not cool down that much at night.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • First up sorry to those of you who tried to follow along on Twitter or Facebook. Seems the blog was not posting to social media and I did not realize this until late afternoon. It still is not working properly but at least I was able to manually share the posts.

  • Disney announced the Starbucks in Downtown Disney will open for business on Monday. On Friday the walls were down and finishing touches were being applied to the seating area. Inside cast members were being given tours and looked to be discussing logistics, probably for the opening. The location fits in there nicely. Should be interesting to see how a third Starbucks relatively close to the other two is going to impact them. It may be helpful for guests who need their coffee in the morning. They can stop by before entering the park and have it for the line in the Esplanade. Seems to me the bigger downside will be felt by La Brea Bakery next door and their quick service area.

  • A new exhibit at the Disney Gallery opened last week. It is called Mechanical Kingdoms and features steampunk/mechanical artwork from the parks. As you saw in the pictures it is fairly heavy in Disneyland Paris and Tokyo DisneySea artwork since they have areas that best fit this theme. The exhibit exceeded my expectations. Last visit when I saw the preview case with the props from Girl vs Monster I was a bit worried about this exhibit thinking I would not care for it. But the old Discovery Bay artwork by Joe Rohde and Tony Baxter coupled with the Discoveryland and DisneySea was great to see.

  • My main complaint with the Gallery is how its really awkward in its current location. It is in the corner of the lobby and almost seems to be an afterthought. I think part of this is my longing for its old location back over Pirates. I always enjoyed the escape up there. Or even its location in the back area of the Bank where at least they had some control over the audio, etc.. where it is now you have the Steve Martin movie, the Lincoln preshow, plus cast member announcements going on. I did not notice/hear any audio track for the exhibit.

  • While on Main Street heard a PA announcement for 30 minutes till Mickey and the Magical Map. It is too bad the show is not drawing the masses and they need to do this announcements. Speaking of pleading for an audience heard the Laughingstock Co. cast out front of the Golden Horseshoe again asking guests to come inside and watch the show. Not many seemed to be taking them up on the offer.

  • Stopped by Innoventions where the slow Marvel takeover continues. Today the Captain America Meet and Greet officially opened. It is just to the right when you enter. The building has seen much better days from an operations as well as thematic perspective. Seems a name change is in order. Also the entire lower level has seen better days and its been months since the building has rotated. I did not go into the Captain America area. The wait was over an hour and I did not have the patience to wait that long for a picture with him. From what I have seen it is a fairly basic Meet and Greet, especially compared to the Thor one.

  • As you saw in the pictures Big Thunder is close to reopening. Cast Member previews were underway Friday. Annual Passholder previews are the 13-16 and the official opening is March 17th. So all you Big Thunder fans only have a little over a week more of waiting before you can enjoy the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness again! From what I have heard the new effects on the lift hill are very well done. The rest of the experience is more or less the same. The new track is nice and smooth. I have not heard anything about the new trains/cars yet.. but sure those enjoying the CM preview will be sharing their thoughts if they have not already by the time you read this.

  • Decided to make a trip out to Tom Sawyer Island since I had not been there in quite a while. Overall the island seemed in about the same shape it was last time I was there. The North end with Fort Wilderness is a shell of its former self. With the fort long closed there is not much to do there. Also the new fort is no where near as interesting as the original. One interesting note it seems each time I am out there I overhear other guests explaining to their kids, or anyone who will listen, what used to be there and how growing up they really enjoyed it and what a shame it is no longer open. The Pirates Lair area had some guests moving around but it was not crowded.

  • Over at DCA enjoyed a quiet late afternoon and dinner out on the patio at Flos. Thanks to some good timing I managed to experience the Flying Tires, Toy Story, and the Little Mermaid with a combined wait of under 15 minutes.

  • Stopped by Muppet Vision to see the tweaks Disney made to the preshow. Constantine from the Muppets Most Wanted interrupts the transmission and shares his evil plan (the plot for upcoming film). I thought this was a clever way to work in the movie. Wonder if they will be doing any other promotion? The theater itself has seen better days. Its been years since I have seen the firework screens working. Friday night two of the projection/wall screens were not working on the back right side. The water effect did not appear to be working, or at least where I was sitting it was not. Also the wind effect seemed less to me.

Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
Below are some interesting links, notes, and rumors I found/stumble across/or have been informed of since the last Geekspeaks column.

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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