Disneygeek - Geek Speaks - 03/16/11 - My thoughts and observations from Wednesdays visit to the Disneyland Resort.

The Geek Speaks:

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.

03/16/11 - My thoughts and observations from Wednesdays visit to the Disneyland Resort.

Hello all,

The Spring Break season kicked off this week and the parks felt crowded. I ended up going with some family and friends on Wednesday and it felt almost like a summer day, definitely much more crowded than a typical Wednesday should be and even more than most Fridays I usually go on. DCA felt especially crowded in the morning with the normal large mass of guests heading for Toy Story then sticking around for Screamin and the Fun Wheel. Even the walled off Swings had a couple cycle wait even. Over at Disneyland it was spotty and with some luck and Fastpasses you could visit most of what you wanted without extremely long waits. The one surprise to me was the lack of congestion to get into the garage. Thanks to LA traffic we pulled into the parking structure about 9:30 and only had a couple cars in front of us in line at the toll booth, no delay in finding a spot, and then walked right onto a tram. We were in DCA right before its 10am opening.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

As you saw in the pictures the Little Mermaid building is on the home stretch now with details emerging daily as they put the finishing touches in place. I always enjoy watching how quickly the end of the process seems to go. In a matter of days major/visible changes occur.
Noticed they were not using the World of Color fountains for Disney Channel Rocks. Not sure if this is the new normal or because they were working on one of the other platforms this morning. Anyone know for sure? Also noted they switched back to the show in the morning and the Dance Crew in the afternoon.
The CMs working the swings were not doing a very good job of making sure everyone left after riding. I guess since they have been so used to there being no real wait or line due to the construction or something? When we went on there were several guests who were not able to find a seat and some members of some groups made it on and others did not. It was not very well organized. At first we thought it was a miscount but upon further reflection we changed our theory to be some guests stayed behind from the previous cycle.
The new Cars Meet and Greet location is an interesting choice. It is much more visible and works in the area, but curious how it will impact traffic flow during this busy time of the year. The location opened the day after I was there so next trip I will stop by to see. Also has anyone heard what is going into the old location in Condor Flats?
Grabbed lunch at Taste Pilots and again still not sure why Disneyland cannot/will not adopt a model like WDW where you actually pay for what you get. For example a cheeseburger and hamburger cost exactly the same. Why? If you want an extra piece of cheese it is seventy cents more so why now knock off something if you get a plain burger? WDW has done this for years, they usually show the most expensive option on the menu such as a double bacon cheese burger but if you get a single or no bacon or no cheese the price drops accordingly. Or if you do not want the side, say the chips or fries the price gets knocked down too, but Disneyland does not in most cases. Another example is if you order a pizza the cheese only costs the same as pepperoni now a days. Or if you do not want the chips or apple slices with your corn dog. To me this is annoying, guess it is because I opt for a plain food or sometimes just am not in the mood for the offered side and instead want something else.
We spend the afternoon at Disneyland and to my surprise managed to visit quite a few attractions during the mid day lull. The Hungry Bear was doing a Cast Member preview/test run of the new menu, it officially reopened on Thursday to guests. From what I have read and seen since, the menu continues the current trend of trying some variety in the park. For example they replaced the fries with sweet potato fries.
The traffic congestion due to the work in Frontierland was confusing for people. I was surprised they did not have any signs up to help you around. Instead you had to rely on Castmembers who were tied up with quite a few guests. One nice side effect was due to the narrow walkway they did not run Fastpass for Big Thunder so that meant relatively short waits, or at least shorter than expected given the crowd in the park. I read that they are building a new snack shack in the area and that is what the construction walls are up for.
Work was underway for the Pirates sneak peek that will be in the Festival Arena on weekends and nightly during the Easter crush starting next weekend. The screen looked to cover then entire stage area. I am curious how they will do seating. If its going to be bleachers or just chairs on the ground. I think this will be an interesting test. I know it does not work in terms of being in Frontierland but there really was not a spot in New Orleans Square for it. Wonder if anyone thought about using the Captain EO theater in Tomorrowland. The crowds there have really thinned out there and this is a preview so it is a look into tomorrow (how is that for stretching it!).
Back to DCA, the Disney Jr. signage was about half way up and looking great. It really changes the tone of the corner. The updated show opens next week.
For dinner opted for a corn dog from Award Wieners. They switched back to standard Lays potato chips again. Not sure if this was temporary or permanent. I like these better than the Disney kettle chips so I was pleased.
Caught World of Color from the Yellow section, close to where it meets the preferred dining section. The surround sound really seemed to come through. Not sure if it was my location or that I was listening for it this time around. Also the laser effects looked crisp from this angle but the center midst screen was not at all.
Since Remember did not start until 8:45pm and World of Color was at 8:00pm I had just enough time to make it onto Main Street for the show, I arrived just as Tinker Bell was making her first pass. This was my first time seeing Remember from Main Street since the holidays and there were no flames during the Indy sequence (I thought I noticed this a few trips ago when I watched from the Rivers of America but then thought it may have just been my angle). So is this a cut or are they having problems?

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.