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03/24/17 - Thoughts and observations from a Friday trip 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.

03/24/17 - Thoughts and observations from a Friday trip to the Disneyland Resort.

Hello everyone,

Friday was a mild weather day at the parks with temps reaching the mid 70s. Spring Break crowds have started to arrive and the parks felt crowded all afternoon and evening. Wait times were summerish meaning some of the usual suspects were over an hour but with some timing and patience others were reasonable.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Started off the trip with better parking luck than last time. I was in the 3rd row close to the preferred parking on the Daisy level. Much nicer than last visit.

  • The big news surveying the Star Wars site from the structure is more trees on the new berm as the forest around the Rivers of America takes shapes and blocks the views into and out of the park. More foundation work around the various buildings in the Star Wars area, equipment and dirt being moved throughout the site, and the large show building continues to grow. From inside the park you can see the next section of riverbed is ready to be poured and the rock formations on the back side of the river have been extended toward Critter Country.

  • There were less security lines open this afternoon causing a several minute wait at each. Then once through the trams were backed up too with only one loading at a time and there being a 2-3 tram wait. Always a fun way to start the day with delays.

  • As I walked toward the park entrance I took a look at the ticket prices. Today is a peak day which means a one day park hopper will run you $174. The lines at the booths on the west side were healthy utilizing several of the switchbacks.

  • Autopia reopened Friday morning and now features scenes with Honda's ASIMO Robot (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) and his robotic Bird friend on a road trip adventure. Along with these changes the queue videos have been changed to feature the two of them too. The Robot and Bird reference on the large video screen made me think of the show that used to be in World of Motion at Epcot. I thought the additions were ok. I would have liked to have seen some sort of introduction to ASIMO. It is Tomorrowland and a little background on the robot would have been a nice touch. I thought the jet for the final seemed a little odd and not in line with the rest of the changes and the road trip. I do not understandd its connection to the story. Unless it is ASIMO and Bird fly home. Also I would have really liked to have seen the cars themselves updated. The new scenes are ok but they do not seem complete yet. The water tower area feels like it is missing something and I heard that the figures have some animation but that was not ready yet. I am disappointed to see the Car Park and classic props removed.

  • Walking through New Orleans Square noticed the Pirates of the Caribbean 50th Anniversary food items are still available. Lines this week were maybe slightly longer than usual but nothing like last week. In Fantasyland the lines were also back to normal since the Red Rose sippers sold out last Friday.

  • While walking through Fantasyland spotted Belle and the Beast on King Arthur Caroussel. They went for several cycles while I was there waving to guests. No photos allowed with them on board though, several cast members in the area to ensure the crowds kept moving. I thought this was a nice way to have them out and visible. Also kids can say they went on with them.

  • Mickey's Soundsational Parade returned Friday after being on hiatus, if my memory is right since early November when a Christmas Fantasy started. I noticed no changes from last time. It is still a fun high energy parade.

  • The Nightly Flag Retreat Ceremony in Town Square on Friday honored the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen are African American pilots and crews from World War II. After the ceremony the group was presented the flags from the Disneyland Security Honor Guard and took pictures with them and some Disney Characters. I think it is great Disney continues to honor veterans and especially some of these historical groups at the nightly event. My one complaint is they rarely share when there will be a special one like Friday. They did say something in the in park announcement just before but why not list it on the App, Website, Times guide? If you are in the park and can make it work in your schedule stop by Town Square for the ceremony.

  • Over at Disney California Adventure the Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! attraction is now only a two months away from opening on May 27th. More of the exterior is being revealed each day as it races toward that date. The one thing that is certain is it is a very different look and feel. Listening to guest comments it really runs the spectrum as you would expect with quite a few sounding like big Guardians fans and cannot wait to experience the attraction.

  • Grabbed dinner from the Pacific Wharf Cafe and was shocked at how quickly the line moved. It was out the door and wrapping and I was expecting a 20-30 minute wait based on past experience but I was through in around 10 minutes. They had every register open and were moving guests quickly. Great to see.

  • I passed through the Food and Wine Festival area a couple of times. The walkways were congested. Marketplace lines were varied with several ghost towns but others up to double digits. Again it seemed less lines than last Food and Wine but definitely more guests buying food than Festival of Holidays. I stopped by Paradise Gardens and enjoyed a set from Quatrosound. I enjoy hearing new live music in the parks. Unfortunately the Paradise Park stage was hosting Tomasina again for the third week in a row during my visit.

  • Closed out my time in the parks with a cruise on Pirates of the Caribbean to mark the 50th Anniversary that was last Saturday. Also I had not been on since the latest renovation. Nothing new or different jumped out at me so assuming it was general renovation work this time around.

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

Geek's Blog Postings Recap – March 1-20, 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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