Hello all,

I was unsure what to expect at the parks crowd wise on Friday. The morning was a bit drizzly and cool but the forecast held true and the rain left mid morning and the day turned out good weather wise. The parks felt crowded again as the spring break crowds are still around and with Easter so late this year will be for another month or so. The wait times were not miserable with most well under an hour for most of the day but they did creep upwards as the evening came.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• To keep the wait time down the CMs working the Fun Wheel were squeezing small groups together as usual, but they went a bit to the extreme I thought having two groups of two join me. I still think the benches are not that comfortable for three adults.
  
  
• The new Cars 2 Meet and Greet location was up and running this visit. I was really surprised at how little of a wait there was. I walked by a couple of times and I do not think I saw more than three or four groups in line. It did cause a little bit of traffic in the area with some people looking at the merchandise cart on one side and then trying to get pictures on the other side, but over not too bad. I did not hear any sound in the area, so not sure if it was off, or I just did not hear it, or if it is not running yet.
  
  
• There was quite a bit of visible progress on the Little Mermaid building as it nears completion and the new dining and park areas too. Cars Land continues to impress as the mountain range is filling in.
  
  
• The new Disney Junior Live on Stage show premiered earlier in the week. This show replaced/renamed the old Playhouse Disney one. The make over to the theater to become the Disney Theater looks great. The modern signage for Disney Junior is a little too bold for my taste though. The new show is basically identical to the last version except Jake and the Neverland Pirates has replaced Winnie the Pooh. I thought the new segment was a nice change and enjoyed the Captain Hook and Mr. Smee puppets. (Plus I am not a huge Winnie the Pooh fan after he evicted my Country Bears and Disneyland and Mr. Toad at WDW...) I was a little disappointed that not more of the show had changed. Also with the upcoming Pooh film I was surprised that got cut, but I am guessing that means the show is no longer part of Disney Jr.
  
  
• The next stop for me was the Animation building to check out the new lobby film loop. I stood there through the entire sequence and thought it was great. The most noticeable differences are the additions of a lot of Pixar films now as well as Tangled. I really enjoyed seeing the updated clips and those around me seemed to also.
  
  
• Over at Disneyland stopped by the Hungry Bear which has re-opened. I thought the new menu had some interesting choices. For example you can no longer get regular fries. They serve sweet potato fries or onion rings. The tribute to Big Al was great to see too. Those getting food said it was pretty good. I did not eat there this visit, but may on a future one.
  
  
• I still think it is extremely odd that the point of sale system cannot deliver custom messages on receipts. With dinner my receipt showed a 10% off merchandise certificate if used a couple locations before a certain time. Why would I want to do that when I can go to any merchandise location any time with my Annual Pass and get 20% off?? Wonder how many Annual Passholders actually use the 10% instead?
  
  
• I noticed the entrance to Innoventions was moved to the usual exit and the building was not rotating so I decided to hike up the ramp and inside to see what was going on. Looks like they were doing some work to the entrance pods/outer ring. The area was blocked off so no idea what.. but as I walked around I can not help but think how much wasted space is in there. It seems to me they need to find something new for the building or at least more new technologies to showcase.
  
  
• One of my main reasons for going Friday was to check out the Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides Sneak Peek. This event will occur on weekend nights through the end of May and nightly during the weeks around Easter at the Festival Arena. It features a sequence from the film, live pirates, merchandise, and grog. There was no set schedule on Friday, but the park time schedule said it started at 7pm (the parks blog said 7:30).
  
  
• I walked by the area a little before 6pm and saw a line forming that went from the entrance to the petting zoo side of the ranch out toward the BBQ entrance. Captain Jack came out for some pictures at 6:00 and I saw the line continue to grow. As it was nearing the backstage gate between Frontierland and Fantasyland I decided to hop in line, even though I still had a good hour. The line stretched into Fantasyland. I could not see the end since I did not want to loose my place. The CMs started to move us to the other side in small groups they would escort you to the end of the line to ensure you kept your place and no one cut in front of you. This process while time consuming did help pass the time. I ended up on the bridge near Big Thunder and the Old Mine Shaft. The line stretched up toward where the old Westward Ho cart used to be. I heard the line on the other side still stretched into Fantasyland. At 7:15pm they let us into the Ranch/petting zoo area and issued 3D glasses. Here they had several pens set up to keep the line in order for quick loading into the theater. As we walked in there were some signs saying no recording or photography and threatened to make you walk the plank if you did. Just before 7:30 we were let into the theater/festival arena and were directed to sit on the ground in front of the screen or some benches in the back. I opted for a space near the dead center about 3 or 4 rows back sitting on the ground. This was perfect to see the film, but meant photography was a challenge. Since I was not sure how much they would allow us to record or photograph I wanted to make sure I had a good spot for the film. In the end they let us take pictures freely of everything except when the clip was played.
  
  
• As you are seated there are pirates lurking around and they interact with the crowd and lead some cheers. Then about 7:35 there was a brief 10 minute preshow with some special effects and crowd interaction. The clip was played then (I would estimate about 7 or 8 minutes, but I did not keep a good eye on the clock). After the clip there were some Pirates hanging around and you could snap a few quick shots before being ushered out the walkway past the dining area.
  
  
• The extended clip that was played featured Captain Jack onboard Blackbeards ship and it seemed like where they introduced Blackbeard. It features them plotting to take over the ship then a brief fight/action sequence. I thought the 3D looked great and they actually tried to use it to bring some extra depth and several planes to the film. There were a couple cheap 3D tricks in the sequence but they worked ok.
  
  
• I was not sure how watching the film outside in that theater would work, but in the end it was great. The film looked and sounded good and the crowd seemed to move efficiently. I am curious how it was for those attending later shows and how many shows they fit into the evening. I spoke with several CMs and they really did not know for sure how it was going to go. If anyone went to a later one let me know the timing, curious how it was. As I left the theater I noticed the holding area was full and the line stretched out toward Big Thunder still and I would guess many of those guests were for the third show.
  
  
• Overall I thought this was a great use of the space and a fun extra for those visiting the park. I know some may think it is in poor taste and shameless advertising but the parks have always been used to promote films and products and when done right is both entertaining and effective. I think this was still a bit rough around the edges, but it was opening night and I am sure tweaks will be made. I hope the experiment works and we will see future events like this in the parks, I know I enjoyed it.
  
  
• After Pirates went for a ride on the Haunted Mansion and then watched the fireworks and Fantasmic from along the Rivers of America. Two things to note. First is how empty it felt. I showed up about half way through Remember and was able to walk down to the far side of the Tom Sawyer Island Rafts and to the walkway that would put me between the center and left midst screens without encountering any crowds. As Fantasmic started the crowds did show up and of course as the show went on several rude guests pushed and shoved their way through the crowd and a couple even stopped right in front of me to block my originally unobstructed view!
  
  The show itself was having some issues. The croc was still missing from the Peter Pan segment as were the eels from the Ursula one. The dragon did appear on queue and operate as she should, but then she refused to go back into her pit. So they had to leave the midst screens on for the Mark Twain pass and Finale. This was a bit odd but worked ok up until the fireworks started hitting the mist and creating all sorts of smoke. This did a great job of obstructing the dragon but also hid most of the island. Mickey was tough to make out from my vantage point. I would say within 5 minutes after the show the water was off and the dragon was gone. Anyone see the second show Friday, curious if she worked ok for that showing.
  

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.

• Interesting Web Finds:
  • I have started to post these to the Geek's Blog as I find them/have time to post them.
    
    
    
• Disney Related Press Releases
  • 3/24/11 - Last Chance to Enter D23 Expo’s Fan Art Contest Honoring One Hundred and One Dalmatians
    
  • 3/22/11 - Disney Family Museum April Calendar of Events
    
  • 3/14/11 - The Walt Disney Company Commits $2.5 Million in Humanitarian Aid to the Victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
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