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3/27/15 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort including the annual egg-stravaganza
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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.

3/27/15 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort including the annual egg-stravaganza

Hello everyone,

Friday was a nice summer day in the parks. Temps were pushing 90 degrees when I arrived and it cooled down into the 70s by the time I left (and low 60s when I reached home). Crowds were average summerish too. A fair number of guests but not unreasonable. It seems as if the spring break masses have yet to materialize and cause extremely long waits. The walkways felt crowded again at times but wait times were under an hour for most attractions the entire evening. I think the hot weather helped to keep the crowds down and maybe some passholders away.

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Parking this week was substantially easier thanks to the Ball Road overpass still being open when I arrived. I was able to take it and go right into the garage which had no wait at all. It appeared they had the regular entrance on Disneyland Drive blocked off and were diverting incoming cars around toward Toy Story or other lots.

  • The 2015 egg-stravaganza kicked off Friday and runs through April 5th. This is the character egg hunt that takes place around Easter. There are 12 eggs in each park. You purchase a map and stickers for $4.95 plus tax (no discounts) and you receive a prize egg to go with it. As you walk around the park you locate a character egg and put their sticker on the map to indicate you found it.

    I think the egg hunts are a great extra and not overly expensive either. I saw quite a few guests of all ages playing in both parks. Also several guests asking about the quest. This year to avoid one of the problems from last year they were encouraging guests to pick up their prize in the afternoon before embarking on their quest, last year in the evening the redemption line was very long many evenings. This seemed to work well.

    I was really surprised there were no Frozen tie ins this year. The eggs and prizes were the same as last year. The maps had been tweaked and the location of the eggs in the park were new. As with previous years some were easy and some were more challenging. Others really depending on which way you walked into the area. I did not purchase the maps so it was a little more challenging for me. If you want another level of hardship try it at night! They are not lit up.

    There is also an egg hunt going on at Epcot in Walt Disney World, with the same prizes.

  • Sleeping Beauty Castle continues to receive props/decorations for the 60th Anniversary. As I walked around I spotted cords and what appeared to be lights under the new covering so I believe that confirms it will light up at night in some fashion. So far I am not overly impressed. It looks a bit overdone to me. But it is not done so we will have to wait and see. If nothing else it will be better than what Walt Disney World got for the 25th Anniversary (that was the bright pink castle cake!). I am not a big fan of changing the icon for a park.. what is wrong with some other sort of display and leave the traditional icons alone, this goes for giant wands too. Over at Disney California Adventure I did not spot any work on the Carthay Circle Restaurant yet.. it will also be receiving some decorations for the 60th.

  • I spent some time at the Springtime Roundup checking out the latest egg creations. They were impressive as usual. If you are in the park during the next few weeks stop by and check out the artwork and visit with the talented artists. The character meet and greet lines were reasonable again, slightly longer than last week though.

  • The Grizzly Peak Airfield is receiving large trees and a crane is on site for the installation. From the Monorail the trees look great. It is really going to change the feel of the area. I had a couple of readers ask and the official word from Disney is the airfield will reopen Summer 2015. Many are taking this to mean by the May 22 kickoff for the 60th anniversary.

  • The Spring edition of the Buena Vista Bugle is on Newsstands now. As always it has a fun assortment of articles highlighting the latest happenings around the park. Including Springtime activities and Smokejumpers Grill. If you are unfamiliar with the publication it is a free (yes FREE) souvenir that is out on Buena Vista Street. The news stand locations vary from time to time but check the Red Stops or Chamber of Commerce. They also usually have stacks out along the windows in the Cafe. If you want your paper to date stamped stop by the Chamber of Commerce and they will do it for you. It is a fun keepsake and you cannot beat the price.

  • I tried for a FastPass for the first Fantasmic show of the evening and they were long gone around 1pm when I stopped by, someday I will succeed. I knew I was not staying till the second so I skipped it and walked through the area just before show time. As with previous walkthroughs there seemed to be a fair amount of space in the reserved areas and the standby was more crowded. Also I did not see any signage to help guide you to the standby areas either. I still think it is poor they do not have a way to backfill the reserved space/FastPass space near show time so more guests can have a better view of the show. For example the stroller parking area near Haunted Mansion was nearly empty.. maybe a single row of guests in it.. where as behind it in the walkway/standby it was 10 people deep. I think it is really a disservice to standby guests and an under utilization of space. Plus cast members spend a good portion of their time yelling at/firmly asking guests to leave and not go under ropes or block walkways. Not a good way to end your evening not being able to see a signature show and getting spoken to loudly. I really hope at some point this gets adjusted. I did hear/read the dessert package is not going to return when the Hungry Bear reopens. In the two locations I watched the show from families came up next to me, tried to see the show then grew frustrated and moved on over the objections of their children.

  • Do you visit our pictorial updates using a mobile device? If so we would like your feedback. I have created a beta of a more mobile version of our Disneyland Picture sets at https://disneygeek.com/mobile Please give it a try and share your thoughts.

Interesting Web Finds/Notes:

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

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
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