Hello everyone!

Friday turned out to be a busy day in the parks for me. I had a goal of finding all 36 eggs as well as visiting with some friends before sunset. Spring break season is ongoing (it really seems to be getting longer every year) so the parks were both busy with several wait times at the hour or more mark for a good portion of the visit. There were still some short waits but you had to time it right and keep an eye out for them. FastPasses dried up well before sunset at Disney California Adventure and Disneyland had late return times.

Since my last visit to the Disneyland Resort there have been several announcements. A quick highlight listing: Dry Ice and Loose Ice are banned from the parks. As of May 1st stroller size restrictioins will be enforced and smoking will be banned in the parks and Downtown Disney. Mickey's Philharmagic will be moving into the Sunset Showcase Theatre this month. The new Parking Structure will be called the Pixar Pals Parking Structure. Opening is expected sometime between late June and July. They will also be moving security checkpoints out to the Toy Story lot before you board the bus and expanding the Toy Story lot, taking over the cast member lot by this summer. For links to the blog posts and press releases here is my summary posting on the announcements.

Thoughts and Observations:

• I had no problems parking today thanks to a little luck. It appeared the line to the 3/4 levels was backed up so cast members routed cars to the 2nd and I was able to go with that group. They were filling in rows so I was directed in relatively quickly and leaving from the 2nd floor always seems easier. I also lucked out with a quick green light at Ball so I barely had to slow down. The new electronic parking system is not installed on Daisy yet. They has some wiring and conduit on some of the aisles but still a ways to go unlike the upper floors.
  
  
• The new structure will be called the Pixar Pals Parking Structure and they are say it will open by late July but hoping for late June. With less than 3 months left there was a lot of visible progress on the tram stop area this visit. Trees have started to be planted and the tram stop itself is starting to take shape.
  
  
• Over at the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge project almost all the remaining visible scaffolding is now removed. Only one portion remained, looks like my construction progress pictures are going to wrap up in another visit or so since there will be no more visible work to see.
  
  
• The 2019 Disneyland Resort Eggstravaganza Scavenger Hunts began on Friday. There are three twelve egg hunts to participate in. A map will cost you more this year, $6.99 plus tax and no discounts. For this price you get a map, stickers and a prize egg. I went through both parks and Downtown Disney and found all 36 eggs. The full picture set has them at the end if you are looking for some help or just curious. Overall I thought it was a fun quest again. The eggs had some that were easy, some that were not so easy and others that appeared to be labeled incorrectly so if you were using a map they were really hard to find. Without a map they would have been easier :)
  
  
• Disneyland's Project Stardust continues. This is what they are calling the renovation projects around the park to ease crowding and help guest flow around the park. This entails planters being reconfigured, curbs being removed, and other enhancements. This week the walls in New Orleans Square were down and the drink stand is gone and the planter shrunk a bit to open up more stroller parking across from the Haunted Mansion. More walls have sprung up in the hub with the guest relations area planters next on the project list. The hub walls are still up near the castle as they work to remove the curb and make it a slope instead.
  
  
• Over at Disney California Adventure the Red Car Trolley closed for an extended period of time since my last visit. The Marvel project walls have been moved out closer to the Guardians entrance and the Red Car stop and backstage area is in the project space. I have not seen any official word yet but internet speculation is the closure will last into 2020 and may involve shifting the track to go to the left through parade gate vs to the right as it does in front of Guardians. It is too bad they could not have done the project with less down time though. While the Red Cars are out of service the News Boys are still performing, just on the street.
  
  
• Jessie's Critter Carousel opened last weekend, so this was my first time seeing the new addition to Pixar Pier. The Critters and background were interesting but overall it is still just a carousel so it is a fairly even swap with the old one in my mind. Due to the Incredibles fountain one side is closed in now so it feels much more confined with the large back wall and now the side wall too. Guests were lined up with a 20-30 minute wait time when I checked.
  
  
• I closed out my evening with Mickey's Mix Magic from Main Street USA. I found it interesting most guests on Main Street were seated waiting for the performance and cast members did not go through asking guests to stand until about 5 minutes before show time. Then they asked them to stand and everyone to move forward. Overall there was plenty of space even at show time to find a spot.
  

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

• 04/05/19 - Disneyland Resort Pictures Live from the park
  • Disneyland Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Construction Pictures (4/05/19)
  • Disneyland Pixar Pals Parking Structure Construction Pictures (4/05/19)
  • Jessie’s Critter Carousel on Pixar Pier (Several Pictures)
  • Eggstravaganza Scavenger Hunt 2019 – Disney California Adventure
  • Eggstravaganza Scavenger Hunt 2019 – Downtown Disney District
  • Eggstravaganza Scavenger Hunt 2019 – Disneyland
• 04/04/19 - Is 4DX the Future of Theatrical Experiences? Shawna’s Take After Screening Dumbo in 4DX
• 03/28/19 - Disney Parks News – Round-up of Today’s Announcements

Geek’s Blog Postings Recap March 12-April 2, 2019

Disney Related Press Releases

• 04/03/19 - Explore a World of Flavors and Cooking Lessons at the First Shanghai Disney Resort International Food & Drink Fest
• 04/02/19 - Avengers: Endgame - Special Look
• 04/01/19 - Shanghai Disney Resort Launches Earth Month with Educational Offerings and Leading Environmental Protection Practices
• 03/29/19 - Heroes of all sizes go all-in with Super Heroes and Hong Kong’s unique Marvel character at the world’s first Ant-Man and The Wasp attraction
• 03/29/19 - New Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy Debuts March 31 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• 03/27/19 - A New Fairy Tale Experience: Disney Princess Breakfast Adventures Opens March 30 at Napa Rose at the Disneyland Resort
• 03/27/19 - Disney Vacation Club Member Sales Announced For All-New Disney’s Riviera Resort
• 03/26/19 - Avengers: Endgame - We Lost Featurette & Character Posters
• 03/26/19 - NBA Experience Tips Off August 12 at Walt Disney World Resort

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.

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