Hello all,

Friday was a surprisingly mellow day at the parks and much less eventful than last visit (it would have been hard to be more active than closing the night with an earthquake though). The spring break crowds of the past few trips seemed substantially lighter. The cast members I spoke with thought it was the calm before the storm. But with Easter so late this year and spring breaks spread out so much maybe it will be better than expected. With the great weather I was also expecting more, highs were in the mid 70s and cooling down to the 60s. For example in the late afternoon the Racers only had a 60 minute stand by line. Early afternoon Big Thunder was 30 minutes, Pirates 15 and Haunted Mansion 13.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

• On Thursday the parks kicked off the 2014 egg-stravaganza character egg hunt. This year the event was expanded to be at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. The way the event works is you purchase a map for the park you are at for $4.95 plus tax. Then set off to find the 12 character eggs around the park. You put the sticker of the character you find on the location on the map. Once you find them all you can redeem your map for a egg prize. A couple of notes. They were letting you redeem your map at any time for the prize. I would advise doing it earlier in the day. By evening the line at Disneyland was substantial. Also Disneyland was being more strict and giving you a random prize where as DCA they were giving you some hints to help you find the character you may want to take home. This was probably cast member specific based on who was working.
  
  
• Overall I think this is a fun activity and a nice plus for the parks. It gives guests something to try and the cost point is fairly reasonable. I saw a large number of guests participating at both parks and overheard several more asking them where they got the maps and what it was. I went around both parks to find all 24 eggs. I thought the ones at Disneyland were easier to find on average. DCA seemed to have them much higher and harder to spot for many. The one for the Wharf area was among the hardest to find but luckily I remembered what they did last year and it happened to be about the same this year.
  
  
• The Springtime Roundup at the Big Thunder Ranch is still going on. Crowds were mild out there too. Mickey/Minnie had a decent wait time. Roger Rabbit has joined the roundup and he had a healthy wait too. The others were much less to no wait while I was there. It was great to see Roger in the park again. I missed him last year due to some scheduling challenges. The egg painters/decorators have amassed a great collection of creations now. If you are in the park I would recommend stopping by and taking a look at them and talking with the cast members working on the eggs.
  
  
• I was disappointed to find that the 20th Century Music Shop on Main Street has become a pin store. There is only case of music and movies as well as one of books. The rest of the store is devoted to pins.
  
  
• The Pizza Port has a new combo promotion for Captain America. You get a slice of pizza, drink, cookie, and print for $30. I did not see the print but if you are a fan you may want to check it out. You can purchase the food items separately if one of them strikes your interest. I did not see the option to buy the print and I did not think to ask a cast member. Also I did not see any time indication so not sure how long it will be running for.
  
  
• From the Monorail took a look at the Alice in Wonderland progress. Seems like more prep work but not a lot of visible progress. From what they have done so far it sure seems like the original track configuration is staying. I kept reading internet rumors/reports that the track was going to be re-routed. But based on the amount of effort they took to cut away the edges of the track concrete and protect the track. Plus the fact that it is still standing after several weeks makes me think its going to stay. They usually roll through all the demo work quickly at the beginning of a project. So it should be interesting to see what happens.
  
  
• While heading over to DCA a band passed me on Main Street USA. This band got a good reaction from the crowd. They were playing a medley of Disney songs. I heard Let it Go, the finale of Fantasmic, its a small world, and Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah. I think its great when the groups play to the park crowd and do more than their standard songs/routine.
  
  
• Not much to report from DCA this trip. There is a new Buena Vista Bugle and those are always fun to read. Clarabelles no longer offers the trolley sundae instead it is a three scope sundae served in a Mickey inspired sink. I thought the Trolley worked better with the Buena Vista Street theme. Other than that and the egg hunt nothing really jumped out to me.
  
  
• Back at Disneyland a trio of attractions are celebrating their 50th anniversary since their debut at the Worlds Fair in New York. They officially opened on April 22, 1964 and ran at the fair until they were moved to Disneyland. DisneyParks has been celebrating it's a small world and marked the occasion with a sing along and Google hangout on April 10th. The other two attractions, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Primeval World Diorama have not received as much attention. Also note the Carrousel of Progress at Walt Disney World is also 50 years old and dates back to the fair. If you want to learn more about the fair attractions be sure to check out the current issue of Disney Twenty-three from D23 it highlights them as well as on their website.
  
  
• I walked through Downtown Disney on my way out of the parks and somehow managed to time it so all the live performers were on break. Not sure how I did that. There were a fair number of guests moving about which is to be expected on a Friday night.
  
  

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Interesting Web Finds/Notes:

• Disney Related Press Releases
  • 4/08/14 -  Find out what is takes to be an animator at The Walt Disney Family Museum’s Animation Summer Camps! in the Presidio of San Francisco
    
  • 03/31/14 - The Force is Strong at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Star Wars Weekends Adds Another Weekend and New Dining in 2014
    
  • 03/31/14 - Disney Season: Summer 2014
    
  • 03/26/14 - Disney Legends and Luminaries Celebrate Theme Park Favorites of Yesteryear at D23 Destination D: Attraction Rewind
    
    Note: I post home video releases and some other releases to the Geek's Blog
    
    
• Interesting Web Finds:
  • I have been posting my web finds to the Geek's Blog as I find them/have time to post them.
    
    

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

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