Hello all,

Friday was a picture perfect Southern California day.. temps were just barely to 70 and there was not even a hint of a cloud in the sky. As the sun set the temps dipped down to the 60s but if you had a sweatshirt/jacket you were comfortable at the parks. The crowds at both parks were mild, maybe a bit high for off season but definitely nothing that got in the way. Wait times fluctuated depending on your luck but I saw Toy Story at 30 min several times. I had a very relaxing day and just kind of hung out at DCA to check out the Food and Wine Festival as well as the ongoing expansion. Also I kept running into people I knew, it seemed most of the Disneyland related websites had people in the park on Friday. I was not expecting to take that many pictures but in the end it ended up pushing 800 for the day... which really surprised me...

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• Parking was a snap again, no lines or waits and actually ended up with a decent spot in terms of being able to exit without having to drive all the way around the garage, it meant a hike to the escalator but that seems to be my norm...
  
  
• One of the main reasons for visiting Friday was to check out this year Food and Wine Festival which is titled the Art of Flavor. Hard to believe this is the fifth year already for this event. As with each previous year they have grown it slightly again. This year it runs until May 31st. The main changes over the previous years is the addition of a Festival Showplace inside Stage 12 on the backlot. As you saw in the pictures this location had a gift show (The Wine Seller), a marketplace with food to purchase, as well as the Showplace Stage that was used for seminars. The Winery was not used this year due to it still being closed for rehab. The other big change was the relocation of all the walks to the parade route right passed the Sunshine Plaza. This seemed to drive a lot more traffic to them since they were on the main walkway. The welcome center also moved from the plaza into the old Stroller area which means it has more space but the few times I walked by it was fairly empty to completely empty. As I have mentioned before I do not have an adventurous palette when it comes to eating.. I am fine with a burger, fries, and a Coke... so I did not venture into the food or beverages, if any of you did and want to share the experience with our site, drop me a line. Click here for the official festival guide PDF from the Disneyland.com website
  
  
• I hiked out to the Fun Wheel early in the day hoping for a short line. It turned out to be fairly short, but the CM working it was being a little too efficient for my taste. Usually when the lines are long they group parties of 1,2 or 3 together with other parties of 1,2 or 3. Friday the line was relatively short but they were still grouping, not a problem. But this CM (I did not grab his name) decided to take 2 parties of two and then 2 parties of 1 and put us all together. Its a challenge to take pictures and move around with three adults crammed onto a side... especially people you do not know so you really are trying not to lean on them. I managed but it was not a pleasurable experience and seemed overkill given the line. Seems taking two cars for the 4 groups would have been ok and better for all.
  
  
• I spent quite a bit of time at the newly opened Paradise Park throughout the day. I really enjoyed the park. It is makes great use of the space and breaks up the vast amount of concrete that is needed for the viewing area while giving guests someplace to relax during the day. Come summer when the fountain is working the park will be alive. The one downside I see is there is zero shade right now. It makes sense there is not since that would get in the way of sight lines for World of Color, but its something to keep in mind. The arches/trellises do break up the area and look great, but they do get in the way and I can see some angry guests who wait or get pushed into that area for World of Color and large portions of the show are obstructed. As night set the park still looked great.
  
  
• I was surprised by the lack of security/crowd control in the park area during the electrical parade. There were people standing on just about anything trying to get a view.. even though the view from ground level was not that bad, you lost the bottom 1/3-1/2 or so of the floats but what more can you expect if you do not spend the time to camp out for a spot.
  
  
• As you saw in the pictures on the Backlot the street is reopened. I think the brick and Red Car track really make a big difference on the street. I cannot wait to see how it progresses. I am curious how busy the street will be when the trollies are running but then again Disneyland has a lot of people plus several types of vechicles running so it shouldn't be any worse of a problem.
  
  
• New this year as part of the Food and Wine Festival is a group called the Jammin Chefs. They perform several times per day (no schedule was available posted or with the CMs I spoke with). As you saw in my pictures it is a high energy percussion and dance troupe. It has the normal audience interaction/participation that shows up in every show, plus a tap dancing element to it which is sort of different compared to what we usually find. Hopefully they will show up on the show times guide soon so people know when to expect them.
  
  
• There are new guide maps for the parks. The covers are the same, but the inside advertisement flap has been updated. There looks to be a new logo for Summer Nightastic, less Fantasmic inspired. Also World of Color and the Silly Symphony Swings make the list as coming soon. Last note is they list Aladdins closure as August 15th. On the main map portion it looks about the same. Only differences I spotted were the removal of the walkway from Tower to Bugs, the mention of the Toy Story shuttle busses, and the new parade route from the Wharf area around the Pier and through the gate by the Pizza place.
  
  
• I only spent an hour or so at Disneyland this trip, there was nothing new going on and I wanted to spent some time at Paradise Park so it was a quick trip through the park for pictures then I headed back to DCA. On that trip did not spot too much to discuss beyond what you saw in the photos.
  
  
• As I was leaving I was lucky enough to get on one of the trams with the doors. As I mentioned before the doors are guest powered... meaning you move the lever and open the door, it does close behind you. Same when its time to leave, you pull the lever and push the door to exit. Overall kind of nice and they did not seem to slow down loading.
  
  
  
• 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.
  
  
  • Videos
    • Our friends over at AllEars.net were in the right place at the right time and video taped a trial run of World of Color from their Grand California balcony. Click here to see the video This one the sound track is much clearer but because of the angle you still cannot see the projections.
      
      
  • Some Recent Press Releases:
    • 4/19/10 - D23 Members Invited to Participate in Dedication of Roy E Disney Building on May 7 at the Walt Disney Studios
    • 4/15/10 - Disney Twenty-Three Previews Toy Story 3 in Summer Issue, Featuring Three Collector Covers
      
    • 4/13/10 - Disney's D23 Offers Magical Benefits, Special Discounts and Exclusive Events Throughout the Year
      
      
  • We post some announcements on:
    • Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/disneygeekcom
    • Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/disneygeek
      
      

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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