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4/28/23 - Disneyland Resort
 The Geek Speaks:

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.

4/28/23 - Disneyland Resort

Hello Everyone!

I returned from a week at Walt Disney World (if you'd like to see any posts from that trip visit my April 2023 Walt Disney World Trip Summary Page) and was on the fence about visiting Disneyland Friday. I opted to go since the forecast was good. Turned out to be a pleasant and relaxing afternoon. The weather was mid to upper 70s with a slight breeze cooling down to the 60s once the sun set. The crowds were average. The parks felt busy when you walked around but almost all waits were under an hour most of the day with a couple of exceptions (Rise and Racers)

Thoughts and Observations:

  • My arrival and parking experience were smooth today. No delays at the tollbooth, to get to the floor or into a spot and drew a spot a handful from the walkway. So all in all some good luck.
  • The Villas at the Disneyland Hotel continue to race toward their September opening with more of the building visible since my last visit. The more I see the more out of place the tower looks. It has quite a different design and choice of colors than the other three towers. There appears to have been no desire to make it match or change the others to make for a less jarring transition between them.
  • Downtown Disney has a number of ongoing projects. You can see some visible progress on the west side project now with trenches and what looks like foundation work underway. The Catal/Uva/Sprinkles area is walled off as it is being converted to a new project. The Jazz Kitchen's overhaul is on the home stretch. The new look is drastically different and looks like any other modern restaurant you would find at a mall.. Guessing it will match the design of the new west end area but still disappointing to see the New Orleans look leave.
  • I can confirm that after park hopping hours start you no longer have to go to the park you made your reservation at first. I had a Disneyland reservation and ended up going to DCA with a friend and sailed right through the park entrance with no delays.
  • The San Fransokyo Square project had little visible progress since my last visit two weeks ago. Some more graphics on the buildings but nothing else visible due to the walls and scrims. The bridge work appears on hold until the other projects catch up.
  • On the no visible progress from the Avengers Campus store project has the same small area walled off and in the reflects you can see they did some trench work and landscaping is removed but nothing else.
  • Over at Disneyland the Adventureland Treehouse project continues. There are still a number of visible spots where you can see the infrastructure of the tree, so there is plenty of work to be done still.
  • Went for a cruise aboard the Mark Twain and while onboard took a look at the Tom Sawyer Island Fantasmic stage area. Overall it looked in fairly good shape considering the recent fire. The visible damage seems limited to the dragon and its pit. There are scrims up covering the area but through them it appeared the dragon was still in the same position as before. The island was still closed to guests Friday. Renovation walls have been set up around the stage area and cast members looked to be preparing the rest of the island to open quickly.
  • Stopped by Toontown a couple of times. The land was busy but the crowd was much more manageable than previous visits. The initial surge seems to have subsided some. The current stroller parking solution of using about 1/3 the walkway plus the Trolley building seems to be working and most of the lawn and walkways were clear of the sea of strollers.
  • Grabbed a bite to eat at Flo's V-8 Cafe. There were a good number of guests in line and waiting for food, but no problem finding a table inside or outside with a number free in most rooms. I was a tad annoyed as I saw my order come up and a cast member put it out on the counter. The cast member that was supposed to type in the number to call me was off making milkshakes for another order so my meal sat there for several minutes getting cold. Seems to me they should not bring the tray to the counter unless they are going to type in the number.
  • While I was sitting in Town Square waiting for the Flag Retreat I overhead a group next to me discussing what they wanted to do next. One member of the group was asking the others if they wanted to buy a Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance. The rest had not ridden so he was trying to describe it to them. His answer puzzled me. He said it was a kiddie ride like Mr. Toad's wild ride. There is a tiny elevator drop but nothing else scary. This seemed a unique way to describe the attraction. Based on that they did opt to buy the LL passes... would like to know if they found that description accurate/helpful after riding.
  • It was nice to walk around the parks and come across a good amount of live entertainment in both parks. After being at WDW for a week you realize how much Anaheim has and how little Orlando has. Disneyland does become rather quiet after the evening parade now a days with only the dance party though.
  • I had some great timing and was able to visit the Haunted Mansion with a wait under 10 minutes. I had not ridden since it returned after the holidays. There were no substantial changes so it was not high on my priority list. The opportunity arose Friday and it was a nice visit to the classic Mansion. I did experience two prolonged stops. The first as I was on my down to the graveyard and then a few seconds later at the bottom of the hill by the caretaker. The first stop meant nothing to look at. The second had the figure and the dog to see at least.
  • I was walking through Black Spire Outpost and there was a table open with a view of the Falcon so I stopped for a while. This was about an hour before fireworks and seems most of the tables around me were occupied with people waiting for the show.
  • I stopped by New Orleans Square about 30 minutes before Wondrous Journeys to see if there were going to do projections there. Nothing was set up, no light towers up or fountains in place.
  • On the plus side though the Mark Twain was conducting cruises until 10pm. So you had the opportunity for a night cruise around the Rivers of America if you wanted it.
  • I opted to head to Main Street and found a spot about 10 minutes prior to Wondrous Journeys. An announcement played warning there may not be any fireworks due to winds at higher elevations. The show started on time and had some fireworks. They used low level shells only it appeared. So it was a modified show but better than just projections.
  • During the show I wanted to use my MagicBand+ and see some of its effects. Of course it was not working Friday. Not sure if it was my band or all. I saw no others near me. They are much more rare in Anaheim. Plus the long sleeves due to the cool evening do not help to see them either.

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

Disney Related Press Releases

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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