home > Columns > Geekspeaks >
4/29/22 - Disneyland Resort - Disney Junior Fun Fest
 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.

4/29/22 - Disneyland Resort - Disney Junior Fun Fest

Hello Everyone!

This week was relaxing visit to the Disneyland Resort for me. I had a very short picture list and the weather was perfect. It topped out in the low 70s and cooled to the low 60s after sunset with a slight breeze throughout the day. The parks were busy but they did not feel as crowded as last week. Wait times seemed a little more mild across the board too.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • A hint of the day to come came right away with no wait at the parking toll booth, only a minimal backup of cars to reach a space and no wait at security or to board a tram. So I was off to a good start.
  • Disney Junior Fun Fest was happening at Disney California Adventure. The event went from mid morning until 4pm and featured several offerings on the Palisades stage, a couple photo ops, a special schedule at the Animation Academy and a promotional location. Overall the activities seemed to have some guests at them but were not over crowded. Viewing was somewhat limited for some due to the seating configuration and stage/support set up. I found it odd that the events were over so early in the day. For example there was one cavalcade at 10am. The final show started at 3pm. So if you were a local planning to visit after school by the time you reached the park it was over. I stopped by to see a trio of the events.
    • Disney Junior Showcase - This event was structured like a D23 Expo presentation for those that have gone. A show was introduced and someone from it came on stage or was there via video to talk about it. The event shared new info on some of the upcoming shows and episodes.
    • Sing Along - The sing along featured several characters coming on stage for a song or two each then a finale. They passed out foam microphones to those in the audience then in the area. The kids I saw all seemed to be having a good time.
    • Disney Junior Dance Party - This followed a format similar to other park dance parties. A couple characters at a time and the host would teach some dance moves then dance for a song. The crowd seemed to be having a great time. Found it interesting this was in the head of the day, 3pm, in an area with no shade.
  • In between shows I had some time so I ended up trying single rider for a couple of attractions to see how they were doing. First up was WEB Slingers. There were only a couple guests outside waiting when I got in line. Inside tough things were slow going. It took me about 20 minutes. On Radiator Springs Racers I had much better luck with only four guests in front of me and I was on the attraction in a matter of minutes. I was faster than Lightning Lane guests since I had nothing to scan and no wait. Overall rolled through both attractions back to back in under 45 minutes.
  • Soarin' has changed back to the Around the World Film. While eating at Smoke Jumpers I watched the queue and found it interesting. The wait time was posted at 120 minutes. Stand by guests were walking right into the building with no exterior queue visible. Lightning Lane were backed up and out the door, through the scan point, and wrapping a couple times in an extended queue. I am assuming inside the ratio was heavily in favor of the LL guests and stand by was not moving. By the time I was done eating the posted wait was down to 60 minutes and the LL backup was just inside the door. Standby though had grown and was using a set of switchbacks in the queue.
  • I stopped by the Grand Californian Hotel lobby. There is a Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge display by the bakery team. It features some of the rock formations from around Black Spire Outpost and the Millennium Falcon. There was no signage up but I am assuming this is for Star Wars Day (May 4th). I could not verify it, but I was told the display is made out of Rice Krispie treats. It was an impressive display, only wish they had some facts/info about it posted.
  • This past week Disneyland announced that the Paradise Pier Hotel was going to be renovated and feature a Pixar Theme.
    They also confirmed that a hotel guest only entrance is being added to Disney California Adventure again. This entrance/exit will be near Corn Dog Castle and you will walk behind the DVC wing of the Grand CA and come out near the Disneyland Drive intersection to cross to the hotel. The Paradise Pier Hotel has seen better days. Right now dining and the pool are closed. There is a market with vending machines and shuttles to take you to another hotel pool if you wish to swim. The hotel seems to be limping along at this point, which is not a great impression for those guests paying to stay there with room rates over $300 most nights.
  • I think walked over to the Disneyland Hotel. There were no gates open on the south side. So you had to walk toward Downtown Disney and then enter at the hat. This was a bit of a hike, but it makes sense to control entry to the grounds better. I stopped by to check out the DVC tower construction and the 3rd floor is well underway as the tower is growing at a quick pace now.
  • This past week Disneyland shared some new concept art and details about Downtown Disney. I took some before pictures of the Jazz Kitchen then some pictures of the construction from the Monorail. The new west side area is now cleared and looks ready for final grading and construction to begin.
  • The Royal Theatre shows have returned. Friday was a soft opening and show times were not published but were posted at the theatre. Tangled was performed in the morning and Beauty and the Beast in the late afternoon. It was great to see more live entertainment in the park and the show I stopped by and watched was a full house as usual. I did not see any substantial changes to the show.
  • The original Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough opened on April 29, 1957, so I paid a visit to mark the 65th anniversary of this unique Disneyland experience. If you have never paid a visit you should walk through. It is a well done set of scenes from the Disney classic film. I always enjoy walking through with people, so few people seem to realize it exists or that it still exists.
  • The Flag Retreat has returned to a pre-COVID configuration with the band gathered tightly around the Flag pole. The Dapper Dans were not performing Friday so the ceremony was shorter than it has been too.
  • New Orleans Square renovations continue with the walls being moved around slightly and some more walkways reopening with new pavement. The new concrete looks to be fairly basic in its design and speed/function seemed to be a driving force over look. We are now about a month from the return of Fantasmic on May 28th. At the Pirates entrance you can see the tops of new trees in the area so that project is moving along too.
  • I spent some time in Avengers Campus, hoping to see the Bugs Land model, I am now 0 for 2 though. I did see several other characters out and interacting with guests. One fun interaction I saw was with Black Widow. She somehow recruited some guests to go for a run around Avengers Campus. As they snaked through the Campus Thor decided to join in and was running after them. I think these experiences make for great memories for those that participated and those that just watched like myself. I prefer these free roaming encounters more than the wait in a long line and get your 30 seconds with a character. I saw this for Mickey Mouse where the queue stretched Buena Vista Street. I prefer the free roaming or even the way Carthay Circle was set up with small stages where a number of guests can engage the characters at once.
  • World of Color returned to Paradise Bay last Friday. I opted for the Main Street Electrical Parade and Disneyland Forever last week so this week I experienced World of Color. The show has dining and dessert packages as well as a virtual queue. The queue opens at noon and is available to anyone who has been in the park or in Disneyland with a park hopper. Its noteworthy you do not get to pick your show and they fill the slots in the first show then the second one. Also interesting is you do not get a specific color. Your pass says blue or yellow and you can pick or based availability when you enter. I guess this reduces some of the issues on entering. I was able to secure one for the 1st showing as I had hoped for. The go within a minute most days it appears. I received a notice around 8pm saying I could enter the area and find a spot for the 9pm show. I showed up about 15 minutes later and found a long line to enter. I waited and a second entrance opened shortly after. You could go anywhere that was not reserved. I opted to stay in the back of the blue section to get a wide view and not be in the large crowd. This worked out great with no one around me until around 15 minutes before the show. Then a few guests took up spots on the railing nearby. At about 10 minutes to show time the crowd came. I was watching and it appeared they were letting in small groups from the standby area then a large group to fill in the spaces. Overall there seemed to be less virtual queue guests than the old fastpass guests.. is this a trend or a one off this evening?
  • The show itself seems like it could use some more renovation time. The center projection screen looked terrible and several other effects were not working or missing, such as the large fireball during the Pirates and Finale segments and the fountains in the viewing area during the stampede. I was hoping the new projectors would be better than before but at best it appears to be a lateral move unfortunately.
  • After the show I exited the park. The crowd was flowing nicely and I reached the end of Buena Vista Street as Disneyland Forever was starting. I paused to take a quick picture then joined the tram queue. No issues again with the tram and I was back at the structure in time to watch the last segments of the fireworks before finding my car and heading home.

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.

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

 

Quick Note

Check out the geek speaks archive for past updates.

 

Interested in Helping out?

If you are a fellow disneygeek and interested in sharing your insights, pictures, thoughts drop us an email here we are always looking for contributors.