Hello Everyone!

Ventured back to the Disneyland Resort Friday to spend the day with my family and friends. With the large group in tow we were able to visit a handful of attractions and a experience a half dozen entertainment offerings in a whirlwind 7 hour visit. The parks felt about average in terms of the crowd with wait times spotty as usual. The weather was mild starting off cool and cloudy with the sun coming out and warming up to 70ish in the afternoon then cooling back down to the low 60s as the sun set.

Thoughts and Observations:

• My visit started off with some bad parking luck. The line I choose had a fairly slow cast member managing two lanes. So the dozen cars ahead of me took a long time to inch through. Once on a floor I was directed into a spot in the far corner of the Mickey level. Which was easy to drive into and exit from but a big hike to the escalators. My luck improved with no delays at security, the tram, or park entry.
• As I was walking toward the hub I spotted the cavalcade float making its way toward Main Street. I had not seen anything on the schedule in the app or website so I walked quickly to see what was going on. Turned out to be a Disney Imagination Campus - Disney 100 teachers celebration cavalcade. I was able to walk fast enough to get in front of it and catch the full cavalcade in Town Square. I thought this was a fun event for those involved. I think Disneyland missed an opportunity by not listing the event anywhere. Seems adding it to the website or app listing would be minimal effort and let people know what is going on.
• Caught the 2:20pm Disneyland Band set in Town Square. They marched out, performed the attraction medley, then headed backstage. It was really an abbreviated set. Not sure if it was because of the Cavalcade and then another group coming soon after or if that is normal now a days.
• Throughout the visit I was checking the app working on plans for what was next for the group and I noticed a large number of attractions down and some for extended periods of time. The usual suspects of Rise of the Resistance and Runaway Railway led the pack. WEB Slingers, Cartoon Spin, and Toy Story were also up there. Plus an assortment of smaller down times for others throughout the visit.
• We had great timing for WEB Slingers. We were in DCA and decided to walk through Avengers Campus to see what was going on and they just reopened the queue after an extended downtime so it was empty. We waited only about 10 minutes to reach the preshow briefing.
• Walked through Mickey's Toontown to see what was going on. The land was very busy and alive with activity as is the new normal. The stroller parking seems to have settled on using the walkway which seems to have made a noticeable difference. A fair number of guests were enjoying the lawn and quite a few were just sitting around or laying down in the shade.
• The nephews said they wanted to see the parade so about 15 minutes prior to the parade we decided to go find a spot. Ended up in Town Square with a good view for them. The Pepita puppet was not in the parade this evening. So there was a larger gap between Coco and Frozen groups.
• Decided to take the Monorail out to Downtown Disney. Walked up just as one was leaving and the next came a few minutes later. Right before boarding cast members announced we would be holding for an unknown period of time. We boarded and figured we would give it a try. They then announced the reason we were holding was because the Autopia was being evacuated. Looking out the window we were able to see they had guests out of the cars and walking toward the unload area to exit. No indication of what was up and it looked like a standard evacuation. After nearly 15 minutes we were finally cleared and dispatched. This seemed a tad odd to me to hold the Monorail during the evac. I forgot to look to see if the attraction reopened Friday night or not (it opened normally on Saturday).
• Walked out to the Disneyland Hotel to check on the construction and there was a big visual change since last week. Most of the scaffolding on the courtyard facing side of the new Disney Vacation Club tower has been removed so you can see the nearly finished facade. The new tower looks quite different than the existing towers and really stands out. I do not understand why they did not make the four towers look more similar, especially since they just renovated the existing three.
• To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month downtown Disney has Tupua performing throughout the month. We stopped by for their 7:30pm performance. Their show is the same as previous years and is entertaining. It is a bit challenging to watch the show right now with the construction fence for Downtown Disney pushed out so far there just is not a lot of room for guests watching the show and for the walkways. Cast members were there trying to keep traffic flowing but it was a challenge.
• I thought it was interesting there was nothing going n for Cinco de Mayo in the parks or Downtown Disney. Maybe Toritlla Jo's had something special going on but nothing outside or noticeable. The Mariachi Divas were not even around today.
  
  
  

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

• Disneyland Resort Posts from 5/05
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Disney100 Windows @ World Of Disney
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Downtown Disney Walk Through to See Recent Changes (5/5/23)
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Downtown Disney Construction (5/05/23)
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Villas at Disneyland Hotel DVC Tower Construction (5/05/23)
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Magic Happens Parade (6:30)
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Adventureland Treehouse Construction (5/05/23)
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Pacific Wharf to San Fransokyo Square Construction @ Disney California Adventure (5/05/23)
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures & Video: Disney Imagination Campus Disney100 Teachers Celebration Cavalcade
  • 05/05/23 - Pictures: Fantasmic! Stage Work (5/5/23)
  • 05/05/23 - Grogu Sippers In Tomorrowland at Disneyland
• 05/05/23 - “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” Review
• 04/27/23 - Book Review: The Official Walt Disney Quote Book
• Walt Disney World (April 18-25, 2023)
  Some select posts from the trip, visit the summary page for all posts -
  • 4/18 - Pictures: Disney's Coronado Springs Resort Gran Destino Tower Deluxe Suite
  • 4/21 - Pictures: Only Two Harmonious Barges Left In World Showcase Lagoon at Epcot
  • 4/22 - Pictures & Video: Disney's Animal Kingdom 25th Anniversary Celebration
  • 4/23 - Pictures: Disney's Polynesian Village DVC Tower Construction – Lagoon Side
  • 4/23 - Pictures: Disney's Polynesian Village DVC Tower Construction from the Monorail
  • 4/23 - Pictures: Epcot World Celebration Construction from the Monorail
  • 4/25 - Pictures: Walt Disney World From The Air

Disney Related Press Releases

• 05/02/23 - Travel To A Galaxy Far, Far Away In The New Simpsons Short “Maggie Simpson In ‘Rogue Not Quite One’” Streaming May The 4th, Exclusively On Disney+
• 04/27/23 - “The Diamond Variety Muster” to Premiere at The Diamond Horseshoe in Tokyo Disneyland® on September 1 “Mickey’s Rainbow Luau” to Resume on the Same Day at Polynesian Terrace Restaurant
• 04/27/23 - New Trailer, Poster and Image Now Available for Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Wish"
• 04/26/23 - The Countdown Is On – Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” Studio’s Live-Action Reimagining Of Animated Musical Classic, Splashes Into Theaters In One Month, May 26, 2023
• 04/26/23 - Walt Disney Animation Studios Welcomes Chris Pine To “Wish” Voice Cast

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