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5/29/09 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays trip to the Disneyland Resort
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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.

5/29/09 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays trip to the Disneyland Resort

* After you read this report you may want to check out the pictorial updates in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

Hello all,

Last week the June gloom (for those of you not familiar with Southern California weather this is the weather pattern we normally get in June where the mornings and evenings are quite foggy and overcast but most days by afternoon the sun comes out) was heavier than usual and Friday was no exception. The sun never made it out at the Disneyland Resort, the entire day was cloudy and cool day. Not sure if it was the weather or what just me but the crowd seemed rather mellow too. There were what I would call an average off season number of guests around but it just seemed calm. Most attraction wait times were well under an hour (most under 30 minutes most of the afternoon). The walkways seemed to have a fair number of people roaming around but still manageable.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • We started off the afternoon at DCA checking out the work being done at DCA (or as some may want to call it the park with all the walls as much of the Pier and Bay Area are now surrounded by walls. Overall the construction is moving along and still drawing some great comments and theories from guests (and us disneygeeks as well). If you want to hear some great stories spend some time standing along the rail as you walk into the Pier area and listen to people as they get their first glimpse of the World of Color construction site.

  • As I mentioned earlier the lines were mild for most attractions. Even Toy Story was posted at 30-40 minutes the couple times we walked by. The Fun Wheel seems to still be drawing people in as the Swinging side was 30-45 and the non swinging 20-30 the couple times we walked by.

  • Stopped by to check out King Tritons Carrousel and it appears to be nearly identical in terms of color scheme, etc.. just looks fresh and clean (except for the chipped paint I showed in the pictorial update). Wonder if the rumored makeover to have this blend into the Victorian atmosphere of the Pier will happen or if its been cut from the project (I hope its just delayed)...

  • I did not make it over to DCA during the Pixar Play parade and I was curious if anyone was allowed to line up through the wall corridor or if that are was off limits or just a walkway during the parade? Next trip I will try to find my way out there, but if anyone has been there during the parade and has a report or picture drop me a line.

  • The Food and Wine Festival is still going on at DCA. We walked by a couple of the locations as events were going on and they were fairly full, but not over flowing with interest. We ate lunch out at the Wharf and sat along the water near the Beer walk and the entire time we were eating (which was a good half an hour or so) we saw one couple go through the walk.. I would venture to guess it would get more traffic in the evening and weekends than on a cool/cloudy Friday afternoon. For those of you interested, the events run for another week, through June 7th.

  • We stopped by the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for a peak since a couple of our traveling party had not seen it yet. I was surprised by how quiet the store was and the boutique had a couple children in it, but overall it was not crowded at all. The Princess Fantasy Faire area still seemed to be as popular as ever with the line for the princess pictures among the longest we saw all day. Wonder if the location of the boutique is causing the issue? There are walls out front where the outdoor cart/store usually is and across the way Peter Pan is behind tarps and closed too. Or if its the pricing?

  • There was a fairly long (probably 2 pod) wait to get into Innoventions. I wish there was a line or way to bypass the pods and mini shows for those who have seen it before. Or if there was a way they could use more of the pods to keep the line flowing... and for a purely selfish reason I wish they would allow you to walk up the ramp vs having to go through the building. I know it ruins the storyline but I do not see why the CMs go crazy if you start to go up the ramp.. its not a safety hazzard or problem as they had the ramp open to two way traffic during the work on the first floor. Almost everyone would still opt for the first floor entrance. But for example Friday there was another guest that started up the ramp with me. They wanted to go look for something they dropped and the CM made them go down and get in line. And I just wanted to go up the ramp to get some photos, I was not even going to go into the building this trip.

  • While walking through the Big Thunder trail we came upon Chip and Dale. It was great to be able to spend some time with the characters without a mob of people. This was around 6:00pm. Also took a peak into the BBQ area and there were only a couple tables with guests at them.. even less than we had seen on previous trips, I am guessing the weather was a factor today.

  • Lastly I would like to thank all of you who have been visiting the site (and sharing links to the site). For the last few months we have had increased traffic and May is turning out to be a record month for us... thank you.

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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