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6/16/23 - 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.

6/16/23 - Disneyland Resort

Hello Everyone!

As I drove down the I-5 to Anaheim it was cloudy and gloomy as it has been for a good month plus now. The forecast said sun this afternoon. Stopped for lunch and then parked and by the time I reached Disneyland the sun was out. It felt great to be warm as temps reached the upper 70s with a slight breeze. It cooled down quickly again to the 60s as the sun set. Both parks felt crowded with DCA hosting another Grad Nite. The wait times were all over the place jumping around. Not sure if this was due to the way the app reports them now, attractions going up and down, or just the flow of the crowds in the park. For example you could find Star Tours anywhere from under 10 minutes to an hour in the mid afternoon. Or Runaway Railway as low as 30 and over 60.

This week is traditionally the kick off of summer at the Disneyland Resort with all the summer offerings going strong or starting around now. This year there seems to be nothing going on. The entertainment was noticeably lacking with no Tale of the Lion King and no live entertainment after the second Magic Happens Parade. They did not even have a dance party in Tomorrowland. For a Friday night in the summer season it was really disappointing to walk around the park and see nothing going on. This trend continued into Downtown Disney. I walked through around 8pm and there was nothing going on in the public areas except for a DJ at the West End Stage who was playing music for those walking by, no one was stopping to listen.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I arrived at the resort just after lunch and found a handful of cars in each lane. I choose a rather slow one. I did notice every car in front of me appeared to be a Magic Key holder as I saw them scanning phone and no exchange of credit cards. I was directed into an ok spot near the center of the Mickey and Friends parking structure, better than some recent spots. No delays at security or for a tram today.
  • Walked through Fantasyland. The renovation projects are still in full swing but this week Mr. Toad and Alice in Wonderland were both operating. Only Peter Pan was closed. So the operational impact of the work was minimized.
  • The Stage Coach along the trail leading to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has returned after a lengthy renovation. It looked good as new again. Nice to see the prop return vs disappearing. Even though the bright red coach seems a tad out of place there.
  • Spent some time roaming around Black Spire Outpost since my nephew was with us and he wanted to see the droids and Millennium Falcon. It was nice he did not want to ride anything just walk around and see the sights.
  • Over at Disney California Adventure stopped by Avengers Campus to see the Amazing Spider-Man show since that is my nephew's favorite show. Again lucked out he wanted to see the show vs visit the attraction, which meant no time in line. The show itself is not great but seeing the stunt-tronic in action is always great. After the show Spider-Man runs along the crowd high fiving guests. He did not stay out for photos. I did walk through Avengers Campus a couple of times. I saw some characters up on the Headquarters but very few at ground level interacting with guests. It may have been my timing, but before it seemed you would always see a couple somewhere if you passed through multiple times.
  • The San Fransokyo Square project continues to roll along with more scaffolding coming down and walls going up. More of the bakery building was uncovered this week sporting updated graphics and artwork advertising San Fransokyo businesses. More walls were up around the future Meet and Greet Spot and the new beer window continues to take shape. Disney has yet to announce an opening date but they seem to be moving along so seems it may be sooner rather than later this summer.
  • It was great to see two Red Car Trolleys back in action. It is still odd timing given they can only pass each other at the Animation Building which is near the far end of the route. Really seems like a second passing option in Carthay Circle would have benefited the attraction.
  • I saw nothing going on for the new Disney/Pixar film Elemental beyond some merchandise in couple shops and a sipper. The World of Color preshow is still playing and is mentioned in the app if you click into the show details but it is not really highlighted. I thought maybe they would do buttons or something like they have for previous films. No such luck. Not even a handout.
  • Stopped by the Hollywood Backlot and caught an early afternoon set by Midnight Hour. They put on an entertaining show but unfortunately it was the same as the later set I watched last week. I thought maybe they would have some different songs in the various sets.
  • Spent some time in Mickey's Toontown as the sun set. Most of the construction walls are now gone with only a set up around the Popcorn Cart area. Donald's area is still roped off and looks the same. The land in general still felt crowded but not as insanely crowded as past visits.

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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