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6/21/13 - My thoughts and observations from Friday at 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.

6/21/13 - My thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort

Hello all,

Friday marked the first day of summer and longest day of the year so what better way to mark the occasion than visit the Disneyland Resort. The crowds at the resort felt on the mild side to me. There was a Grad Nite going on but it seemed substantially smaller than the previous ones in the number of busses and graduates. I think this may be the final set. Wait times were on the more mild side too with the Racers posted at 75 minutes only one of the times by and Tower topping off at 60 minutes on my couple passes by.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • As you saw in the picture the Lone Ranger Premiere has taken over Buena Vista Street and Hollywood Land. I overheard quite a few guests and most seemed to like the wow factor of a Hollywood Premiere and I heard no one complaining about the hassle. It is too bad these cannot take place mid week to be less disruptive. I thought the train that was used in the film was great to see, but the location a bit awkward. Wonder how long after it will stick around. Surprised it was not pushed as a Limited Time Magic Offering to get your picture taken with it.

  • Stopped by the Dancin with Disney. The 2013 version is very much the same as the 2012. If you are looking for a chance to dance with and interact with Disney Characters it is a great place to visit. If loud music, lights, and kids running wild bother you stay away! There were 7 or 8 characters out at a time and I saw quite a few guests having one on one time with them for decent lengths of time. If you are looking for an air conditioned place to sit for a bit and let the kids dance/play this should be a place to consider.

  • The All-American College Band returned to the parks on Thursday and I think I managed to catch all of their sets on Friday. For those unfamiliar with the program, throughout the academic year Disneyland visits colleges across the country to conduct auditions for the program. The program lasts all summer and consists of performing in the park 5 days a week and a series of workshops, seminars, industry meet and greets throughout the program where students are exposed to many facets of the music industry and are able to make some great connections.

    As usual communication and advertising for the group is a bit haphazard. They were not listed in the park time guides and the cast members at the information board in Disneyland could not locate show times either. I ended up giving them the schedule :) Also the board out at the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree had the wrong start time posted. Hopefully in the coming weeks the Band makes the time guide and not sure why they have never made the website listings. For those that are interested the time schedule from Friday was (and I am assuming for their Tuesday -> Saturday sets): 1:50pm Backlot Stage @ DCA, 3:25pm Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree, 5:05 Sleeping Beauty Castle, 6:00 Flag Retreat in Town Square, 7:15 Main Street Train Station/Town Square. They did not do a pre-parade set this year. The play list has changed up a bit this year. The Michael Jackson medley has returned to the finale set to replace Stevie Wonder. In the Castle set Monsters Inc replaced the Incredibles. The first set in DCA is traditional Jazz/Big Band sets that used to be in Plaza Gardens. The Jamboree set was a mixture and should be interesting to see where that one goes musically.

    Here is a playlist of some of the bands performances:


  • The Enchanted Tiki Room turns 50 this Sunday so I had to stop by and enjoy a show to mark the occasion. As luck would have it one was just about to start as we walked up, it meant no time in the Tiki Garden but worked out great so we could make it to our next destination on time. The show had a decent crowd too. Not sure if it was because of the anniversary, guests seeking A/C, or what..

  • Spent some time at the Mad T Party as the sun set. I missed the name of the new act, but a couple of aerialists have taken over for the Who R You act on the House of Cards Stage. I found there act a completely different direction than Who R You and I thought having something in the air made it much easier for guests to see so from that standpoint it is a win. I did not hear many people commenting so curious the overall reaction. Here is video of the performance if you missed it in the update:




Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
Below are some interesting links, notes, and rumors I found/stumble across/or have been informed of since the last Geekspeaks column.

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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