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06/22/12 - 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.

06/22/12 - My thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort.

Hello all,

Summer has officially begun and the Disneyland Resort was alive with activity. Both parks had what I would call solid crowds. Most of the usually long wait attractions were in the 45 min range. Cars Land was longer, with the Racers in the 2.5 hour range and the Flying Tires over an hour. As you walked the parks they felt busy but not jammed. Was hoping that the crowds at DCA would all be in Cars Land and other attractions would have shorter than usual waits but Toy Story for example was still in the 40 min range, so it looks like the crowd spread out around the park.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • It is still a bit odd to walk into California Adventure and be greeted by Buena Vista Street. It is a good odd, but it still throws me off a bit. I need to get used to it.

  • I thought it was great the 4th of July overlay that was on the street. It is only a week old and they already plussed it to match the season.

  • First stop of the day was to grab a World of Color Fastpass. I was excited that I recieved a yellow one for the first show and I thought it was a sign of a mild day at the parks. Come evening I learned that Red has disappeared again and Yellow is where Red once was.. from what I could gather it seems the preferred dining section was larger and yellow was basically the old red section and maybe a bit more. But it was hard to tell and I was late getting there.

  • Walked through Cars Land. The Racers were down again, one note for those planning to ride, remember it is a complex and new attraction so expect a lot of down time till all the bugs get worked out. Also note that the cone shapped plastic cups are currently sold out and have been removed from the menu boards at the Cozy Cones. I saw online that there was an official sound track for Cars Land. I did not see this last week, guess it was released Friday and I missed it. Anyway it was long gone and sold out already too.

  • Stopped by the Dancin with Disney festivities at Stage 17 in Hollywood Land. I caught the Girls set of characters out this time around. If you are looking for a place for your kids (or you) to have some character time and run around a bit this is a great event. It is happening daily between 1:00 and 5:00pm. And as of now it seems to be under utilized/a hidden jewel so take advantage before word gets out and the crowds appear.

  • Walked around the Matterhorn and some in the group went for a ride using the single rider line. They reported back that the new seats were not the most comfortable and the ride felt even rougher than before to them.

  • Stopped by the Big Thunder Jamboree to see the Billies. They will be performing out there daily through the summer. The Billies seemed a little more loose being outside. The music sounded ok, but the sound system out there is not the most inspiring and they were having some mic issues during the performance I saw. The audience seemed a little light but definitely more than I have seen on some previous stops by the Jamboree. Also noticed this trip that there was only one character out at a time. Not sure if this was because of timing or something new because of the light crowds we have noticed there.

    A couple video clips of the Billies:


  • Headed back to DCA to catch the two Instant Concerts I missed last week. I think it is a nice addition to bring some life into the Bay. The shows are short but with some variety hopefully that means repeat viewing by guests. I have not walked around during the show, anyone know is the audio just in the Paradise Park area or is it wider around the Paradise Bay?

  • While waiting for DJs show to start in Cars Land pulled up a table outside and Flos and just watched the world go by for a while. It was great to see the ebb and flow of the masses. Cars Land had a lot of people moving around but it seemed reasonable and not over crowded. Also saw Mary Niven (Vice President of DCA) walking around the park, she is a very visible leader for the park which is great to see.

  • Finally caught DJs show. This is a dance party that rolls into Radiator Springs several times a day featuring several cast members that lead the routines and DJ, a car with a sound system that provides the tunes. They play a mix of music and try to engage the crowd and kids in several of the dance routines. I thought it was a nice little show. The energy of the cast was good and the car was interesting to see. The kids that joined in the dancing seemed to be having a good time and I thought the mix of music was good. Seeming the lighting on DJ at night added a little to the show as the sun was setting compared to the afternoon showing.

    Here is my video of the show:


  • Stopped back by in the evening to catch the lighting moment on Route 66 when it comes alive with the neon. The moment has been happening just after 8pm (8:08 Friday), but it will shift as the days become shorter. I thought it was a cool moment watching the buildings come to life and listening to the music. I would have liked to have seen a little more to it. The lights come on in the first 1/4 of the song or so then nothing else seemed to happen as it played out.

    Here is my video of the lighting:


  • I was curious to see how or if the Glow with the Show Mouse Ears have caught on. Excluding the cast members who all had them on there seemed to be very few and the effect was pretty much lost on Friday. I did find a couple sets nearby and stood behind one of them to play with for my pictures. I also over heard several people commenting on how cool the ears were and that they wanted some but not sure if that translated into a sale later or was just some comments within a group. The guests that had the ears seemed to really be enjoying it, but the wow/cool factor of the ears is lost without a good number of guests having them on. Wonder if after the Annual Passholder events if they will show up with the ears on to help seed the crowd a bit.

  • On the way out spent some time roaming around Buena Vista Street and pushing through the exiting World of Color crowd. I thought seeing the Disneyland fireworks was a different/interesting vantage point. Also took some pictures of the window displays, since the glare was at a minimum.

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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