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07/23/10 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays Disneyland Resort trip.
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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.

07/23/10 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays Disneyland Resort trip.

Hello all,

Friday was a much cooler day at the parks than last Saturday, temperature wise. The crowd seemed about normal for the summer with decent wait times around both parks all afternoon/evening. After just being at the park a few days ago I had no real agenda and just wanted to relax a bit and roam around, which I accomplished.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • I glanced at the stage show and live entertainment guide as I walked under the Golden Gate bridge (as I usually do) and noticed that the High School Musical show was slated to be at the Palisades Stage at Paradise Park. As you saw in the pictures the show was using the stage and a couple of the speaker rigs from World of Color. Overall it seemed to work out and one thing was for sure the sound was much better than the rolling stage. Also it seemed that more guests could see the show thanks to the terraced viewing. It will be interesting to see if this happens more often. There were quite a few (counted over a dozen) TDA/manager types roaming around the show I watched, so it seems it will be a well studied test.

  • Walked through Downtown Disney to check out the Action Sports Weekend. I noticed a webpage on the Disneyland site about this earlier on Friday, first mention I saw of it. As you saw in the pictures there was a small sign near the bakery and that was about it. The event was concentrated on the area between the Rain Forest Cafe and AMC and extended out past ESPN toward the parking lot. The event consisted of just over a half dozen tents/displays, a DJ/MC with a couple speakers who was standing on the Rain Forest stage, and a small skate park set up in front of the AMC. When we walked through it was not crowded and nothing was really going on. There were some people testing out the skate park and an area for guests to try out some of the equipment but not a whole lot of activity. Maybe later in the evening things picked up, but in the early afternoon it was a dud. I am assuming Saturday when the big named talent was scheduled to be there the crowds would be heavier.

  • Took the monorail to Disneyland and was lucky enough to be directed into the rear nose cone. It was nice to have some A/C and the unique views this space offers.

  • Took in a couple sets of the College Band, they only have 3 weeks or so left in their summer run, so if you are heading to the park soon, be sure to check out a set or two.

  • I thought I read somewhere that the entertainment at Glow Fest was supposed to be switched throughout the summer. As of Friday the acts looked to be the same rotation, nothing different, but then again I did not stay in the area and watch, just walked by a couple of times. There was a new food truck (as you saw in the pictures).

  • As I waited for World of Color I had my first chance to really listen to the new background music on the Pier. It is ok, not as memorable as the old music, which is probably a good thing since it is background music.

  • It was odd to watch the Carnivale of Color from across the Bay with no real sound, every now and then you could hear a little. I guess its a tough call as to whether it makes sense to pipe the sound throughout.. for those guests waiting for World of Color it makes sense but for everyone else enjoying the Pier it probably does not.

  • In my continued exploration of the World of Color viewing options, this evening I decided to watch from the backside. Strolled out to the Pier around 8pm and found a spot out near the Hot Dog stand that looked to have a fairly unobstructed view of the show. Watching the show from the backside was an interesting experience. From where I was I was able to see/make out what was being projected on the back screens most of the time and the front screen some of the time. The laser effects were slightly visible, but not as impressive as they should be. I thought it was great that the back of the Fun Wheel had the lighting effects going, a nice touch. You could hear the show ok, but it was using the regular park speakers. Seems the audio could use an upgrade. The most interesting thing for me was watching how some of the water screens/effects were created with the various fountains. (Note: In the World of Color reviews thread in our forum I embedded three clips of the opening sequence of the show from the main viewing area, under the swings, and the backside for comparison - click here )

  • After the show I talked to some of the others who had waited around us and as with the other viewing locations, those who had not seen the show before were very impressed, those that had from the viewing area were a little disappointed.

  • In the pictorial update I mentioned Screamins lighting, I went back and looked at my shots and it was that way from day 1 more or less. I had a picture from the AP preview in 2001 and the lighting package looked about the same. So it was not done for WoC.


  • 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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