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06/24/11 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays visit to the Disneyland Resort
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06/24/11 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays visit to the Disneyland Resort

Hello all,

Friday felt like a fairly typical summer visit to the Disneyland Resort. The parks had crowds but they were not overwhelming. Wait times were moderate except for a couple of attractions, for example Star Tours which had all its Fastpasses gone by mid day and waits over an hour each time I walked by.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • Started off the day roaming around DCA checking out the latest construction. Next visit the new dining area and Goofy’s Sky School will be open(official opening date is slated to be July 1st), and the Buena Vista Street construction will be kicking into high gear soon too with the opening of the new entrance and closing off of the old entrance way and the rest of the Sunshine Plaza/entrance area shops and walkways. I was surprised that the Blue Sky Cellar is still featuring the Little Mermaid exhibit. Wonder when cars and Buena Vista street will be taking over?

  • The lines in DCA seemed to be around 30-40 minutes for most of the big attractions all afternoon. I had some good luck and happened to be walking by the Little Mermaid as it reopened after a technical problem, so I was able to ride with no wait at all. By the time I exited it was already pushing 20 minutes. The Fun Wheel had some long lines most of the afternoon. I managed to time it right and get on with only a 15 minute wait but this took a couple of trips by, so in the end I probably ate up more time than I would have waiting the 45 min or so that was initially posted.Also revisited the Little Mermaid again during World of Color and walked right on.

  • The gang from Up! is taking over the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. As you saw in the pictures there is a slight overlay with some Wilderness Explorer badge signs up around the area. A new show will be taking place on the small stage several times a day starting 6/25 (Saturday). I thought the overlay was a nice touch and should help yo breath some new life into the area. Offering the characters and a small show should help to drive some more guests to the area to experience the play area too. I would have liked to have seem more than just a few signs, but then again I always want more!

  • They were only using Monorail Blue again on Friday so the wait times were substantial on both ends of the line. Wonder when a second train will be put back into service? It seems to have been quite a while since they have had two operating.

  • As you saw in the pictures the Emporium at Disneyland is undergoing some work in the front/main room of the store. It still seems odd to me to see such major projects in the summer time. Remember the old days when these types of things happened only in the winter. The good sign though is projects are happening and things are being updated/fixed as needed which is great to see!

  • The All American College Band is back again this summer. They are performing on a schedule similar to last years with Friday featuring three sets at Plaza Gardens for swing dancing. They have also made the time schedule in a very prominent location, right under the Soundsational parade at the top of the listing. Their current schedule is: Fridays: 5:10 Flag Retreat, 6:00 Parade Route (Main Street), 7:15, 8:00, 8:45 Plaza Gardens then on Tues through Thursday and Saturdays they perform 2:15 Castle, 3:15 Plaza Gardens, 5:10 Flag Retreat, 6:00 Parade Route and 7:15 Town Square. (Note the castle set is earlier this year). This year there is one USC student in the band, a tuba player, I missed his name.

  • Caught the new Laserman: R3CONF1GUR3D show, try typing that one fast. Overall it was ok. It was interesting to see some of the new effects with the multiple colors and lasers from behind. Overall it was a tech step forward. But not sure if it is because it was new or what but the performer seemed to be off on Friday with some miscues. Still worth watching if you are in the area, but if you have a choice between this or World of Color I would recommend getting your spot for the World of Color show.

  • I noticed that they were allowing guests to line up again in front of the Little Mermaid for World of Color as an alternate viewing location. So keep that in mind that it appears to be an option on some days, check with the cast members for the rules of the day if you were unable to get a Fastpass for the show of your choice. Also note the line for the Little Mermaid dwindled to nothing during the show.

  • Due to the parade route being blocked off for Buena Vista Street construction be sure to allow more time to enter and exit the park, especially during World of Color. They have a lot of guests to move around and some fairly narrow walkways to do it in now. Add in all those guests in the alternate viewing areas plus those just trying to exit the park and it is quite crowded. And things are only going to get tighter once they re-route the entrance when the bulk of the Buena Vista Street work gets under way in the next few weeks.


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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