Hello all,

I had no real agenda for Fridays visit to the parks. We just wanted to relax a bit and we hung out with the Lazygeek and his son. Due to some prior commitments we ended up at the park later than usual so we did not have as much time as usual to roam around. In my brief travels of the park things felt like a regular summer day. The parks had decent crowds but it was not jammed.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• Wonder if they are going to figure out a way to print your picture on the Premiere Pass in the future, or at least link it up so when a CM scans it at the parking tollbooth they get the picture. Having to show ID really does slow things down for both you (and the CM). Same goes your dining discount (it would actually be nice if the swiping of your card worked too.. CMs still have to manually type in your pass number so you can get your discount).
  
  
• It was great to see a sign near the World of Color distribution area stating the show time. Also interesting to see the machines being split up, with half doing World of Color and half doing GRR. I was surprised there were still Fastpasses with how late we walked by there.
  
  
• Walked around the newly re-opened Tomorrowland Terrace and as you saw in the pictures very little has changed on the outside. From what I have read and heard the big changes are on the inside where they rebuilt the kitchen. Wonder if the quality of the food has changed?
  
  
• In the time guide I noticed they tweaked the Glow Fest information. It now lists it as happening in the Sunshine Plaza from 6:15pm until park closing but then goes on to list a 6:15 and 7:40 performance on the stage. The Hollywood Blvd portion was pushed to 8:35pm. This seems like a more accurate description of the experiences.
  
  
• We spent some time at the festival in the Sunshine plaza, the 7:40 performance, and the Lazygeeks 3 year old loved it. The music, activity, dancing, and lights really drew him in. He did not want to leave (only way we got him to move on was promising a ride on Monsters Inc.)
  
  
• Over on the Disneyland side of the entertainment guide great to see the Celebrate America! A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky starts this Thursday and runs through the 4th. Kind of interesting they did not put a logo for it, just a "returning to Disneyland icon".
  
  
• Also on both sides they now list the new Sign language interpretation service information. For those that are interested it says to check with Guest relations for specific times and information) DCA it says: High School Musical 3 -> Sun/Fri, Disneyland: Jedi Training Academy, Celebrate! A Street Party (at Its a Small World) Mon/Sat.
  
  
• For World of Color our plan was to walk around and try to watch from near the Zephyr, but due to our late arrival and the wind direction we changed those plans and ended up near the Jumpin Jellyfish. (The wind was blowing toward the Zephyr area and we would have been 10-20 people back from the rail the time we showed up).
  
  
• Watching the show from this angle was interesting. The sound was slightly better than by the swings. You still really cannot see the projections, almost made out images on the front screen a couple times, and you could just barely make out some on the pop up screens. You are just a little further from the fountains than the swings area, but you feel further away. Being able to see the Fun Wheel was a nice plus. Also there were not that many people in the area so it was great from that respect.
  
  
• I felt somewhat disconnected from the show here. Not sure why. We noticed several people in the area decided to bail out during the performance (which we had not experienced in our other locations for previous shows). I overheard some were frustrated that they could not see what was going on and holding peoples attention for 26 minutes with just fountains is a challenge.
  
  
• This was the Lazygeeks first time seeing the show in person (he watched the webcast and has seen our pictures/videos as well as others) and he said he just could not get into the show. Again knowing what was on the screens and not being able to see/experience it really diminished the experience.
  
  
• As for his son.. like your typical 2 (well he turns three in a few weeks) year old at the start he was very interested in the water and the music. He was able to pick out a couple of the songs and characters he knows. But then as the show went on he lost interest, especially during the segments he did not know or could not make out. Interesting note he had seen the webcast and sat through that with no problem.
  
  
• Only other interesting note from the show Friday was no fire during the Pirates or Hellfire segments, but there was fire during the finale.
  
  
  
• 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.
  
  
  • Some Interesting Web Finds
    • LA Times - Disney Archives story
    • Orlando Sentinel - Disney begins pre-sales for luxury residential development
    • Disney Parks Blog - Radiator Springs Racers
      
      
      
      
  • Recent Disney Press Releases
    • 6/28/10 - Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Announces 2010 Grant Recipients
    • 6/23/10 - NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant Celebrates the Lakers’ World Championship with Goofy at Disneyland
      
    • 6/23/10 - ‘Glow Fest’ Shines at Disney California Adventure During 'Summer Nightastic!'
      
      
  • We post some announcements on:
    • Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/disneygeekcom
    • Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/disneygeek
    • Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/disneygeekcom
      
      

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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