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6/30/23 - 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.

6/30/23 - Disneyland Resort

Hello Everyone!

I started my 4th of July weekend with a visit to the Disneyland Resort. The weather was the warmest it has been in quite a while, upper 70s with a slight breeze. It cooled down to the 60s by the time I left. The parks felt normal busy most of the day with a good number of guests in the walkways but the wait times were on the mild side, during the mid afternoon lull they were fairly short.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • To celebrate the 4th of July the parks are hosting an assortment of military bands on Thurs, Fri, Mon and Tuesday (nothing schedule Sat or Sunday). Friday the 40th Infantry Division band performed a couple sets on the Hollywood Backlot stage and then a march through Disneyland. The times were not great for my schedule unfortunately. I ran and caught the end of their second set but missed the Disneyland visit due to Rogers: The Musical at the same time. I thought it was poor they did not advertise the groups more. There were a couple signs in Hollywood Land and on the app if you went to the entertainment listing and 4th of July they were there. They were not on the website. I thought a sign near the park entrance would have been helpful for people or a push notification in the app.
  • Other than that there was nothing else going on for the holiday weekend. The overall assortment of evening entertainment was lacking again for a summer night. Midnight hour was performing into the evening at Disney California Adventure but other than that there was no other live entertainment in either park. Downtown Disney had a DJ and Tomorrowland had a dance party this evening.
  • Stopped by Avengers Campus to try and catch Nick Fury, there was no sight of him so talked to a cast member and after convincing them I was not a Skrull they told me to check around 1:30pm. The intel was good and I caught the Nick Fury Espionage Training session. Not sure why they are not in the listing. Nick Fury walks in, talks to the assembled guests, conducts a little intro and training then does a guest interaction/task. I caught the Teamwork session where the guests chosen had to flip a blanket over with another guest on it still using teamwork. Overall it was a nice little character interaction opportunity to bring a little life more interaction and life to the campus. I do appreciate them introducing characters to go with the current/new releases from Marvel.
  • Rogers: The Musical officially opened today at Disney California Adventure. The show is based on the much talked about scene from the Disney+ Hawkeye series where he attends the musical. In the series only one number is shown. This number plus a handful of others are included in this new production. The musical is running from now through August 31st four times a day(12:30, 2:00, 4:00, 5:30) Tuesday through Saturday, they are dark Sunday and Monday, including this holiday/opening weekend. You have three options to view the show. There is a virtual queue through the Disneyland App at 10:30 for the first two shows and 2:00pm for the second two shows. There is also a premium viewing option for $29, this is limited to 100 per show. The final option is limited number of stand by seats.
    • The premium experience sold out within the first hour the park was open. I missed the first virtual queue opportunity so I decided to try my luck at standby for the 2pm show. I was successful and waited under 15 minutes for the balcony. I opted to sit show center but second to last row. I could have gone lower and been on the side. I also tried for the virtual queue at 2pm and failed, the connection from inside the Hyperion was terrible, plus my usual bad luck. I had friends that waited under 30 minutes for both the 4 and 5:30pm shows and made it in. So if you do not make the virtual queue and do not mind the balcony give stand by a try.
    • It was nice to be back in the Hyperion for a show. My overall experience was good and given the time investment to wait it worked out great for me. The balcony view is ok but you are quite a ways away and the top of the projections/backdrop is cut off as you saw in my pictures.
    • The showing I was at had an issue and had to be reset. It took a few minutes. I was surprised they did not make any announcements.
    • Rogers: the Musical met my overall expectations. The show has an energetic cast and some entertaining numbers with some fun humor. There are a number of easter eggs from the Marvel Cinematic Universe but they go by really fast so big Marvel fans may want to see the show a number of times.

      The show features 8 songs:
      • U-S-Opening Night
      • I Want You
      • Star Spangled Man
      • What You Missed
      • Save the City
      • End of the Line
      • Just One Dance
      • Rogers: The Musical Finale / Save the City (Reprise)

      For more details including Disney images and video, here is the press release for Rogers: The Musical.

      The sets were minimal but that is what you would expect from a limited show like this. The audience really loved it and was into the show. I think it skews toward the older audience and not sure how it will play with younger kids, for example I think my nephews would like the Save the City number and USO opening but the rest may drag on a bit for them causing them to be restless, especially form the balcony being so far away.
  • San Fransokyo Square continues to move toward completion. More scaffolding was removed revealing more graphics and the two towers for the new golden gate bridge have been installed. I was really surprised the towers were not painted and assembled off site and then just lowered into place nearly completed. Instead they are being assembled in position. Also thought it was interesting cast members signed some of the beams, so guess those will be covered not painted with a facade? Would be really odd if they all signed it and it was painted over. With the ongoing bridge work the walkway is closed so you only have two walkways for the area now. The area felt congested and seating tight with the ongoing projects. I still do not see how this project is a good idea. You are going to potentially draw more people to an area that cannot handle the current crowds. And in the process of doing the additions more seating was removed. I did find it odd that a major walkway was closed for a holiday weekend and it is still puzzling the beer truck was closed before the new window opened. Disney is missing out on sales during a time of year beer traditionally does well.
  • Over at Disneyland Mickey Mouse was celebrating America and the 4th of July in Town Square in his patriotic costume in the early after. Later in the evening he was out in his Disney100 outfit. I thought it was nice to see him in his red, white and blue but would have liked to have seen more for characters dressed up for the 4th.
  • A quick rundown of the projects around Disneyland:
    • Adventureland - As you enter Adventureland the repair work is still underway for the water pipe that broke a couple of weeks ago. The Men's rest room is now inaccessible as they work on the project.
    • Adventureland Treehouse - Some more lights are visible along the walkway and some landscaping work may be underway but other than that not a lot of visible progress now that the scaffolding and scrims are back.
    • Adventureland - The Indiana Jones pinball machine has returned. This means a little less seating but nice to see the machine restored and functional. It is still a tad of an awkward fit in Adventureland from a theme perspective.
    • New Orleans Square - Tiana's Palace - Most of the scaffolding is removed and lights are installed over the dining area as they move toward completion on this project. I have not seen an opening date yet but looks like it should be sooner rather than later.
    • Critter County - Tiana's Bayou Adventure - More scaffolding has gone up around the facade. The peak is now covered as they work to transform the attraction. Most of the work is going on inside so there is not a lot of visible progress.
    • Fantasyland - Peter Pan's Flight is back in regular operation and all the scaffolding is removed from the facade. Mr. Toad and Red Rose Taverne still have scaffolding and scrims but both are open.
    • Mickey's Toontown - All the walls are gone with all grass areas accessible again. Donald's splash pad is still roped off with no signs of any change.
  • Stopped by Town Square for the Flag Retreat this evening. Was surprised the Dapper Dans were in their regular costumes and not their 4th of July ones. I stuck around for their 5:30pm set and it was a regular set too.
  • Spent some time in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and the group I was with gave the Batuu Bounty Hunters game a try. If you have a MagicBand+ you can scan it and receive a person to hunt for. You then walk around Black Spire Outpost and your Magic Band will guide you to where they are hiding. It will turn green and vibrate as you head toward the proper location and red if you go the wrong. If you find the proper spot it turns purple. You then go back and scan your band to receive your credits. The Play Disney Parks app tracks your score for you. The kids I was with really enjoyed the game. I thought it was ok but was disappointed nothing really happens when you find the location. I thought there should be some sort of interactively of moment, thinking of the various games World Showcase at Epcot has hosted over the years. Or the Pirates one at the Magic Kingdom. I would thought a sound or light would have been a minimum but we saw or heard nothing. They found three or four bounties each and then it was time to go, the kids wanted to stay longer and play so I guess the game works for that demographic.
  • Found a spot on Main Street USA to close out my evening with Wondrous Journeys. I have had bad luck with this show and have only seen the full show a couple of times. Tonight was no exception. We watched as the weather balloon drifted away at a good pace and it seemed doubtful then a few minutes before show time they played the announcement it may be without fireworks. Then promptly at show time said it would be the projection only version. So it was a disappointing way to end my day.

Here are some recent posts to the Geek's Blog:

Disney Related Press Releases

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

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

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