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7/03/13 - My thoughts and observations from Wednesday at the Disneyland Resort to kick off the 4th of July weekend.
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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.

7/03/13 - My thoughts and observations from Wednesday at the Disneyland Resort to kick off the 4th of July weekend.

Hello all,

To kick off the 4th of July Holiday weekend I paid a visit to the Disneyland Resort on Wednesday afternoon/evening. The weather was mild compared to the past week, but for us Southern Californians it was a bit humid - Floridians would laugh at that statement. The crowds in the park were on the light side thanks to several levels of Annual Passes being blocked out. Wait times were on the lighter side for most attractions the couple of times I checked.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • We arrived at the Disneyland Resort just after lunch and had no delays in parking and reaching the parks, actually walked right onto a tram and it pulled away about a minute later. Same experience entering DCA, no wait at all.

  • I was only in DCA for a few minutes, long enough to walk down Buena Vista Street and out to get a World of Color Fastpass for later this evening. As I noted before Yellow has taken over for the Red section so there are only two colors, Blue and Yellow (which annoys me!) available. I drew yellow for the first show which was not bad considering it was just before 1pm. I found it interesting they no longer have cast members at each fastpass machine to help you get your ticket. This makes sense and I was surprised the extra man hours were not cut months/years ago. I still think you should be able to choose your show time, maybe a machine with the option for the later show if you want to use it.

  • There was a new Buena Vista Bugle on news stands around Buena Vista Street, did not see any stacked in the Cafe though, maybe they were gone for the day already. I did not see any breaking news in the quick skim through I did, but it was entertaining as usual and I highly recommend picking up one of these FREE souvenirs. Seems to me a digital version would be a nice touch, since the content is already created repackaging it would be relatively cheap and allow other guests to enjoy these fun newspapers.

  • Thought it was a bit odd that the Lone Ranger Train is just sitting out in the shuttle stop of the Esplanade. It seems out of the way and I did not see any signage around it. Wonder why it was not in the Esplanade between the parks or in a more visible location.

  • First stop of the day at Disneyland was the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree to see the Billies. Their show was late starting due to Woodys show still going on when we arrived at show time. Not sure if this was by design or what.. The area as a whole had more guests roaming around than past trips but if you wanted to interact with characters it was still a great choice.. I saw Chip/Dale as well as Mickey alone for several minutes at a time and they were able to interact with guests quite a bit.

  • In Frontierland noticed they had Frontierland Express papers available at the Golden Horseshoe. This one page Collector Edition paper/flyer was to promote the Lone Ranger. Thought it was interesting later in the day the Disneyland Resort Twitter account was giving these away at the Toy Story lot.

  • I had someone with me this trip who had not seen the Mickey and the Magical Map so we headed out to the Fantasyland Theatre to take in a showing. There were plenty of seats at show time, so no need to show up too early today if you were not picky about where you wanted to sit. The show seemed rather loud today and at several points it seemed hard to understand the vocals because of the volume. Also an interesting note while waiting for the College Band on the park PA system on Main Street they made an announcement about an upcoming Mickey and the Magical Map performance to alert more guests about the show. Wonder if that is a sign it is not drawing on its own. If that is the case that is too bad. It is a very well done show and worth seeing if you are in the park.

  • The Park Time Schedule now includes the All-American College Band show times and locations (except for the DCA set). Great to see! Also listed were the special Independence Week bands. I found it really odd that there were groups performing all week except for Wednesday... the day I was there! Timing is everything...

  • I spent some time in the new Disney Gallery and Disneyana Store. I enjoyed the artwork at the Tiki Room exhibit in the Gallery and I was pleased to see the Gallery is still around. The new location in the lobby of the Opera House seems a bit awkward but I understand the use of the space and it makes sense. Also it may draw more eye balls to the art. The new Disneyana store layout works and they have plenty of room for merchandise. They were still working out logistics moving around pieces of art, etc.. I hope they are successful in their new location.

  • For Independence Week as part of the Limited Time Magic promotion Mickey was decked out in his red, white, and blue outfit in Town Square for pictures and there were some special food items in a couple of locations, such as the pulled pork hot dog with slaw. I would have liked to have seen more characters sporting patriotic outfits.. maybe in years to come? Or even colonial like they do at Epcot. This year I did miss the Voices of Liberty, it is too bad their run at Disneyland ended several months ago. Also note if you are visiting the parks Mickey was out from 7pm on in his patriotic gear.. before that he was in his traditional wardrobe.

  • For Independence Week World of Color had its patriotic preshow and Disneyland had its Celebrate America! A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky. Both events run all week, but on the 4th feature some extra bang. I really enjoy the World of Color preshow, but found it poor they did not promote this at all in the park. Nothing was listed in the time guide or anywhere else that I saw. The shows themselves were the same as last year with no noticeable changes except that they both support the Glow with the Show Ears. Of course no one around me purchased them so I could not get any video or good pictures of them in action. As I have said in years past the fireworks show is ok, but it does not seem to have that extra kick that Disney shows do. Also the finale seems to be lacking in the show on the nights excluding the 4th.

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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