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Hello all,

I had the rare opportunity to visit the Disneyland Resort twice over the weekend. Since I could not make it Monday for the 51st I thought two days before would do. Southern California is in the midst of a heat wave, like the rest of the country it seems. Temperatures in Anaheim were hitting the mid 90s and for us the humidity was high (compared to Florida though it was nonexistent). Friday felt much hotter than Sunday. Overall the crowds seemed a bit on the light side for mid-summer. My guess is the hot weather kept some of the locals away. Also I think the blackout dates for the Southern California pass helped a bit too. Sunday the park felt much calmer than Friday too. It was hard to believe that a year ago I lined up at the crack of dawn to get in for the 50th and here we are another year later.. that really flew by.

Jason

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

Friday Notes:

• My main goal for Friday, besides not becoming sun burned, was to see the new Pirates entertainment at Disneyland. I first caught the Bootstrappers who are a Pirate band that hang perform upwards of 7 times a day in New Orleans Sqaure. They sing a selection of sea chants and Yo Ho. There is a lead Pirate in the gang who acts as the narrator to tell the tell of the cursed pirates. Each time the bell tolls they are forced to launch into Yo Ho a Pirates Life's for Me. Overall I thought their show was entertaining and the crowds seemed to really enjoy it.

• There is also a Captain Jack Sparrow out for pictures a little closer to the Haunted Mansion (actually just to the right of the new stage area). I saw two of them over the course of the two visits and both looked and acted remarkably like Jack Sparrow, great to see and their lines were always long for photos and autographs.

• There were also Pirates roaming the streets of NOS as streetmosphere characters interacting with guests. I did not come into contact with any of them today (but Sunday I did...)
  
  
• The third piece of the entertainment puzzle is onboard the Columbia which due to some bad timing and me putting it off waiting for it to cool down a bit I goofed and missed today. I had in my mind that the last sailing of the Columbia was at 4:30. In reality 4:30 is when it arrives back at port and everyone disembarks from the last voyage.
  
  
• Pirates is still drawing a healthy crowd with a 25-35 minute wait all afternoon/evening.
  
  
• I spent some time out on Tom Sawyer Island walking around and was surprised to find the Island nearly deserted. I know it was a bit warm, but I do not remember ever finding it that empty on a summer day before. Its been quite a while since my last trip out there and it seems as if more of the island is closed (by more of the island I mean more the rocks you can climb on). Also the barriers between you and the River seemed a little better than last time with more railings and larger plants.
  
  
• I finally spent the time to wait and see Remember from in front of the Castle. Its been playing for 14 months now and I thought before it goes away I would give it a try. The show really is impressive (the pictures I took really do not do it justice) from there. It was well worth it for me. But for your average Disneyland guest I would be hard pressed to say you should spend 90 minutes or more sitting there waiting for the show when the view from down Main Street that you can get 30 minutes prior to showtime is also good, just not as good. I was also surprised to see someone setting up a blanket before 5:30pm for the show. Four hours seems like a long long time to wait for a fireworks show and I cannot image their seats, right in the middle of the compass were much better than mine (I was about the middle of the street just to the right of center where I could see the Matterhorn and clearly). Leaving after the show was a little smoother than I anticipated. It took about 10 minutes to get to the tram not too bad at all considering where I started and how many people I had to work my way through to exit.
  

Sunday:

• Sunday we took in the Billy Hill show while eating lunch. I had never seen them do a Beatles tribute and it was great! Plus they did the Devil Went Down to Georgia and that is one of my favorites. The audience was extremely vocal and into it and the band really seemed to feed off of it. Great to see!!!
  
  
• We ran into several Pirates on Sunday afternoon in Frontierland and New Orleans Square. One of the best interactions was when I went into the Stage Door Cafe to order lunch. I ordered and was talking to the CM and a voice from behind said.. "Don't forget the chicken for the Pirate" and the CM working the register was not paying attention and added it to my order. The Pirate was quite embarrassed by this (I don't think she thought the CM would actually add it) as was the CM working the register when she realized what she had done. I thought it was pretty funny.
  
  
• We made it onto the Columbia and listened to the Pirate. He was really entertaining doing a bit of storytelling, comedy, and just general guest interaction. It really made the trip go quickly and I need to go again when its cooler..
  
  
• We finally made it into the Animation Academy at DCA. For one reason or another it always got bumped off the agenda for the day. This is the show that replaced Drawn to Animation. I found it to be much more enjoyable than I had anticipated. You walk in and the theater looks the same as before. You are seated and given a sketch pad. The CM on stage guides you through the process of drawing a character. Ours was Donald Duck (not sure if its always Donald or occasionally someone else, anyone know)? My Donald looked terrible, I drew him and I could barely make out who it was.. now you know why I don't do the artwork for the site...

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