* After you read this report you may want to check out the pictorial updates in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

Hello all,

Friday was a picture perfect day at the parks. For late July the weather was cool and the crowds were not bad. Both parks felt a bit mellow to me. There seemed to be a lot of people around, but many of the wait times seemed reasonable to relatively short for the summer. Nemo was the long line of the day at about an hour and half for most of it (I saw 2 hours posted but walking over there it seemed closer to 90 minutes). Most of the other attractions were well under an hour. Haunted Mansion was actually a walk on in the early afternoon and Pirates was probably about 10 minutes only.  I hopped on Small World during the parade and had my own "private cruise" as well as the boat in front of and behind me empty.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• One of the main reasons for this trip to the parks was to walk around the Disney Gallery one last time. It is slated to be closed by the end of the month and the rumor is part of it will be converted into a guest suite to be used as a prize for the year of a million dreams (which is dragging on into its second year soon) and the rest will be handed over to Club 33 to allow it to expand. I think this is a really short sighted idea and it seems to me that this space is one of a handful left that really makes Disneyland unique compare to other Disney parks. Its an out of the way corner that regular guests can stumble upon and discover something truly Disney or that regular guests know of and just enjoy to hang out. Not to mention the store seems to do really well in terms of sales and add in the Fantasmic offerings it seems to be a money maker to me. I will definitely miss having the opportunity to stroll through and look at the current exhibit, pull up a seat at one of the tables and just relax for a few minutes, or stand on the balcony and overlook New Orleans Square.
  
  
  
• As you saw in the pictorial update many of the Year of a Million Dreams banners, decorations, etc.. are now gone from the parks and some new ones have started to pop up. I think the new ones work much better than the old ones... I am still not a big fan of the campaign or the colors.. The campaign itself just does not seem to have any excitement with it, but at least those plastic "swans" or whatever they were supposed to be will no longer be scaring the real swans in the castle waterways.
  
  
• I also noticed the two new attraction posters in the train tunnel. The Remember Dreams Come True one is the first one I remember with a corporate logo on it.. all the ones in the past were just the attraction weren't they? Does anyone remember seeing one with a corporate logo in recent years..
  
  
• Speaking of corporate advertising DCA has two new ads. Both are on the Pier, one replaced the midway games billboard and the other is painted on the wall near the restrooms by Screamin. The one by the restrooms continue the series that have been popping up around the parks (I first noticed the one in the Wharf at DCA, then the Hungry Bear at Disneyland, and now this one. I am not a big fan of these and how many ads do they really need. They already have plaques in all the restrooms at both Walt Disneyworld and Disneyland.. do they really need these big painted ads too?
  
  
• One last note on ads, as you saw in the last page of pictures they have replaced the display cases at the Grand Californian, right before you go out to Downtown Disney with new ads (well this was probably done a while ago but I just have not walked by there).. anyways the displays are covered up and instead just a poster ad is in its place in one window. Seems to be another of the many cut backs. Also wonder if the tag line for the time shares will ever change... I cannot believe its a secret to anyone who has visited a Disney park/resort in recent years. There are signs, ads, banners, carts, videos, TV channels, vans, busses, etc... everywhere.
  
  
• Seems the Ratatouille characters in NOS are fairly popular. Their line looked about as long as the line for Captain Jack Sparrow when he used to be in that location.

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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