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7/29/16 - Thoughts and observations from a Friday trip to the 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.

7/29/16 - Thoughts and observations from a Friday trip to the Disneyland Resort.

Hello everyone,

Friday was a warm day at the Disneyland Resort. Temps were in the 90s and for us Southern Californians it was humid. Crowds at the parks were moderate with most wait times on the light side except for the usual suspects that were over an hour (Racers, HyperSpace Mountain, Splash, etc..). I had a relaxing afternoon/evening visiting with some friends in town from Orlando and walking the parks.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • As has become the norm I started off my trip taking a look at the Star Wars themed land construction from the parking structure. It is an attraction in itself for us disneygeeks. This week more forms and walls are taking shape across the site. Due to the angle and distance from the parking structure it is a challenge to really tell what the new shapes and distances look like. Hopefully a new overhead picture surfaces soon. This past week Disney confirmed that the Rivers of America attractions, Fantasmic, and the Disneyland Railroad will return for next summer. No specific date was given, just summer 2017.

  • I walked through Downtown Disney to reach the parks today. The new Starbucks has opened, this one between the Lego store and DVC. It is a small store and seemed really plain to me inside. I am not a coffee drinker or Starbucks regular so cannot comment beyond that really. Also surprised there is no real seating in the area. Some quests were sitting on the ground outside. Other than that it is the nearby planters. Wonder if tables/chairs or something will be added? Or if it is really just a grab and go location.

  • Started with Disney California Adventure today and walked around Paradise Pier. Stopped by Paradise Gardens and took a look at the Garden Grill. It returned to operation several weeks ago but I never made it out there. There were a handful of guests in line and looked to be an average crowd for mid afternoon. The menu looked the same as before it was closed. Mr. Potato Head was behind his curtain this afternoon and not interacting with guests. The wait for Toy Story was posted at 40 minutes and the longest in the area. Screamin was at 15 then jumped to 25. Single rider was a walk on. Speaking of single rider I still miss having that option on Toy Story. It would be nice to see it brought back to increase the number of guests who can experience the attraction.

  • Last week at Comic-Con Disney announced that Guardians of the Galaxy will be taking over the Tower of Terror (Click for the press release). Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! will open next Summer. There has been a lot of talk about this online. I am disappointed that an overlay will be the first Marvel experience in the parks here in Anaheim I was hoping for more. Also that it is on an attraction I do not ride. This is the first piece of the Marvel additions to Disney California Adventure. It will be interesting to see how they work them into the area and how things change. I am curious what this means for the Red Cars. Currently their last stop is right next to the Tower and it works from a time period perspective quite well. Not sure how it will work with Guardians. A simplified solution is for the line to end on Hollywood Blvd, but that makes two car operation fairly impractical since the only passing opportunity is on Hollywood Blvd. It will be interesting to watch this evolve. I would have much rather seen a new Marvel experience brought to the park to increase capacity and attraction offerings vs taking one that has a moderate wait and adding to it. I do not see that as a net gain for the park. At best it is a swap.

  • The All American College Band is in the home stretch with only two more weeks of performances. Interesting note on Friday they did not perform at Disney California Adventure, they were not scheduled there. They were all other days as normal though.

  • Went for a ride through Monstropolis which I had not done for a while. Nothing too interesting to report.. the wait was about 15 minutes. Wonder if its days are numbered (probably in years) as part of the Marvel expansion.

  • The building at the front of Tom Sawyer Island, guess it is part of the mill complex? I call it a cabin sometimes but I know it is not.. the one that acts as a backdrop for Fantasmic has emerged from behind the scaffolding with a new color scheme. It looks more red and green now vs the old wood color. Saw speculation this is to enhance projections on it possibly or the lighting for Fantasmic.

  • Went for a flight on Soarin since the friends I was with had not been on the new version here yet. We went through rather quickly, only about 25 minutes from entering the queue until exiting with a FastPass. Anything under 30 seems good to me, especially recently since it seems to always be backed up, reduced to one theater, or something else that slows it down.

  • It has been several weeks since I walked by the Skyway area. The walkways are mostly gone now and new plants and trees have gone in. Only the steps at the very bottom are left (probably because it would involve a disruption to the outdoor vending and merchandise location to jack hammer them out. Most traces of what once stood on the hill are now gone.

  • Went for a tour of Storybook Land onboard Casey Jr. There was no wait, we walked up and boarded the next train that pulled in. From onboard you could get a couple glimpses through the trees and temporary fences of the Star Wars project.

  • Closed out my evening on Main Street USA. Watched Paint the Night from near Town Square. The crowd was more aggressive/pushy than it has been lately with guests really cramming into the area and making it tight. Add in the warmer night and it was not the most pleasant experience.

  • Unfortunately it was a breezy evening and Disneyland Forever was cancelled due to the wind. They played the finale projections which is better than nothing. If you had not heard the show is slated to run through Labor Day. No announcement on what will be coming next. As of right now the disneyland.com website is showing nothing as being scheduled (but I have found that to be somewhat unreliable that far out, so not sure if that means no show or no show listed yet).

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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