Disneygeek - Geek Speaks - 8/11/23

The Geek Speaks:

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.

8/11/23 - Disneyland Resort

Hello Everyone!

I had a very relaxing afternoon/evening at the Disneyland Resort Friday. I spent the time visiting with a couple groups of friends and just roaming the parks. The weather was mild topping out about 80 with a nice breeze and cooling down toward 70 by the time we left. The crowds were on the moderate side. Throughout the day many wait times were on the low if you timed it right and wanted to experience the attraction. Our group was not interested so we opted to pass on some nice wait times (Railway under 30 minutes, Indy at 30, Rise of the Resistance was at 15 once and under an hour several times).

One interesting note this past week. I renewed my Magic Key pass a few weeks ago with no problem. This past week I went to do two others for family members and the website was not showing the box with the checkout option. Their passes showed you could choose your renewal level but no check out option. Tried several devices and browsers and had the same experience with all. I let it sit overnight and tried the next day, same thing. Found some time and used the online chat support. Before I even finished describing the problem the cast member said to go to the app and remove any linked passes leaving just the two owned by that account then go back to the website and try. It worked like a charm. I found this interesting as I renewed with several linked passes with no problem, but for these family members it failed.

Thoughts and Observations:

Started my afternoon off with moderate traffic on the drive to Anaheim, much better than the 2+ hours it took last visit. Then was directed into a spot near the walkway on the Mickey level so not a bad parking spot either with no real delays at the booth or to get into a spot, I choose good lanes for both this time.
The new Discovery Tower at the Disneyland Hotel looks ready to go. They were putting finishes touches on the exterior. The new DVC property opens Sept 28th. Downtown Disney is still very much a work in progress. There is no opening date for the projects there. Steel is rising for the new dining on the West side and in the middle. The scaffolding is coming down on the Monorail station. Walls are still up with narrow walkways due to the concrete replacement projects.
Halloween is starting to take over the resort. Merchandise is out in many stores with 2023 dated items, more Haunted Mansion and Nightmare Before Christmas choices too. Plaza Point has switched to their fall display already but other than that Halloween has not shown up in the parks yet.. unlike Walt Disney World which held its first Halloween party this evening.
San Fransokyo Square opens the end of the month and more scaffolding and walls are gone. The bridge is receiving its paneling but if the rest looks like the first pieces it seems off to me. The seems and rivets just do not sell the illusion of a real bridge. Maybe once it is completed it will work better. The wind turbine at Rita's looks odd and the "themeing" of all the cables and writing looks a little off to me too.. more like decorations than anything.
In Tomorrowland a portion of the upper floor in the former Star Wars Launch Bay (or former Innoventions or Expo Center or Carousel of Progress) building has been turned into the Star View Station. This is a Disney Vacation Club Member Lounge. We were visiting with some friends who are DVC members and they invited us into the lounge as their guests. I thought the lounge itself was well done and a great perk for members. It was a little calmer and less crowded feeling than the one at Epcot. When we first arrived there were very few seats but the crowd thinned out as we sat there and by the time we left it was maybe half full. It was nice to have an air conditioned spot with something to drink and snack on. The couple displays and artwork in the space were interesting to see and added to the experience. I thought the overall feel of the building was rather depressing. You enter on the first level land the area still has a couple displays with Star Wars models/props. The Visa Meet and Greet is there too. The rest of the floor is curtained off. Upstairs most of it is curtained/walled off too except for the reception area and lounge. Behind the reception area is DVC cast member office space.
We were walking and noticed the Mark Twain top deck was open so decided to go for a cruise. Turned out to be the last cruise of the day (5:00pm) and the Jambalaya Jazz Band came onboard to perform. The cruise itself seemed slightly faster too, like the cast members were trying to get back to the dock and finish as fast as possible. We pulled in and stopped quicker than recent trips, or at least it felt that way. It was great to have a live band onboard for the cruise.
The repair work in Adventureland continues and its footprint is larger than my last visit. Both rest rooms and the pass through walkway to Frontierland are not accessible. Leaving only a small 3-4 person wide pathway to enter/exit the land. I was a little surprised to see traffic flowing relatively smoothly through the narrow gap. A couple times it felt easier/quicker than when the full walkway is open. Guests were staying to the right both directions and things were flowing nicely. Maybe I was just lucky the few times I traveled the area.
I noticed on the schedule that Queenie and the Jambalaya Jazz Band has been scaled back to two performances nightly. 8:10 and 9:05. I stopped by to see the 8:10 set arriving closer to 8:15. The fountains were on but no sign of the band. Looked up river and they were on a raft and someone with a flashlight was moving around. After a few minutes the fountains stopped and all the lights turned off. The raft floated further away. The regular house lights came on after a few moments. No announcement about the band but the show was canceled. I heard from someone who was in the park that the later set did occur as scheduled.
In the evening the Main Street Fire Truck was out in front of the fire station with a sign celebrating its 65th anniversary which is next week (the 16th). A couple of cast members were on hand to answer questions and take pictures. I thought this was a fun way to mark the anniversary.