home > Columns > Geekspeaks >
8/16/13 - My thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort
 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.

8/16/13 - My thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort

Hello all,

The summer season is coming to an end at the Disneyland Resort. Some schools are back in session with more starting each week. The good news is that means Football season is coming and my next trip the bad news is that means the summer entertainmnet is winding down at the parks. Friday was a calm day at the parks. The crowds were surprisingly light. The weather was a tad on the warmer side, mid 80s for the high and cooling down to the low 70s, but still very pleasant to walk around. Waits for most attractions were well under an hour except for the Racers as usual. For example it took me under 15 minutes to walk the single rider queue, ride, and exit the Radiator Springs Racers area only while the Standby line was posted at 70 minutes. Over at Indiana Jones I had a Fastpass but since I was there a half hour before my return time I ended up doing the single rider line twice and was still walking out before my Fastpass time. The standby line was about 40 minutes and Fastpasses were for a couple of hours out only.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I started the day off walking through Downtown Disney. This weekend the Waffle-inator was relocated from the convention center where it was last week for the D23 Expo over to the Valet area near ESPN/Rainforest. Friday afternoon when I walked by the wait was minimal and those playing the game appeared to be having a good time. I did not give it a try.

  • The other big Downtown Disney news is earlier in the week the Disney Parks Blog announced Starbucks is coming. So means by next year there will be three Starbucks operating at the Disneyland Resort plus a kiosk (which was also announced). The Blink store located next to World of Disney has closed and that looks to be the location.

  • On my ride through Radiator Springs Racers all the effects seemed to be back in working order compared to the last time I went through. Sheriff was working, The tractors tipped, and Doc was moving too. This time I went through Ramones, which just re-enforced how I like Luigis better. I think the white wall effect is fun and the shiny finish in Ramones just does not look impressive to me when you compare the two choices. The one effect that was not working was the mist at the finish line. There was some water on the track/area but no mist when we went through.

  • Friday was the last day for the 2013 All-American College Band. I stopped by all their sets to enjoy them one last time for the season. This summer seemed to fly by for me, and I am sure it did for the musicians. There was a large crowd of parents, supports, and guests at all their sets and for the last day they were a little more free/loose which is always fun to watch. Thought it was a nice touch that the band was thanked during the Flag Retreat and during the final set Ron thanks the regulars/annual passholders that support them all season long. Here is a clip of their finale song/set from the Train Station:


  • Over at Disneyland the big news is some upgrades to Indiana Jones. Mara in the opening sequence has a projection effect and new audio track. I went for two spins and below is my attempt at a video to capture it:


  • I thought the effect was a nice upgrade, great to see them plussing the show with no real downtime. I saw online many people complaining about the audio. It was not as impressive as the original but not as bad as some were saying. I did not notice any other changes through out the attraction.

  • The safety upgrades throughout Disneyland continue. This week the roofs of Fantasyland have scaffolding and mesh up as they work on hiding the safety railings. The cost to install and camouflage these new railings everywhere would be interesting to see.. it sure seems expensive.

  • As you saw in the pictures Halloween merchandise is slowly taking over. There were displays in World of Disney and the Emporium and the Disney Showcase has been completely taken over. I looked around and snapped the pictures for the update and nothing really jumped out at me as that different this time around.

  • I decided to watch World of Color from under the swings since as I was walking by there were only a couple of guests in the area. It is one of the more impressive views of the fountains you can have. Unfortunately you miss a large portion of the show since you cannot see the projection screens or some of the laser and other effects that require a front view.

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

Stop by the Geek's Forum to discuss this and other Disney topics.. click here

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
Back to previous page

 

Quick Note

Check out the geek speaks archive for past updates.

 

Interested in Helping out?

If you are a fellow disneygeek and interested in sharing your insights, pictures, thoughts drop us an email here we are always looking for contributors.