home > Columns > Geekspeaks >
8/22/19 - Thoughts and observations from Thursday
 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.

8/22/19 - Thoughts and observations from Thursday

Hello everyone!

I started my D23 Expo weekend off with an early drive to Anaheim and some time roaming the parks. I was in Anaheim from Thursday through Sunday but was at the convention center and hotel most of the time. I did spend a good part of the day at the parks on Thursday. The crowds were light as usual at park opening and they continued to build throughout the day. I left in the early afternoon.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I parked at the hotel I was staying at and walked down Harbor Blvd to the parks. It was a peaceful walk at 7:30am with people heading to the park. Passed a handful of homeless/panhandlers along the way. Not the best first impression of the resort district for those visiting from out of state. I did find it interesting that some on the corner of Katella and Harbor instead of asking for spare change were asking if you had a $5. I do not know a good solution but I really think in a resort/tourist district this should be prohibited.

  • Arrived at the park entrances about 15 minutes prior to opening and choose to visit Disney California Adventure first. You could walk through Buena Vista Street and some of Grizzly Recreation Area to find where they were holding guests for the rope drop. Today they did not open Soarin' early. Instead they held the line outside until 8am then walked you in. I was able to make the first flight so by 8:15am I was walking toward the Pier.

  • The Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind has had waits pushing an hour many of the times I walked by so I had not yet experienced the new attraction. The slow load times and low capacity make it an unbearable wait for me. This morning though there was no wait. I was able to walk right up and onto the next cycle. No surprise, the experience is the same as Flik's Flyers, but you have a different spiel to listen to and different sights to look at being on Pixar Pier. Overall it is a fun little spinner. I would have much rather seen a larger, more in depth attraction added and this the entrance for it, but it is better than nothing which has been there for years since the Maliboomer was removed.

  • This morning most attractions in the park were walk ons. Always fun to start the morning strolling around a quiet park and having the option to walk on anything you want. Toy Story had a 15 min wait posted and the queue room was looking rather full so I opted instead to use a FastPass. A quick tip.. if you do not have a FastPass for something take a quick look at the return time before jumping into a queue. For example when I walked by the return time was for 5 minutes from when I picked up the ticket, which meant it was an instant walk on.

  • Noticed that the Duke Caboom Popcorn figure was in motion today. On previous visits he had always been stationary.

  • Took a look at the Avengers Campus construction from several vantages points. The buildings are starting to take shape now with the framing being covered on Spider-Man and steel being assembled for the other buildings. The initial phase is slated to open next year.

  • The new Sunset Showcase Theater entrance marquee was being installed along Hollywood Blvd. Its going to add some more motion to Hollywood Blvd with a digital display and some light with the neon at night. Having the entrance on the main walkway will hopefully help guests find it easier and a flashy marquee to draw your attention too. Also with a digital display change over for other shows/uses will be instantaneous.

  • Spent a couple hours wandering around Disneyland visiting with friends. It was a pleasant way to spend the rest of the morning. The crowds were light and we were able to visit several attractions. We did run into some longer than anticipated waits and several closed attractions in Fantasyland that caused us to alter course. Not sure what was going on but it seemed like most of the dark rides had cycled through closures this morning.

  • Stopped by the parking structures to check out the three projects there. The Tram Plaza is moving quickly toward completion. It is slated to open in September. A large portion now has pavers installed and preparations are underway for most of the rest of the space. The second set of elevators for the Mickey & Friends structure are taking shape, concrete work has wrapped up and steel was being assembled on Thursday. The walkway to Downtown Disney is receiving more landscaping as more finishing touches are applied to the bridge and ramp portions. No date has been announced beyond saying September.

  • Stopped by the LEGO store in Downtown Disney and took a look at the new Disney Parks LEGO train set. It is a great looking set, but it checks in at $330.

  • World of Disney had a selection of Haunted Mansion merchandise including several 50th anniversary items. Also a large Halloween display in the center of the store. Halloween merchandise is also moving into stores in the parks. August just seems so early to be thinking about Halloween to me. Halloween Time kicks off Friday September 6th.

Here are some recent posts to the Geek's Blog:

D23 Expo 2019 Summary Page - Links to all the announcements so far and will eventually contain links to all of our coverage

Geek's Blog Postings Recap July 3-30, 2019

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.

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.