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8/28/09 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays 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.

8/28/09 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays trip to the Disneyland Resort

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

Hello all,

Friday we had a late start on the afternoon arriving after 2pm. We were on the roof the garage, but there were quite a few open spaces on lower floors. Looks like the hot temperatures caused the crowds to thin out a bit. Once in the parks the wait times were manageable to light. We waited only about 15-20 minutes for Toy Story (posted time was 30) and the Fun Wheel we waited about a handful of gondolas only. Over at Disneyland the wait times were well under an hour for almost everything most of the afternoon.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • Not much of note happening at DCA today. The construction is moving along. I read the filling of the Bay is delayed until closer to (or into) October, which makes sense when looking at the work still going on.

  • I hiked out to the Disneyland Hotel work area and was surprised by how large of an area was blocked off for the work (I guess its because of the way the walkways intersect and run). There seemed to be a fair number of construction guys roaming around, but you could not really see any work going on.

  • Went for a round trip ride (well two one way trips). They were kicking everyone off the monorail at Downtown Disney even though the lines were non-existent at either end. Was this to try and nudge you into Downtown Disney? We disembarked then hopped right back in line and made it on the same train we just got off. I was curious how hot the cars would be in the 90 degree weather, and they were hot... even with the windows down I overheard people commenting on the heat and the broken air conditioning (I did not bother to explain the cars do not have any, but found it interesting they jumped to that and complained how poor upkeep is).

  • Anyone know what the new structure in Fantasyland, near the old motorboat area/current smoking area is? My guess is a more permanent food location. If that is what it turns out to be I think this is an interesting turn. I like the idea vs the carts everywhere.

  • Most traces of the Summer Nightastic promotion are gone, with the exception of a couple merchandise signs here and there. Wonder if the promotion will return?

  • I had a half hour or so to kill until Fantasmic started so I hopped on Pirates (since there was no line). Our boat made it around to the burning city scene then came to a traffic jam near the Pirate and the pigs. That seemed like a long backup to the lift hill. After about a minute of not moving a CM announced there was a problem and they were working on it. Then they announced a ride shut down (which meant the pumps were cycled off, the lights, music, etc.. all kept running normally). Then they restarted it. After about 15 minutes or so we finally began to move again. No indications of what happened, but it was kind of interesting that the boat behind us did not enter the burning city area but did catch up eventually. Guess it caught caught at another breakpoint.

  • For being stuck they gave every group a re-admission pass good for any attraction in either park, except for Toy Story. Kind of a waste for me since I was heading home soon anyways.. and DCA was closed for the evening already for everyone else. I found it funny that Toy Story is still excluded but Nemo is not. Wonder why? Seems the Toy Story attraction can cycle enough people that it would not be a problem.

  • Watched Fantasmic from near the Pieces of Eight gift shop (or whatever the end one is called). Due to being stuck in Pirates I arrived about the time the Columbia was finishing its run. It was kind of interesting to listen to those around me, seemed to be quite a few locals all waiting for the Dragon to appear.. when he did not there was a collective sigh of disappointment in the area.

  • I was surprised that the lines for the trams as we were leaving were not that bad. With only 2 of the 4 stops working I anticipated a mess out there. But I guess with the Electrical Parade done for the season that helped.




  • Interesting Web Finds/Notes (and some Press Releases):
    In this section of the Geekspeaks column I will include links, notes, and rumors I find/stumble across/or have been informed of:

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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