Hello Everyone!

I spent a relaxing Friday the 13th at the Disneyland Resort Friday. Throughout the afternoon the crowds and weather were mild. As the sun set the crowds arrived as usual and by fireworks Disneyland felt very crowded. The weather topped out in the 70s and cooled to the upper 60s by the time I left.

Thoughts and Observations:

• I started my visit with good luck making the green light at Ball Road with no delay and no wait at the tollbooth. Traffic was flowing up to the 4th floor with no delay too. My luck hit a snag as I was directed into one of the last spots in the aisle closest to the exit. A long walk to the escalators but it meant an easy exit without having to circle the garage. No wait at security or for a tram either.
• As I waited to enter the park I noticed the Monorail had guests in the front with the driver today. First time I remember seeing that in years. I later saw they reopened the space today for the first time since the COVID closure. The back cone has not reopened though. This was great to see. I walked by a few times thinking I would give it a try but my luck was not great with it down or a longer wait than my patience.
• I arrived a few minutes before 11am and decided to start my day at Disneyland. My reservation for today was for DCA so I had to wait. There were a good number of guests milling around the entrance area doing the same. Cast members kept asking people to clear the area to allow others to enter. At 11am the groups formed lines and entered the park. Wonder if this rule makes any difference? To me it just seems a burden on guests and cast members a like.
• Stopped by the Disney Gallery and picked up the third Magic Key villains card. A fun little perk and way to mark the season.
• The Main Street train station is being renovated. Crews were erecting scaffolding when I arrived. On the wall in Town Square they have pictures of all the castle park entrances from around the world which was fun to see.
• The Haunted Mansion projects had some visible progress today. You could see the structure for the new elevator as it has risen well above the wall. The new gift shop is being framed in and you can get a great sense for it now. You could see workers on site in the queue/park area but could not really tell what was going on nor how close that area is to opening.
• Further along the river in Critter Country Tiana's Bayou Adventure is about 2 months from opening on Nov 15th. There were cycling logs and you could hear audio from inside. Some of it was a tad loud and could be heard throughout the area. The attraction sign was on site and awaiting installation. Most of the scaffolding from the drop area is now gone and you could spot some details along the flume. More scaffolding is down and elements are being added to the queue building as it nears completion.
• I caught a couple performances of the Disneyland Band today. Note if you wanted to catch the band and characters they are not stopping in Town Square during the marching set, assuming this is due to the renovation work and the train station steps not being usable.
• I spent a few hours in DCA in the afternoon and took in the Coco and Deadpool shows before returning to Disneyland. The Coco show drew an ok crowd, but with the sun out very few people were in the area until right at show time. Story Time with Deadpool continues to draw healthy crowds.
• Returned to Disneyland for the 2:45pm Cavalcade and found a spot in the shade on Main Street to watch. Unfortunately the group next to me decided to stand up right as it was arriving and blocked the view I wanted with the Mickey pumpkin in the background. So I ended up walking the parade route and trying some other angles.
• The Fantasyland Theatre has nothing playing in it right now, but they have it open if you are looking for a spot to sit in the shade. There were a handful of groups taking advantage of this when I stopped by.
• I spent some time in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. I found a table in the shade to have a snack and while sitting there was able to observe Vi Moradi hiding from the First Order. A couple groups of Storm Troopers an Kylo Ren were in the area looking for her. She moved around the garage area and then the tables across from it hiding and visiting with guests.
• I spent some time out at Downtown Disney to see the entertainment this evening. There were two groups performing on the stage on the west end lawn. I really enjoy when they do this as it means nearly continuous live entertainment. One of the groups was the Boo Belles who performed Halloween inspired music. I do enjoy this area but it is a little awkward to watch the performing groups. The lawn is mostly used by kids running around so you end up off to the side to stay out of their way. There is little seating and you are far from the stage or at a very sharp angle. For a couple group a few lines of people watching have taken over part of the lawn but most of the time the area is empty except for kids playing.
• Haunted Mansion virtual queue still seems to be a work in progress. It seems a challenge to keep the queue full but not over full. I walked by several times today and it seemed to vary from one extreme to the other. At one point the return was backed up on to the Critter Country other times they could not scan the guests fast enough for full stretching rooms. I entered the queue about 12:30pm and my group was called just after 8pm. When I arrived walked onto the grounds and had about a dozen groups in front of me to scan in. They were scanning in at the new LL scan point area not at the gate. We then walked quickly through the queue and right through the foyer into a waiting stretching room. They did not fill the room and when we exited walked right onto the attraction, where they were sending empty doombuggies before we arrived.
• The Jungle Cruise closes for renovation work on Monday so I wanted to go for a last cruise to take a look around. My timing was bad during the day and the wait was longer than I was willing to wait until after the sun went down. I did find it a walk on around 8:30 and went for a cruise but combine the darkness with a less than great skipper and it was not a memorable experience.
• I closed out my evening with Halloween Screams on Main Street USA. This is not one of my favorite shows so it is my first (and most likely last) viewing of he season. I am not sure why but it is one of my least favorite fireworks shows. With World of Color closed for renovation and a healthy crowd in the park Main Street USA was quite full early on this evening.
  
  

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

• Disneyland Resort Posts from 9/13
  • Pictures: Disneyland Main Street USA Train Station Renovation (9/13/24)
  • Pictures: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure @ Disneyland – Project Status (9/13/24)
  • Pictures: Haunted Mansion Area Renovation at Disneyland (9/13/24)
  • Pictures & Video: Disneyland Band Along With Mickey & Friends at Sleeping Beauty Castle
  • Pictures: World of Color Renovation at Disney California Adventure (9/13/24)
  • Drinking Fountain Near Alice in Wonderland Restrooms
  • Pictures: Downtown Disney West End Construction (9/13/24)
  • Video: Boo Belles Performing at Downtown Disney
  • Video: Eva and the Vagabond Tales Performing in Downtown Disney
• 09/12/24 - My First Impressions: Inside Out 2 Home Video Release
• 09/07/24 - Daynah’s Experience – Donald’s Quacky Duck City in Tokyo Disneyland
• 09/03/24 - Daynah’s Review – Pixar: The Official Cookbook
• D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event (Summary Page)

Disney Related Press Releases

• 09/13/24 - Christmas at Tokyo Disney Resort
• 09/12/24 - “An Almost Christmas Story,” New Animated Holiday Short Directed By David Lowery And Produced By Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, Coming To Disney+ This Fall
• 09/12/24 - Disney And Pixar’s Inside Out 2 Begins Streaming On Disney+ Sept. 25
• 09/05/24 - New “Bluey Minisodes” Coming October 7 To Disney+ First Look At “Blocks” Available Now
• 09/03/24 - New Villains Show Coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Summer 2025
• 08/29/24 - Drawn to Life presented by Cirque du Soleil and Disney tickets on sale now for 2025 performances
• 08/29/24 - The Holidays at Disneyland Resort Bring Classic Traditions, New Family Favorites and the Debut of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• 08/29/24 - Tokyo Disneyland Attraction Limited Period Program “it’s a small world with Groot” to Premiere January 15, 2025
• 08/27/24 - ‘Elton John: Never Too Late,’ From Directors R.J. Cutler & David Furnish, To Premiere Friday, Dec. 13 On Disney+
• 08/22/24 - A Golden Autumn Falls on Shanghai Disney Resort with Duffy Month, Halloween, and a Season of Holiday Celebrations

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