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9/14/18 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at 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.

9/14/18 - Thoughts and observations from Friday at the Disneyland Resort
Friday was a relaxing day at the Disneyland Resort for me. I had a very short picture list and the crowds were moderate. The early afternoon crowds were comfortable then as the sun set they picked up as they usual do. Halloween Time is well underway now and the evening parties will be starting this upcoming week. Temperatures were on the high side topping out in the low 90s and cooling down to the 70s.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Arriving and parking was a smooth process again this week. The Ball Road Overpass was set up for two way traffic and it was working well. Exiting after the fireworks was another story. The exit lanes were backed up to the top of the ramps so it took a while to get out. The issue seemed to be almost all levels were being directed into a single lane. Some drivers, like me, did manage to get over to the 2nd lane but it was slow going to that point. I am really curious how the traffic flow will change with the second structure. Seems they could really use a wider overpass.

  • The Pixar Pal-A-Round had a short wait so I decided to go for a spin. My first time since it has opened. The characters on the cars look good up close. Everything else is the same in terms of ride experience. I think it may have been nice to see audio or some other plus added. There is a new procedure for boarding the non-swinging gondolas. You are now asked to wait at the turn and they group guests and send you down toward the load area. I do not see how this helped at all and it seemed to create more work for cast members. It did allow them to merge guests showing up with a pass in vs having them over on the other side. One other note, they had to have a custodial cast member clean one of the swinging gondolas. They held the attraction while he worked. In the past I had seen them send the CM around so the car can be cleaned without extending the wait for guests.

  • At Disneyland the Mark Twain Riverboat had the top level open for several cruises in the early afternoon but again looked closed later in the day.

  • Throughout Disneyland the planter removal and other walkway enhancements continue. I understand the need to try and ease bottlenecks and get crowds flowing better and with the limited space in Anaheim this is really the only option but loosing all these elements really takes away some of the character and charm of the park. It is become more like Walt Disney World with expanses of concrete. It will be very interesting what the hub and Frontierland projects look like when they wrap up.

  • Speaking of the hub work the water ways are partially drained so circulation is not the best. While walking by the castle the moat really smelled bad.

  • Grabbed dinner at the Stage Door Cafe and ate in Golden Horseshoe. Mobile Order has not been rolled out to the Stage Door yet. I am surprised since the way it is set up it seems it can accommodate it rather easily.

  • I attended the final Hook & Ladder Co performance of the day and maybe the last for the group. They are currently not on the schedule and internet reporting is the group's run has concluded. I was disappointed with the set. It was under 10 minutes and only a couple of songs. It will be interesting to see if a new group is added or if this just becomes another cut.

  • I was on my way to Disney California adventure and the Disneyland App notified me of a change to my upcoming Toy Story Midway Mania FastPass. It was almost 30 min before the window opened and it was converted to a multi experience FastPass due to the attraction being down. I guess it was expected to be down for a while. I ended up using the FastPass for Radiator Springs Racers.

  • The Grand Californian once again has an edible Halloween display. They had displays in 2015 & 2016 too but nothing last year. I think these are nice pluses for the hotels and guests really seemed to enjoy seeing it.

  • Walked through Downtown Disney just before 8pm and there was a healthy crowd on hand and several performances going on. Down at the West side no visible progress on any projects but the Food Trucks were out again and had a good crowd. It was announced Friday at Earl of Sandwich will be returning for a limited time.

  • Once back in Disneyland I walked around and as I was walking through New Orleans Square I noticed a decent spot stand by spot for Fantasmic! was available so I stopped to watch the show. I enjoy Fantasmic! but feel that the FastPass and dining situation has really made it cumbersome to watch. MaxPass is coming and I am curious how that will work. Will you be in the general FastPass areas or will MaxPass have its own space?

  • I closed out my evening with Remember Dreams Come True from Main Street USA. This evening they had a different problem with the Mickey firework.. both ears fired but not the head. Tinker Bell was part of the show so that was a plus.

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

Geek’s Blog Postings Recap September 1-13, 2018

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
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