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09/16/11 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays visit to the Disneyland Resort and the kickoff of Halloween Time
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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.

09/16/11 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays visit to the Disneyland Resort and the kickoff of Halloween Time

Hello all,

Friday marked the kickoff of Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort. This year that really translates into at Disneyland since all the decorations and festivities are taking place on the North side of the Esplanade. The crowds at the park were mild to start the afternoon with only Haunted Mansion Holiday and Ghost Galaxy having long waits but as the evening went on the crowd grew and both of those attractions pushed up to the 75 and 85 minute marks. Some friends joined me later in the afternoon and both reported traffic backed up to get into the Mickey and Friends garage and it taking several lights to work your way around and into the garage. I read on twitter people reporting that the off ramp from the 5 south was backed up onto the freeway in the Carpool lane.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • I spent the first portion of my afternoon roaming Disneyland checking out the Halloween offerings this year. More or less everything seemed on par with the last few years. Nothing really jumped out at me as being new or vastly different from the past couple of years.
    • Haunted Mansion Holiday was a big draw as usual with lines up near an hour most of the afternoon and then stretching to the 75 minute mark in the evening. The area was even more congested than normal Friday due to several radio stations broadcasting from out front of the Mansion in the afternoon. By evening they were gone but the larger crowd as annual passholders got off work and headed to the park meant it was jammed all night. We went on around 8:30 and it took a good 5 minutes just to get from the DVC kiosk area to the end of the Fastpasss return line. Nothing new to report from the ride itself, except for the new gingerbread house. Also we did not spot the monkey bride in the attic.
    • Ghost Galaxy had a long wait all day long too. I did not ride, so cannot comment on the inside of the mountain, did any of you?? On the outside we thought the sound was not as loud or noticeable as last year. It did not seem overpowering and you actually had to listen to hear it from ground level. Also the projections seemed to be a lot less in terms of activities. I hung around 10-15 minutes only but was expecting to see more of the show, really thought something happened every 5 minutes or so in years past.
    • Big Thunder Ranch was decked out for the season as usual and the talented team of pumpkin carvers has returned. Always a fun stop to watch them work a bit and take a look at their previous creations.
    • Was disappointed to see nothing really going on at DCA for Halloween this year. I know with the Sunshine Plaza gone that the Candy Cane Acres has faded and we probably will never see it again, but would have thought something more than a gift shop window would be done out by Tower of Terror. Guess the interest in the ghost stories and other decorations they tried out there years ago really did not survey well ?
    • There was a fair amount of new Halloween merchandise offerings this year. The coffin popcorn buckets seemed the most interesting to me. Also the Halloween Tree drew some comments too.
    • I was a little surprised that the entertainment guide for the day made no mention of Halloween Time either. In the past the Ranch hours and/or character hours were at least on there. The park guide maps did have the information though so maybe that is why.

  • My bad luck with the Monorail continued in the afternoon. I stopped by early in the trip and they were down. Then a bit later in the evening and only one was running and the line stretched down the ramp a couple of trains almost. Finally as the sun was setting both Red and Orange were on the beam way and the line was reasonable so went for a couple round trips to get pictures. I read on a couple of sites that Saturday evening they had problems with Monorail Red. But thanks to my early bad luck I did end up on the Disneyland Railroad and was able to see the dinos that have recently returned. The last scene was behind curtains for the last several months. They did look good and great to see them back in action and in great shape.

  • Over at DCA the corridor/wall configuration was more or less the same as last trip. There was plenty of visible progress on the various projects, as you saw in the vast number of pictures I put in the Disneyland update. I thought the most impressive were all the trees showing up in Cars Land. It is really changing the look of the area. Unfortunately they are making it harder to get pictures from the distances we are stuck at till the land opens, but they do look great! Next Friday an update to the Blue Sky Cellar is opening, featuring Buena Vista Street and Cars Land. Should be interesting to see what they go with. I would assume the model that was at the D23 Expo, seemed the perfect size for the space. Wonder if this will be the last update to the Cellar.

  • I do want to comment on the railing changes out on the Pier. The new metal designs on the top do look decent but I really do miss the ability to just lean against it and relax. Or at night use it as a base to steady yourself to get that longer exposure shot. Wonder if the change is because of a new state requirement, like the railings at the Golden Horseshoe or a general safety issue, or just a cost one. I would assume in the long run these will be cheaper to maintain than the wood. Anyone know more on the reasoning?

  • The Disneyland Hotel is making the final push with just the Fantasy Tower lobby area and the E-Ticket Pool area remaining. The lobby work is progressing and some of the recently finished areas are open and accessible. The new clean look really brought to mind the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World. It just had that feel to it. Should be interesting to see what the check in area comes out looking like.

  • Wrapped up my evening watching Remember, Dreams Come True from Main Street. This is still one of my favorite Disney fireworks shows (except for the Wishes segment which still bugs me, but the E-ticket in the sky segment more than makes up for it). It was great to see the fire effects have returned to the Indiana Jones segment. I thought the fireworks they were using the last couple of times I saw the show just did not work as well. Also it seemed the laser that does the effect over the crowd during the Tomorrowland segment was not working or there this show.

  • Two reminders to wrap up this week.
    • I have been experimenting with sending more tweets from in the park on my trips, is everyone enjoying these? Any suggestions?
    • We have a free/random giveaway for those who register for an ABC Body of Proof Season 1 DVD set. Stop by the Geeks Blog to learn more about the set and enter the content. Must enter by Tuesday evening.

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

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