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9/19/08 - My thoughts and observations from Fridays trip to the Disneyland Resort
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9/19/08 - 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 was a nice afternoon/evening at the Disneyland Resort. The parks are still in the off season mode and the crowds were light most of the afternoon, but got heavier in the evening again. Wait times were higher than the last trip, but still very low. For example Space Mountain was between 10-30 minutes the couple times I walked by, where as last trip it was 5-20. Nemo was about 45 where as 30 last time. Over at DCA the lines were modest too, with nothing really over 30 minutes most of the afternoon.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • I was informed, by my brother, that Friday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day... at the parks I only saw a couple people possibly participating in this, but then again there are always people trying to be Captain Jack now a days... so it did not seem to really take hold, maybe next year...

  • As I roamed the parks I overheard quite a few guests talking about the number of attractions/areas behind walls. Most seemed ok with it, but were surprised by how much of the park was closed for one reason or another. Then tack on the normal attraction issues, such as the Astro Orbitor being down for most of the afternoon, the Railroad closing for a while, or the monorails stopping and it really did not help this impression. It is still very weird to blow through the New Orleans Station and not stop, not sure why its weird, but it just feels weird to ride that long without a pause.

  • Over at DCA, nothing too new to report. Of interesting note was the Sun Wheel is still running, all summer long it was said to be closing early September, and even the rehab schedule on the website said so, but it has been delayed. If you were looking for a famous or infamous DCA film to sit through you only had one choice on Friday, Tough to Be a Bug. Muppets was down for rehab, Golden Dreams is gone now, and the Seasons of the Vine movie has been gone for a while. Looking at the DCA time schedule the was a little sad.. there really is not anything going on. The first page lists the Pixar Play Parade and then Playhouse Disney.. nothing else(High School Musical is done with its summer run and will not be out again until the movie next month). When you flip it open there are three shows listed (the Brother Bear, Drawn to the MAgic, and Miner 49ers) and then three character encounters (Sunshine Plaza, Backlot, and Brother Bear). Not a whole lot going on. At least Disneylands half of the schedule looked more complete.

  • Throughout the afternoon only the Dream Wrapped Monorail Purple was making the rounds. As the cool evening set in Monorail Red ventured out from the round house and took guests around. I spotted Monorail Blue back in the round house, but no sign of it on the track. I had read rumors that it was allowed to carry guests now. I went for a ride on red and since it was a cool evening it was comfortable inside the cabin, but still on the loud side since the fans are all the way on high in an attempt to make it comfortable. Also I found one problem with the interior lighting scheme, it really makes taking pictures at night hard. The reflections were terrible off the windows and unlike the old ones there is not an option to shoot without a window in the way.

  • Stopped by Innoventions to see what was going on and found a couple interesting things to note. First is they were skipping the outside intro by Tom Morrow and we were sent directly through the doors. Once inside we were directed immediately to the center area, near the stairs. Seems the Dream House was closed for some reason and CMs were directing us upstairs and standing/blocking the entrances to the house. Not sure why, I could not see anything.. so not sure if it was closed for the evening or if there as a problem. This was around 7pm. I did not notice anything else interesting happening. I did redeem my coupon for a free pair of sun glasses from St. Josephs.

  • Tomorrowland Terrace welcomed the Suburban Legends Friday and they seemed to draw a good size crowd. For those who have not seen them they put on an energetic show featuring an interesting mix of songs, they even throw in some Disney songs... Fridays shows including Under the Sea, I Just Cant Wait to Be King, and a crowd pleaser, the theme from Ducktales!

  • As I was heading out of the park I noticed something odd on Main Street. Almost the entire section of the street from Coke Corner down to center street was filled, nothing unusual there, but everyone was sitting down. This looked weird and wonder if it held for the show, I would image it would be a good view.

  • Not sure what was going on, but when I arrived at the tram stop at about 9:15 there were quite a few guests waiting to board, maybe three trams worth and only one tram in sight. I waited around a bit then decided to hike out to the garage instead. It took a little over 10 minutes to make the walk (the fireworks were just starting as I reached the crosswalk). I only saw one tram pass me from the park, and it arrived just before I did, I saw two going back to the park to pick up guests but no others.

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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