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9/23/22 - Disneyland Resort
 The Geek Speaks:

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.

9/23/22 - Disneyland Resort

Hello Everyone!

Friday was a relaxing afternoon at the Disneyland Resort for me. I only had a couple of items on my must see list and spent the rest of the time visiting with some friends/family and taking in the Halloween festivities. The weather was on the hot side topping out just shy of 90 but there was a breeze most of the time and it was not humid so that made it slightly more comfortable. The parks both felt crowded with a lot of guests moving around and wait times slightly longer than usual.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I started out my visit walking over to the Disneyland Hotel to check in on several projects and see the Halloween decorations. The decorations are the same as previous years consisting of a couple graphics/overlays in the Fantasy Tower. The re-painting project on the towers looks to be wrapping up with detail work on the entrance underway and looks like crews are done with the sections where rooms are. The DVC project is nearing its topping off with work underway on the final floor if I counted correctly.
  • As I walked out of the Fantasy tower the orange furniture really stood out to me. Maybe because it was completely empty with no guests in sight?
  • I walked through Downtown Disney (since the Monorail was closed due to the heat). I took the opportunity to finish Pluto's Pumpkin Pursuit and get some pictures of the prizes. I rushed through Downtown Disney last visit on my way to the D23 Expo and missed a couple of pumpkins that were up in the trees and one at the LEGO store. Also now that the stores were open I could see the game board to see how they referred to the various locations to update our posting on the hunt.
  • Mickey and Friends Cavalcade has been plussed slightly. The float the characters ride on has a wrap now that fits the Halloween theme. Nice to see them putting a little effort into the cavalcade since there are no parades at either park right now.
  • Speaking of live entertainment the pickings are a bit thin on the larger offerings right now with no parades and no shows at the Fantasyland or Hyperion Theaters. There is still the normal array of other groups out at Disneyland. DCA has felt a bit lite and right now has nothing on the Backlot Stage nor Paradise Park and the Philly Phonics group has left so only Five and Dime on Buena Vista Street.
  • The tiny sliver of the Toontown project that is visible from in the park had some visible progress since my last visit. The painting looks complete and scaffolding removed on the top of the El Capitoon and the hills behind it. The neon is not installed yet, but it appears final color is applied. It was great to see the model at the D23 Expo but I would really like a window or some current pictures of the status.
  • I grabbed a late lunch at Flo's today. They were still rationing ice like a valuable commodity. Seems there is no progress on addressing this situation. So once again I hiked over to the Wharf and picked up a cup of ice there to have with my meal at Flos. This seems rather poor that they cannot find a solution to be able to offer ice and ice water (they do offer cold water just no ice in it) especially to those buying meals there.
  • Hulk has arrived at Avengers Campus. He makes appearance at the gate the Red Cars use on the Avengers HQ building. Disney has only said this will be for a limited time, but no indication of what that translates to. I did not see hours or times for his appearances but the area was cleared by 5pm. Each appearance is approximately 15 minutes. He walked out, greets the crowd then cycles through a queue for pictures before leaving the way he arrived. Black Widow joined him the set we saw and she seemed to be doing most of the crowd interaction.
    • The operational challenges of where they had the Hulk made for a less than ideal guest experience. He is right along a major walkway so it meant there was a line of cast members constantly telling the crowd to keep moving and no stopping in the walkway. I understand the reason to keep from grid lock but it seems a different location from a crowd perspective would be a better experience.
    • Overall I thought it was a great concept to bring the character to the Avengers Campus and I really like how they are continuing to introduce characters and keep the campus alive in that aspect. The execution of the character was a little lacking. Part of it may be the hard time viewing but I thought the canned dialog did not add to the experience. The larger than life character was interesting to see and worked on a basic level but came off a tad awkward at best to me.
  • Magic Key pass holders can pick up a set of stickers under the Silly Symphony swings for National Hispanic American Heritage Month. The stickers include Mirabel, Elena, Miguel & Dante and Mickey & Minnie. The artwork is nice and something besides a button or magnet was interesting too. There is not a lot of signage and I did not see any hours posted. The process was quick to have my pass scanned and pick up the stickers. The cast members direct you around the swings for a photo op but nothing was set up when I walked around. So not sure what is going on there and I did not venture back to ask the cast members.
  • Eudora's Chic Boutique Featuring Tiana's Gourmet Secrets opened this past week in New Orleans Square. I paid a visit to the store in the mid afternoon and there were people going in and out but not a big crowd. Probably on par with previous stores that have been there. There are some references to Tiana, her mom, and New Orleans around the store and they seem to blend into the store smoothly. There were a number of products unique to the location which is a plus to see. The name seemed a little on the long side to me.
  • The main lobby of the Animation Building in Hollywood Land is still closed during the day. It appears it will be due to the Halloween Party using the space on party nights. So if you want to visit the Animation Academy or Turtle Talk you have to queue up outside and enter through side doors to the building. This seems like an extremely poor guest experience to me. For party guests they have a nice location, but for day guests they loose an impressive space and indoor queue, plus have to enter through side doors.
  • I stopped by to watch the 6:30pm performance of the Musical Celebration of Coco and like most the area was full with guests trying to see the show. It is great they are running the show so many times per day but the location is still extremely challenging to get a good view.
  • I spent some time hanging out in Cars Land and on Buena Vista Street to see the Halloween decorations after dark. Both had healthy crowds of guests moving around. On Buena Vista Street it seemed like there were going to be projections on Carthay Circle Restaurant and you could see them start at a low level but nothing more than lighting effects materials. Not sure if there was an issue or if that was the show this year for non party nights.
  • I still find it annoying that on the app you cannot specify or see which virtual queue you are joining for World of Color until after you have joined. I was late to join and got the second show, if I would have seen that is what was being distributed I would not have entered it. I opted to view the first show from standby and found a spot standing behind a group of people I could see over without too much of a challenge. The show was over 10 minutes late starting. The projections looked rather clear this evening compared to my last showing. The large fire effect is still not part of the show though.

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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.

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