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10/07/22 - 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.

10/07/22 - Disneyland Resort

Hello Everyone!

Friday was a relaxing visit to the Disneyland Resort. I had only a couple of items on my to see list and the plan was to just roam the parks and see what was going on. The parks felt busy with a lot of guests moving about and higher than average wait times. Some schools were off for Columbus Day and combine that with the normal crowds and good weather and it was busy. Temperatures topped out in the low 80s and a nice breeze and cooled to the low 70s before I left.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I had decent parking luck, drawing a spot only a handful of cars in just past the midpoint of the Mickey level. The escalator down was closed for some work which did not impact me since I was walking to Downtown Disney but it did cause some backup at the elevators. When I returned in the evening it was fixed but the up escalator between 3 and 4 was blocked off then.
  • Walked through the Disneyland Hotel to see if anything else was added for Halloween, just a schedule for some entertainment. The group was performing two sets three days a week during the mid afternoon only. Nice to see something offered but that seemed rather sparse. I guess its timed to go along with most guests checking in potentially?
  • The Hocus Pocus 2 Photo backdrop near Splitsville was located in a very out of the way spot, at the end of the walkway. There was a sign but it still seemed remote.
  • I saw some guests participating in the pumpkin hunt this visit, more than past visits, but no where near as many as I normally see during the annual egg hunts.
  • Started off my visit exploring Disney California Adventure. The lightup Zero popcorn buckets have arrived and were in stock throughout both parks with popcorn or cotton candy in them. Popcorn cost was $28. Some stands grew lines but most were not bad most of the day and into the evening. I passed guests carrying large numbers of them back to the parking structure when I was arriving, but those sales did not seem to have a big impact today with plenty in stock.
  • In Avengers Campus two interesting notes. First there were signs up that they were recording guests in the area. Guessing they are looking at crowd flow and ways to improve the choke points in the area. One change this visit vs last visit was with the Hulk meet and greet. Instead of a single queue that would form they had it as a free for all with everyone being encouraged to walk up to the rope, wait for Hulk, get your picture and move on. This looked more chaotic from a distance but really seemed to flow better for all involved. Seemed more guests could get that picture and see hulk and less yelling by cast members to keep traffic flowing in the area.
  • We decided to mobile order from Smokejumpers for lunch since we had not eaten there in a while. Found it odd the kid's burger was not showing up on the app. We tried two devices and neither showed it (I checked today and its there), you could order it from the registers. So we ended up checking out the line which was a handful of groups in each so we just waited. This turned out to be faster than mobile order. We had our food and were eating with still 5 minutes to go until the return time I had available came up. Another note. When all the dining prices went up several weeks ago I did not notice it but onion rings became an additional charge again. I found it interesting if you order them they do not show as an up charge but instead the cost of the meal is just a dollar more.
  • I am not a fan of the crinkle fries. Again they were extremely salty Friday. Not sure if its just my luck or the way they are intended but they were way too salty for my taste.
  • While eating lunch I overheard the table next to us trying to plan their afternoon and evening. They wanted to pick up a Genie reservation for Haunted Mansion Holiday and it said 9:50pm, this was around 1pm. Later in the day while walking around overheard another group complaining to each other that the only Genie reservation they got and used was for Guardians of the Galaxy. Not sure if this was because of the crowds Friday or because of the guests usage choices but thought both conversations were noteworthy.
  • I spent some time roaming through stores in Disney California Adventure. I thought it was interesting Gone Hollywood featured an assortment of the Disney Vans collection which featured the Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World. This seemed odd in a Hollywood store and on the wrong coast. Elias & Co had some of the new Star Wars collection.
  • First time in several visits a day trip aboard the Monorail was possible. It was closed due to heat until nightfall my last several visits. So I went for a round trip to check out a couple projects from the air. The Downtown Disney west side project had some visible progress with infrastructure going in and grading looking to be wrapping up.
  • I struck out again with mobile order in the evening. We decided to grab a snack from the Pacific Wharf Cafe and I wanted a round loaf of bread. It was not on the app. We walked by and as luck would have it there were only a couple groups in line so waited and ordered inside. Again I checked today and the app had the options.. so not sure why Friday they were not there.
  • The SCAREolers have returned to Downtown Disney for the Halloween season. They are performing four sets on Fri-Sun evenings and Halloween night. If you have a chance stop by for an entertaining set by this talented group of vocalists.
  • Avengers Campus continues to add characters based on the current Marvel films and TV programs. Friday a new character Werewolf By Night started to make appearances in the area. The Werewolf was growling at guests from atop the gate near the walkway to Cars Land. This was an interesting spot for a character encounter. The area is rather narrow and add in the Dr. Strange show queue and the walkway and it left little space to see the character. From an operations stand point this was a challenge and again you had cast members talking loudly trying to keep the queue and walkways clear. Seems they could move the queue or load the theater earlier or both to ease the congestion in the area. The character itself was a challenge to get a picture of with the lighting and fog effect plus angles you had to stand at.

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

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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