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11/01/24 - Transition from Halloween to Christmas Underway and more Bayou Country Openings
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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.

11/01/24 - Transition from Halloween to Christmas Underway and more Bayou Country Openings

Hello Everyone!

I spent a relaxing day at the Disneyland Resort Friday. The parks felt much busier than I would have thought for this time of year, but the wait times were about average. The weather was on the cooler side but with the sun felt like a nice fall day topping out in the low 70s then falling to the low 60s.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • My voyage to the parks today was long. Traffic was not good and it took me just under 2 hours to get to Anaheim. As I exited the freeway I did something I rarely do, I hit both the exit and the Ball road light green. As I approached the turn into the parking structure all I could see if brake lights. From there is was a slow 20 minute crawl to the tollbooth, up to the roof and into a spot. I drew a decent spot in the aisle closest to the escalators about 20 cars down. Security was not bad, only a few people in each line. The trams were only loading in one zone and it was a 2 tram wait. In total it took me about 40 minutes from exiting the freeway to reach Main Street USA.
  • Upon entering the park I checked the Virtual Queue status. The previews for Tiana's Bayou Adventure were gone, Haunted Mansion and World of Color were available so I picked up both.
  • As I stepped into Town Square the Disneyland Band was rounding the corner with the Dapper Dans and Characters so I stopped to watch them march by then perform a song in front of the Train Station.
  • The Disneyland Railroad has returned from renovation. The Main Street station is partially covered as exterior work continues, but the station is open. In New Orleans Square the station is still unavailable. There is a new portion in the narration for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, but the windows are still closed to see the finale.
  • Throughout the resort Halloween is being packed away and Christmas is taking over. In Disneyland most of the decorations are gone and a fair amount of holiday decor is out already. Across the way at Disney California Adventure there seemed to be more Halloween still out. The Christmas decorations that are up so far seem to be the same as recent years with nothing jumping out to me as being new or different. Unfortunately that means Mickey's Toontown till has several areas left undecorated. The Fantasyland Theatre will be hosting Santa this year and preparations are underway to add a wintertime feel to the area.
  • Went for a cruise on the Mark Twain Riverboat but unfortunately missed the top deck by a cruise. When it pulled in all three decks were accessible but when I boarded they had it roped off. I checked later in the afternoon and it was still closed. So that meant not so great views of the sights along the river.
  • Since I had a poor view it was hard to tell anything about the Haunted Mansion queue project. There was someone working on the exterior of the elevator building but everything else was out of sight. On the other side the gift shop roof and lights are starting to be installed. Inside looks like the drywall is up but final finishes are not installed yet. Disney has not announced an opening date but it looks like they are moving quickly to get it open sooner rather than later.
  • Bayou Country is taking over Critter Country. The new sign is up and most of the walls are down. Since my last visit Ray's Berets and the Hungry Bear have opened. Tiana's Bayou Adventure was hosting Cast Member and Magic Key previews throughout the afternoon. The area was very crowded to walk through and cast members were stationed at the entry directing guests with strollers to park them along the walkway toward Galaxy's Edge. The only store left to open is Louis' Critter Club which is scheduled for the 13th.
  • Spent some time exploring Ray's Berets. The store is well done and the glass bottles with the various sets were fun to see. The merchandise was less than memorable with nothing unique jumping out to me. The two video screens with the fireflies was a nice plus in the back of the store.
  • The Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree was drawing a large crowd. The line for the registered stretched all the way down the ramp the couple times I walked by. The seating areas were very full too. I enjoyed seeing the Country Bear posters and tributes throughout. I found it interesting the sound track includes songs from the new Walt Disney World version of the attraction and nothing from the attraction that was here. I saw no references or explanations of how he Hungry Bears or Winnie the Pooh fit into the Bayou. I do not understand the name change for the land at this point. Seems to me if you really wanted Bayou Country more needs to change.
  • Magic Key Passholders can pick up a print of Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction poster. It is distributed in the afternoon on the walkway from Fantasyland to Galaxy's Edge, just past the stage coach in the tunnel. This seemed a very awkward spot to do it from a theme perspective but it worked great from an operational perspective with easy traffic flow and minimal disruption for everyone. The process moved quickly and it was easy to pick up. Walking around the park trying not to destroy the poster though was a bit of a challenge. I would have preferred a magnet, button, trading card, post cards or something easier to carry and to store once home.
  • Stopped by to see the Amazing Spider-Man show in Avengers Campus. The show is slated to be altered again soon. It is already a shortened version of what premiered so it will be interesting to see what changes. The high flying robot will continue to perform and is still impressive to see.
  • Out in Downtown Disney the Parkside Market project is moving along with most of the exterior complete and the new walkway going in. Next door it is hard to tell the status of the shops but they should be opening soon. Same goes for the new candy store near the Grand Californian Hotel walkway.
  • Christmas has taken over the World of Disney. Christmas music is playing, decorations are up and merchandise fills the center of the store. Other stores on Main Street and Buena Vista Street are rolling out the holiday merchandise too.
  • Mickey's Mix Magic is back for a couple weeks to fill the void between Halloween and Christmas. The show seemed the same with nothing jumping out as changed to me. Fireworks are scheduled for weekends and projections only during the weekdays.

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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