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11/18/22 - Disneyland Resort - 1st Holiday Season Visit of 2022
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11/18/22 - Disneyland Resort - 1st Holiday Season Visit of 2022

Hello Everyone!

Friday was my first visit to the Disneyland Resort for the 2022 Holiday Season. The parks are fully decorated and entertainment offerings are abundant. The weather was on the cooler side, topping out around 70 and cooling down to the 50s. The crowds were average for this time of year. The walkways felt busy with a good number of people moving around both parks all day long. Wait times the few times I looked were about what you would expect with the crowd.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • We arrived just after 10am and found no waits at the toll booths, security, tram stop or park entrance. There were a good number of guests arriving but everything was flowing with minimal waits.
  • Took a quick look at the car locator function again and it found the structure but nothing more precise. So that appears to be the best it can do. Has anyone seen anything more accurate?
  • On this date in 1928 Mickey and Minnie Mouse made their screen debuts in "Steamboat Willie". To celebrate today as you entered the park there were commemorative buttons. At 12:45pm a special Birthday Cavalcade made its was through the park stopping to sing happy birthday to the couple. There were also some signs available for photo ops. All in all it was on par with past celebrations and a nice little extra for those visiting the park.
  • MagicBand+ is being pushed a little more aggressively in the parks. In addition to the kiosk right before security at the Mickey and Friends Tram stop the wait time boards now flash between the waits and advertisements for the bands. I thought this was disruptive and seemed out of place, especially at night when they really stood out. I did see a guest use one to enter the park Friday, which was a first for me. They do not seem that widespread. I watched both World of Color and Believe in Holiday Magic and I did not spot any MagicBands during either show. The only other time I noticed a few was in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge near the Bounty Hunter Game kiosk.
  • My first stop of the day was it's a small world Holiday for my first cruise of the year. This year the overlay is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Throughout the attraction are several 25's. The other change this year is one of the dolls is now in a wheel chair. The rest of the attraction looked the same as previous years with nothing else jumping out on a first cruise through. The wait time was posted at 15 minutes when we arrived and it took about that. Later in the evening when I was in the area it was posted at 40 minutes.
  • Din Djarin (the Mandalorian) and Grogu (the child) are now visiting Black Spire Outpost throughout the day. When I spotted them they were on the walkway just outside the marketplace. Today was their first day on Batuu and there was a good size crowd of guests trying meet them. There were a several cast members trying to manage the guests and keep the traffic flowing in the area. This made for a less than ideal experience with cast members speaking loudly directing people. I would expect this to become less chaotic and a better experience over time. I think its great they are introducing more characters to Galaxy's Edge and this will hopefully breath some life into the land. On this visit we also saw Boba Fett, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Fennec Shand and a first order person roaming around.
  • For lunch I mobile ordered from Flo's V-8 Cafe. The Disneyland App was working normally and you could customize your orders today. The pick up process was a little more efficient this visit than previous ones but the food was not as hot, the fries were warm, not hot.
  • To Celebrate Black Panther: Wakanda Forever there are some offerings in Hollywood Land and Avengers Campus -
    • Inside the Super Store (Stage 17) there is a display with several costumes and a prop from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I thought it was a nice addition but in an out of the way place that many guests will not visit. There was no indication that it was there. Its too bad they do not do previews anymore. Wonder what is inside the former Hollywood and Dine building on the opposite side of Monsters Inc?
    • There is a Flavors of Wakanda Marketplace in front of Monsters Inc, the couple times I walked by there were guests in the area but no real line. With Monsters Inc closed for renovation still foot traffic is a little light in the area.
    • In the Hyperion Queue space The Black Panther Celebration Garden is set up. I did not think this worked that well for the area. It did have a different, more somber mood, than the rest of the park and just seemed off to me.
  • The Hollywood Backlot Stage hosted several sets of the United States Airforce Band Airmen of Note. This Jazz group travels the country performing. I stopped by for a set and they drew an ok crowd. I would have liked to have seen this promoted a bit more. There was a sign in the Backlot and it was on the time schedule in the App but I saw nothing else. Some sort of signage near the wait time board would have been some added visibility.
  • My primary objective for the day was to enjoy the Holiday Entertainment. For the Christmas season both parks offer an assortment of performances. There are no significant changes this year compared to recent years which is good and bad. Good that nothing was cut and there is still so much but bad in that there was nothing too different or new. I would have liked to have seen Disneyland add a few more offerings. Disney California Adventure hosts the Disney Festival of Holidays which keeps a near constant schedule with many performances overlapping throughout the day and evening.
  • Some quick thoughts on the entertainment I was able to watch today:
    • The Holiday Toy Drummers perform on ground level near the obelisk. The challenge with this location is getting to see them and traffic flow. Adding to the challenge in the area is some pavement work closer to the Embarcadero store. I preferred when they were on the stage.
    • Mickey's Happy Holidays is a great high energy procession. It drew healthy crowds and is a fun experience. My nephews always enjoy it and today was no exception.
    • Disney Viva Navidad Street Party is great as always. This high energy celebration continues to be a great experience, my only complaint with it is viewing is challenging. It is performed a half dozen times a day so that helps to allow more guests to see the show.
    • Over at Disneyland A Christmas Fantasy Parade is back again. No major changes jumped out to me on a first viewing.
    • Phat Cat Swinger performed two holiday concerts. They had decent crowds at the first one that I attended this evening. We always enjoy their performances and the band did not disappoint.
    • Stopped on Main Street for the 7:30pm Wintertime Enchantment moment. These snow fall moments are great pluses. I do miss the extra lighting effects they had years ago on the hub tree and white lights on the garland and main tree too. But the show overall is a fun experience and my 3 year old nephew had a ball with the snowfall.
    • it's a small world holiday projection show has returned again. This brief show happens on most quarter hours. I did not see it on any schedule but it typically runs right after the clock sequence, assuming there is no parade or Wintertime Enchantment going on.
    • I joined the Virtual Queue for World of Color - Season of Light at noon and was able to secure a spot in the first show of the evening the Blue/Yellow area. It is still odd to me that they have two different colored areas but distribute them together. Seems to add more confusion than just saying one area. But I guess it does spread people out a bit more to enter. I found it odd I got a notice saying the viewing area opened about 80 minutes prior to show time. I did not make it over to the area until about 25 minutes before and we were held until less than 15 minutes before they scanned our passes and let us in. There were a large number of guests already in and then a group in a holding area that was let in a couple minutes before us then we were allowed in. In the end I was able to get a spot in second row in the area I wanted which was not bad. The show itself looked good and it was great to see the big fire ball effect back. There were no bubble snowflakes for the finale. Are they back this year? I saw the boxes were out but none were open/producing any this evening.
  • After World of Color I was walking toward the park exit to meet my group and realized I had about 5 minutes until fireworks and there was no wind and no visible lines over at Disneyland. So I decided to give it a go and arrived on Main Street and found a spot with about a minute to spare so I was able to watch Believe in Holiday Magic to conclude my evening.

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