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12/15/23 - Disneyland Resort
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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.

12/15/23 - Disneyland Resort

Hello Everyone!

I have said this many time before.. it is nice to go on vacation to Walt Disney World but its great to return home to Disneyland. Disneyland has a very different feel to me than the other resorts. I think the compact size and large percentage of locals makes for a different atmosphere. One other huge difference to me is the amount of entertainment available in the parks. Anaheim has much more to offer now a days. For example Friday I enjoyed 15 different performances, I excluded ones I saw in passing and only included those I stopped and watched for at least a couple of songs.

Here is a quick run down of what I stopped to see -

  • Avengers Assemble
  • Mickey's Happy Holidays
  • Mariachi Divas on the Bandstand
  • Viva Navidad Street Party
  • Disneyland Band
  • Golden Horseshoe Piano Player
  • A Christmas Fantasy Parade
  • Holiday Harmony
  • Five and Dime
  • The Mistletoes
  • Phat Cat Swinger (both 5:30 & 6:45 sets)
  • Grand Californian Piano Player
  • Grand Californian Trio
  • Sabrina Lentini @ Downtown Disney
  • MoonRays @ Downtown Disney

One thing I missed from WDW was the security screening process. The scanners and hand searches of bags when needed are much more efficient than at Disneyland where all bags need to be hand checked.

The weather was picture perfect Friday topping out about 80 and cooling down to the 60s with mostly clear skies all day. The crowds were hit and miss depending on your timing. Overall the parks followed the normal pattern of a moderate crowd that then grew as the sun went down and people got out of work/school.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Parking was slow going when I arrived. It took about 20 minutes from the freeway off ramp to a parking spot due to a very slow moving and long line at the tollbooth. It seemed every car had a question too as it inched along. Interesting they were directing all lanes to the roof when I got there, I had not experienced that in quite a while. In the end I drew a spot close to the walkway but on the far side of the garage, so minimal driving and average walking.
  • Stopped by the Animation Building in Disney California Adventure and the entire Workshop was closed until 6:30pm. The library is closed all the time now, but seems due to the Imagination Campus the first room of the workshop is too until the programs end for the day. I crossed paths with a number of groups participating in the program, so it seems as busy as ever. The program's former location in the Blue Sky Cellar has walls up around the courtyard, walkway and DVC patio area. I saw reporting this will all be part of a DVC location once the work is done.
  • For lunch I mobile ordered from Flo's. This time the food came up faster than the last two but seems the Cast Members could not find/figure out the order to put in the system to notify me. I spotted my order and waited.. after a couple others came and went I walked up and ask the CM. They looked at the order, typed some stuff on the screen then said yes that was mine and gave it to me. Wonder how long I would be stuck there with my food getting cold if I was not paying attention or had not ordered something that was easy to spot.
  • In Disneyland I spotted Miguel from Coco out near the Golden Horseshoe. I had not seen him there, typically he is across the walkway in the park area.
  • I stopped by the Golden Horseshoe and enjoyed a Christmas performance by the Piano player. The audience seemed into the show singing along and engaging him as he told jokes and entertained everyone. I do miss the Billies but glad to see some performances still happening on the stage.
  • I had great timing for it's a small world holiday. I took a look and the app said 15 minutes, as did the sign when I arrived and only one switchback was in use. It took under 10 minute from passing the wait time sign to setting sail.
  • I was pleasantly surprised to see that the hotel entertainment is now listed on the website. They listed show times and the hotels but not the group or location so that was a bit of a challenge. Especially at the Disneyland Hotel. I assumed it was the lobby and found a sign for Holiday Harmony there. The 4:15pm show time came and went and no signs of life. I looked around including over where Santa is and no sign of them. Eventually I found them out side in the courtyard. This was a tad awkward as there was no audio and the background sound from the pool was rather loud. They said their last two sets are inside in the lobby. Also interesting to note the Disneyland App did not list any of the hotel entertainment except for Santa Greeting at both.
  • Phat Cat Swinger put on great shows as always. I stayed for both sets and visited with friends between the two sets. They had a healthy crowd at the show as for many this is the last chance to catch them until the new year with the upcoming block outs.
  • Stopped by the Grand Californian to see who was performing. It was a Trio, I missed their name and the sign was generic. I was hoping to catch the bell choir but no luck this year. The lobby of the Grand CA was very busy with a lot of guests moving around as well as enjoying the holiday festivities.
  • The Disney Live! stage on the west end in Downtown Disney had two acts alternating Friday night. I caught the end of Sabrina Lentini's set which had a mix of regular and Christmas music. Then stayed for the full MoonRays set that was all Christmas. There were a good number of guests enjoying the evening and entertainment. Many had moved chairs to get a better view of the stage. Kids were running and playing on the lawn.
  • On my way back to the parks caught the 8:30pm snow fall moment. The wind was less than favorable so it was more limited snow but all in the area were enjoying it. Wonder how it is to be eating and the snow falls on you and your meal?
  • Closed out my evening with World of Color Season of Light. It was great to see the fire effects back in the Goofy decorating segment.
  • Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks were canceled due to the winds. I am glad I opted for World of Color.

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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