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12/18/09 - My thoughts and observations from a visit to the 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.

12/18/09 - My thoughts and observations from a visit to the Disneyland Resort.

Hello all,

Friday kicked off the start of the heavy holiday crowds at the Disneyland resort. Both parks were operating on extended hours and full entertainment schedules (even the Electrical Parade was back at DCA). I was pleasantly surprised by the calm at both parks in the afternoon but as the sun set the crowds swelled and by the end of the second Christmas Fantasy Parade Disneyland was jammed and getting around was a challenge. Throughout the afternoon though the lines at both parks were on the light side with most under 20 minutes.

Jason

Trip logs and mileage reports are in the Park Miles section.

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • I was expecting all sorts of parking headaches based on my experiences during the Halloween season, but was pleasantly surprised to exit the freeway and take the overpass into the garage with no real wait at all. Not sure if I lucked out or if the parking kinks have worked their way through some? Anyone else go Friday? How was your experience?

  • As you saw in the pictorial update there are tents set up selling merchandise near the security checkpoint (I believe this is true on both sides, not just the DD side but I never made it over to the other side). I thought these looked really cheap and did nothing to enhance the atmosphere. Also I did not see that many people stopping to shop.

  • Not much to report from DCA on my visit of the day. The construction is moving along and no real testing going on out in the Bay. I do miss the Toy Story single rider line. I never did hear a good reason (the real reason) why it has been removed. Anyone know the full story?

  • Stopped by the new D-Street store in Downtown Disney. Seemed to be an interesting mix of merchandise. The store was fairly empty, maybe a couple groups of guests. There were a ton of CMs working though. Nice to see something in the Downtown Disney space again.

  • Next up was the new Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln that officially re-opened on Friday. Its been a long four years but Lincoln is back and looking better than ever. The lobby has been upgraded too and looks great. The new artwork and displays are interesting and everyone seemed to be enjoying them. The old favorite is back too, the model of the Capital. I thought the extra detail work in the lobby area really showed and made for a proper set up for the show. It had a much richer/refined feel than the old lobby. There were two things that jumped out at me as missing. The first was space to sit and relax. There was only one small chair in the area. Secondly it would have been nice to have a clock showing the time till the next show somewhere.

  • Once you head into the theater again you notice that all the props and other tacky elements are gone. You take your seat and the show begins. No more 3D sound gimmicks or other lighting effects. Just a straight forward show again. The format is the same as before with a slide/video presentation first then Lincoln takes the stage and delivers his speech which is really excerpts from several speeches put together. The show seems to follow very closely the original Worlds Fair show with only a few tweaks (such as the two brothers addition and the Golden Dream exit as well as some dialog tweaks). The voice recordings are remastered from the original. The Lincoln figure itself is extremely impressive with his fluid movement and facial expressions. To see some video of the show check out the Press Release here.

  • As you exit Golden Dream is playing and you end up in a hallway lined with images that evoke the spirits of America. This was a great ending. Not as strong as the film clips that you see at the American Adventure but it works to end on a high note. All thought not sure about Miley Cyrus sharing wall space with Elvis, the Beach Boys, and Michael Jackson.. she is big but not that big...

  • Overall I think its great to see Mr. Lincoln back and the show is a high quality update to a true Disneyland Classic. Hopefully the average day guest agrees and visits... I know I will.. I did twice on Friday.

  • As you saw in the pictorial update all Disney flags were lowered to half staff as a tribute to Roy Disney who passed last week. I believe this will be a one week tribute and a nice gesture.

  • On my second pass through DCA after dinner they were testing some of the World of Color fountains and then the spotlights. The spotlights are incredibly bright and were great to watch. There were fairly decent crowds around the bay and many stopped to watch for a while. The reaction was positive too and these small tests really seemed to be creating some excitement. Hopefully Disney continues to do some testing while the park is open. The scale of this show is amazing and the intensity of the spotlights was great to see.

  • Arrived back at Disneyland just as Santa was exiting Town Square (pretty bad timing I know). Main Street was jammed with people. Seemed to be just as many trying to get in as there were trying to get out. They opened the parade gate and directed those of us entering the park backstage and around to Tomorrowland, we came out at Space Mountains exit, which of course really bottled up this area. I could not see that well but it looked like the other side of Main Street, backstage, was also open for those exiting the park. This is the first time I could remember both being open, especially this early in the day. It did work to keep the crowd moving.

  • Speaking of crowd, Disneyland was jammed the rest of the night and moving around the park was a real challenge. Wait times did not seem that unbearable but moving from attraction to attraction was a challenge, especially if it involved going anywhere near Main Street or the Fanastmic crowd.



  • Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
    In this section of the Geekspeaks column I will include links, notes, and rumors I find/stumble across/or have been informed of.

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

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