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12/23/10 - My thoughts and observations from Thursdays 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.

12/23/10 - My thoughts and observations from Thursdays visit to the Disneyland Resort

Hello all,

The rain finally stopped here in Southern California. Its been miserable weather (well miserable for us) since I got back from Florida last week. The crowds returned to the Disneyland Resort to kick off the Christmas weekend. Wait times at both parks were on par with a very busy day, but for the most part not rising to insane levels that I was expecting. It was nice to be back in the familiar confines of Anaheim. I really enjoy going down to Walt Disney World but there is just something about Disneyland that feels more like home to me. Not sure if its the smaller size or the fact that I visit more frequently but it just feels comfortable to me.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • I was expecting to exit the freeway and get stuck in gridlock around the parking structure as I had experienced last year during the busy times of the year. To my surprise parking was a snap as was the tram ride to the park. So not sure if it was just good luck or if the Toy Story lot has made that much of a difference or what but it was a great experience.

  • My first stop of the day was DCA to check out the Construction Progress around the park and see what else was going on this holiday weekend. As I walked by Soarin noticed it had only a 45 min wait. Over at the World of Color Fastpass distribution there were still tickets for the 9:15pm show (the 2nd of the evening). Out on the Pier the lines were reasonable too with Toy Story at 45 min. The Fun Wheel non swinging was a long 30 minutes though...

  • Watched about two-thirds of the Disney Channel Rocks show and this time it was a different cast and slightly better than the last one, but still I thought the Orlando version was better. Not sure if the cast was that much better, the sound system, or the song choices/sequence but I really did not care for the DCA version where as the Orlando one did not bother me. The crowd was a bit heavier, I was at the 1pm show instead of the 11am this time around, but it still felt really light for a show with its location. I would venture to bet if it was a bit latter in the day and featured a couple characters it would have a much larger draw.

  • The entertainment schedule this week was slightly different than usual. Not sure if it is a test, new design, or just for the holiday weekend but they put both DCA and Disneyland primary shows on the front (top/bottom) and then the back the other shows and character greetings. Then there was a second page with a coupon for 30% off your meal at select restaurants if you were willing to eat before noon or between 3:00 and 4:30pm. I found this new format nice since I usually spend my time reading the entertainment offerings and planning out which I want to see where as the big shows I know those times usually. Only other note on this is Laser Man is no longer listed.

  • Headed over to Disneyland and found the park to be much more crowded than DCA, which is the norm. The attraction wait times were on the long side as you saw in the pictures of the line board, but still not as bad as I have seen in the past (as the day went on they did get longer). For the most part crowd control did a good job of keeping everyone moving. The only real breakdown I experienced was when I was trying to get out to Small World during the 2:30 parade. Guests decided to stop and watch the parade and the poor CMs were trying to convince/tell them to move and they were just ignoring them and jamming up the traffic creating a near grid lock situation. It took me over 10 minutes to get from the Storybook entrance out to the gift shop by Small World.

  • Decided to take advantage of the dining coupon so I ate at the Tomorrowland Terrace around 4:00pm. It took me about 15 minutes to get through the line, but overall one of my better experiences there and saved me a lot of steps vs walking over to DCA and back. I was surprised that no one else was using the coupon that was with the time schedule. I looked around and did not see anyone use theirs while I was in line. As I was eating I was reading the guide maps and I noticed a misprint. The coupon in the entertainment schedule said it was valid starting on 12/26. I did not even notice and the CM took mine without questioning. I know the online one if you printed it was for 12/19 so I think they just goofed on the entertainment schedule one. But that did explain why I saw no one using it, guess they actually read the coupon.

  • I queued up for the 5:30 parade about 5:10 and found a spot with a good shot down Main Street. I left a little space between myself and the group in front of me so I could easily shoot over their shoulder and of course about 5 minutes before the parade another group pushed their way infront of me (and those around me) and blocked the view. Add to this they were quite loud and tall and it was very annoying. Then to top it off they would not sit still so I would work my way to an angle to get a shot and then they would move. So in the end the viewing experience was just not that good. It was probably my fault for leaving space, but the people around me liked the buffer as did I.

  • It was great to have two bands playing at Disneyland, with Elvis at Plaza Gardens and Tomasina at Tomorrowland Terrace so you had your choice of music. I did not make it over to Tomorrowland but the crowd at Plaza Gardens was healthy and all seemed to be having a good time.

  • Believe started about 10 minutes late, I did not see any reason for this, the wind looked good and all seemed ok. This made it a bit more challenging to get to the 9:15pm World of Color. I made it over to the show right as the 5 minute announcement was going on, but I had to hustle to get there and my choice of viewing spots was fairly limited.With the earlier showings of World of Color and Believe you can now make all three (if you include Fantasmic) shows in one evening. While waiting for Believe ran into someone I knew and they had just come from World of Color, they saw the 8:00pm show and headed for the exits as the Tron sequence was on and they made it onto Main Street with a couple minutes to spare (assuming the show would have started on time but since it was late they had plenty of time).

  • This was my first time watching World of Color from the Red section. I was not impressed. I think think Blue and Yellow are both quite a bit better, or at least better than where I was. The issue was the angle you have to look at the screens. The video was just not that clear. Also adding to this perception may have been the problems they were having Thursday. The Fun Wheel lights were all out (no doubt from the rain) and then the lasers were not running either for the show.

Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
Below are some interesting links, notes, and rumors I found/stumble across/or have been informed of since the last Geekspeaks column.

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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