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12/25/05 - Some thoughts and observations from a Christmas day visit to the Disneyland Resort.
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12/25/05 - Some thoughts and observations from a Christmas day visit to the Disneyland Resort.

* After you read this report you may want to check out the pictorial updates in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

Hello all,

We got to do something this year we have never done before, spend Christmas Day at the Disneyland Resort. For some strange reason we have never been to the park on Christmas day, not sure why or why not. I have spent a couple of December 25th at Walt Disney World, but none at Disneyland. So this year spent it with the family at the park. There were several in our group who had not been to the park in over a year actually,so we spent all day (arrived just prior to opening and stayed until around 10pm. We had no real agenda for the day except to have fun. (What else would you want to do at Disneyland).

The park really did not feel too different than any other day during the holiday season. We did not notice anything special going on since it was Christmas day. The crowds seemed to build throughout the day but gridlock really never surfaced and from what I could tell they never had to close the gates, even DCA had a fair number of guests roaming around.

Jason

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

Notes:

  • Let's start off with the suprising mild crowd. Most attractions seemed to have a 45 min or so wait, with Space Mountain topping out at 85 minutes. Indy was around an hour. Small World Holiday was under an hour for most of the day. Haunted Mansion Holiday 30-45 minutes. Big Thunder around half an hour posted. Pirates was fairly constant at 15-30 minutes too. The Steam Train seemed to be about a 1-3 train wait throughout most of the day. Over at DCA lines were solid around 30 minutes for the biggies (Soarin' & GRR) with Tower slightly less.

  • As you saw in the pictorial update the backlot has fully re-opened and there is a soft opening going on for Mike and Sully to the Rescue. First let me comment on the area. I think its really well done and shows how the area should have been themed in the first place. Instead of a large concrete area there are now shrubs, trees, planters, and walkways. The signage and color scheme appear to have been lifted straight from the Studios in WDW. I am really looking forward to seeing what is next on the re-hab/re-theme list for DCA.

  • Took a spin on the new Monsters Inc Attraction - Mike & Sulley to the Rescue. I only had the chance to ride once, so just some initial thoughts. Overall I thought the overlay and changes all worked. The attraction seemed to be generating a positive word of mouth as I overheard guests talking about it. Most people viewed it for what it is. A good dark ride, and not something its not an E-ticket attraction. I think this really balances the area nicely with Muppets and Tower. The attraction queue seemed the same configuration as Super Star limo, just new signs/props/etc.. Same for the ride track (even though I think I read somewhere its shorter now). I thought the sets and characters looked great in person and even photographed well. The Taxicabs (which used to be Limos) even seemed to work nicely. The official opening date is supposed to be January 23rd, so until then its in a soft opening mode, so be warned if your making the trip for this new attraction that it may not always be open until after the 23rd. So to sum things up I think the new attraction works nicely and will keep the crowds entertained. Only time will tell if its enough to really bring this area of the backlot to life. I think a new show in the theater would help out too..

  • One other DCA note. For those of you with a Disney Visa, did you notice you can get a free 5x7 at DCA. If you visit Ariel's and show the certificate/your Visa, you get a free voucher. We used my Visa and did this (I think its only 10-11 in the morning so this was my first chance to do it really). Anyways got the picture (there was no one around, just Mickey and Goofy, and us... I was a little disappointed in the quality of the picture, not the best and if I paid $12 for that shot I would have been disappointed.

  • I think Tomorrowland is starting to look a bit cluttered. First the VMK kiosk was added in front of Innoventions. Now there is a Disney Vacation Club sales area near Star Traders. As if the location in Downtown Disney, plus the one on Main Street were not enough there is now this one to sell you time-shares.

  • Caught the entire climbing show on the Matterhorn. I wish they would put this on the program or listed somewhere. Its a really well done show and fun to watch.

  • Over at Disneyland we had another first... a problem on the Steam train. Seems the battery was not charging correctly so the P/A and light systems were not working properly. They decided to attempt to fix this at the Toontown Depot, that did not work so they pulled up so the engine was near the backstage crossing nearest the round-house. A round-house crew wheeled out a new battery (looked like a car battery) and made the swap. Still no luck. The crew tweaked a couple more things then gave up and we went on our way. This was probably a 10-15 minute delay.

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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