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

Hello all,

For a summer trip the crowds seemed about average. There were a lot of people milling about over in DCA, but the lines were almost all under 45 minutes (even Tower). Over at Disneyland Splash Mountain had a 105 minute wait but everything else seemed under an hour which seemed good to me with both Space and Thunder out.

Below are some comments and observations regarding this trip.

Trip logs and mileage reports are in thePark Miles section.

Disneyland & DCA:

• Both Pirates and Haunted Mansion had their Fastpass Distribution closed. Guess the rumor about them closing them down permanently (except for Haunted Mansion Holiday) is fairly true.

• They must be fairly confident that Big Thunder will re-open soon. There were no rehab walls up and two trains were in the station filled with weights (well large containers which we guessed had water in them).

• The Big Thunder BBQ area is open, when we walked by mid-afternoon there was not too much activity, all the CMs were just standing around waiting for the crowds...

• Caught the 3:00pm College Band set. Two of the members of the band did vocal solos, which were very good. One Georgia on my Mind (Ray Charles) and the other was Fly Me to the Moon by Sinatra.

• While watching the band I noticed a group of Disney CMs (well I am guessing TDA people and maybe an Imagineer or two) come out and go over by the castle with some props and a painting of what the castle will look like for the 50th. They walked over to where the test paint was applied and it looked like two of them gave a brief demonstration, then the entire group returned backstage. I could not see anything too interesting from my seat.

• Over at DCA we caught a little of the Surf Band's performance in the entrance plaza, they have modified the stage and woody a bit and it really looks good, probably what it should have looked like from the start with the surf boards and all.

• We caught the full "show" in front of the Animation Building this trip, it is very brief, maybe 10 minutes tops from start to finish. We also went inside to see what was happening. After the show the characters stick around in the animation lobby and take pictures, sign autographs, and play games. It was fun to watch them play Duck Duck Goose with the kids... some great video and picture opportunities with your child chasing Mickey around a circle that includes Aladdin, Cinderella and Woody...

• Over at Disneyland we learned there is no late set for the College Band, their last performance is before the parade on Main Street. We watched some of the Band at Carnation, Stompy Jones, which we kept calling Stumpy Jones. It was a great performance, we never would have guessed the guy who was the lead vocalist was the lead vocalist.. Also caught the Band at Club Buzz, called Sandbox. So it was a wide range of music we heard from Frank Sinatra to modern pop tunes from groups like No Doubt.

• The Fireworks show was the conclusion to our trip and overall the show is still very unimpressive to us... and the recycled music still makes me laugh a bit.

  
  

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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