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Hello all,

It was a great day at the Disneyland Resort. The crowds were not too bad, the weather cleared up nicely from the June Gloom and we were just happy to be at Disneyland. The launch of the 50th seems to have been a success with Disneyland pulling in healthy crowds for the new offerings. DCA on the other hand still felt really empty and not that alive, even during its Block Party Bash. For example over at Disneyland within about 30 minutes of parade time Main Street was fairly full with it being hard to navigation around, which by the way is great to see again.. where as DCA right at parade time you could walk up and be in the first or second row depending on where you were on the parade route and near the end by the Pier and the Bay area you could hardly tell a parade had just stepped off and would be coming by in 15 minutes or so.

Jason

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

Disneyland:

• ASIMO, Honda's robot, has arrived at Innoventions and has been given its own show and theater up where the old GM/Segway space was. The presentation lasts about 15 minutes and there is a brief 5 minute preshow video and 10 mintues worth of Q&A to pass the time while waiting. The presentation itself is a heavily scripted interaction between the robot and a CM who is supposed to be the mother of the family that just received ASIMO. The routine includes walking around in various routes, balancing on one leg, kicking a soccor ball, walking up and down stairs, and a couple other "tricks". I found it incredible to sit and watch this little robot go through the routine. The programming that is involved is just amazing to me that it can keep itself balanced perfectly. The lazygeek who is a Mechanical engineer was impressed too. Its a great engineering feat. We both were curious how long it took to program/work out the show routine, but even with the scripted show the robot still has to balance, navigate around, and perform which is impressive. Only complaint we had is that there is no schedule posted and the CM at the entrance to Innoventions did not know the schedule. I think they really need to post it so you have an idea of when the shows are before heading into Innoventions. Either that or they need to allow you to skip the entrance pods and go straight in the building to check. Its annoying having to wait and then watch Tom Morrow before enterting. We did find out the evening show schedule for Friday was 4, 5, 6, and 7. Not sure if this is set in stone for other days or just for the one day.
  
  
• The ASIMO venue/presentation I think really shows what Innoventions can and should be. A technology showcase modeled after a Worlds Fair type idea. I felt the same way with the Segway Exhibit. I really wish they would get rid of some of the video games, or the health area or something and put a larger Segway experience in. I think unique experiences like Segway & ASIMO could make Innoventions a more inviting stop and longer visit times for guests.
  
  
• We did not get that many good pictures, but when you visit the ASIMO theater take a good look at the pictures hanging on the walls of the "house". For you Disneyland history buffs I think you will find some interesting family photos...
  
  
• As you saw in our hidden 50s section, we are up to 49 out of 50 we think, so if anyone happens to know which one we are missing please let us know. If not next trip I guess I have to go to City Hall and ask for the official list to see..
  
  
• Stopped by the Main Street Train Station and saw the new train board. Its really great to see it working, I kind of miss the old lights, but the new system is interesting. Also cool to see the Ward Kimball listed. A sign of good things to come for the Disneyland Railroad.
  
  
• We seem to be running into more and more rude guests in the parks.. the one that sticks out to us this trip is someone we encounted in front of the castle. It was about 45 minutes before Remember and we decided to walk in front of the castle to see how jammed it was. There was a narrow walkway just big enough to fit people in opposite directions through, but not large enough for ECVs to pass each other or strollers. We hit a traffic jam about the center of the castle and saw a couple ECVs and Wheelchairs trying to make it through coming toward us. And we saw a gap in the crowd so decided to step off to the side and let the chairs by. It was either that or we would have to push through. So we stopped. A shorter but wider woman turns around and starts to yell at us. Saying we are taking her space that is being saved for her family. We tried to explain we were not staying, just getting out of the way for a minute. She continued to complain, getting louder. Her family arrived right behind the wheelchairs and we started to move, but before we could get out of the way she started pushing us out into the walkway. We laughed and moved on. But were amazed at how rude guests are now a days. First off we made it clear we did not want her space, secondly her space was basically part of the walkway anyways, and thirdly it was still 45 minutes to show time and if she was that worked up wonder if she had a melt down as the crowd really pushed in as showtime neared..
  
  
• Watched Remember from near Coke Corner and really enjoyed the show again. Its an impressive 17 minute display. The crowd control to exit the park seems to have gotten its act together and it was extremely easy to walk down Main Streeet and out to the tram and walked right on one. We were back in our cars and on the road by 10pm. Not bad at all.

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