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Visit Date: 12/15/06
Steps: 25,272
Parks Miles: 11.96
Time in Parks: 8:10

 
Trip Log:

Started of this cool Southern California afternoon heading for Disneyland. Strolled down Main Street to the hub, checked out the line board and then headed into Adventureland and through New Orleans Square to grab a Fastpass for Haunted Mansion. Then turned around and walked along the Rivers of America and through Frontierland, stopping briefly at the Reindeer Roundup on my way out to Small World. Since there was virtually no wait hopped on Small World Holiday and then walked around the Matterhorn and into Tomorrowland. Walked through the Autopia queue to get some good shots of the sub lagoon work and walked back to Main Street and around the Castle. Cut through Frontierland and NOS to grab another Fastpass for Haunted Mansion before walking across the way to DCA. Entered DCA and walked by the Vineyard and out to the Pier. Took a spin on the Sun Wheel to see the Midway Mania construction and then finished the loop of the Pier and walked by GRR and into Condor Flats. Grabbed a Fastpass for Soarin and continued on to the Backlot. Saw there was no line for Monsters so went for a spin (got my own car). I finished the loop of the Backlot and headed back across the way to Disneyland. Wandered down Main Street and to Tomorrowland to grab a Fastpass for Buzz. Returned to Main Street to watch the Carolers and then the Flag Retreat. After the retreat made my way back down Main Street and to Tomorrowland where I wandered around a bit and then grabbed another Fastpass for Buzz. Headed back to Main Street for some shots of the lights and walked back over to DCA. Stopped by Condor Flats to check out the line at Taste Pilot and then grabbed another Fastpass for Soarin. Headed out to Bugsland to see what was new and get some night shots then ended up back in the Sunshine Plaza listening to the Wave Riders for a set. It was now dinner time so headed to Taste Pilots. Saw no tables inside and it was too cool to eat outside so walked over to White Water Snacks for dinner. After eating returned to DCA and decided to skip Soarin and head back to Disneyland. Walked down Main Street and used the Fastpasses for Buzz. Afterward walked around Tomorrowland a bit and then around the Castle and into Fantasyland. Walked the Big Thunder Trail and through the Fantasmic masses to Haunted Mansion. Used our Fastpasses there and then headed back to Main Street via Adventureland. Walked down the street and hopped on the train back to NOS. Watched most of Fantasmic before returning to Main Street to watch Believe. After the snow fell it was time to head for the tram, the car, and home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Actual Walking Time: 4:06:56
* 102 steps per minute average
* 2.90 mph average


For Comparisons to other trips or more park miles click here to visit our park Miles Section.

Note: These totals may be skewed because the pedometer is zero'd when we start and then left alone and read when we leave. So attractions, and other things may cause extra "steps" to be counted. The pedometer that we use basically measures up/down motion as a step, so if your standing in line and moving up and down it may be counting steps, etc.. so the total distances traveled and steps may be off.. so use these as rough distance comparisons between trips and they may not be accurate in terms of actual distance traveled.
Pictures & Video From this Trip:


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My Thoughts & Observations:

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

Hello all,

Friday was a mild day here in Southern California. Overall it was nice to be back on "home turf" after nine days at WDW. There is just something about Disneyland that makes it feel more like "home" to me. WDW is great but its just so large and expansive that I do not get the same feel from the parks (especially the Magic Kingdom).

The crowds at the Disneyland Resort were mild most of the day until the evening. Throughout the afternoon most wait times were under 30 minutes at both parks with many of them near walkons. For example I road Monsters and the car in front of me was empty, my car had only me in it, and the car behind me was also empty. This was the first time I experienced that. Pirates is still packing them in at Disneyland, the shortest wait I saw there was 20 minutes. By the time Believe kicked off Main Street was jammed and I image the rest of the park's prime viewing locations were too.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • The big story at both parks seemed to be the construction. Over at Disneyland the final touches on the Monorail platform are going on for an expected temporary re-opening this week(it was originally slated for last week). It should be really interesting to see how the new route goes. If anyone is there this week and takes any pictures send them over. I will not be down to the park till after Christmas (possibly till after New Years). At DCA it appears the ground is cleared for the new attraction(Midway Mania), wonder when it will be officially announced.

  • On Monsters Inc in the segment where you see the door open to reveal a Monster they had a Christmas scene. It was a monster decorating their Christmas Tree. I did not get a good picture of this unfortunately, I found this to be a great addition and wonder if more seasonal animations will be played there.

  • I caught the Flag Retreat Friday and noticed quite a few guests in attendance.. nice to see the crowds growing for this great ceremony. After seeing Walt Disney World's version last week I was even more impressed with the showmanship, precision, and presentation of Disneyland's current retreat. At WDW's Magic Kingdom they bring out the Main Street Band and three security CMs approach the flag pole. They march in single file, a brief medley of the armed forces is played (basically the chorus from each branch) and then the national anthem is played as the flag is lowered and folded. No real precision just a simple folding then they walk out single file again. Its a nice little ceremony but nothing like Disneylands. On the other hand for the lighting of the Christmas Tree WDW blows away Disneyland. At Disneyland this year they play a brief recorded message and the lights come on. At WDW there is a short show with singers, the band, children, and characters that takes place nightly on the train station.

  • Buzz Lightyear seemed to need some TLC. We spotted several non-functioning elements.. some obvious like the large orange robot or the carosuel in the third room. Others such as some of the pop up targets non popping up but instead stuck up or down. Hopefully they are minor tweaks. To the best of my memory the attraction has not been down since its opening for any real period of rehab work. Also wonder if they will ever move to system like they are using at EPCOT's Test Track now for on ride photos where you just swipe your photopass card. If so I think that would greatly reduce the wait time at the exit. Or even better yet for us annual passholders if the photopass was linked to our annual pass... which is linked to our online account.. one card does it all that would be nice.

  • White Water Snacks at the Grand Californian continues its downward spiral in my book. This used to be one of my favorite places to eat.. good food, "reasonable prices", and a quiet atmosphere. This trip they could not even get my order right. I wanted a plain (dry, no cheese) hamburger and it came out with everything on it and to top it off it was semi-charred and the reasonable prices seemed to go out the window a year or two ago for the most part.

  • I saw the electrical parade was back for the holiay week. Wonder if they will ever bring the holiday soundtrack to the parade here. They ran it in Paris for several years and I have heard recordings. It seems like a cost effective way to draw some guests to the park to ease up the over crowding at Disneland.

  • Speaking of the crowding at Disneyland, Main Street really filled up fast on Friday. At about 8:45 we walked down the street and here were a lot of guests coming into the park but by no means gridlock. I boarded the train and went out to NOS and watched the first half of Fantasmic just before 0pm and made it back to Main Street about 9:15 and the street was jammed. In that 15-20 minutes it went from looking somewhat busy to near gridlock. By the time the fireworks started the street was packed from Town Square to the Castle.

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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