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

Hello all,

Thursday was a great day at the Disneyland Resort, the weather was mild for mid July (in the mid 80s with a slight breeze), the crowds were also mild, and it was Disneylands birthday to top it off.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• I was assuming the fifty-third birthday of Disneyland would be met with no real fanfare and was pleasantly surprised to see a couple signs up advertising the rededication event as you entered the park. Also before the parade and before the ceremony they announced the event on the public address system. Wonder why there was no mention in the guidemaps.. seems like a simple one liner would have been a nice touch... the only other two birthday related notes were a merchandise event in the morning (which I did not attend since I was working) and CMs all sporting buttons to mark the event.
  
  
• My first stop of the day was in Tomorrowland to see the Dream Home (house of the future) at Innoventions. I was quite surprised to be greeted by a line stretching down the ramp and into Tomorrowland. This is the longest I have seen at Innoventions in quite a while. It appeared part of the issue was only a couple of the entrance pods were available and for some reason there were quite a few people wanting in. It was approximately twenty minutes from when I got in line until I was on the platform listening to Tom Morrow.
  
  
• Tom Morrows outside introduction is basically the same, the first 2/3rds of it. The last segment has been updated to fit with the dream house. After his speech you are allowed in and Tom is still there too. At this point it became obvious they are not quite done with the project as the small show/skit was behind a curtain where we entered and we were escorted by CMs to the front door of the Dream House. Here you are introduced to the house and the storyline (you are there for a party to celebrate a soccer victory at the Elias home). Then you enter the home (you can see pictures of the home in the pictorial update section). Overall I was not impressed by the house. I did not know what to expect (I purposely avoided reading/looking at other trip reports). I would say almost all of the technologies in the house are available or are minor updates to existing technology and the couple of really new/interesting technologies really will not excite the general public.. for example I thought the multi-touch tables were interesting, but to others they were not impressed that you could drag two puzzle pieces at once.. they kept pushing the remote controls and touch screen controls for all rooms, again not that earth shattering. Even the large TV did not impress me, I thought the content examples did not showcase anything new or exciting, it was just big. Maybe once everything gets working on the bugs are out of the system there will be some interesting demonstrations, but on a first walk through I was not overly impressed.
  
  
• As you saw in the pictorial update there is a small photo op set up to promote Wall-E on the backlot. It replaced the couple trailers/props for Cruella that were out there (note from the monorail I spotted the old trailers backstage but the picture did not come out, so wonder if they will re-appear after Wall-E is done). Kind of surprised by how little promotion Wall-E is getting in the parks. Wonder if the robot will make it down to the park as the AP news letter stated?
  
  
• The re-dedication ceremony drew a healthy crowd. The ceremony consisted of the Disneyland Band, the fab 5, and the Mayor of Main Street out on the Train Station steps. The characters and band marched out, Mickey said a few things, the Mayor gave a brief speech, they replayed Walts Dedication, and then they marched off. This show seemed to be about the same as the daily rededications they did during the 50th. I was expecting a bit more, maybe a hello or something from a TDA executive or Imagineer or someone?
  
  
• I hiked out to the Pier to see about getting on Toy Story Midway Mania and was pleasantly surprised on two counts. The first is the line was only 30 minutes, of course this was during the Pixar Play Parade so many people were either watching that or cut off from the area by the parade possibly.. Secondly and more interesting to note is that the Single Rider line was operating for the attraction. This is a separate line that has a sign just to the left of the regular queue entrance (not against the gift shop as that is the handicap line). It was great to use this and the CM assigning people to their rows really had her act together and both lines were moving along nicely!
  
  
• As the evening cooled down Monorail Red made an appearance on the beam way over Tomorrowland so I headed up to the platform and waited to ride. I was talking with a CM and lost out on the front, but did end up in the tail cone for the ride over to Downtown Disney. Even though the line was minimal they were still making everyone get off at DD and get back in line to return to the park (sometimes I swear this is done to try to get people to Downtown Disney for dinner), anyways on the way back I rode in a regular car. Overall the ride was much smoother, more of a rolling sensation than a bouncing one, especially noticeable in the tail cone. The tail cone does have A/C but it really just made it feel a bit muggy inside, it was not cool and refreshing by any means. As many of you probably already know there is no A/C in the regular cars (just the nose and tail cones). This fact, coupled with poor ventilation has led to the monorail only being online in the cool morning and evening hours and limited to no more than 15 guests in a car. The regular car was warm and there was very little air circulating. They had the fans on high, and they were quite noisy but it did not seem to help in the car. There was no real airflow into the cabin from the open window (I was about the middle of a car). I spoke to a CM and they said the front is smoother than the Mark V's, but you still get bounced around pretty good. Also I inquired about Monorail Blue and they said to their knowledge it was still a ways off as parts were being used for red... Overall I thought it was an enjoyable ride and the benches facing out the large windows were great. The car itself had way too much plastic for my liking. The blue lighting and monorail plaques inside the cars was a nice touch and it did look rather cool cruising around Tomorrowland.
  
  
  
• One last note, on Thursday it was officially announced that the Sleeping Beauty Walk Through would re-open in time for the Holidays this year. The attraction has been closed since 2001. It will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the film. There will also be a special virtual tour for those unable to go through the stairs/attraction.
  
  
• If you are interested in seeing the re-dedication I did a quick Youtube search and several showed up. Click here to watch
  
  
  
  

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