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Visit Date: 07/17/10
Steps: 18,775
Parks Miles: 7.1
Time in Parks: 14.5

 
Trip Log:

We arrived at the Mickey and Friends garage just after 7:30am and were lucky enough to make it in the first row on Daisy. Hoppped on a tram and headed for the parks. Arrived at Disneyland right about 8am when it opened. Once we stepped onto Main Street we were greeted by quite a few CMs lining the street and high fiving/I mean fouring you. We made our way down to the AP processing center because one of the retiredgeeks passes had a problem and needed to get fixed (when they upgraded to their Premiere passes there names/pictures got switched). After that 20 minute delay we strolled into Fantasyland. Went on Dumbo with no wait at all and caught Pinochio too before heading over to DCA. Lined up just before 9am and was about a dozen people back in our line. They let us in at 9:30 to get World of Color Fastpasses (got the blue section for the 9pm show) and then waited for the rope drop in the Bay Area. At 10am when the park opened followed the masses out to the Pier and went for a spin on Toy Story then the Fun Wheel. The swings were down so skipped them and went on the Zephyr. Wandered down the parade route and did a quick tour of the Backlot before heading over to Taste Pilots for lunch (it was just after 11am). After our quick lunch it was back to Disneyland and time to find a spot for the redidcation ceremony that started at noon. It was 11:30 and finding a good spot was a challenge due to the large crowd already gathered. Watched the ceremony from near the flag pole and then wandered down Main Street. Found a shady spot for a few minutes then queued up to for the 1:30 College Band reunion show around 1:00pm. After the show made our way Down Main Street and stopped by the Cinema to check out the new footage (which was great!) and get some A/C. Next up a 2:30 march down Main Street by the College Band and the reunion band. After their march had the opportunity to talk to some members of the groups in Toontown. After talking with them made our way down to Town Square for the 4:15 Happy Birthday moment. Which also included a finale marked with a large dance number that featured tons of characters and a lot of cast members. After this hung around Main Street for the 5:10 Flag Retreat and then wandered down the street to Plaza Inn for dinner. After dinner caught a couple of the College Band stops for the pre-parade and the Voluntears Cavalcade before making our way over to DCA. Watched some of Glow Fest and then walked through Bugs Land (went for a spin on Fliks Flyers) before heading out to the Pier to queue up for World of Color. Joined the mass waiting to get into the viewing around just after 7:00pm. At 7:30 they let us in and found a decent spot for the show. Camped out for the next 90 minutes waiting... watched the show and then headed for the tram, car, and home (after a brief peek into Glow Fest on the way out).

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 14,635 steps, 129 minutes.


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:

Hello all,

Saturday marked the 55th Anniversary for Disneyland and I was able to schedule a trip down to the parks to see what was happening this year. Compared to many recent years there was quite a bit going on, which was great to see. Still not as much as I would rally like to see, but better than nothing. The crowds were average summer, maybe a bit on the light side due to the heat.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • Since it was a Saturday I decided to spend the entire day at the parks and the retiredgeeks joined me for the day. We arrived at the Mickey and Friends garage about 7:30am and were directed right up to the second floor and into a spot in the first row. Our timing was great for once and the car did not have to site outside all day (they usually fill the Pinocchio outside lot first).

  • The resort had an extra energy/buzz since it was Disneylands birthday. Cast Members all had buttons and most announcements made reference to anniversary. As we entered the park and strolled down Main Street USA it was great to see all the cast members out and full of energy. Even spotted several Team Disney folks in the crowds.

  • Our first stop of the day was the annual pass process center since the retiredgeeks Premiere passes somehow got switched up (wrong picture/name). This took a good 20 minutes to sort out then we headed to Fantasyland.

  • As you saw in the pictures most of Fantasyland was great.. only exception was Peter Pan which had a healthy line already and Toads was growing too. We basically walked onto Dumbo and then Pinocchio before we had to get going to keep on our self imposed schedule.

  • Our plan was to be in line at DCA at 9:00am to make sure we get a Fastpass for World of Color. When we arrived at the turn styles, just before 9 the lines were only a dozen or so guests deep, so we were really early.. they opened the park at 9:30am and we were herded toward GRR and into the Fastpass queue. Everything was very organized and the traffic flow was great. I still thought it was a pain to have to be there twelve hours early to get a Fastpass for a show but it is a good show and the only way to really see it is from the park, so I needed a Fastpass.

  • While waiting had some time to explore the commemorative guide map that featured Fantasyland circa 1955. It was great to see this detail and inside it was a traditional map except it indicated all the opening day attractions. What a great little gift for everyone. The DCA guide also had a mention of the 55th on top of the front cover, nothing else though. Inside I noticed there is a large World of Color viewing options area now that describes the options. It was great to see the time guide listed the rededication and Happy Birthday sing a long. No mention of the College Band reunion though.

  • After getting my Fastpass I was asked if I would be interested in a survey, I signed up and received an email last night and filled it out this morning. They were basically asking for impressions of World of Color and Glow Fest as well as the Fastpass system.

  • Photo courtesy of the Disneyland Resort
    Headed back to Disneyland for the high noon re-dedication. I allowed only 30 minutes because of the heat and waiting the half hour was long enough... because of this my view was partially obstructed and as you saw in the pictures not the best.. the time guide listed this as the Rededication Moment at Main Street Station. It turned out to be a nice little production and longer than a moment, which was great to see and experience. Town Square looked fairly full too. I wish there would be some way to do these so more guests can see everything. Its frustrating to stand out in the sun for 30 minutes or more and only catch a small portion of the show, and I know others waiting a lot longer. The image on the right is from Disney and shows what the final looked like from up front.



  • The All American College Band celebrated its 40th anniversary on Saturday. They had over 120 former members back to celebrate. The reunion group included both Disneyland and Walt Disney World members. Also several of the old directors were on hand to mark the occasion, including the first one from 1971 (If you missed it I posted some video on our youtube channel. Art Bartner was not on hand due to him being in Europe (we believe with the USC Band). The joint band performed a set in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at 1:30 and then marched down the parade route at 2:30. Everyone seemed to be having a blast and enjoying the event. While waiting for the 1:30 set I spoke with some families who were waiting to see their husband/father/etc.. perform in the reunion group and it was great to hear all their stories and how excited their significant other was to be in the park and perform.

    For those who do not know the All American College band is a highly competitive program that selects the top talent from colleges across the country to participate in a summer program. During this program the members live together, attend seminars/lectures/workshops during the day and then perform in the parks in the afternoon/evenings. They perform 5 days a week at Disneyland. Currently WDW does not have an active program that I know of.

    The band is a unique opportunity for participants to learn about the music industry and develop their musical skills. They are also empowered with some great learning and networking opportunities as leading industry people are involved in the program (many of which are band alumns now).

    If you have the chance I would highly recommend checking out this band, as any follower of this site knows we watch them quite a few times every summer.

  • The Main Street Cinema had a quick change over from classic Mickey Mouse films to Disneyland Opening day footage. This project was approved and installed quickly from what we have heard and features some of the color footage from the opening day rehearsal as well as other events like the opening of the Matterhorn/Subs/Monorail. One screen also plays footage from the opening day telecast. Overall I thought this was great to see and for many people this is the first time they have seen the color footage (I was lucky enough to catch some of it at the D23 presentation by Tony Baxter last fall). My understanding is this is slated to run for at least the rest of the summer, but CMs were saying its unknown for sure.

  • At 4:15 the time guide advertised a Happy Birthday Sing-A-Long. We read some internet rumors that this event would be more than just a sing along. It ended up featuring a reply of the dedication speech, the birthday sing a long, and then a great dance number by several hundred cast members and dozens of characters (I posted some video on our Youtube Channel). As you saw in the pictures and video it looked like all those involved were having a great time and the event was definitely unlike anything I had experienced in the parks before. I thought it was a nice finishing touch the days festivities and a great way to involve the general cast in the festivities. It was definitively not a polished show, but a fun outlet for the CMs to show their enthusiasm for the park. From my vantage point I could see quite a few of the characters and CMs, but it was hard to tell how many CMs were participating. The sides looked to have more than the center section I was at and I could not tell the back side. The crowd around me all seemed to have a blast watching the routine. Many seemed to be friends/family or other CMs and all seemed to really enjoy the show. Two notes about the performance. First there seemed to be some confusion with the crowd control CMs and the ropes were not set up far enough out and guests had to be moved across the street a few minutes before the performance which probably lead to some unhappy people who thought they had a front row location but then were pushed back. Secondly the ending seemed a bit odd.. seems like there should have been an announcement or something. It just kind of ended and the characters were floating around...

  • We queued up for World of Color nice and early and managed to find our way into a decent spot in the Blue Zone, they have changed the viewing area slightly from the last time I was there, they now seem to have a wider area for the preferred section. The CMs were telling us within Blue there was regular blue then preferred blue seating. Of course this meant the area I wanted to be in was off limits since it was in the preferred area, also noticed the yellow area I was in for the public premiere looked to be in the preferred yellow now. I still do not understand why they do not publish a map to help everyone out. Its hard to figure out the rope maze and talk to CMs.. also I thought the way they opened the area was a bit odd and not as controlled as it should have been. There were no lines, it was musically a mob pushing forward. It cleared quickly but still was not that good of an experience for those of us in it. One observation I have about the viewing area is that they really should have standby line to fill in the area. For example our area had a single row along the fence and then no one behind us. They could have easily fit another 100 people or so just behind us. Yes the view is tough because it is flat but it is still better than the back or sides of the pier. I would think they could do a standby that allows you in right after the Carnival of Color concludes and before the show begins.

  • As we were leaving the CM at the tram stop said he heard they were going to do a couple extra shells or something during the fireworks. Did anyone see the show, curious what they did? We never saw the show start and were heading for the freeway around 10pm and still no sign of Magical.. was it delayed.



  • Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
    Below are some interesting links, notes, and rumors I found/stumble across/or have been informed of since the last Geekspeaks column.

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

Stop by the Geek's Forum to discuss this and other Disney topics.. click here

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
Pictures & Video From this Trip:


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