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Visit Date: 8/12/11
Steps: 19,796
Parks Miles: 7.4
Time in Parks: 9

 
Trip Log:

Started off this relaxing summer afternoon heading to DCA to checkin on the Construction. Wandered around the entrance area then made my way out to the Pier via Condor Flats and around GRR. Strolled out to the Fun Wheel and waited way too long (30 minutes) for it. After my spin walked through Paradise Gardens and Paradise Park. Cut through the Wharf then walked around the Blue Sky Cellar area to get some more Cars Land shots before walking through Bugs and the Backlot. Headed over to Disneyland. Circled the hub and went into Tomorrowland. Joined some friends in line at Nemo and went for a cruise. Once back on dry land we made our way back to DCA and the Dance Party on the Pier followed by the Little Mermaid. Made a return trip to Bugsland, but this time went for a ride on the Chew Chew train, Drivem Buggies, and Lady Bug Boogie before wandering into the Backlot where we went for a ride on Monsters Inc. After the ride it was approaching 6pm so headed back to Disneyland for the College Band pre-parade. Watched all three stops and then the group found a spot for the parade. I went for a walk around the park. Walked through Adventureland, over the bridge by Pirates, turned back along the Rivers of America and took the Big Thunder Trail around to Fantasyland. Cut through the area and walked by the Matterhorn then around by the Sub Lagoon and through Tomorrowland on my way back to the hub to rejoin the group. Hung out in front of the Castle enjoying the Soundsational parade then it was off to dinner at the Golden Horseshoe. After dinner grabbed Fastpasses for Big Thunder and made our way out to Pooh then on the way back the Haunted Mansion. At this point some went to rest, others to use the Big Thunder Fastpass and I headed to Plaza Gardens to watch the College Band. After their set made my way down Main Street to find a spot for Magical. Once the show had concluded joined a good size crowd in front of the train station to wait for the College Band finale. After their set headed for the tram, garage, car, and home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 13,928 steps, 123 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,

Friday I headed down to the parks to visit some friends during the afternoon and then see the final sets of the All American College Band in the evening. The park crowds were about normal for the summer. Nothing too unexpected with the big attractions having waits over an hour but with some timing, Fastpasses, and luck you could still navigate around without much of a problem. The weather was again on the mild side, touching about 80 during the afternoon peak and then down in the 60s for the evening.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

  • My first stop of the day was DCA to check out the construction. I have enjoyed watching the progress (as you can tell by the number of pictures I have been posting) of the on going work. We are entering the final run now with less than a year till opening for the remaining two pieces of the make over (Cars Land and Buena Vista Street). Both of these will really work to change the feel of the park. Like most disneygeeks I cannot wait to experience the new areas and attractions.

  • The demo work of the Sunshine Plaza area is slowly moving along. It will kick into high gear in a few months when the entire area is blocked off. For now though we can get an up close look at the work, ranging from the Zephyr removal to the steel supports for the Golden Gate.

  • I had some miserable timing for the Fun Wheel. The line stretch up past the third turn which meant a solid half hour wait. By the time I exited the wait was down to 15 minutes! One thing I look forward to with the opening of Cars Land is less time in line for the Fun Wheel!! I do not want to think about the number of hours I have spent there.

  • The Lady Bug Boogie was back in operation again. It popped back online as suddenly as it went down it seems. Went for a spin and the transitions felt smoother from turn table to turn table, but then again it has been a while since I had ridden so not sure if this is a new change or not.

  • For a good portion of the afternoon I hung out with the Lazygeeks son (he is 4) and his entourage... always fun to experience the park through his point of view. Also we let him choose the attractions within reason... hence the reason I went on some I usually do not, like Finding Nemo and 3 of the 4 Bugsland ones. Something he discovered this trip and really latched onto was a custodial Cast Member who was doing character drawings with water in the Backlot. He watched and interacted with this CM for a good 15 minutes or so and only stopped because the CM had to move on. If you have not had a chance to experience one of these impromptu shows I highly recommend keeping an eye out, it is fun for all to try and guess the character as quickly as possible.

  • Not much to report from the park maps or time guides. On the time guide the College Band was removed from its top billing since it was only performing one of the days and was only listed for the Plaza Gardens sets below. Other than that everything looked to be the same.

  • Over at Disneyland things seemed to be humming along. Over the last several trips I have noticed Big Thunder seems to be down a lot. This trip was no exception with it down at least 3 or 4 times I walked by. Wonder what is going on...

  • As I mentioned above Friday was the last day for the 2011 All American College Band. They had a large following of family, friends, former band members, and groupies (not sure how else to describe them) following along at all their sets Friday. It was great to see the large enthusiastic crowds and the band really seemed to be having a blast and enjoying ever moment of their last performances. I think it was great they added the encore/finale set at the Train Station again this year. A perfect way to close out the year! Also fun to see some of the band out in the park enjoying their last day, there was a group watching the Soundsational Parade.

    Here is a video of their finale from that final set, in case you missed it in the park update:


  • Ate dinner in side the Golden Horseshoe since there was plenty of seating and the line was not too bad. They somehow managed to loose my order. It was a large order... a basket of chicken nuggets with fries. I knew I was in trouble when the two people who ordered after me got there orders (which included chicken) and I did not. Luckily the CM that took my order noticed me still waiting and went to check on it and brought me my order. The CMs filling the orders did not seem to have any idea when I asked them the status.

  • Are you heading to the D23 Expo next week? We are so look for small updates throughout the weekend and a set of full ones a couple of days later. Check out our D23 section - http://www.disneygeek.com/d23 for pictures, thoughts, and press release information.

  • To close with I want to seek out your opinion. I have been experimenting with Twitter (and by extension Facebook) postings from the parks on visits. Is this something you find interesting? Something I could do to make them better? Or just a waste of effort? Drop me an email or stop by the forum to share your thoughts.

    FYI if you did not know our addresses are:

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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