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Visit Date: 2/17/12
Steps: 20,963
Parks Miles: 7.9
Time in Parks: 8

 
Trip Log:

Was met by a line of cars reaching almost to the freeway off ramp light from the 5 South to Disneyland Drive. It took three cycles of the light at Ball to make it through thanks to the overpass already being converted for exit traffic. Once I made it into the garage was met with a line of cars stretching most of the way to entrance. Eventually was directed to a spot on the roof of the structure. Hopped on a tram (no wait there luckily) and headed for the parks. Walked through Condor Flats to check the show times for the new Minnie Fly Girls Charter Airline show and the wandered around the Buena Vista Street work and out to the Blue Sky Cellar patio for some pictures of the Cars Land work. Circled through the Wharf before doubling back to Condor Flats to catch the 2:30pm Minnie show. After the show walked by GRR and out to the Pier. Strolled by Screamin and Toy Story on my way to the Fun Wheel. Had to wait about 30 minutes (about two cycles) for my gondola. Once back on the ground finished my loop of the Pier walked by Paradise Gardens, Goofys and the Little Mermaid. Strolled down the parade route and through Condor Flats to head for the park exit and over to Disneyland. Arrived on Main Street right before the 4:00pm parade so it was a slow walk down the street, reached the hub just as the Parade made its way to the area. Walked into Tomorrowland to grab a Fastpass for Star Tours then doubled back and headed for New Orleans Square. Made my way through Frontierland and along the Rivers of America to the Bayou Bash. Watched the last Mardi Gras Celebration of the day then walked around the Big Thunder Trail, through Fantasyland, and around the Matterhorn on my way to Tomorrowland and went for a round trip on the Monorail. Once back in the park made my way over to Frontierland and caught the 5:30 Billy Hill show. Afterwards hung out on Main Street for a while then returned to Frontierland and the Stage Door Cafe to grab a bite to eat (ended up sitting inside the Golden Horseshoe). After dinner stopped by the Main Street Opera House to taken in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (since it is Presidents Day weekend). Next up back to DCA and the Blue Sky Cellar area to see what neon is on this week in Cars Land. Spent some time in the area talking to some friends then made our way through the Wharf and watched some of World of Color from there. Walked by GRR and through Condor Flats on our way to the Backlot. Stopped by Off the Page and then circled ElecTRONica before heading for Downtown Disney. Walked through the crowds and out to the Disneyland Hotel. Spent some time in the Fantasy Tower lobby area then decided to call it an evening so I hiked back to the garage and car to head for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 15,305 steps, 138 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,

Decided to deal with the Presidents day weekend crowds and venture down to the Disneyland Resort thanks to good weather and curious about the new show in Condor Flats. As expected the parks were crowded but since I had not intended on visiting many attractions the crowd really did not effect me. I would categorize the crowd as summerish. It was busy but not insane. Waits were hovering over an hour for most major attractions all afternoon.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I thought I was in for a long day when I exited the I-5 South at Disneyland Drive, made the left hand turn and stopped. It took three cycles of the light at Ball Road to make it through. The by-pass had already been converted to exit flow. Once through the light and into the structure was also greeted with a long line of cars stretching about 3/4ths the way back. Ended up being directed to the roof of the garage. There was an Anaheim Police car/truck in front of me and they stopped at the garage entrance as I entered. I think they started directing traffic down Disneyland Drive because as I was walking toward the trams noticed the flow of cars had halted. Also the traffic on Disneyland drive that you could see from the escalator looked jammed up.

  • First stop of the day was DCA. Had some time to kill before the next show so walked out to see the Cars Land and Buena Vista Street work. As you saw in the pictures both are moving along and more signs and details are emerging in Cars Land. You could hear the low rumbling of Maters being tested all afternoon and into the evening. I think its interesting to watch the crowds at the Blue Sky Cellar patio now trying to get a good view of the attraction.

  • Did see something I had not seen before. While standing and looking at Cars Land two guests walking down the parade route decided to stand up on the bench for a better view. They decided that was not high enough so they decided to move up to the ledge of the patio. So instead of walking around and joining the crowd on the patio they hung onto the rail and stood on the parade route side of it. This lasted only a minute or so before a security cast member came and asked them to get down. But guests do make some odd choices.

  • I caught the 2:30 performance of the new Minnie's Fly Girls Charter Airline show in Condor Flats. The show was scheduled to run a half dozen times throughout the day. It features three flight attendants and one grounds crew worker plus Minnie. Here is a video of the entire show in case you missed it in the update (better than me trying to describe it and sorry for the distorted view, was shooting with a wide angle adapter to get the entire stage in):



    My first impression of the show was positive. I really liked how they brought some history into the story line as well as wove in Walt Disney. Unlike some other shows that have popped up over the last several years this one seemed to have a little bit of something for many audience types/interests in it. It did not seem to play to the lowest common denominator. I did find the audience participation bit during Rosie the Riveter a bit awkward. But the Around the World and Disney medleys more than made up for it. A new generation Minnie character is part of the show. She has blinking eyes and a moving mouth. This is a great touch and adds to the experience. A similar Mickey has been performing at the Disney Dance Crew and Walt Disney World has had these types of characters for a couple of years now. I also thought the talent level of the performers was great. You could tell it was their first day with a couple hiccups but with any live performance given time it will continue to be refined. I was only able to fit in one showing on Friday because of my arrival time, crowds, and show schedule but I plan to return on my next visit and enjoy the show, this one was a challenge to enjoy since I was recording video with one hand and taking stills for the website with the SLR Camera and for twitter with the phone using the other. Lastly I thought the building in the references to Goofys Flight School was a nice touch and way to connect the parks areas. If this show is a sign of things to come with Buena Vista Street I think we will be seeing some great entertainment offerings this summer.

  • The guest flow in the area did not seem to be impacted that much by the show. I thought this may cause more of a traffic bottleneck but there seemed to be enough cast members in the area to keep things flowing around the perimeter. Also note because of where the show is held there is no true backstage so the performers as well as Minnie make their way through the crowd to reach and then exit the stage.

  • I did not spend that much time in Disneyland today due to the later arrival and wanting to see the show at DCA. I did stop by Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln to take in a show since it was Presidents Weekend. Wonder why a bigger push for the attraction is not made during the holiday weekends (seems to me Presidents Weekend, Memorial Day, and 4th of July all call for a visit). The showing I went to had under 50 guests in it, which was kind of sad. Wonder if they went to more of a scheduled set of show times if it would help? I remember they did that for Hall of Presidents at WDW for a while you knew when the show was to be performed. Also wonder if some sort of indication of when the next show is in the front lobby would help.

  • I managed to catch the very last performance of the day at the Bayou Bash! of the Mardi Gras Celebration. It had a fair crowd. The long line of guests waiting for Pirates seemed to enjoy the procession.

  • Right before the 8:00pm World of Color I heard an announcement saying that they had extended the operating hours of DCA to 10pm tonight and added an encore performance of World of Color at 10:15pm. I did not stick around but talked to someone who did and they reported a very light crowd for this late performance. I was curious if they made earlier announcements or if that one I heard just before 8pm was the only one.. if so that would explain it.

  • In the time schedule for the day Minnies new show has taken over the top billing on the DCA side. I noted on the Disneyland side they had the same typo about the Disneyland Band at 12am (midnight) again, guess no one caught it before going to print.

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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