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Visit Date: 3/23/12
Steps: 22,572
Parks Miles: 8.5
Time in Parks: 8

 
Trip Log:

Arrived to a busy Disneyland Resort. As I exited the I-5 South at Disneyland Drive was met with a backup right away. It took four light cycles to make it across Ball and then was greated by cones at the structure and directed all the way around to the Toy Story Lot. Finally pulled into a parking spot and boarded a bus to the parks. It took me just over 40 minutes from when I exited the freeway until I was at the DCA entrance. Once in the park made my way through the crowd and Condor Flats to check out Buena Vista Street progress. Then headed down the parade route to the Blue Sky Cellar to see Cars Land. Continued on to the Pier and out by Screamin (which was down). Wanted to go on the Fun Wheel but the line was all the way up the exit ramp and probably pushing 45 minutes so I kept on walking. Walked through Paradise Gardens and around by the Little Mermaid which was also down. Continued on down the parade route and turned into Bugs Land. Walked through Fliks and then out to the Backlot. Made my way back to Buena Vista Street and decided to head to Disneyland. Strolled down Main Street USA and around the hub and by the Matterhorn on my way to the Monorail (yeah two running this week), so I went for back to back rides to get pictures of the Buena Street progress then once back in Tomorrowland walked around the Matterhorn and through Fantasyland to the Big Thunder Trail. Spent some time in the ranch area then continued on to the Rivers of America. Along the way noted Big Thunder was down. Walked out to the Huanted Mansion then back through New Orleans Square and Adventureland. Made my way down Main Street and back to DCA. Wandered out to the Wharf, by way of Condor Flats, Buena Vista Street. Grabbed a bite to eat at the Wharf before making a second pass at the Fun Wheel. This time Screamin and Mermaid were reopened but Toy Story was closed. The Fun Wheel line was shorter than the first pass but still longer than my patience so no Fun Wheel this trip. I made my way back around to the Blue Sky Cellar Patio for some more Cars Land shots and a quick walk through before heading back to Disneyland. Walked down Main Street, through the Castle and out to Toontown. Nothing too noteworthy going on so walked back around the Matterhorn and through Tomorrowland, where I noticed Buzz Lightyear was down. Made my way to Town Square and watch the Soundsational parade in the round. Made my way to the Tomorrowland Terrace for the 7pm Elvis (Scot Bruce) set. After his show it was back to DCA and the Blue Sky Cellar to see if any new Neon was on, nothing too interesting, so headed for the Backlot and ElecTRONica to check out the Dance Competition. Where right on queue they had technical difficulties and the show was delayed while they reset the computer that controlled the lighting, etc.. in the end they show went on but limited lighting and screen effects. After the show hung out in Backlot and talked with some friends. Watched the second showing of the dance competition, everything worked this time around then strolled back to the Blue Sky Cellar since the others had not seen it. Spend some time there till 9pm when they closed. Since the park was closed we headed for the exit. I decided it was time to board the bus and head back to the Toy Story lot to find my car and head for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 16,625 steps, 147 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,

I decided to brave the early spring break crowds and head down to the Disneyland Resort Friday afternoon/evening. I was not sure what to expect weather wise since on my way into work in the morning it was misting and as I left work to head for the parks it was overcast and gloomy out. But as I headed south/east toward Anaheim the sun started to break through. By the time I reached the parks the sun was out and it was a perfect afternoon and evening weather, wise at the parks. The spring break season is upon us and as expected the crowds were heavier than usual, I would say they felt/seemed regular summer, not holiday levels yet. If you were following my tweets or Facebook posts you know the theme for the day turned out to be attractions being down. Seems I had the fortunate luck or bad luck of walking by quite a few as they were down for one reason or another. Wait times seemed to be on par with summer with most of the usual suspects in the hour range.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • As I pulled off the I-5 South at Disneyland Drive I was met with stopped traffic backed up all the way to the light at Ball Road and the overpass was already converted to exit traffic flow so I was stuck. I finally made it through on the fourth light and as I pulled up to the Mickey and Friends garage entrance was greeted by an Anaheim Police Officer who was putting down the last cone to block it off and we were directed on down Disneyland Drive, left on Katella, past the Convention Center (which had a lot of activity going on), past a protest of some sort on the corner of Harbor and Katella, onto Harbor and then into the Toy Story parking lot. As luck would have it there was no wait at the Toy Story lot, pulled up, showed my pass, and was directed into a spot, walked right onto a waiting bus that pulled away. The final travel time from the freeway exit till I was at the DCA entrance was 40 minutes.

    This really bothered me. I do not understand why they cannot tell you earlier and direct you some other way or make the drive more efficient. The lights, left turns, and traffic really make it a pain. I do not mind parking in Toy Story, but the hassle and wait drove me crazy (I have had similar experiences with the Pumba and Garden Walk lots over the years too). Seems a sign on the freeway telling you to exit at Harbor or Katella would make life a lot easier. Also wonder if Disney is ever going to build the second parking structure? If the new DCA brings in the crowds as expected its going to be a continued challenge to park at the resort.

  • First stop of the day was California Adventure to check out the Buena Vista Street and Cars Land progress. Buena Vista Street had the most visible progress thanks to much of the scaffolding being removed and the facades entering the final stretch. The new facades really add a lot more dimension compared to the old ones. The Cars Land visible progress has slowed as they are now on what appears to be final details and landscaping so the big broad changes are no longer occurring. This week I was unable to go for a Fun Wheel trip... due to the wait pushing 45 minutes both times I walked by and that was well beyond my patience given I did not think there would be much new to photograph.

  • I was surprised to see so much of ElecTRONica already removed from the Backlot area. Guess they need to get it removed to continue on with the repainting as well as the Red Car wires that will be going in. Kind of surprised they have kept the stage by the restrooms. Would have thought that would be moved to the other section too. It appeared as if most the elements on Hollywood Blvd (the main street) will be cleaned up in the next few days.

  • As I mentioned above the theme of the day was down... things started with Scream and Little Mermaid. Then at Disneyland noticed Big Thunder and Buzz Lightyear. Returned to DCA and Toy Story was down. And to wrap things up the Tron City Dance Crew Challenge first show was delayed due to technical difficulties. The good news was none of the attraction closures affected me since none were my destination and the show delay was only five minutes or so. All the attractions did re-open eventually but found it humorous as I roamed the parks I kept running into them.

  • On the positive side though, great news on the Monorail front both Red and Orange were running and as far as I could tell they were up all afternoon. So that meant short wait times and I was able to get some pictures.

  • Over at Disneyland Spring has arrived. In addition to all the flowers and trees in bloom they have added a spring overlay to the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. I thought the BBQ area had a healthy crowd when I walked by for it being mid afternoon only.

  • I ended up in Town Square for Soundsational. I was standing so you could see the parade head on as it pulls out from backstage. The speakers on the opposite side/behind me (by the Emporium) seemed louder to me. At several points the music from there was drowning out the units directly in front of me. I know this has always been an awkward spot due but it seemed worse to me on Friday.

  • I stopped by and watched the first Scot Bruce (Elvis) set of the evening at the Tomorrowland Terrace. He had a decent crowd as always and put on a great show. For those of you who have never seen him I would recommend stopping by if you ever see him on the schedule when you are there. He is one of my favorite performers (my two other top choices have not been seen for years... the Fab Four and Barrage).

  • After the great music of the King it was time to head across the Esplanade to check out ElecTRONica. I found it kind of odd that they kept most of the lights on Hollywood Blvd off even though they did not have the projectors or the ElecTRONica lights on in the area. It felt really weird to walk down the street. I also found it funny that even though most of ElecTRONica is gone from the area the portable bar was out as usual. Wonder if it will be moved to a new location for the last few weeks once the rest of the equipment is removed.

  • The main reason I stopped by ElecTRONica was to see the Tron City Dance Crew Challenge. I was curious how it was going to be and if it would draw a good size crowd. Besides some minor technical difficulties for the first showing it went off ok. As the show went on a healthy crowd gathered for the first one. For the second showing the crowd was a bit thinner. I was a little surprised it was held on the stage near the restrooms (across from Award Wieners) and not in the main ElecTRONica area. I would have thought a larger crowd would be there if it was near the DJ, etc..

    As for the competition itself it was ok. I am not a big techno fan and I know very little about dance so I will refrain from commenting on that part of the event. Here is the video I took of the first show of the evening in case you missed it in the update:



  • After the second show made a quick run through the Blue Sky Cellar with some friends who had not seen the Road to Cars Land exhibit yet. Even though the park was closing there was still a healthy crowd inside. Earlier in the day I stopped by and again the video area was filled. So interest seems to be remaining high. Great to see!!

  • The park closed at 9:00pm so I headed for the exit not long after and before the World of Color masses headed that way. Headed out for the Toy Story buses (and was happy I remembered to go that way and not follow my habit of the Mickey and Friends Tram). As I approached the bus line I had flashbacks to Walt Disney World and waiting in long bus lines to head back to the resorts. The line looked to be about three buses long and as luck would have it they were loading three buses at a time so there was really no wait at all. Took maybe two or three minutes to be directed onto a bus and was on my way back to the lot. Had to wait a bit to disembark and then had to make the call on how to head back to the freeway. Both options Katella as well as Harbor seemed long to me. I opted for Harbor this time because the turn lane to Katella was backed up. It really is not easy to get back to the freeway from the Toy Story lot to head North.

  • Nothing too interesting to report from the time schedules. Did find it useful that they listed the Dance Crew Challenge times.

  • I continued to test and evaluate a new method of posting images as I roamed the park. I am now posting directly to the Geeks Blog So those of you who do not use twitter or follow us, you can see the images too. Any thoughts? Is this better/worse/the same as the way I was posting before? If you were not aware as I roam the parks I post some thoughts/pictures throughout the visit. So follow me @disneygeekcom

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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