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Visit Date: 6/14/13
Steps: 19,728
Parks Miles: 7.4
Time in Parks: 8

 
Trip Log:

Started off the afternoon walking over to the Disneyland Hotel from the Mickey and Friends Structure to check out the new entrance sign. Then walked through hotel and into Downtown Disney. Continued on to the parks heading for Disneyland First. Made my way down Main Street, through the Castle and Fantasyland on my way to the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree to check out Woodys All-American Roundup. Watched the Billies and relaxed a bit in the area then continued on down the Big Thunder Trail and boarded the Mark Twain for a trip around the Rivers of America. Once back on land walked through the mass of guests in Adventureland and then back through the Castle and then wandered through the Small World Mall and out to Toontown. Circled around and on the way back caught some of the Soundsational Parade. Managed to get in front of it and cross to the Matterhorn side. Continued on around the Matterhorn and through Tomorrowland. Decided to grab a Corn Dog on Main Street and ate it while watching Soundsational. Walked through the stores and into Town Square to watch the end of the parade and then find a spot for the Flag Retreat. After the ceremony walked through the Great Moments Lobby and Disney Gallery before heading to DCA. Strolled down Buena Vista Street and stopped in Carthay Circle to watch the start of the Pixar Play Parade. Then continued on down Hollywood Blvd as the parade was passing by. Walked by Muppets and Monsters to let the parade traffic organize itself then walked down Sunset Blvd, past Tower, through Fliks and into Cars Land. Wandered around Radiator Springs a bit and walked through the Wharf and around GRR to the Grand Californian to exit the park. Headed for Downtown Disney to catch the 300th Army Band performing out by ESPN. Hung around waiting for the set then watched some of it before returning to DCA. Walked down the parade route and out to the Pier. Circled around by Screamin, Toy Story, and Paradise Gardens then walked back down the parade route, past Cars Land and through Bugs to return to Hollywood Land. Stopped by the Mad T Party for a while then made my way back to Cars Land for some night pictures. About 10 minutes till World of Color so went and found a stand by spot for the show. After World of Color made one more pass through Hollywood Land then headed for the tram, garage, car, and home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 14,177 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,

It has been three weeks since my last visit to the Disneyland Resort, which for me is a long time! This was due to vacation north to Alaska for 11 days to take in the sights and enjoy our 49th state. It felt good to be home again at the Disneyland Resort. It was kind of odd to think there were more people at the Disneyland Resort yesterday than many of the ports/towns/places I visited last week.The summer season is getting underway and that means larger crowds and more block out dates for Annual Passholders. Grad Nites are still going on for another week so there were still large masses of vocal high school graduates roaming the parks. The crowds seemed about average, wait times varied dramatically by attraction and time you walked by but nothing seemed out of the ordinary given the crowds.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I decided to walk to the parks today to check out the new Disneyland Hotel entrance sign. I thought it looked great and fits with the new feel of the hotel much more than the old one. It was a little change and one most guests would not even notice but it is the first impression a guest checking in sees and it helps to get them in the proper mindset. Nothing else too interesting to report from the hotel and my quick walk through. It was alive with activity as there were several events going on and guests wearing badges roaming around everywhere it seemed.

  • Downtown Disney is hosting a Wii U demo area where you can learn about and experience this new game platform. It seemed to have an ok crowd of guests taking a look at the newest offerings. Interesting to note this is out here and Microsoft is set up in Innoventions. Wonder which had more foot traffic Friday?

  • Woody has taken over the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree and created Woodys All-American Roundup. For those of you familiar with the area its basically the same drill just some new props and show elements. I think its great they keep using this facility and coming up with fresh festivals to house in it. As you saw in the pictorial update the Billies are out there performing now which brings life to the area. After the Billy set they had Woodys Talent Roundup which was a character sketch (guessing there may be different ones.. the one I saw was some yodeling and then Jessie and her slingshot). The attendance was poor for this. I think part of the problem was no one knew about it. There was no signage or listing in the park time schedule. The show itself was not that good in my opinion.

  • I found it a little odd as I stood on the upper deck of the Mark Twain and watch the wildlife pass by that last week I was in Alaska on the upper deck of a cruise ship doing the same thing with real bald eagles, bears, and moose in sight.

  • I sometimes forget how long the parades are at Disneyland and the pace they move. It did not dawn on me till I was looking at my pictures that I was heading to Toontown around 4pm when the music started for Soundsational. I went to Toontown, took pictures, then walked back and managed to beat the opening to the crossing near the Matterhorn. Took some pictures of the parade from there then walked around and through Tomorrowland taking pictures and to Main Street. Grabbed a corn dog and sat down to eat it and watch the parade. Finished eating and walked through the stores and made it to Town Square in time to see the Princess float go by the Opera House. All in all it was a good 45 minutes by the time the last float passed me by from when I heard the opening music.

  • Today was Flag Day so I took in the nightly flag retreat which featured the full show with the Disneyland Band and Dapper Dans. I just want to say again for those who have never seen it, it is a very very well done ceremony and I am glad to see it listed more often than not in the park time guide now.

  • Both parks received new guide maps. I did not see anything too different on the maps themselves. The covers have changed and the attractions they advertise have too. Found it interesting the Jungle Cruise made the cut for Disneyland this time around.

  • Next stop Disney California Adventure which is celebrating one year since its relaunch on 6/15. There is no official celebration going on.. just a couple of pins. Hard to believe Cars Land and Buena Vista Street have completed their first year of operation already. Where has the time gone.. seems like only yesterday we heard about this massive 5 year plan and could not wait for things to open.. then watching the construction process. Congrats to the Imagineers and the Disneyland Resort on a successful relaunch. Now what are they going to do next to keep the momentum going? Hopefully some hints will be coming out a the D23 Expo in August. For the 1st Anniversary I would have liked to have seen something new added.. even something as simple as a new character in Cars Land to get pictures with.. Sarge comes to mind or Fillmore.. or if you wanted to go really simple Sally in front of the Cozy Cones to rotate in with Mater and Lightening.

  • The 300th Army Band from Los Angeles was performing at Downtown Disney in honor of the 238th birthday of the US Army. This seemed extremely disorganized. Given it was a Disney event and the US Army you would think the logistics would have been hammered out a bit better. The band was to start at 6:15pm and the sign was up all day by the stage (I saw no other advertisements which I thought was poor too.. seems something in the parks or near the security tents would have been helpful).

  • The Limited Time Magic promotion is limping along. This week there was a fairly weak offering in my opinion. For Fathers day they had a photo op set up near the old Maliboomer area. It was open 10am-6pm and featured Mr. Incredible and Frozone (both of whom you can usually find in Hollywood Land ever day anyways). The backdrop was fairly plain on featuring a creature from the film. There was no signage or other indication that it was for Fathers day or a Limited Time Magic event. Now I did walk by after it closed so maybe they had something else out early. But from what I saw this was barely an event. Has this promotion completely lost steam? It had very little to begin with.. as most average guests or even annual passholders seem to have any idea what it is. I do think Disneyland has gotten some decent events though including the Golden Horseshoe Tribute, the AP events, etc.. but this one seemed a stretch to me.

  • I stopped by the Mad T Party since I had some time before World of Color and realized they had new songs, guessing for the summer. I was not impressed with the songs. I am not one for current music and did not recognize or enjoy the new songs that were in the set. I thought some of the previous ones were better. Also I hear there is a new performer at the House of Cards stage. I did not see this till I was already at WoC and they were done for the evening so next trip hopefully I can catch them.

  • I ended my evening with the World of Color. The show turned three last week (6/10). There are no new elements this summer, or at least not yet. Guess the practice of adding something for new films is fading off.. the last new addition was Brave last summer. I did spot a dozen or so Glow Ears near by on guests.. but still the sales seem sluggish, which is too bad it is a great effect when large sections have them on. Maybe they should bundle them into a dinner package or something so the center section would all have them. Also maybe a preshow or teaser would help spark sales. Most tourists do not seem to understand them till after they seem in action during the show by which time it is too late. The challenge would be how to introduce them and entertain without coming off as if you are just trying to sell something.


  • Quick News Item: Saturday (6/15) swing dancing returned to Disneyland in Royal Theatre and will continue on Saturday nights all summer long. I think it is great to see this long time Disneyland tradition return after being out at Downtown Disney this past year.

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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