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Visit Date: 12/07/13
Steps: 24,547
Parks Miles: 9.2
Time in Parks: 14

 
Trip Log:

Started off this cold morning arriving at the Mickey and Friends structure around 7:30am. Was directed to an ok spot on Daisy then walked to a waiting tram and headed toward the parks. Took a couple pictures at Downtown Disney before making my way to the Esplanade and into DCA just after the 8am park opening. Found the end of the Racers Fastpass line and waited for one. Then walked through Condor Flats and out to GRR to grab a World of Color Fastpass for the evening before making my way out to the Pier. Headed for Toy Story and found it was not open yet for the day. So conintued on and finished the loop of the Pier. Decided to head to Disneyland. Wandered down Main Street and into Adventureland as the rain started to fall (seems weather.com did not lie when it said rain at 9am). Grabbed a Fastpass for Indy. As we went on the Jingle Cruise it really started to rain which was not fun and our skipper decided to do the regular spiel instead of the Jingle one so it was a bust... After the Jingle Cruise made our way out to the Haunted Mansion and went for a ride, it was a walk on. Then strolled along the Rivers of America in the drizzle before returning to use our Indy Fastpasses. Decided to give Buzz Lightyear a spin since it was only a 5 minute or so wait. Then made our way over to DCA to dry out, the rain was starting to get on our nerves a bit. We stopped by a reception in Stage 17 and visited with friends and dried out for a while. Made our way over to the Racers to use our Fastpass and they were down with one of the cars being looked at. So continued on through the Wharf and out to the Pier to see if the weather would hold for Viva Navidad (some of the group went for a voyage on the Little Mermaid while we waited). Unfortunately the weather did not hold and the rain returned so the Street Party was cancelled. Decided to go on Toy Story, it had about a half hour wait. Then returned to Radiator Springs for our Race. Walked through Cars Land and headed back to Disneyland. Some stopped to pick up Candy Canes on the way (they had gotten wristbands earlier in the day). Decided to grab a late lunch at the Plaza Inn then continued on to Small World Holiday. After our cruise it was time for Billy Hill and the Holiday Hillbillies. Enjoyed their set and then made our way to Main Street. I headed for Town Square to find a spot for the Candelight (it was about 4pm). Hung out in Town Square visiting with friends and waiting for the 5:30 ceremony. Enjoyed the Candlelight and then headed for DCA to find the rest of my group. They were hanging out at the Cafe warming out. We all wandered down Hollywood Blvd, walked through a very quiet Mad T Party, then Bugs Land before ending up in Cars Land. Saw there was no wait for the Flying Tires so went for a flight. The group made their way to the Wharf to sit and relax under a heater. I roamed around Cars Land for a while then the Wharf and Pier before joining them for World of Color Winter Dreams. Enjoyed the show then joined the herd of guests making their way to the exit. Hopped on a tram to return to the garage, car, and head for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 17,337 steps, 154 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 was a cold, by Southern California standards, day. Highs were in the low 60s. It was in the 30s driving down to Anaheim. Showers were forecasted for most of the morning and the forecast turned out to be quite accurate with off and on showers and drizzle from around 9am through just afternoon. Thanks to the weather crowds were on the mild side to start off with building as the weather cleared but still nothing compared to what it could have been on a Candlelight Saturday.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • We arrived at the Mickey and Friends garage around 7:30 and were directed to a spot on Daisy and walked to a waiting tram. No problems entering the park just after 8am when it opened.

  • We hopped in line for the Racers which was in the Disney Junior queue area and inched along. Received a 10:30am return time so not that many guests in front of us. Next up was a Fastpass for World of Color which had no wait at all. You could walk right up to a machine to get one. I wonder if guests do no realize the World of Color does no count as a regular Fastpass and think since they have their Racers pass they cannot get another.

  • We wandered around the Pier with the goal of going on Toy Story, unfortunately it had a delayed opening due to some problems so we could not ride. Decided to keep walking vs waiting and headed for Disneyland.

  • At Disneyland Main Street was ready for the Candlelight Ceremony this evening. Always impressive to see the set, but unfortunately it does ruin Town Square for the day. Both in terms of look as well as crowds.

  • As I made my way toward the hub noticed some new carts on Center Street. There was a flower market set up. Guess since they no longer needed seating and queue space for the ice cream shop they put this little market in. It looked great and is a nice photo spot. Hopefully it lasts a while.. surprised they did not fill the area with merchandise to sell or food.

  • Right about 9am the rain started to fall, just as predicted. And I happened to be in line for the Jingle Cruise at the time. The queue does not do well in the rain with water dripping from above. The boats are not much better with the seats being soaked and some out in the rain. Also noticed several of the boats coming in did not have the canopies down yet so there was even more water inside.

  • I had explained to my group about the Jingle Cruise and they were looking forward to hearing the new spiel. Unfortunately the skipper we drew did not do the new one.. instead she tried to deliver the classic one and did not do a very good job at that. So the experience was a bust for us.. we were cold, wet, and no jingle..

  • As you saw in my pictorial update the tiger has returned to the ruins and some of the holiday spirit has taken over the camp/gorilla scene. Gorillas wearing Santa hats looked a little odd but I guess it works with the spirit of the attraction.

  • Went for an adventure on Indiana Jones. The attraction is in need of some TLC again with several effects not working. Most noticeable was the very beginning the door effect was not working at all and they had it open so you just drove right through. On a positive note the boulder effect at the end was working this time.

  • Continuing my luck.. on Buzz scored really well, over 800K, but of course my photo had a problem.. I was able to email my score but no way to prove it was mine since the picture was a generic one.

  • Back to DCA to avoid the rain for a while. Once it started to let up we ventured out to try and use our Fastpass for the Racers. Unfortunately it was down. Also due to the rain the Street Party was cancelled too.

  • Circled back later in the day and used our Racers Fastpasses. Noticed one of the tractors is still (or again) not tipping.

  • A good portion of the afternoon/early evening was consumed with the Candlelight Ceremony. Found a spot in Town Square around 4pm for the 5:30 performance. They are back to 4 shows, two Saturday and two Sunday, again this year. The guest narrator Saturday was Blair Underwood.

  • The show seemed shorter to me this year.. but several I talked to said it ran almost the same time as last year. So it was just my impression. They did cut one segment, the Solitary Life section which shaved a couple minutes off the running time. Here is a video of that segment from last year:


  • I was not recording video this year, instead I took a couple pictures and one short video and enjoyed the performance instead.

  • I watched World of Color Winter Dreams from a preferred area, which turned out to be the large flat area where the fountains are. The snow flake effects were working really well today with quite a few floating into the viewing area. Noticed a couple came down in the guest area, unfortunately none close enough to really examine. I did find myself distracted by them vs the finale of the show but I think that is because I was trying to get a decent picture (and failed).

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
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