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Visit Date: 1/03/14
Steps: 24,357
Parks Miles: 9.2
Time in Parks: 9.5

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Mickey and Friends garage just after lunch and was expecting a line of cars and instead found a normal amount (only a couple cars per line). Was directed to a space on the 4th floor without any delay. Boarded a waiting tram and was on my way to the parks in a few minutes. First stop this afternoon was Disney California Adventure. Walked down Buena Vista Street, through Condor Flats, and out to GRR to pick up a World of Color Fastpass (too bad it was for yellow of the second show). Continued on down the trail and through the Bay Area to the Pier. Headed for Paradise Garden and the Three Kings Celebration at Viva Navidad! Spent some time walking around the area then caught the 1:30pm Street Party. After the show walked past the Fun Wheel, Toy Story, and Screamin to finish my loop of the Pier. Walked through the Wharf and into Cars Land. Took Cross Street to Route 66 then back to the Parade Route to Buena Vista Street. Caught Five and Dime as I was leaving. Made my way across the Esplanade to Disneyland. The parade was at the end of the street. I worked my way up the West side of the street and to the hub. Walked around there a bit then took a peek into Adventureland to see the Jingle Cruise line (too long for me) so wandered through Frontierland and made my way out to the Jingle Jangle Jamboree. Had a few minutes to kill before the Billies took the stage. Watched my final Billy Hill performance, they end their run Monday. Walked through Fantasyland and decided to grab a bite at the Village Haus since the line was short. After eating continued on through Fantasyland and out to Small World and Toontown. Made the loop through Toontown then walked back around the Matterhorn to Tomorrowland then back to Main Street. Decided to head for DCA and see the lights come on in Cars Land. Found out they came on at 4:55 and I entered DCA about 4:50.. usually not a problem but the Pixar Play Parade was going on and blocking my way. Worked my way through the crowd and across the street then up the parade route to Cars Land arriving with less than a minute to spare before Winter Wonderland came on the speakers. After the song headed back to Buena Vista Street and then Disneyland. Decided to watch the Christmas Fantasy Parade from the Trian Station then returned to DCA. Walked out to the Pier and made my way over to Paradise Garden for one last walk through Viva Navidad! and the Three Kings Celebration. Since I was there caught the Street Party one last time then made my way to the Grand Californian and out to Downtown Disney. Stopped by the Winter Village to see what was going on then walked back through Downtown Disney and returned to Disneyland in time to watch the 7:30 Wintertime Enchantment Moment. After the snow stopped continued down the Parade Route and out to Small World to catch the quarter hour projection show. Then walked back through Fantasyland, saw Olaf sleeping, and around the Castle to return to Main Street. Decided to head to DCA and find a standby spot for the first World of Color Winter Dreams show. Watched the show then walked quickly back to Disneyland to close out the evening with Believe in Holiday Magic on Main Street. After the fireworks made my way back to the tram, garage, car, and headed for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 17,516 steps, 156 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:

Happy New Year!

I wanted one more pass through the parks during the holidays and decided to give Friday a try. I tend to avoid the weeks around Christmas and the heavy crowds. Friday the crowds were heavy but not insane. Wait times were well over an hour for the usual suspects with a handful in triple digits most of the day. The crowds were not a factor in my day for the most part since my main objective was to enjoy the Christmas shows one last time for the season.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I was surprised when I arrived at the Disneyland Resort just after lunch time and the Ball Road overpass was open and there were only a couple of cars per lane at the toll booths in the Mickey and Friends Structure. I was able to reach a parking spot quickly and was on my way to the parks in no time.

  • I was even more surprised when my Premiere Pass worked correctly. It seems every time I move between WDW and Disneyland I end up at Guest Relations having to have something tweaked or reset on my annual pass. Since my last visit was at WDW I was expecting problems at Disneyland today, especially since they had to re-issue me a pass in Orlando because my old one did not have RFID because I bought it in Anaheim. My pass worked seamlessly for parking and for park admission. This was a nice time saver.

  • As I mentioned the crowds had a minimal effect on me this trip. One of the three areas it did was for World of Color. When I stopped by to get a Fastpass they were already on yellow for the second show. The second impact was with attractions. I had wanted to try and visit the Jingle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and/or the Subs and all three were pushing an hour wait most of the trip and I did not have the patience so skipped them. The final impact of the crowds was the poor cell phone coverage. I had several periods of the afternoon/evening, especially at Disneyland, where nothing would send. At one point I think my tweets were pushing 4 hours behind. I would hit pockets of a signal and push through several pictures but then would have to move on and would go into the dead zone again. That was one aspect of the myMagic+ system at Walt Disney World that I think they got right, the free wi-fi in the parks. The signal/service was reasonable most of the time during my December visit. I have not read anything about how it faired with the holiday masses though.

  • My second stop in DCA was Paradise Garden and Three Kings Celebration that was going on this weekend. They moved the celebration from Zocalo Park area in Disneyland over to DCA to add it to the Viva Navidad this year. I thought the celebration got lost/over shadowed by Viva Navidad! They did change out some of the signage and added a couple new food items and photo backdrops but with the scale of Viva Navidad! I am willing to bet most guests did not pick up on this. Also was surprised there was no mention of the celebration in the time schedule, just Viva Navidad!. I was expecting something more, not quite sure what, but something different for the celebration. My initial reaction was am I missing something. Not sure if this is a compliment to Viva Navidad! or a criticism of the the Three Kings add on.

  • Stopped by the Jingle Jangle Jamboree for one last performance of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies before they conclude their Disneyland run on Monday. I have always enjoyed the Billies and will miss their performances. I am curious what direction Disneyland entertainment will go in. I have heard no rumors of what type of band/group will be replacing the Billies. I would like to see them retire the Laughing Stock Co. and come up with a new act/show for the Golden Horseshoe. But for some reason I have the feeling the Billies will retire and nothing new is coming any time soon. I hope I am wrong.

  • Since the Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers have ended their season already there was no tree lighting event at DCA. I made my way out to Cars Land to enjoy the Winter Wonderland and lights coming on one last time. This is one of those small Disney pluses that I just enjoy experiencing.

  • Decided to watch the Christmas Fantasy Parade from the Main Street Train Station. Was surprised to see they had the corners roped off so you could not stand there to watch the parade. Guess they did this for traffic flow purposes but it did take away some great viewing options.

  • I stopped by the Winter Village in Downtown Disney and spent a little time walking by the stores/kiosks and taking some pictures since I had not done that yet this year. I was surprised by how few guests were walking around the stores. Downtown Disney had a healthy crowd as did the ice rink and Earl of Sandwich but the walkway by the stores was nearly empty. It is a bit awkward to get to them maybe that was the reason? Or guests just thinking they all have to do with the ice rink?

  • Back to Disneyland and the Sleeping Beauty Winter Castle Wintertime Enchantment moment. I enjoyed the event from Main Street where I could see the hub and then down the street. I thought the balloon vendors should have moved off the street during the event, they really block the view.

  • Finally remembered to stop by Fantasyland in the evening and answer the question of what does Olaf do at night when the Frozen Royal Reception is closed. The answer is he sleeps. He snores and stirs around a bit. Here is a brief video clip:


  • Another surprise of the day was how easy it ended up being to park hop. I was expecting long lines at the entrances but I think the longest I had to wait was maybe a dozen guests in front of me. So I was able to freely/quickly move back and fourth between the two parks which I did several times. At one point I ended up in the same gate I had used previously and the cast member said did you not just come through here. It had been about an hour since she last saw me.

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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