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Visit Date: 2/21/14
Steps: 18,149
Parks Miles: 6.8
Time in Parks: 9

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Disneyland Resort just after lunch. Was directed into a great parking spot in terms of a short walk, first one in the second row, so I was right at the top of the escalator. Arrived at the tram stop as one was pulling out and no others in sight so decided to walk to Downtown Disney and take the Monorail into the park. Walked up to the Monorail entrance just as Monorail Blue was pulling in then proceeded up to the trian and stepped right on with no wait at all! Once in the park wandered through Tomorrowland, past the Castle and Matterhorn and out to Small World. Continued on and circled Toontown then walked back through the Small World Mall and Fantasyland to reach the Big Thunder Ranch. Not much going on so continued on down the Big Thunder Trail. Arrived at the Mark Twain dock just as it was boarding so went for a cruise around the Rivers of America. Once back on shore walked by Pirates and through Adventureland to Main Street. Decided to head across the Esplanade to DCA. Strolled down Buena Vista Street and the parade route to Route 66. Wandered through Cars Land and out Cross Street to the Wharf. Circled the Pier passing Screamin, Toy Story, the Fun Wheel, Paradise Gardens, and the Little Mermaid. Roamed around GRR and found myself in Condor Flats. Stopped by Taste Pilots for a bite to eat. After eating strolled down Hollywood Blvd and made my way to the 4:45pm Aladdin show. I showed up about 4:30 and was up in the balcony, not by choice but because it was the only area with space left. After the show roamed around Cars Land then strolled back through Hollywood Land and caught a little of the Mad T Party Band before returning to Disneyland. Arrived on Main Street just as Soundsational was starting to make its way through Town Square. Waited to cross then walked along with the parade down the Street. Walked through Tomorrowland and realized I had 20 minutes until the Elvis set so continued on around the Matterhorn and out to the Small World Mall to catch some of Soundsational. Watched through the Princess Unit then returned to Tomorrowland just as the show was beginning. Enjoyed Elvis (Scot Bruce) at the Tomorrowland Terrace then stopped by Innoventions to see what was going on. Made my way over to Frontierland by way of the hub and then up to the Pirates Bridge to find a spot for Fantasmic. Waited about half an hour for Remember to start then Fantasmic followed. After the show made my way to Main Street then out to the trams. Decided it was too long of a wait so hiked out to the garage and car to head for him.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 13,437 steps, 118 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,

Friday was another perfect weather day.. temps topped out just above 80 and cooled down to the 60s. The crowds at the Disneyland Resort were on the heavy side, especially for this time of year. I have had several questions about the off season at Disneyland. It seems to be more of off days or maybe a week here or there but there is no more off season. It is great to see the parks alive with activity but I kind of miss the quiet times. I would guess mid week mid day visits are your best chance.

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Anyone who reads these posts regularly knows I complain about my bad parking luck quite frequently.. well Friday I had good luck. First only a couple cars in front of me to get through the toll booth. Then I choose the correct lane, meaning no one in front of me and the car behind me was far back. I was directed to the first spot in the second aisle.. so I was only a few steps from the escalator. It had been quite a while since I was that close.

  • My good luck ended as I headed down the escalator and saw one tram getting ready to depart and no others in sight. I decided to to walk take the Monorail into the park so walked over to Downtown Disney. Not sure why but starting my visit entering by Monorail always feels odd to me. There is something about walking down Main Street or Buena Vista Street that sets the mood for me and eases the transition. Where as the monorail I just do not get that.

  • I stopped by the Big Thunder Ranch and even with a good crowd in the park the area was quiet. Too bad there is not that much energy out there this year. The characters of the Frontierland Troupe just do not seem to be drawing the masses. I was hoping they would rotate other characters in, but it appears the group is set for the duration of the event. I hope they figure out a way to draw more guests. I think it is good to have this area of the park open and more options available.

  • As I mentioned in the pictures Big Thunder had multiple trains cycling through the attraction. They all appeared empty when I was paying attention. I had read that that some limited cast member testing had begun. So that seems to indicate things are moving closer to opening sooner rather than later. No indications of when that will be though.

  • Noticed a cast member walking the Dole Whip line taking orders. This was the first time I had seen this here. I saw the concept used at the Corn Dog Wagon before. The line still stretched down toward the Tiki Room exit. Wonder if this helped with the throughput. I did find it interesting that the official Disneyland Twitter account Friday night was advertising Dole Whips.. seems they did not need to draw more attention to them.

  • The Disney Gallery area of the Opera House lobby was curtained off as the new exhibit was being installed. The new steampunk inspired exhibit opened Saturday so I will stop by on my next visit and post pictures. I am glad to see them continue with the new exhibits even if the gallery is now relegated to a small footprint. How I miss the large gallery over Pirates.. it makes a lot of sense to have an under utilized suite up there now a days. Wish they would offer more chance to see/tour or experience the suite or move forward with a conversion to something else. Surprised it did not get swallowed up in the Club 33 project that seems to have taken over New Orleans Square.

  • Aladdin returned to Hyperion theater after a several week closure. From what I have read the main work was back of house, rigging/lights/etc.. nothing too dramatic jumped out at me as being different. This may be because I was about midway up in the balcony due to the large crowd or maybe I am just not that observant. So if you know of the changes please let me know. The elephant looked like it may have been new.

  • Tomorrowland Terrace played host to Elvis, Scot Bruce, Friday night. Even with the counter service area closed (no visible signs of work being done), there were a lot of guests in the area and as he played more showed up. I thought it was interesting that they had entertainment with the dining closed.

  • I decided to give Fantasmic! another try this week since last weeks show was cancelled on me a few minutes into it. Things got off to a rocky start. After finding a spot and looking around I noticed several cast members working on the center fountain unit. Seems one of the new ones was not working properly. They worked on it for a while then went ashore for a test. It did not come on. Since show time was nearing they brought out the pyro barges and the show went ahead with the fountain turned off (and to balance it they turned off one of the others that had worked during the test).

  • Remember was at 8:40pm again so I heard and sort of watched the show. I was on the bridge for Fantasmic! which put a rather large tree between me and most of the fireworks. It was a different perspective to see brief glimpses through the trees.

  • It had been a long time since I had watched Fantasmic! from the bridge. The overall view was good, but I tend to favor being closer better.

  • I had two noteworthy guest experiences while watching. First a very annoying pair came up right before show time and shouldered their way in my sight line. I tend to not stand directly on top of the person in front of me. Well they saw this gap and thought it meant they could stand there. Which meant I spent a portion of the show asking them to move/position myself so I did not get pushed out of the way. Which is not a fun way to experience a show while trying to take pictures and enjoy it too. But luckily the guests on the other side of me more than made up for it. It was a three generation family and none of them had seen the show before, not sure but they may have never been to park before either. Listening to their reactions during the fireworks (which they could not really see either) and then Fantasmic really helped to put things in perspective. They were having a great time and grandparents, parents, and children all enjoyed both shows and were talking amongst themselves about it.

  • The night time schedule on my visits since the first of year has had World of Color at 9:45pm and only one showing. I overheard several groups complaining about this as I roamed around. They felt it was too late to keep their young kids there and there was no way they would stay awake. I miss them taking advantage of the early darkness in winter and having an early show.

  • To close out my evening hiked back to the parking structure due to the trams being at least a two tram wait and none in sight. A lot of other guests had the same idea and the walkway was crowded heading to the garage. It really is a narrow walkway if you have a couple strollers trying to pass and guests walking next to/with them. Would be nice to see it widened. As it is the plants have been trampled making it wider in some spots because of this.

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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