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Disneyland ResortPicture Set

Visit Date: 11/21/14
Steps: 20,991
Parks Miles: 7.9
Time in Parks: 9

 
Trip Log:

Started off the afternoon taking the tram from the Mickey and Friends Garage to the parks. Walked down Buena Vista Street, through Condor Flats and out to GRR to grab a FastPass for World of Color Winter Dreams this evening. Continued on through the Bay Area and out to Paradise Pier. Looked around then walked down the Parade Route, passing by the Wharf then into Cars Land. Walked around Route 66 then continued down the parade route. There were still FastPasses for the Racers so grabbed one then made my way back to Buena Vista Street. Enjoyed a performance by the Community Bell Ringers before making my way over to Disneyland. Wandered down Main Street USA to the hub. Decided to head toward Adventureland and a ride on the Jingle Cruise to start my visit. The posted wait was 30 minutes but it looked shorter, and it was, only 15 minutes. After the Jingle Cruise made my way out to New Orleans Square and grabbed a FastPass for the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Walked along the Rivers of America and the Big Thunder Trail to the Jingle Jangle Jamboree. Watched a performance of the Plight Before Christmas and took some pictures of the area. Passed through Fantasyland and inched through the parade traffic to reach Small World Holiday. Received my own boat. Once back ashore retraced my steps through Fantasyland and past the Fantasy Faire through Frontierland and back to the Haunted Mansion to use my FastPass. Walked along the Rivers of America again and used the Big Thunder Trail to return to Fantasyland. Ate dinner at the Village Haus then then headed back to DCA for the lights to come on in Cars Land. Found a spot on Route 66 and waited a couple minutes for the show. Afterwards walked quickly to Buena Vista Street for the lighting of the Christmas Tree. Found a spot on Buena Vista Street to relax for a few minutes and send some pictures before returning to Disneyland for the Christmas Fantasy Parade. After the parade it was back to DCA and I hiked out to the Pier to catch the last Viva Navidad! Street party of the day. Hiked back down the Parade route and over to Disneyland. Made my way to Tomorrowland and stopped by the Space Mountain exit area to see what was going on there then headed to the Tomorrowland Terrace for an Elvis performance by Scot Bruce. At 7:30 returned to Main Street for the Wintertime Enchantment moment. Circled the Castle area taking some pictures then returned to DCA for last time. Wandered down Hollywood Blvd and caught the second half of a MadTParty band set then passed through Fliks on my way to Paradise Pier to use my World of Color Fastpass. Found an ok spot for the show. After Winter Dreams followed the large mass of guests walking toward the exit as Believe in Holiday Magic was going on at Disneyland. Boarded a tram and returned to the garage to find my car and head for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 15,111 steps, 130 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 everyone,

Friday was a relaxing day at the Disneyland Resort. I had a very short photo list and the plan was to enjoy the holiday festivities at both parks. Thanks to a fairly light crowd I was able to visit several attractions and enjoy quite a few shows with minimal hassle. I did not pay that close of attention to the wait times around the parks but overall they appeared on the mild side. The weather was nearly perfect for mid November with the highs topping out in the low 70s and cooling down to the 60s by the time I left (50s by the time I reached home).

Jason

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • If you read my trip log or looked at the pictures you may have noticed I hopped between parks quite a bit. It seemed that the show schedule lined up that way and thanks to a light crowd it was accomplished with minimal waits. I think the longest was pushing 10 minutes only. The new hand held scanners at the turn stiles do appear to slow things down, but at least there is no longer the double check with a second cast member for multi day ticket guests and their photos. Still seems there should be a more efficient way to handle this.

  • My first stop of the day was Disney California Adventure to gather a FastPass for World of Color - Winter Dreams. My assumption was I would be at the second showing of the evening but thanks to the light crowd I received a FastPass for the first show. I have said it before but I really wish Disney would let you choose the show you want to go to. I received the Yellow section for the first show. I would have much rather had Blue for the second. It seems they could have one FastPass machine set up for the 2nd show and give guests the choice. I looked at my schedule and I did not think I could check back for the second show availability because I was planning on heading to Disneyland.

  • On the way to Disneyland though I noticed FastPasses still available for the Racers so grabbed one. I was really surprised to see them still available for a reasonable hour 9pm after 1:30pm.

  • At Disneyland I made my way out to Adventureland and went for a trip aboard the Jingle Cruise. The posted wait time was 30 minutes and as luck would have it this turned out to be substantially off in a good way. It was only 15 minutes! This was my third trip of the season and the skipper this time was pretty good. Overall the holiday overlay has grown on me and I think the additional props this year really add to compared to last year where the skipper had to carry the entire show.

  • I stopped by the Jingle Jangle Jamboree next. Was surprised to see almost all of the seats taken for the show. I noticed the show times are listed in the times guide this week, wonder if that had anything to do with it. Or did I just choose a popular time of day to see it? I did hear a couple guests commenting on how they miss the reindeer in the ranch area and even heard one commenting on the pardoned turkeys that were staple of the ranch for several years.

  • It is nice now that the Haunted Mansion Holiday has FastPass again. I can visit without committing to a wait. Friday the line hovered around 30 minutes. FastPass return times were for a little over an hour out only. So I opted for FastPass and spent less than 5 minutes waiting. After riding I realized I had not spotted the Monkey Bride this year.. need to remember to look for it next trip. Has anyone found it? Any hints so I can grab a picture?

  • The receipt from dinner was over a foot long.. and all I order was a burger and fries.. the coupon for the 20% off merchandise at select stores in the morning is present again. Still do not understand why the Disney point of sale system cannot be programmed to give annual passholders a different notice since that is the regular discount that you can get anywhere any time. Guess some do not know so it drives them to the store? Or is the system that poor that they really cannot tell.. even though they pressed the AP button to give the dining discount?

  • I made my way over to DCA for the Viva Navidad! Street Party. I thought this was a sleeping hit last year and it is great to see it back again with no substantial changes. The only change that really jumped out to me is they now turn the float around upon entrance vs exit. The party is good during the day but after dark it seems slightly better to me. The lights add to it for me.

  • Noticed the Big Hero 6 Meet and Greet had less curtains Friday. I am assuming they were down during the day too, I arrived after it had closed. Wonder if this was to draw more guests or if it was deemed unnecessary.

  • Elvis, Scot Bruce, was performing at the Tomorrowland Terrace. He has added some Christmas to his set as he usually does this time of year. Always entertaining.

  • I stopped by the Mad T Party since I had some time before World of Color and according to internet reporting (rumors) its days are numbered.

  • I watched World of Color Winter Dreams from the Yellow section. I moved as close to the middle as the section allows. My number one complaint about World of Color has always been the limited viewing area where you can fully experience the show and this confirmed it again. I was in a FastPass section and moved as far toward show center as possible and it was still nearly impossible to make out what was on the front screen. This really seems to be a design flaw and they heavily rely on the animation and front screen in the shows. And only a small slice of the potential viewing area can experience the full show.

  • Do you visit our pictorial updates using a mobile device? If so we would like your feedback. I have created a beta of a more mobile version of our Disneyland Picture sets at https://disneygeek.com/mobile Please give it a try and share your thoughts.

  • Video featuring my pictures:

Interesting Web Finds/Notes:

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

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