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Visit Date: 3/20/15
Steps: 20,935
Parks Miles: 7.9
Time in Parks: 9.5

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Disneyland Resort just after lunch and found the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure closed. They were directing all incoming traffic down to the Lion King lot (the far side of the Paradise Pier Hotel. I opted to circle around and park in the Toy Story lot instead. Walked onto a waiting bus and was on my way to the parks. First stop today Disney California Adventure. Strolled up Buena Vista Street and took a quick look toward Grizzly Peak Airfield and the newly opened Smokejumpers Grill then continued on up the Parade Route and around Grizzly River Run to grab a Fastpass for World of Color, then some pictures of GRR since it had reopened since my last trip too. Made my way back to Smokejumpers Grill to check out the new location. Wandered around taking pictures and trying not to interupt those dining in the area. Headed back to Buena Vista Street and over to Disneyland. Strolled down Main Street USA and spent some time wandering around Sleeping Beauty Castle which is receiving diamonds/bling for the 60th Anniversary Celebration that kicks off in May. Walked through Fantasyland on my way to the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree to see the 2015 edition of the Springtime Roundup that kicked off today. Spent some time visiting the characters, photographing the decorated eggs and wandering around. Spent a little over an hour then continued on down the Big Thunder Trail to Frontierland. Followed the Rivers of America to New Orleans Square and hopped on the Disneyland Railroad. Took it around to Tomorrowland and disembarked. Went for a round trip on the Monorail then walked around the Matterhorn and out to Small World to check out the facade refurbishment. Walked back down the parade route to the hub and spent some more time by the Castle before making my way to Town Square for the nightly Flag Retreat Ceremony. Returned to Disney California Adventure and made my way out to the Pacific Wharf area. Stopped by Ghirardelli then the Wharf Cafe to grab some food then went to the outdoor patio by Flos in CarsLand to eat. After dinner walked around Cars Land and then back through the Wharf and out to the Pier. Circled around past Ariels, Screamin, Toy Story, Paradise Gardens and then stopped by Paradise Park to watch the World of Color fountains going through their preshow checks. Walked through Bugsland and onto Sunset Blvd. Passed through Freeze the Night which was just getting started for the evening. Spent some time in the Snow Fest then made my way back to Buena Vista Street and a quick look at Smokejumpers before walking through some stores on Buena Vista Street as I made my way back to Disneyland. Worked my way through the crowds of Main Street USA and passed by the Castle on my way to Tomorrowland. Hopped on the Disneyland Railroad and took it to Main Street USA. Walked back to the Castle to take some after dark pictures then made a u-turn and back to Disney California Adventure. Spent some time at Freeze the Night then returned to the Smokejumpers Grill for some after dark pictures and another pass at the interior. After taking a couple hundred pictures I made my way out to Cars Land and then to the Pier to wait for World of Color. I opted not to use my Yellow FastPass and instead wait in the standby area. After the show joined the mob of guests heading to the exit and I made my way to the Toy Story bus loading area and eventually out to my car to head for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 14,566 steps, 126 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,

I marked the first day of Spring at the Disneyland Resort. The weather was picture perfect with clear skies and temps just about 80 degrees and cooling down to the 60s. The crowds felt moderate at the parks but wait times were slightly less than the crowds felt - meaning the waits seemed shorter than expected for most attractions given the large number of guests walking around.

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • When I arrived at the Disneyland Resort, just after lunch, they had the Ball Road overpass closed and the parking structure was blocked off too. Driving by the structure appeared mostly empty. They were directing guests into the Lion King lot on the far side of the Paradise Pier Hotel. I opted to circle around and park in the Toy Story lot. This meant it took about 20 minutes to park from exiting the freeway. The second parking structure is long overdue. If this is your first impression of Disneyland stuck in traffic and circling the park it is not a very positive one.

  • Once I finally reached the parks I headed for DCA first to grab a FastPass for World of Color. As anticipated I received a Yellow Section one. Due to the Airfield area still being blocked off this was quite a hike and with the path being a dead end the trail around Grizzly River Run was quite crowded.

  • The smoking area between Grizzly River Run and the Bay Area was more crowded than usual due to a closure of the area out on Paradise Pier. Thought this was interesting. Wonder if it means something will finally move forward in the old Maliboomer spot? The downside to this is the nice quiet nature trail puts you in the middle of a smoke cloud! Also I found it funny they were directing guests to the wilderness to smoke.

  • Smokejumpers Grill, the first piece of the new Grizzly Peak Airfield area of Disney California Adventure opened Friday. This dining location replaced the former Taste Pilots Grill in Condor Flats. The menu is virtually identical, a couple minor changes but its your burgers and chicken choices. The rest of Grizzly Peak Airfield will be opening over the next few months concluding with Soarin as the summer season kicks off. The improvements to the area were very noticable and I think positive. I enjoyed the aerospace theme of Condor Flats but it was sparse and not the most visually appealing. The new area features more trees, fences, and other elements to break up the sight lines and liven up the exterior. Inside they opened up the entrance area and added quite a few props around restaurant. The cast members also recieved new costumes. Someone even commented on the fresh smell outside due to the wood chips. I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of the makeover now. If you missed it I posted an extended look at the new dining location in our Disneyland Picture section.

  • At Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle is starting to receive the diamonds and other other bling for the 60th anniversary celebration. Also two new projector towers have been installed. The towers fit in nicely and look great. The diamond overlay on the Castle is a work in progress but so far I am not overly impressed by it. It is bright and shiney though. Curious if they will light up at night, if so it may be similar to the Christmas overlay where during the day it does not look that good but at night the effect is great.

  • The Springtime Roundup returned to the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree on Friday. The 2015 edition features the same basic offerings as last year. Egg artwork, character meet and greets, arts and crafts, food, and some entertainment. The characters include all your favorite rabbits from Roger Rabbit, Thumper, the White Rabbiet, Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh, Brer Rabbit and Mr. Easter Bunny to Pluto dressed as a rabbit as well as Mickey & Minnie in their springtime attire. The entertainment is provided by a trio (singer, piano, and guitar) and they play a variety of songs and are accompanied by a half dozen dancers. The Bunny Hop has returned and happens at 11:30, 1:00, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30 daily.

  • The highlight of the springtime roundup for me is always the egg artwork. I enjoy watching the artists at work and seeing their creations. On Friday the crowds were mild and the only real waits materialized for Mickey/Minnie and Roger Rabbit and even those were only 15-20 minutes the couple times I checked. Again I would recommend checking out the springtime round up if you want to relax a bit and get some character pictures.

  • In the afternoon only Monorail Blue was in service so it meant longer than usual waits. The cast member said the second train went in earlier in the day and they were unsure if it would return.. as the sun was setting I did spot a second train on the tracks.

  • Speaking of train... the Primeval World has returned along the Disneyland Railroad. It had been closed off for refurbishment for several weeks. Overall it looked good and no major changes jumped out in my one pass by.

  • Interesting note that the Tower of Terror was closed when I walked by and Cast Members were saying your best bet was to check back on Saturday. This seemed odd since usually they say later. I saw it was down on Saturday too. No indication of why.

  • I walked through the Frozen Fun area. Olaf was still drawing a crowd with nearly an hour wait. To play in the snow was about half an hour. Was surprised to find no wait for Anna and Elsa. They were allowing stand by guests right in when I walked through the Animation Building. As always this time of year I found it odd to walk through the night time area during the day thanks to the time change. So Freeze the Night kicks off at 6pm when it is still rather bright. For this event I think it works for families but the event does loose something in my opinion without the lights being able to take effect. There was a healthy crowd of families enjoying the area when I walked through.

  • I concluded my night with the World of Color. The regular show returned last Friday. Currently they are only running one show per evening. I picked up a FastPass but since it was for the Yellow section I again opted to use the Standby area for a straight on view. I arrived just under an hour before the show and managed to find a good standby location. No major changes to the show. During the renovation they upgraded/fixed the equipment and added new effects for the new show coming in May. On Friday the projections on the back water screens looked really sharp, I think the best I have seen. The front screen looked ok but no where near as good as the back ones to me. I am guessing they swapped out the projectors during the renovation? Or was it just my angle and favorable winds.

  • 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.

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

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
Pictures & Video From this Trip:


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