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Visit Date: 7/31/15
Steps: 23,801
Parks Miles: 9.0
Time in Parks: 9

 
Trip Log:

Started off this warm afternoon being directed to a fairly good parking spot in the Mickey and Friends Structure. Hopped onto a waiting tram to the parks starting off at Disneyland. Wandered around Main Street USA working toward the hub, stopping to listen to the Straw Hatters along the way and then through Sleeping Beauty Castle to Fantasyland. Walked out to the Big Thunder Ranch then along the Big Thunder Trail to the Rivers of America. Continued around to New Orleans Square and crossed paths with the Boot Strappers so stopped to listen for a while then doubled back through Adventureland to Main Street USA. The Disneyland Band was making its way to Frontierland so followed along and watched their set. Strolled back to Main Street USA and through the shops on the West side of the street as I headed for Disney California Adventure. Walked through Elias & Co and then took the parade your out to Paradise Pier, taking a quick look into Bugs Land along the way. Once at the Pier continued on past the Zephyr and around to the swings and Fun Wheel areas. Past Toy Story and Screamin and finished the loop. Passed through the Wharf on my way to Cars Land. Took Cross Street to Route 66 and roamed around a little while before continuing on Cross Street to Fliks and then to Sunset Blvd. Stopped by the Backlot Stage for the 3pm All-American College Band set. Once they had finished took a look around the Backlot and noticed no line for Olaf so stopped to see him for a picture then stopped by the Animation Building for some A/C and to see if there was anything going on as I headed for Off the Page. Took Hollywood Blvd back to Buena Vista Street. Returned to Disneyland. Caught the last song from the Dapper Dans and the continued on to Fantasyland. The Pearly Band was performing so stopped to listen to them then continued on through Fantasyland and out to Toontown. Circled the area and the doubled back through Fantasyland. Decided to grab a bite in the Village Haus and then continued on around the Big Thunder Trail to New Orleans Square. Walked through the shops and then out to grab a Haunted Mansion FastPass. Made my way back to Main Street and crossed over to Tomorrowland. Circled the area then followed the All-American College Band to Town Square for the nightly Flag Retreat. After the ceremony walked through some stores on the East side of Main Street and then returned to New Orleans Square to use my FastPass. Headed for the Castle and the 6:15pm College Band set and they called an audible due to filming and turned toward Main Street. Repositioned down on the street to watch their castle set performed there. After their performance wandered around Main Street and Tomorrowland. Caught the opening song at Tomorrowland Terrace before returning to Town Square for the 7:15pm All-American College Band. After their show I walked up Main Street and through Fantasyland. Ended up back in Toontown again. Watched the sun set and then stopped by the Small World Mall to listen to the 8:15pm All-American College Band pre-parade in the area. Followed the band up the parade route and I cut through the hub and decided to watch Disneyland Forever from in the hub on the West side. The view of the Castle was skewed but I could see the fireworks perfectly so stooed there for a little under an hour waiting for the show. Watched Paint the Night from a distance and then the fireworks. After the show inched my way through mob and toward the exit using the west Main Street by-pass. It seemed to take a long time but in reality was only about 10 minutes from my spot to outside the park. The trams were really backed up so opted to hike back to the structure. Found my car and headed for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 18,657 steps, 164 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,

It had been a couple weeks since my last visit so I decided to head down to Disneyland Friday afternoon to just relax and enjoy the parks. The day turned out to be cooler than I had anticipated weather wise and I had a lazy summer visit to the parks enjoying the live entertainment. The forecast most of the week kept saying it was going to be hot and by southern California Standards humid on Friday. Turned out to peak around 90 and humidity was higher than normal for us but not miserable. There was also a decent breeze most of the day. Crowds in the park were average summer. Wait times varied but were on the higher side for most attractions most of the time. But with timing and FastPass you could still work your way onto some without a long wait. For example I used a Haunted Mansion FastPass. Picked it up about an hour before visiting and waited only a couple minutes to enter the house.

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

Thoughts and Observations:

  • I had not planned on spending the day watching all entertainment. I set out to walk the park like I normally do and it seemed each time I entered an area a group was performing so I started pausing to enjoy and by the end of the evening I had seen a variety of performances throughout the parks. It was a stress free visit to the parks for me thanks to this and nothing on my picture list really. So I could just aimlessly roam around.

  • Main Street USA was alive with activity when I arrived. At one point there was a traffic jam even. Both Omnibuses, two horse drawn street cars, the fire truck and the yellow car were all making the rounds. Always great to see the activity.

  • Surprised to find they still have not unveiled the next window at the Emporium. Seems they should have left the old windows in place longer or something temporary.. it seems poor show to have curtains up for so long. Wonder when the next one will be done? I have not seen or heard anything. Speaking of MIA I walked through Bugs Land over at DCA and still no sign of the 60th Photo Spot there either. Seems odd they did not have all the photo spots and windows ready to go for the celebration kickoff back in May. It should not have been a surprise it was coming.

  • As I was circling Paradise Bay and looking at the quiet water it is really too bad they opted not to continue the Instant Concert series. Or any show for that mater in Paradise Park. Right now the only performances are by the Green Army Men and at the Bandstand.

  • I had not really paid attention the Frozen Fun elements that remained but on Friday it appears Frozen Fatigue has set in a bit. Olaf no longer has FastPass, the cast member said this change happened a short while ago. I was able to walk right up and take his picture with no wait at all. Over in the Animation building the air conditioning of the lobby seemed more popular than the Frozen sisters with guests sitting/laying all around watching the film clips and enjoying the coolness. The line for Anna and Else was maybe a handful of guests and they appeared not to be asking for FastPasses. (I saw the cart out front so they were still distributing them). At the sing along right before show time they were announcing last call and inviting anyone who wanted to head inside to sing and enjoy the A/C. --- Frozen still remains a force though.. during Disneyland Forever a large and loud portion of the audience sang along to Let it Go.

  • The All-American College Band has hit its stride. With just a couple weeks left the members are really loose and enjoying themselves now. They had a good size following on Friday with many past members around. This weekend the band is celebrating its 45 anniversary with a reunion on Saturday. Unfortunately I could not make Saturday so I enjoyed Fridays shows instead. The band stepped off early for the Flag Retreat on Friday. I thought they did when I was walking down the street and they came out in front of me well before 5:15. When they got to the part where the Dapper Dans were to arrive the band parted and the Dans did not show. After Ron and others looking around and scrambling a bit they show skipped ahead and continued on. The Dapper Dans appeared a few moments later and took their spots around Ron and the rest of the show went on as normal. But it was interesting watching everyone look around for them. Also the band had to change their 6:15pm Castle set to be on Main Street due to some filming near the Castle. This was not announced and a group had gathered near the castle. We saw Ron lead the band toward the street and everyone headed that way.

  • I decided to try another viewing location for Disneyland Forever on Friday night. I wanted to see how close to the Castle I could get showing up about an hour before the show and without being rude and pushing through other guests. I ended up on the West side in the second row behind the walkway that leads from Frontierland to the hub. There was a wheelchair in front of me so thought that was a good choice. I had a fairly clear view of the sky and could see most of the Castle. I could not see the Matterhorn or Main Street.

  • I thought it was a nice plus to see the Castle light change as the Paint the Night parade started. Too bad it did not continue after the opening announcement. It would have helped to pass the time as I stood there. The view of Paint the Night was very obstructed and the parade felt distant. It was something to see and helped to pass the time. But if this was your first time viewing I would say invest the time and be closer it is much more impressive and immersive up close.

  • Disneyland Forever from this vantage point was a good show and if I had never seen it anywhere else as many around me experienced it I would have been really impressed. Sometimes not knowing what is going on elsewhere is a plus. From this vantage point you can really concentrate on the fireworks and have the Castle projections too. The projections from this angle and with the obstructions were just ok to me. It was hard to really make out details that I thought I should have from so much closer.

  • Now that I have seen Disneyland Forever from a half dozen locations, each has its pros and cons, but my favorite so far for the immersive experience is about 1/3 the way up Main Street (closer to Town Square just to the right of the street car rails). The reason for this is you are immersed with the projections all around you and have the great long shot up the street to the Castle and you can see it and the projections in the distance plus the shells overhead. The compromise is no view of the Matterhorn. I still need to invest the time and try for a spot show center by the Castle and also someplace where I can see the Matterhorn. Do you have a favorite spot? Any recommendations?

  • 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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