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Visit Date: 7/16/16
Steps: 25,873
Parks Miles: 9.8
Time in Parks: 12

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at an overcast and busy Mickey and Friends Parking Structure around 7:30am. Lucked out with a parking spot close to the escalators on Mickey. Took a few moments to get pictures of the Star Wars construction then boarded a tram. First stop today for us was the Grand Californian to check into an event. Then some of my group headed to the park and I had to back track to the car to drop off a bag. I ended up with my own tram back to the structure. The return lines were long at least two tram wait at two load statioins, so I opted to walk back. Met my group as they exited Soarin. We walked around Grizzly River Run and out to Paradise Pier. Decided to give Toy Story a try since the wait was small then walked onto the Fun Wheel. Met some other friends who were exiting Screamin and we all walked toward the Wharf. They headed to Disneyland for FastPasses and we stopped by Ghirardelli then roamed around Cars Land. I walked onto Radiator Springs Racers single rider and then walked down Cross Street, through Bugs and into Hollywood Land. Roamed around a bit, stopping by the Animation Building then the plan was to see Frozen. The first show ended up being cancelled due so that plan did not happen. We walked up Hollywood Blvd and through Grizzly Peak Airfield on our way to the Grand Californian. Stopped by a reception for a while and visited with friends in one of the ballrooms. Then made our way to Disneyland. Caught a performance and sing along with the Disneyland Band, Dapper Dans, and Characters. Then made my way to Frontierland, making a quick detour to Tomorrowland to grab FastPasses for Buzz. Took some Star Wars pictures from the end of the Big Thunder Trail then walked around the Rivers of America to Critter Country to do the same. Circled back to Frontierland to find the rest of my group. Returned to Tomorrowland to use our Buzz FastPasses. Then we roamed around Main Street USA and returned to DCA. Used FastPasses for Soarin Around the World then spent some time on Buena Vista Street and in Hollywood Land. The plan was to catch some of the College Band set at 3pm but they were delayed so we got in line for the 4pm Frozen show and had to miss their set. Watched Frozen and then returned to Disneyland. Caught the very end of the Flag Retreat on our way to Dinner at the Plaza Inn. After dinner watched the 6:15 All-American College Band set in front of the Castle. Walked out to the Rivers of America to listen to the Jambalaya Jazz a bit and then out to Critter Country to pick up a candy apple for my sister-in-law. Strolled back along the Rivers of America and paid a visit to the Mark Twain and caught some of the Royal Street Bachelors set before making my way to Town Square for the 7:15pm All-American College Band set. After their performance we called it an early evening and headed for the tram, garage, car and home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 19,427 steps, 170 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 spent a rare weekend day at the Disneyland Resort. The crowds were mild for a summer day, I would say moderate at best over all. Most wait times were well under an hour most of the day with only a couple of the usual suspects going over an hour.

Sunday Disneyland turned 61. Hard to believe the 60th is over.. it was another fast year. The celebration in the parks will continue on through September 5th. The event was marked with a parade down Main Street and sing along in Town Square on Sunday.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • As I rounded the corner to pull into the Mickey and Friends parking structure some of the lines had started to stretch back toward the entrance. Luckily I choose wisely and took a far lane that was much shorter. By the time I parked and went to a place to take pictures of the Star Wars work the line had stretched out of the garage for several lanes.

  • The trams to the parks were not bad at 7:45am. But I had to circle back to drop something off in the car and after 8am they were backed up with what looked to be at least a two tram wait at two load spots. I opted to walk back the second time.

  • First stop was Disney California Adventure. Most wait times were still walk ons and the park had been open over 30 minutes already. Noted the Racers were down (or had not opened) yet. Some of my group went on Soarin and said the line was just inside the door and moved quickly. We all walked out to Toy Story and waited about 15 minutes only and this was around 9am, an hour after park opening.

  • I found it interesting they were not using the machines by GRR to distribute World of Color FastPasses. Instead a couple of Cast Members were standing along the walkway and were dealing them out like cards. No explanation why or if this is normal.

  • Close to 10am Radiator Springs Racers was posted at 30 minutes only. I opted for Single Rider and literally walked on. Had to slow down to hear which gate to go to.

  • I had a FastPass for the 11:30am Frozen show. I walked by the area around 10:15 and there were a lot of Cast Members out front. They were informing guests that the 11:30 show had been cancelled due to problems and they did not know if later shows would be effected. Also they said FastPass distribution was halted because of this. They did not know the plan for current FastPass holders. I am not sure if this was because they had not issued FastPasses to day guests yet or if there really was no plan. I had a FastPass from an event so not sure if were an odd case or what. I was able to exchange them for a later time through the event but not sure about regular FastPass guests.

  • I made my way over to the Grand Californian around 11am for an event. As I was leaving the park to enter the hotel the cast member working the exit was bordering on rude. He was trying to inform us that re-entry to the park was restricted to hotel guests and at first did not want to seem to let us exit. We were going to a ballroom for an event so we had a purpose to be at the hotel. Plus the entry for all opens at 11 I thought anyways. It was a very odd encounter.

  • Caught the Disneyland Band and characters march from Sleeping Beauty Castle to Town Square. This is a lively event that happens daily. I still find it awkward they try to do a sing along for Live the Magic. The current version of the Disneyland Band turned 1 year old on the 17th.

  • Decided to give Buzz Lightyear a spin since I had not been on in quite a while. Good news is the FastPasses are still not linked to the system so they are basically a bonus FastPass and you can hold another at the same time. The attraction itself is in need of some TLC. The ride vehicles were looking worn and the guns did not seem to be working quite right all the time. Also noticed the emailed photo format changed and you no longer get your score? That is too bad. I thought that was one of the best parts to have a record of how you did. Hopefully that was a glitch and the scores come back. I would also like to see this linked to PhotoPass vs having to do the email kiosk. The automated photos at WDW were one of the few features of the myDisneyExperience that I liked.

  • There is now a new piece of Star Wars Land artwork on the wall across from Big Thunder. Here is a link to the image. I found it odd there is no additional signage.. just the picture hanging there.

  • The area was really quiet when I was there due to Big Thunder being down. Seems closed attractions and technical problems were the theme of the day everywhere I went.

  • Continuing this theme I went to use a FastPass for Soarin and made it about 1/2 down the ramp and they announced one theater just went down. This time the west one. So it took me just over 45 minutes from when I entered the queue until I left the building.

  • My plan was to catch the first half or so of the 3pm All-American College Band set on the Backlot Stage. But they were delayed 10-15 minutes for some reason. So I could not stick around due to my Frozen FastPass.

  • I watched Frozen from the Mezzanine Level this time (my first viewing was from the Balcony.. so I am getting closer). The show had several small glitches and missed queues throughout. It had one major one that brought the show to a halt for several minutes near the end. The cast does seem more comfortable with the show now. Hopefully the tech issues work themselves out in the coming weeks and they can go up to 5 shows a day instead of 4.

  • Was pleasantly surprised with how calm the Plaza Inn was for dinner around 5:30pm. We walked in and right up to the counter to order. As we left the line was filling the queues inside but still no delays to get in. Talked to some friends who went to Cafe Orleans and they had a reservation but said it was not needed. They were taking walk ups and seating right away.

  • Spent a little time around the Rivers of America in the early evening listening to the live music. Having the Jambalaya Jazz on the river is great. I think the Royal Street Bachelors should be on the front of the Mark Twain where more guests can see them. The stage on the mid-deck is sort of hidden from main walkways.

  • We left the park around 8pm due to some early Sunday commitments. As we were leaving there was a steady stream of guests doing the same thing. The trams were full. Coming in was the same story. I noticed Disneyland Drive was backed up, assuming due to Downtown Disney parking but I did not really see.

Here are some recent posts to the Geek's Blog:

Geek's Blog Postings Recap – July 5-12, 2016

Disney Related Press Releases

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

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

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com
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