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Visit Date: 11/03/17
Steps: 21,062
Parks Miles: 7.9
Time in Parks: 9

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure just after lunch. Was directed into a spot on the roof with no delays this afternoon. Spent some time observing the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Construction then made my way down to security and onto a tram. Walked through World of Disney and then made my way to Disneyland. Halloween is almost entirely gone and the parks are decorating for Christmas. Wandered down Main Street USA and roamed around the hub before walking through Tomorrowland, around the Matterhorn and out to Toon Town to see what was going on. Strolled around Downtown then the houses, stopping by Donald's to take a look at the Star Wars work from there. Walked through Fantasyland and around the Big Thunder Trail. Wanted to take the Mark Twain but it was not in operation so continued on through New Orleans Square and decided to take a raft to Tom Sawyer Island. Circled the island then headed back to the main land. Walked out to Critter Country then back to the Haunted Mansion to use a FastPass. Walked through Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasy Faire, Sleeping Beauty Castle and into Fantasyland. Decided to grab a bite to eat at the Red Rose Tavern. Afterwards strolled through the castle made my way to Town Square for the Flag Retreat. After the ceremony headed to Disney California Adventure. Took a look around Buena Vista Street and walked the parade route taking a look at the Festival of Holidays Marketplaces, and a quick look at the Coco signs in Bugs Land. Walked through Paradise Gardens stopping to listen to the Ellis Island Boys then continued on around Paradise Pier stopping at Toy Story to use a FastPass. Finished my loop of the Pier then hiked through the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area on my way to the Grand Californian. Stopped by White Water Snacks then the lobby before going to Downtown Disney. Walked out to the area near ESPN and watched a set by Suburban Legends then made my way back to Disneyland for Soundsational. After the parade returned to Disney California Adventure and visited the sneak peek of Coco in the Bugs Theater. Then walked through Cars Land, Flik's Fun Fair and Hollywood Land on my way back to Buena Vista Street. Returned to Disneyland and strolled up Main Street USA and into Frontierland. Decided to find a standby spot for Fantasmic. After the show walked quickly to Main Street USA and found a spot for Remember Dreams Come True fireworks. Called it a night after the fireworks and made my way to the tram, parking structure, my car, and home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 14,190 steps, 125 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:
This week at the Disneyland Resort is one of transition. Halloween wrapped up last Tuesday and Christmas kicks off next Friday. So this is technically the "off season" between the two. Crowds were about average which felt great compared to the last several visits during Halloween Time that were extremely busy. Wait times around the park were on the mild side in the afternoon and went up as the sun set as you would expect.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Started my afternoon off taking a look at the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge construction as has become a routine. The views of the work are becoming less and less each visit as the buildings are closed in. There is now a cover over the back of the fence on the Big Thunder Trail so that view is now not available. The mountain range continues to grow with more steel visible above the show buildings and tree lines from in the park.

  • The Christmas season officially starts Friday the 10th and both parks have a lot of their Christmas decorations up already. It is always fun to see the parks transition and interesting to see the sequencing of what goes up when. Also to see what changes from year to year. So far this year the decorations look status quo with no major changes jumping out to me. The big question is will the garland that spans Main Street USA return this season. It has not been up the last couple of years because of Paint the Night running and being too tall to fit under, but that is not an issue this year.

  • As I roamed the park I came across Pluto leading a group a guests in a game of musical chairs in Toon Town. I really think this type of free roaming interaction is a huge plus for guests vs the quick photo/signature encounter. The memory of Pluto playing a game with you or even seeing Pluto playing a game will be a much stronger memory than the line and 20 second encounter for a picture.

  • Unfortunately the Mark Twain was not in operation as I passed by. I saw some tweets that they had an issue earlier in the day and guests were taken off via Tom Sawyer Island Rafts. It did open later in the afternoon but I was loosing daylight and wanted to a pass through DCA so I did not get to ride.

  • Grabbed dinner at the Red Rose Taverne. The crowds have thinned and it seemed slightly more crowded than the Village Haus would have been but pretty close to on par. I did notice a fair number of guests still ordering just the grey stuff and a drink so it is still pulling in guests.

  • The Dapper Dans had the day off. They were not on the entertainment schedule nor at the Flag Retreat.

  • Over at Disney California Adventure a sneak peek of the upcoming Pixar film Coco has moved into the Bug's Theater. There are some banners and a couple signs in the area outside the theater. Also some of the props from Paradise Garden have moved over including the displays that were in the gazebo are now in the lobby. Overall it is an average sneak peek set up, but after seeing the Musical Celebration of Coco and other activities during Halloween Time this was a let down.

  • Since my last visit Disneyland announced more details for the Pixar Pier project. In January construction will begin with much of the Pier from Avalon Cove around to Paradise Garden closing for the transition. Ariel's, the Cove Bar, Screamin, the Fun Wheel, King Tritons and Midway Games will all receive a Pixar theme as part of the project. All these will reopen in April for Pixar Fest. A new spinner attraction is slated for the former Maliboomer location in the future. I was under whelmed by the plans. They may be a fun transition but I would have liked to have seen some new games in Toy Story Midway Mania and something new announced too vs just new themes for existing attractions. It will be interesting to see what type of impact the changes will have on crowd patterns in the park after the initial rush.

  • Walked through the Grand Californian. The multi year renovation is in the final stages. Since my last visit the lobby carpet had been replaced. They are working on one of the buildings still and one of the gift shop entrances in the lobby. The Christmas gingerbread house/hotel is under construction. Friday two cast members applying gingerbread and decorations to the frame. The gingerbread creation is a great addition to the lobby, but I would like to see something different. They do change the decorations but the frame is the same each year.

  • Since my last visit Disneyland announced major changes for Downtown Disney. A new luxury hotel will be built on the space currently occupied by security, ESPN Zone, Rainforest Cafe, Earl of Sandwich, AMC Theaters, and Starbucks. So this means from the monorail beam to the Disneyland Hotel will be leveled. The monorail station will be redone to match the hotel. This is scheduled to be completed in 2021. I thought this was an interesting project and it makes more sense in terms of location vs the originally thought location of the Downtown Disney parking lot. This gives guests staying in the new hotel a shorter walk and direct Monorail access. It also gives a chance to redo the security entrances and make the area look a lot better. It seems to mark a shift in the target of Downtown Disney to be more for hotel and park guests and less to draw in a lot of locals. With House of Blues and now AMC gone those were two draws for outside guests. Not sure if Splitsville will have a big pull. I am assuming the lower level of the hotel will feature store fronts and dining locations to make up for the lost options and seats. Here are a couple of concept picture Disney released:

    Disneyland New Hotel Concept Art
    Disneyland New Hotel Concept Art

  • As part of the announcement plans for two new parking structures were shared too. One behind Paradise Pier Hotel for Downtown Disney and then another to built on the Pinocchio Parking lot. Both of these structures cannot come soon enough for those of us who regularly drive to the Disneyland Resort.

  • Spent some time after dark enjoying the entertainment around both parks. Soundsational after dark with the lights on gives the parade a different feel. I was hoping this year with no nighttime parade the after dark Christmas Fantasy Parade would return but looking at the schedule it seems both are in the early afternoon as of now.

  • Closed out the night with Fantasmic! followed by Remember Dreams Come True Fireworks. The crowds for both were moderate and I found a decent Standby spot 10 minutes before show time and for Remember I stepped onto Main Street as the lights went out and had no problem finding a decent view.

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

Geek’s Blog Postings Recap – October 3-14, 2017

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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