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Visit Date: 11/22/17
Steps: 21,871
Parks Miles: 8.2
Time in Parks: 9

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure just after lunch and found no lines today. Was directed quickly into a spot on the 4th level and then spent some time checking out the Star Wars Construction. Made my way to security and a waiting tram. First stop today, Disney California Adventure. Booked a FastPass for later in the day at Star Tours then picked up one for World of Color. Watched the 1:20pm Holiday Toy Drummers in Paradise Pier then caught a performance my Mostly Kosher. Roamed around Cars Land and decided to give Radiator Springs Racers a try. Ended up being a 15 min single rider wait. After riding walked through the Pacific Wharf then doubled back through Bugs Land to Hollywood Land. At this point I was able to book another FastPass so grabbed one for Small World Holiday. Strolled up Hollywood Blvd and down Buena Vista Street on my way to Disneyland. Wandered around Main Street USA and the castle before making my way into Frontierland and onboard the waiting Mark Twain. After my cruise took the Big Thunder Trail to Fantasyland and walked out to Toon Town to look around. Circled back and used my it's a small world holiday FastPass and then watched the Christmas parade as I walked back to Main Street (by way of Fantasyland and the Castle). Returned to Disney California Adventure and walked out to Paradise Pier to watch Viva Navidad. The doubled back to Grizzly Peak Airfield and ate dinner at Smokejumpers. After dinner looked around Buena Vista Street then returned to Disneyland. Enjoyed a performance of the Dapper Dans on Main Street then made my way to Town Square for the 5:30pm Disneyland Band set. Caught the end of a Dickens Yuletide Band performance near Jolly Holiday as I waited for the 6:00pm snow fall. Walked through Adventureland and out to the Rivers of America. I had a FastPass for Haunted Mansion Holiday but the return line looked slow going so I skipped it and instead walked back to Main Street to take some pictures and catch the 6:30 Yuletide Band performance in Town Square. Made my way out to Small World Mall and saw the 7:00 & 7:15pm projection moments/shows before returning to Sleeping Beauty Castle for the 7:30pm snow. Used my Star Tours FastPass and then met up with some friends on Main Street to visit. We walked over to Disney Califonria Adventure and decided to skip FastPass and use standby for World of Color - Season of Light. After the show joined the masses exiting the park and headed for the tram, parking structure, my car, and home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 16,453 steps, 144 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:
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I started off my holiday weekend at the Disneyland Resort on Wednesday, even though it meant my third visit in six days which I typically do not do. The parks were busy but not holiday busy, for comparison it felt less crowded than the Friday of Veterans Day Weekend. Wait times were moderate in the early afternoon with many still under an hour, despite what the Buena Vista Street line board said (not sure if it was an honest mistake or a cast member having fun but they had several attractions listed at 120 minutes including Little Mermaid and Maters, that were not). By night fall these crept up but still very few in the triple digit range. The big story of the day was the heat wave. The afternoon saw temperatures in the mid 90s, but as soon as the sun began to set these dropped quickly and by the time I left it was approaching 70 degrees and was in the 60s by the time I reached home.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • This afternoon the parking situation was smooth for me as was security and the tram wait. No real delays at any of of them. I think I lucked out and it was worse earlier and later in the day from what I heard from others.

  • Today I had a very small picture list and my primary objective was to enjoy the Holiday Entertainment at both parks. I was able to catch full sets from the Holiday Toy Drummers, Mostly Kosher, Dickens Yuletide Band, Disneyland Band and Dapper Dans. Plus some partial performances as I roamed the parks. The volume and variety of entertainment at the Disneyland Resort is great again this year. I do miss the Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers and Dickens Carolers at Disneyland though. The Disneyland Band's 5:30pm set includes a couple of Christmas songs. I would have liked to have seen the full set be Christmas.. the addition of You've Got a Friend in Me and Let it Go were a little odd with Jingle Bells and Little Drummer Boy.

  • Thanks to some good timing and MaxPass I enjoyed a couple of attractions in between the entertainment. I visited Radiator Springs Racers using single rider then FastPasses for it's a small world holiday and Star Tours. And went for a cruise on the Mark Twain too. I had FastPasses for Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear and skipped them due to a long return at Haunted Mansion and visiting with some friends instead of Buzz. I used MaxPass to book the FastPasses and it did save me quite a few steps and I was able to get earlier return times too. My FastPass return experience was good today for both small world and star tours I was able to walk right on with minimal waits. Later in the day small world did back up.

  • Stopped by the Smokejumpers Grill for dinner since I was in the area and had not eaten there in quite a while. I ended up trying the chicken tenders. I thought it was a good change from the nuggets and I thought they were better tasting. The waffle-cut fries were good too. It was not crowded with only a couple people per register line, but it was still slow going. Once ordered it took a long time for a simple order too and once at the table my fries were already on the cool side. Not sure why the service is so slow here, even when it was not too busy.

  • I made a point to catch the Dickens Yuletide Band a couple of times this evening since they do not perform on Fridays when I usually visit. I enjoy the classic holiday music they play. The set locations were a bit awkward being in walkways more or high traffic areas. This is great for guests walking by to listen for a few moments or see them, but for those wanting to enjoy the concert it is a challenge.

  • I watched a couple of the it's a small world holiday projection shows. The show is the same as the past couple years, no changes jumped out to me. They were having some minor timing issues on Wednesday. For example the first one started before the clock sequence finished. Then the second one the audio was low in the area I was in.

  • The Wintertime Enchantment moments on Main Street are more complete now with the garland lights working. Also projections on the buildings along Main Street and the Castle are part of the show. Still no lights in the trees of the hub though.

  • Closed out my evening with World of Color - Season of Light. I had a yellow FastPass for the first show but opted to use standby for what I think is a better view, plus I was able to visit with some friends while waiting. My streak of seeing the Fun Wheel projections ended at two. This evening they tried to raise the screen but a problem developed and it was lowered and not used. The screen seems very problematic and I am happy to have seen two good shows this season.

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

Geek’s Blog Postings Recap October 15 – November 6, 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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