home > Disneyland Resort > Pictures >Trip Summary For 7/27/18
Disneyland ResortPicture Set

Visit Date: 7/27/18
Steps: 23,019
Parks Miles: 8.7
Time in Parks: 9.5

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Disneyland Resort just after lunch and was quickly directed into a spot in the far corner of the roof (only about a half dozen cars from the furtherst spot). Walked along the perimeter of the garage checking out the Star Wars then Parking Structure construction before boarding a tram to the parks. Entered Disneyland and strolled up Main Street USA to the hub. Took a quick look in Adventureland then walked through Frontierland. Boarded the Mark Twain for a cruise around the Rivers of America. Once back on short stopped by Tarzan's Treehouse then passed through the hub and took Matterhorn way out to its a small world. Used a FastPass for an A/C break and went for a cruise then stopped by Toontown to check out the Galaxy's Edge work. Made my way out to Tomorrowland. The plan was to take the Monorail but it was closed, most likely due to the heat. So walked back to Main Street then out through Downtown Disney to check out the latest renovation work. Food trucks have been brought in near the former AMC and painting continues on the south side. Decided to grab a bite to eat in California Adventure so while walking back to the park used mobile order. Took Buena Vista Street to Grizzly Peak Airfield and stopped by Smokejumpers to pick up my food. Ended up finding a shady spot outside with a slight breeze since inside was fairly full and did not feel that cool. After eating made my way to Hollywood Land. Circled the Backlot area and then took Sunset Blvd on my way to Flik's Fun Fair. Took a look around before moving on to Cars Land. Strolled along Cross Street then Route 66 passing by DJ performing. Stopped by Ghirardelli for dessert on my way out to the Pier area. Spent some time looking around Pixar Pier and used a FastPass for Toy Story before visiting Bing Bongs Sweet Stuff for the first time. Listened to a set in Paradise Gardens before returning to Disneyland for the All-American College Band. After their 6:45pm Castle set thought about using some FastPasses in Tomorrowland but opted to walk through New Orleans Square and out to Critter Country since I had not done that this visit yet. Circled the area then headed for Fantasy Faire arriving just as the 7:45pm College Band performance began. After their set stopped by Tomorrowland Terrace and the Pixar Pals Dance Party before heading to Main Street USA and the 8:40pm College Band set. Took the east side overflow corridor (which was empty) and then walked through Tomorrowland and out to the Small World Mall area. Found a spot for Together Forever there. After the show returned to Town Square. The plan was to see the 9:55pm College Band set.. but as of 10:05 no sign of them so I gave up and headed for the trams. They were pretty backed up so it took a while but eventually made it back to the parking structure and headed for home.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 16,933 steps, 149 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:


Regular View 3 pictures per page

Choose how you would like to view the pictures:
My Thoughts & Observations:
Enjoyed a pleasant afternoon/evening at the Disneyland Resort Friday. The weather was a bit cooler than earlier in the week. Highs topped out shy of 90 and there was a slight breeze. It cooled down to the low 70s by the time I left. For us weather wimps in Southern California it was on the humid side. Crowds were mild again with only a couple of attractions over an hour and a selection of FastPasses available into the afternoon with the regular exception of Radiator Springs Racers.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Parking was a quick experience again, no delays except for the Ball Road light. Unfortunately I drew bad parking spot on the roof in the last row about a half dozen cars from the end. So I had a long hike to/from the escalators. On the positive though it meant only a short line to park and an easy exit.

  • The Star Wars construction was status quo with a little visible progress from the structure as well as from in the park. The rock work details are starting to really show and it looks great. The new parking structure project is moving ahead at a very visible and quick pace with more second floor supports going up and ground level concrete poured.

  • Pixar Shorts Film Festival has taken over both the Tomorrowland Theater replacing the Ant-Man and the Wasp Preview and Sunset Showcase Theater replacing the Incredibles 2 Preview. So now there are 6 shorts playing between the two theaters. The third theater where Tough to Be a Bug was is dark and behind construction walls. It will become part of the Marvel project space. To round out the theater notes the AMC in Downtown Disney closed last month.

  • The Monorail was offline most of the visit. I saw the first train making the rounds after 8pm, just in time to close down for the fireworks. I am assuming this was due to the heat.

  • Walked through Downtown Disney to take a look at the ongoing renovation projects. Naples continues to inch along. This renovation moves at a seemingly slow but steady pace. The last tram stop ramp has been moved so all four stops are now set up to run with the clockwise path the trams now take. Further along in the second block area of Downtown Disney the buildings on the south (Grand Californian) side are being repainted to match the new scheme on the north ones. The original colors are going away after 17 years. Work appears to be on hold for the new hotel project on the west side. The expectation was that bulldozers would be onsite by now and the demolition work well underway. It appears the project has hit a snag so things have slowed down for the moment. All buildings west of the Monorail beam are still closed.

  • Friday a trio of food trucks were on site in the afternoon and evening serving burgers, chicken and ice cream. Seating was available in front of the former AMC. It seemed like a nice temporary solution to provide some more dining options. I did not see any advertising or alerts about it though. So not sure if the plan was to rely on foot traffic or word of mouth. I thought some sort of signage near the Esplanade would make a lot of sense. I did not get a chance to visit later in the evening, but as it cooled down and performances started on the stage I would think this would be a nicec area to relax in and grab a bite to eat.

  • I opted to eat in the park at Smokejumpers. The plan was to sit inside but it was busy and the a/c was not that cool so I opted to find a spot in the shade outside. There was a pleasant breeze and it was a much better experience than my last visit eating inside. I used mobile order again and there were no hiccups and no issues with ice this trip either.

  • An Up! Photo Op/Instagram wall has been set up in Hollywood Land between the Buzz Lightyear wall and the original blue wall. There was not a crowd but a steady stream of guests. I was surprised there was no PhotoPass cast member on hand. The artwork itself for the Up! inspired background looked a little more refined than the Buzz Lightyear one.

  • Disney has announced that A Bug's Land and Flik's Fun Fair will have their last day on September 4th. The area will go behind walls and be removed to make way for a future Marvel project. No other details have been confirmed. It appears that Flik's Flyers will be moved to Pixar Pier to become the Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind. No indication of the fate of the other attractions or props. I understand wanting to bring Marvel into the parks but loosing this area eliminates several attractions aimed at the younger set and families.

  • Out around the Pier work continues on the World of Color platforms as well as Pixar Pier. The bay itself has turned a dirty brown, guessing the filtration system is being worked on or has an issue. Zurg has returned next to the Poultry Palace and on Friday the area was not crowded so you could get a picture with no issues. Work on the carousel is underway with scaffolding up and it being repainted. No signs of progress further along at the site of the Inside Out attraction.

  • Last week Bing Bong's Sweet Stuff opened. This merchandise store features a variety of Pixar merchandise, candy, and treats. It takes up most of the space of the former Sideshow Shirts shop. The location is still a work in progress. The centerpiece of the store will be a Bing Bong figure that has not been installed yet. On Friday a wall was up around its location. The store was an average store. It feels like there is less detail to it than even the original store.. but maybe it is about the same. The Memory Makers location being in the store and off to the side seemed a little out of the way, but I guess that is comparable to a similar location on Main Street at Disneyland.

  • The concept of neighborhoods on Pixar Pier seems a little stretched to me. The distance from Angry Dogs to Bing Bong's to the Emotional Whirlwind attraction opening next year really stretch out the InsideOut offerings. Seems they could have used other Pixar IP to somthing especially for Angry Dogs. The Incredibles area and Toy Story areas are more contained but still not really that identifable to most as an area vs just an attraction or dining location.

  • The 2018 All-American College Band season is quickly approaching the end. They have two more weeks of performances to go. My plan was to see all their sets today. I missed the flag retreat and the band did not show up for the 9:55pm set. No indication of why the last set was cut. If you have not had a chance to see this year's group time is running out.

  • I had some time between the 6:45 and 7:45 sets. I lined up a Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear FastPass during that window. But decided to skip them both and walk out through New Orleans Square and Critter Country since it was a pleasant evening and I had not been out there yet this trip. I saw online some saying that the Star Tours has returned to some random destinations. Has anyone gone for a flight recently? Also I saw online that the upper level of the former Starcade has been converted into queue space for Space Mountain. I did not venture up there to check it out, but I am sure those waiting in that slow moving stand by line appreciate the air conditioned space this past week.

  • In New Orleans Square two kiosks/cash registered for taking orders have been added and the windows converted to pick up only. Also the gate/fence was removed to open the area up. Friday when I walked by the area was quiet with no lines.

  • Speaking of empty after the 8:40pm College Band set the plan was to walk out to small world mall for the fireworks. I opted to take the bypass corridor on the east(Tomorrowland) side because Main Street was starting to look crowded. Walked the entire length and no signs of other guests. Saw a couple of cast members move backstage but that was it. It was very quiet and nice compared to the busy street one block over.

  • This was my first viewing of Together Forever fireworks from the small world mall area. I thought the show came across much better from this vantage point than Main Street since the projections were all clear. I have not watched from near the castle so that would most likely have a similar feel. They really add to the show. On Main Street being immersed is nice but its hard to get the wide picture of the projections and they are to the left and right with fireworks in front of you so you really cannot make out both at once from most locations. The trade off of the small world area is you miss the castle pyro as well as the Buzz Lightyear and Up! house. Another plus was how peaceful it was. Plenty of room where I was and no kids on shoulders or balloons blocking the view. The last negative is if you plan to leave the park you have a long hike ahead of you through the crowds.

  • Arrived at the tram stop about 10:10pm and it was nearly half an hour until I reached the garage. I first took a look at the north/right side and only one stop was loading there and it was backed up 3-4 trams so I quickly abandoned that idea. On the left/south side both stops were in operation. The first one was backed up several trams and the second looked maybe to be 2 trams so I opted to wait there since the idea of hiking all the way through a crowded Downtown Disney and across the street sounded like a lot of work this evening. I really miss the easy walkway along the tram route. Hopefully it returns as an exit option the Downtown Disney work is done.

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

Geek’s Blog Postings Recap July 4-16, 2018

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
Pictures & Video From this Trip:


Regular View 3 pictures per page

Choose how you would like to view the pictures:
Back to previous page