Hello everyone!

Friday I had two objectives at Disneyland. Visit the Haunted Mansion and enjoy the last day of the All-American College Band. It turned out to be a pleasant day with the temps topping out in the low 80s and falling to around 70 with a mild breeze. The park crowds seem to be settling into what feels like average summer. Wait times were up around the hour mark for the usual suspects and even some of the usually short waits were pushing 20-30 minutes throughout the visit.

Thoughts and Observations:

• I was lucky again and had only a few second wait for the Ball Road light and no delays entering the Mickey and Friends parking structure nor at the toll booth. The ramp to the floor was moving then after making the turn onto the floor we stopped. They were parking the last row and it took a very long time to work my way down to the end of the aisle and into a spot in the back 1/4 of the garage. I found it odd they were backing traffic up and not filling other aisles. Most on the floor only had one car in them vs two. It was this way when I left in the evening too. It seems really inefficient to park the last row. Both from a load and unload perspective. It slows down the arrival experience because it takes so long to move cones and direct cars in that aisle. Then when it comes time to leave you are forced to back up into exit traffic which slows down that process. Seems to me the last aisle should only be used if the garage is going to be full. Adding to my fun was the fact that I drew a spot with a column on the drivers side so I had to back up blindly, well I relied on the backup camera in the car but still I like to be able to see down the aisle more.
  
  
• The construction projects around the parking structures are racing toward completion. I was surprised in a week they added several floors to the elevator project landings. In the main tram plaza several planters were poured and pavers were being installed on the far side. The walkway project had the least visible progress since last week.
  
  
• This week the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland turned 50 years old. To celebrate the occasion there were merchandise items and food of course. There were several after hours parties and special events for the milestone too. Disney parks around the world also joined in the celebration with events. The demand for merchandise and some food items was very high on Friday. Lines for the popcorn buckets were long (I did find it interesting how the bucket was in both New Orleans Square and Frontierland with the NOS cart having a line several times longer than the Frontierland one). Merchandise queues were just as long with the Disneyana store queueing up in the Opera House and Port Royal's queue stretching onto the Pirates bridge. I never did make it into Port Royal because of the long wait.
  
  
• At Disney California Adventure you are greeted with construction walls as soon as you enter the park. The area around the Red Car Trolley stop is walled off and you can make out the top of a piece of equipment but that is it. It appears they are working on the track area and not the station from the limited view you get. A theory I saw is they are moving the charging equipment from the Hollywood Land station to Buena Vista Street for the Red Cars. That seemed plausible to me.
  
  
• There is some visible progress for the Marvel project form Hollywood Land. If you look down the street that runs in front of the Guardians of the Galaxy you can now see the white steel for a new building. The building seems to sit right in the middle of the street and go back toward the rest rooms. I believe this will be the micro brewery/dining location.
  
  
• Friday was the final day for the 2019 Disneyland Resort All-American College Band. The final day is always fun with a large number of fans, alumni, and family members at the various sets. It is hard to believe another summer season is complete already. Friday's sets were well attended and the band was great! I did find it a little anti-climatic to end with the Jazz set vs the Main Street one. It is a much more subdue set and starting at 8:45pm makes it seem even a little more relaxed. A first that I can remember occurred on Friday. One of the trombone players proposed to his girlfriend during Isn't She Lovely. The crowd went wild and it was a great moment to see. -- I did catch a little Disney moment. A guest relations cast member who was at the Train Station saw the proposal and while the band played she went to city hall and picked up a pair of Just Engaged Buttons for them and at the conclusion of the set gave one to each before the band marched off.
  
  
• As I was walking out of Disney California Adventure Disneyland Forever Fireworks started. I stopped in the Esplanade and watch most of the show before heading for the trams. Seeing the show with the Esplanade music loop is a different experience. I guess some music is better than no music, even if it has nothing to do with the show.
  
  
• The trams seemed to be backed up already and I arrived out of sequence so I had to wait for a tram to show up. All stops seemed to be 2-3 tram wait when I arrived and by the time I boarded and left it looked worse with the fireworks crowd arriving from the park.
  

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

• 08/09/19 - Disneyland Resort Pictures Live from the park
  • Disneyland Pixar Pals Parking Structure Construction Pictures (8/09/19)
  • Pictures: Disneyland Haunted Mansion – Turned 50 Today
  • Pictures: Red Car Trolley Buena Vista Street Stop Behind Walls
  • Marvel Project at Disney California Adventure Construction Pictures (8/09/19)
  • Pictures & Video: 2019 Disneyland Resort All-American College Band – Final Day
• 08/05/19 - Book Review: The Art and Making of Disney the Lion King

D23 Expo 2019 Summary Page - Links to all the announcements so far and will eventually contain links to all of our coverage

Geek's Blog Postings Recap July 3-30, 2019

Disney Related Press Releases

• 08/08/19 - Amidst Period of Record Expansion for Walt Disney World Resort, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Contributed More Than 7,000 Jobs to the Central Florida Area
• 08/08/19 - Spend September Surrounded By Disney Magic With Freeform During The Network’s 30 Days Of Disney Programming
• 08/08/19 - The Walt Disney Studios Presents Upcoming Film Slate From Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, And Lucasfilm At D23 Expo 2019
• 08/08/19 - Tokyo Disney Resort Christmas November 8 through December 25, 2019

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