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Visit Date: 12/20/22
Steps: 21,477
Parks Miles: 10.1
Time in Parks: 12

 
Trip Log:

Arrived in Anaheim just before 7am and stopped for breakfast at McDonald's. Most of the group walked over to Disneyland and I drove the car around to the parking structure and was directed into a spot on the Monsters Inc level of the Pixar Pals garage. Security had a dozen people in every line but it was moving. No wait to board a tram nor enter Disneyland when I arrived. I was strolling up Main Street USA about 10 minutes prior to park opening. Met up with the rest of my group and we decided to head to Haunted Mansion Holiday followed by a visit to Batuu for Millennium Falcon Smugglers run. Some of the group headed to Fantasyland and went on Storybook Land Canal Boats, Dumbo and Casey Jr. We all met in Tomorrowland. I paid a visit to Star Tours with one nephew then we all went on Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage followed by it's a small world holiday. Decided to take a spin on the Tea Cups and then make our way across the park to Frontierland to grab a bite to eat. After lunch spent some time on Main Street USA watching them make Candy Canes and shop. Saw the 12:45 Mickey and Friends Cavalcade then crossed over to Disney California Adventure. Visited Avengers Campus and Cars Land on our way out to Paradise Park for Mickey's Happy Holidays. Some of the group tried to pick up Magic Key bags but they ran out just before. Saw the 2:15pm Viva Navidad Street Party then decided to return to Disneyland. Walked out to Fantasyland and had some snacks. Wait times were higher than our patience for most attractions so paid a visit to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room then found a curb in Town Square to watch the Dicken's Yuletide Band, Dapper Dans and A Christmas Fantasy Parade. After the parade took the east side by pass corridor to reach Tomorrowland and hopped in line for Buzz Lightyear. Then we walked out to it's small world holiday to see the lights and projections. Spent some time around Sleeping Beauty Castle then visited some shops and the Main Street Cinema before the 7:30pm Wintertime Enchantment. At this point we were at about 12 hours in the park and the group was fading on me so we opted to walk through Downtown Disney and back to the parking structure to wrap up this visit.

Other Interesting Stats:
* Moderate Walking Stats (meaning over 2.5mph): 15,961 steps, 141 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 very rare Tuesday in the parks to mark my 32nd and final visit of 2022 to the Disneyland Resort. This was the final day this year I could go before the holiday blockouts started on the 21st. This year all Magic Key Passes have blockouts. Several family members with passes and one nephew who's pass expired went. It really hurt to pay $234 for his one day park hopper for a six year old, but with school and such it did not make sense to renew his Magic Key back in August. The parks felt busy as you would expect with all reservations booked and wait times were on the longer side, but not holiday insanity like old days if that makes any sense. If you had some luck and timed things right you could visit many attractions with minimal or normal waits. The weather started off very cold in the 40s, rose to the upper 60s then back down to the 50s before we left.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • My arrival experience was relatively painless. It took about 30 minutes from Ball Road till I was walking on Main Street. I choose a lane with no wait at the toll plaza, was directed into a far spot on the Monsters Inc level fairly quickly and found relatively short and quick security lines and no wait for a tram or park entry.
  • Since I had my nephews with my (ages 3.5 and 6) we wanted to visit their favorite attractions so had a plan lined up for each to start the day and we rolled through a half dozen attractions for each within the first three hours the park was open. Our pace was with purpose but not really fast (with a mid size group you can not move too fast!). By lunch we had visited all the attractions in Disneyland on their list. Over at Disney California Adventure in the afternoon we did not have as good of luck due to WEB Slingers being down for a portion of the afternoon. We audibled and opted to go with more entertainment instead.
  • For lunch we ate in Frontierland. I mobile ordered from Stage Door Cafe which is sometimes a challenge. The process is still not that smooth, but at least my order was hot and correct. They page order numbers and when you show up they assemble your order for you. So it works pretty much like the regular process except you are not 100% certain when people will show up so there are peaks and valleys.
  • Today for some reason the parade was shifted earlier to 2pm and 5pm and the Flag Retreat was at 3:30pm. Having everything shifted early messed with my internal clock and for some reason I could not keep the times straight.. guess you get stuck in your ways and change is a challenge! I looked at the schedule and this shifted time plus some other shifts depending on the day are in place through the end of the year then it goes back to the usual 3:30 and 6:30 time slots.
  • While at Disney California Adventure we were walking over to see Viva Navidad and decided to get in line for the Magic Key Bag since most of the group had not gotten one yet. The line was very short compared to Friday. A cast member was counting guests and they cut the line about a dozen or so groups behind us. I left the group since I had one already and went to hold a spot for the show. They showed up a few minutes later without bags. They said they were moved through the queue then about about 10 people in front of them they ran out. The cast members apologized for mis counting and sent them on their way. I thought this was rather poor and a bit frustrating that they ran out of the bags. I talked to other people who had issues on other days of them cutting the line early too. Are the bags that popular or did they under order by a very large number?
  • The Disneyland app wait times continue to be off substantially, even for attractions that do not have Genie+ queues. For example Storybook Land kept popping up at 10 minutes, which seemed odd, and when you walked by it was at least 30 maybe more. A couple times this worked in my favor like Buzz Lightyear being posted at double what it was or small world and Smuggler's Run being significantly less.
  • Spending a full day with young kids in the group you really have to remember to pace yourself. Twelve hours in a theme park for most people is quite a bit and the sensory overload, eating, etc.. for kids can be a lot. It was a long day for our group as we left the house at 5:30am and pulled back into the driveway just before 10:00pm. You have to really work to build in bathroom breaks, snacks, meals, and try and convince them of some rest/nap time too!
  • This is my second visit since returning from Orlando and one big difference we saw were the number of guests with masks. In Orlando masks were extremely rare. You would see hundreds of people and a couple groups with them. In Anaheim they are a small minority but a noticeable one. You can see a number as you walked around both inside and outside.
  • As we walked the parks and sat around we have overheard a growing number of conversations of people grumbling about the headaches of visiting the park. This includes the reservations, Genie+ and mobile order. People were complaining about the time on the app and the amount of money they had to keep shelling out for things that used to be included. As of now these guests are still coming to the parks and reservations are full many days but this sure seems to be eroding the long term value of the brand. Disney always has had a higher quality mark. People would justify the higher prices because of the level of service and experiences they had. This seems to be slipping and the endless up charges hurting the perception even more. It will be interesting to see if this grumbling leads to any shifts in guest or Disney behavior.
  • We decided to pick a spot in Town Square on the curb for a Christmas Fantasy Parade. We had planned to enjoy the holiday entertainment and decided instead of viewing it head on to stake out our parade spot early and just listen from the far side. Both the Yuletide Band and Dapper Dans performed in front of the train station and their audio was throughout Town Square. So while we waited we had two live shows plus the recorded tree lighting before the parade.
  • It had been quite a while since I watched a parade from curb level. It is a different experience with the performers and floats towering over you. Hopefully my pictures and video clip captured some of this.
  • Speaking of the Dickens Yuletide band in the evening during their set Goofy danced by a number of times and interacted with the band and guests watching. This was fun to see and the Band seemed to be enjoying it.
  • We walked through Downtown Disney on the way out and it felt like a Friday night.. there were a large number of guests moving around and lines at many of the dining locations. The Jazz Kitchen upper balcony work has wrapped up and guests were seated there, the lower level was walled off. The new balcony is rather plain matching the concept art as expected. Also interesting to note the 80z All Stars were performing in Downtown Disney this evening. They were doing their normal set from the couple songs I listened too, no holiday music.
  • As I entered the freeway I slowed down and looked at the pot hole that took out my front tire on Friday. It looked to still be there. I was in the other lane and missed it this time. That was a costly adventure both in terms of my time thanks to AAA and their extremely slow response and money to replace the tire.

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

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Pictures & Video From this Trip:


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