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Visit Date: 1/31/25
Steps: 19,065
Parks Miles: 8.73
Time in Parks: 8

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Mickey and Friends parking structure a little after noon and was greeted by a line of cars stretching over a dozen in length. Was directed into a spot near the far corner of the Mickey level of the structure. Took the tram to the parks and started my visit on Main Street USA at Disneyland. Stopped by Earl of Sandwich to pick up a birthday cookie then made my way to Disneyland. Strolled up Main Street USA and stopped to listen to the Disneyland Band performing at Sleeping Beauty Castle. Then strolled through Frontierland and along the Rivers of America. Checked out the wait for the Haunted Mansion and Rise of the Resistance, both were longer than my patience. Passed through Fantasyland and found a spot in the small world mall to watch the approaching Cavalcade. Took a quick look at it's small world's construction walls then walked around the Matterhorn to Tomorrowland. Returned to Main Street USA for a performance by the Dapper Dans then caught the cavalcade again before heading to Downtown Disney. Stopped by the Disneyland Hotel to see their Lunar New Year display then visited the recently opened Wonderful World of Disney Sweets shop. Wanted to stop by the Disney Storyland Boutique but the line wrapped around the side of the building. Continued on to see the ESPN and Earl of Sandwich work then turned around and started back to the parks. Stopped by Wetzels Pretzels to redeem a coupon for a free pretzel on my way to Disney California Adventure. Walked up Buena Vista Street and took a left into Hollywood Land. Found a table to eat some snacks then walked through Avengers Campus, Cars Land and San Fransokyo Square on my way to the Lunar New Year celebration in Paradise Gardens. Took a look around and paused for a performance on the bandstand stage then found a spot for the 5pm Lunar New Year Procession in Carthay Circle. Noticed the waits in Disneyland had come down so crossed back to Disneyland and walked up Main Street USA, through Frontierland to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Rise of the Resistance was posted at 30 minutes but was moving and looked shorter. Turned out to be 15 minutes to the briefing room. After my adventure walked through Bayou Country to New Orleans Square. The Haunted Mansion was posted at 25 minutes. This turned out to be about spot on. It was 26 minutes to the foyer. Walked back through New Orleans Square and Adventureland to the hub. Circled the hub and headed for Disney California Adventure. Met up with the rest of my group that was hanging out on Buena Vista Street and we went to Sonoma Terrace for the 7:30pm Vocal Seoul performance. After their set decided to call it a night and head for the tram back to the parking structure. (Walking time 3:12 today)


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.
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My Thoughts & Observations:

Hello everyone,

Friday was a cool weather day in the parks with the highs topping out in the low 60s. The sun felt pleasant in the afternoon but as soon as it started to set it cooled off quickly. I had a manageable list of things to see and even succeeded in visiting the two attractions I had as question marks for the visit. The parks both felt on the busier side while walking around. The performance corridor at Disney California Adventure was on the congested side the few times I passed through there. Attraction wait times were spotty and if you were flexible you could find some moderate to lucky waits in the afternoon. As the sun set the Magic Key crowd arrived as usual. This weekend is a RunDisney race weekend so I saw a good number of guests with their medals roaming the parks.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • My parking experience was a mixed bag today. There were more than a dozen cars in front of me at the tollbooth so it was slow going, but then quick and efficient into a space on the Mickey level but drew a spot in the far corner so it was a hike. No wait at security or for a tram.
  • A Haunted Mansion Bride sipper was available at a number of locations in Disneyland. It was $37.75 the two carts I saw it at. I did not see many guests carrying them around. This is the second week for them and there seemed to not be that much demand the handful of times I walked near carts that had them in stock.
  • While walking through Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge I stopped to watch Chewbacca work on an X-Wing. I had not seen him up there in quite a while. Black Spire Outpost could benefit from some more characters and entertainment. Overall it seemed better quiet the two times I passed through with the exception of Chewy.
  • Disney's Grand Californian Hotel has a culinary display to celebrate the Lunar New Year. It features a Mickey shaped snake in the center of the lobby. In the evening on select night there are entertainment groups. They are not listed on the app or website, but there is a small sign in the lobby and I assume they are on the guest activities information for those staying there. I thought the display was a nice but not nearly as impressive as the dragon kite that was featured last year.
  • Since my last visit two new shops opened in Downtown Disney. The first is the Disney Wonderful World of Sweets. This expanded candy store is double the size of the old as it took over the Dress Shop Space. It features two kitchens to watch cast members at work and more treats inside. One of the new offerings is caramel corn that is made onsite, I am curious how this compares to the offering in Germany at EPCOT. We always enjoy the caramel corn there. The bags cost $8.99 and seemed smaller than the EPCOT offering so we opted to skip it this visit.
  • The second new store is the Disney Storyland Boutique which took the former Disney Dress Shop and before that Wonderland Gallery space. I did not go inside to take a look around as the line to enter was several dozen guests long and wrapped to an extended queue space on the side of the building. I could not tell what the hot item was that they were all lined up. I saw no pattern in what guests were carrying out of the store.
  • Work on the west end projects continues. The Monorail is closed until early March and there is little visible progress on the new turnstiles. The former ESPN Zone has scaffolding and scrims up. The portion that stuck out with the TV screen has been removed. The new Earl of Sandwich project is visible now with steel sticking up above the construction wall. No indication of an opening timeframe yet.
  • I stopped by Wetzels Pretzels and Earl of Sandwich to redeem birthday rewards. If you did not know both locations honor their rewards programs. At Earl you get a brownie or cookie. At Wetzels a free pretzel. They made for a nice snack and hard to beat the price.
  • The Cozy Cone renovation projects continue. Not much visible progress on the lobby building but walls are up and an archway is being added to the new seating area. I thought it was interesting they had the seating area closed with a cast member making sure no one entered even though the walls seemed to block the work and there was no work going on this afternoon so the seating area seemed usable.
  • Earlier today it was announced a long broken effect in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance had been restored and today was the first day of operation for it. The canons once again move as you race toward the finale of the attraction. I kept on eye on the wait times and saw it under 45 minutes in the early evening and headed that way. The posted wait was 30 minutes and looked to be moving at a good pace so I decided to give it a try. Turned out I made a wise choice and it took only 15 minutes to reach the briefing.
  • The Haunted Mansion returned to its regular show since my last visit and it was also on my to see list today. The wait hovered in the 45 minute range every time I looked. After exiting Rise of the Resistance I walked by and saw it posted at 25 minutes. It did not look to be flowing that well but I still decided to give it a try. The first portion moved at a nice pace. The LL returns were being absorbed and the mix was fairly even. Then the returns started to back up and the mix became unfavorable for stand by and my progress slowed, stopping a few times. In the end it was just about 25 minutes so an accurate wait time but a slower than it needed to be experience because of LL. In the queue the tombstones on the hill are finished. The large fence in front of them obstruct them quite a bit but you can still read them if you are patient. There is a new bridge in the attic and she is a projection effect. I thought she looked good but seemed out of place in the attraction. Also the viewing angle is reduced so you only get a very short look at here. I was about 3 or 4 cars away from beings stopped in front of her which would have been nice. The hitch hiking ghosts at the finale are now animated like the Magic Kingdom's version. This allows for some extra fun but I think I prefer the classic look/feel.
  • I noticed Pirates of the Caribbean still has Lightning Lane. Seems the temporary addition is sticking around longer than hoped. As predicted this translates into longer stand by waits and queues taking up more space in the area.
  • Just past 7pm the queues to enter both parks looked long and seemed to inch along. It was only a five minute wait but it sure felt longer.
  • I left the park around 8pm and there was an issue with one of the trams. It was stopped and blocking the tramway. So trams were unable to use the first set of load zones and had to rely on the far two. Waits were already backing up with a two tram wait when I showed up and growing steadily behind me. Cast Members were reminding guests they can walk through Downtown Disney to exit too. Times like this I miss the walkway along the tramway.

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

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