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Visit Date: 5/23/25
Steps: 19,944
Parks Miles: 9.13
Time in Parks: 9.5

 
Trip Log:

Arrived at the Disneyland Resort just after noon and was directed into a spot in the back portion of the Mickey level of the structure. Hiked to the escalators and had no wait at security or for a tram. Spent some time on Main Street USA and then strolled through Adventureland and out to New Orleans Square. Continued on to Bayou Country and through Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge to Fantasyland. Passed by the Castle and back to Main Street to find a spot for the Cavalcade. After the cavalcade made a quick stop in Frontierland then walked out to the Fantasyland Theatre for the Pixar Pals Playtime Party. I caught the tail end of a show then spent some time looking around. Decided to take the train to Main Street then walked over to Disney California Adventure. The Better Together Parade was about to start so found a spot on Hollywood Blvd to watch. After the parade took Sunset Blvd to Avengers Campus then visited Car Land and San Fransokyo Square before making my way to the Grand Californian by way of the Grizzly Recreation Area. Took a look at the Donald creation in the lobby then headed to Downtown Disney. Strolled along taking a look a at the construction and in a couple shops before boarding a Monorail back to Disneyland. Just missed a train and lucked out with the group in the cab disembarking so was able to ride up front. Once back in the park looked around Tomorrowland then walked around the Matterhorn and back to the Fantasyland Theatre for the 4:30pm Pixar Pals Playtime show. After the show noticed a 30 min wait for Rise of the Resistance so headed that way. Turned out to be 12 minutes from entering the queue until the briefing. Walked back through Frontierland to the hub then crossed over to Tomorrowland. Found a table and had a snack and took some pictures of Stitch's Interplanetary Beach Party Blast. While checking wait times saw Haunted Mansion at 13 minutes so headed that way. By the time we walked over there it was 35, we gave it try anyways. Turned out to be 30 to the merge point and 32 to the foyer. After my visit to the Mansion walked through New Orleans Square then to Adventureland. Stopped for a printout at the Jungle Cruise lockers. The Jungle Cruise was posted at 10 minutes which was dead on, 10 min from entering queue to on the boat. Visited with friends for a while in Frontierland and Fantasy Faire then stopped by Tomorrowland Terrace again to see which characters were out. Returned to Disney California Adventure and caught the 70th projection show on Carthay Circle Restaurant on my way out to see World of Color Happiness! After the show walked the performance corridor and out to the trams. Returned to the parking structure, found my car and headed for home. (Walking time 3:10 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 relaxing visit to the Disneyland Resort. The weather was nearly perfect topping out in the mid 70s with a slight breeze and cooling to the 60s. The crowds were mild most of the afternoon building for Paint the Night. Moving between parks after sunset was slow going.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • Started my visit off with a fairly bad draw for parking again toward the far corner of the Mickey level of the structure. I seem to be stuck out there most visits recently.
  • After experiencing Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney security the Anaheim set up is really annoying. It is painfully slow and inefficient. Also inconsistent in expectations. For example this visit they insisted I take the plastic lens cap out of my pocket where as past trips I started to take it out and they said its ok since its not metal.
  • The Esplanade music has changed back to more traditional play list of park music this week. The slow music box sound track from last week was not playing when I walked through. I was not a fan of the slow music so this was an improvement.
  • The 70th original attraction quest printouts seemed a little buggy this week. In Frontierland had do tap a number of times, the sound played and light blinked but no printout. It finally did. Others I talked to said they had to pull the card from the machine at one point. The Tomorrowland station was covered this week, so not sure if that is a step forward or backward. No indication of when it will come online.
  • The 70th Anniversary Keys seem to still be selling. I saw a number of them and queues at several of the locations as the sun set. People seemed to be having fun with them and enjoying the activations. I was surprised to see the Tomorrowland queue a couple dozen people long and spanning the walkway at one point.
  • The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade had a good size crowd again on Main Street USA.
  • The Pixar Pals Playtime Party returned today for the summer. It is a similar experience as last year with photo ops, character meet and greets, activities and a dance party/show. The showtimes are posted in several spots and on the app. I was hoping to see something new or different this year. I still think the show features too much talking/instruction. The first time I stopped by a show was just ending and characters were not out yet so the theatre emptied quickly and cast members out numbered guests within a few a minutes it seemed.
  • I was surprised not to see more promoting Lilo & Stitch since it was opening day. There was one piece of chalk art with a small sign in Downtown Disney and that was all I saw. There was a Stitch sipper in Tomorrowland but it was not really noticeable or on display when I walked by.
  • Stopped to watch the Better Together Parade and found a spot standing behind a bench with a clear view right at parade time.
  • Disney's Grand Californian Hotel still has several renovation projects underway with walls and scaffolding up both inside and out. Also the Napa Rose is closed. Most of the hotel is accessible and the DCA entrance/exit reopened several weeks ago with new turnstiles.
  • A culinary display is in the Lobby of the Grand Californian entitled Donald's Tales of Adventure. This was set up for the 70th anniversary celebration. I thought this was an odd piece for the 70th anniversary of Disneyland. It fits the outdoor theme of the Grand but just seemed an odd choice. The display is good size but the characters are small and high making them hard to see and photograph. I appreciate they are continuing to share new creations and I hope it continues with more pieces in the future.
  • I was able to ride in the front cab of the Monorail with the driver from Downtown Disney to Tomorrowland this afternoon. I have not done this since they started letting guests back up front last year. The volume of the audio spiel playback was so loud it really made a conversation with the driver impossible. In addition to the unique view talking with the cast member was always one of the fun aspects of the ride. Wonder if this is done on purpose so the cast member can focus on driving.
  • Stitch's Interplanetary Beach Party Blast also returned today. It follows the same format as the past couple years with most of the time spent on stage doing dance instructions and short dances as character sets and hosts rotate through. At one point their was no host and the trio of chipmunks went down into the crowd to dance. I prefer seeing the characters interact with guests vs the endless talking/dance instructions.
  • I saw Rise of the Resistance drop to a 30 minute wait so decided to walk that way and take a look. The queue was moving and no sight of it stopping so figured I would give it a try. The queue slowed once you entered the building but still moved at a steady pace most of the way and it turned out to be a 12 minute wait only. My luck was not as good with Haunted Mansion. The Lightning Lane returns were steady which kept progress slow through the queue and it took nearly the full 35 minutes that were posted.
  • I happened to catch the Celebrate Happy projections on the Carthay Circle Theater. They came on around 8:30pm for a couple minute show. I thought it was a fun show with the lighting effects and projections and was a nice addition for the 70th.
  • Closed out my visit with World of Color Happiness! Most of my group today had not seen it and after seeing it everyone agreed the Muppets were great but the show was not. Also the projections looked less than ideal again. On a second viewing my first impression still stands. I am not a fan of this version of the show.

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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.

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