Hello all,

Friday kicked off the Presidents day weekend. With most people off on Monday and several schools having Friday off too I was anticipating the parks to be crowded. They did not disappoint. The crowds at both parks were heavy.. I would say Summer heavy, not Christmas heavy. The wait times we up near an hour for many attractions. There were longer than usual wait times for other attractions too, for example it took 3 trains before I managed to get onto the Disneyland RR in NOS.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• I was pleasantly surprised to find the parking situation was smooth, guess I had great timing. I was directed to one of the first couple of rows on the 5th floor of the garage. Looked like the 3rd and 4th floors were filled. Also kind of odd the surface lot was almost completely empty. I guess they filled the outer lots first? It took me only about 15 minutes from when I got off the freeway till I was walking to the Disneyland Hotel. The Lazygeek visited on Sunday and said parking was slow.. it took him 40 minutes from the freeway till the garage.. he said there were just a lot of cars and everything was moving slowly..
  
  
• I strolled around the Disneyland hotel and through Downtown Disney to see what/if anything new was going on.. not much in other location, but the crowds in Downtown Disney were fairly heavy for an early afternoon still.
  
  
• First stop was DCA to check out the progress on the expansion projects. It was great to see some track going in for the Radiator Springs racers, it seems really early considering grading is still going on.. I have read one theory that said this is some test track to start debugging the system, so they do not have another Test Track on their hands (for those who do not know/remember Test Track took a couple of years of test/adjust before the official opening due to several problems. I have a theory of my own that they are installing track because they need to before the rockwork starts.. once the rockwork starts and the scaffolding/etc.. are in place it will be much harder to install the track.
  
  
• The rest of the construction progress was not overly interesting. The Lazygeek sent me a photo over the wall on the backlot from Sunday, looks like several holes in the middle of the street and not much else happening right now.
  
  
• I do not remember when I first heard it, but throughout the afternoon I heard announcements that DCA was to remain open for an extra hour, till 10pm.
  
  
• While waiting for the Mardi Gras Celebration the park PA came on and announced that it was President Lincolns 201st birthday and to celebrate they suggested stopping by Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. This sounded a bit odd in the area, but was great to hear.. I overheard several guests talking after the announcement and pondering heading for the show.
  
  
• Last week Princess Tianas Mardi Gras Celebration premiered out in New Orleans Square. This show occurs several times a day and features the Princess, four dancers, and the band. She sings a handful of songs from the film. Great to hear live vocals and a live band, but the show just does not have the energy/life that the showboat show had. Since it is a solo vocalist the arrangements were not as engaging to me. The kids in the audience really seemed to enjoy watching her perform and the brief interactive portion of the show where they could dance with the gang.
  
  
• I walked around the Captain EO theater and it looks like most of the repainting is done and they are awaiting the signage. Friday they were doing some limited Cast Member trails. I saw quite a few TDA CMs roaming around trying to figure out how to get into the theater. They had to enter backstage as the onstage entrances were all closed.
  
  
• Stopped by Great Moments to celebrate Lincolns Birthday, the crowd inside was probably about half to two thirds of the theater, nice to see a solid crowd still attending and considering this was about the time the Street Party was rolling out onto Main Street I though that was a great crowd.
  
  
• Speaking of the Street Party, I got myself stuck in the traffic right at the end of the 2nd stop (in the hub). I was heading to Tomorrowland and thought I could get through before the party ended but instead found myself trapped in the middle of the gridlock for a good 5 minutes or so. As I was stuck there ended up talking to some of the folks around me. One couple seemed quite lost and I asked where they were heading, they explained Main Street.. I asked where on Main Street/why and they were really looking for the park exit. I pointed to them that they needed to turn around and follow the mass going the opposite direction. It is very easy to forget the number of first time guests and non regulars and throw them into a crowd that is not moving in the dark and I can only image how frustrating/disorienting that must be. You have other guests pushing/intent on reaching their goal and then you have CMs trying to direct the crowd and if you are unsure it must be really easy to get twisted/confused. So moral of the story for all you regulars/disneygeeks out there, be sure to keep an ear/eye open and help those around you instead of running them over...
  
  
• I spent a good couple of hours hanging around the Bay at DCA watching/waiting for some World of Color testing. I was not disappointed as you saw in the pictures. I was able to see some spot light tests, fountain, and projector testing. The bridge area that I was in had quite a few others just milling around and watching too. It was great to hear people stop by and wonder about what was going on then a half dozen others would turn and offer their insight/thoughts on the show. Someone nearby was taking video and posted it on YouTube:
  
  
  
  
  
• Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
  In this section of the Geekspeaks column I will include links, notes, and rumors I find/stumble across/or have been informed of.
  
  
  • Videos
    • 2/12/10 - World of Color Testing Video - Youtube
    • 2/10/10 - World of Color video from the Paradise Pier Hotel (part I) - Youtube
    • 2/10/10 - World of Color video from the Paradise Pier Hotel (part II) - Youtube
    • Toy Story 3 Trailer
      
      
  • Press Releases
    • 2/11/10 - ‘Give a Day, Get a Disney Day’ Program -- Reaches 600,000 Volunteer Sign-Ups – and Counting!
    • 2/11/10 - Fun Facts : a salute to volunteerism in a sculpture that will feed thousands
    • 2/10/10 - Walt Disney World Resort Showcases New Entertainment, Fantasy and Family Fun By Land and By Sea
    • 2/10/10 - Main Street Electrical Parade Lights the Night Again as Walt Disney World Resort Launches Summer Nightastic!
    • Waking Sleeping Beauty Debuts in Theaters on March 26, 2010
      
      
  • We post some announcements on:
    • Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/disneygeekcom
    • Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/disneygeek
      
      

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

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