* After you read this report you may want to check out the pictorial updates in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

Hello all,

Friday was a relaxing afternoon/evening at the parks. I had no real agenda except to see what was going on and due to the really light crowds managed to visit several attractions and just have a good time. The wait times during the early afternoon were minimal at best. At DCA Screamin was a near walk on, Toy Story about 20 minutes, the Fun wheel maybe 10 minutes for swinging and a couple car wait for the non swinging. Over at Disneyland much of the same with Nemo under 30 minutes most of the day too.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• As you saw in the pictorial update I started off walking over to the Disneyland Hotel and then the Grand Californian to check out the new wing with less than a week until the official opening. (The opening is scheduled for Wednesday morning). At the Grand Californian all the construction walls are down and it looked like they had a fair number of people staying in the rooms, curious if those were lucky guests or cast members. I was a little surprised by the amount of Disney security around the new wing. My guess is because they were still wrapping up the final touches and they really did not want us roaming around. The new wing blends in perfectly with the existing hotel and the new pool area makes for a large continuous pool deck now.
  
  
• Not much to report from DCA, except the projector housing that are being installed in the bay are quite different than the concept art, they are not really light houses, they look more like the Toy Story building tops. But then again they are not finished and installed so let us see which direction they go and what happens next.
  
  
• Over at Disneyland Halloween is starting to show up, with the start of the Halloween Time promotion only a week away (everything kicks off the 25th with the new fireworks, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion). On Friday they had started the Main Street decorations, but no pumpkins yet. Also along the tramway the figures were out already, saw them at the end of the day but it was too dark to get any good pictures, they looked the same as last year though. The official website launched last week promoting the attractions and events. The website really focuses on Disneyland with the attractions, fireworks, etc.. For DCA it has the after hours party and lists Tower of Terror. Everything else is at Disneyland. Disneyland Halloween Time Website There is also a great TV spot out for the Halloween promotion staring Disney villians:
  
  
  
  
  
• Went for a ride on Monorail Red now that it has returned to service (Red and Orange were running on Friday). There is yet another new window design. Inside it is still quite warm (Friday the temps were in the mid-upper 80s outside). While in motion it was ok, but still on the warm side, and when stopped at the stations it got a bit warm. Wonder if these are the final ones or if there will be another version?
  
  
  
  
  
• Interesting Web Finds/Notes (and some Press Releases):
  In this section of the Geekspeaks column I will include links, notes, and rumors I find/stumble across/or have been informed of:
  
  
  • Disneyland Halloween Time Website - http://www.disneyland.com/halloween
    
    
  • All 10 Gallery Previews from the Disney Family Museum are now available- click here to see all the information we have
    
    
  • Disney Studio chief Dick Cook resigned Friday. Here are the recent news articles on the announcement (Google news link)
    
    
  • We have started to 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

Stop by the Geek's Forum to discuss this and other Disney topics.. click here

Send comments, questions, any other email to: disneygeek@disneygeek.com