Hello all,

I had two goals in mind for Friday, first to check out Glow Fest since it was not fully operational last Friday and secondly to relax a bit, my last couple of visits were fairly busy.. well I succeeded in the first but due to the College Band and wanting to see their sets the second I failed at. The crowds around the parks were about average for this time of year with the big attractions edging up to the hour marker, but most under half an hour most of the afternoon. World of Color had healthy crowds, we arrived around 1pm and grabbed a Fastpass, unfortunately it was for the third show of the evening.

Jason

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

Disneyland & DCA Thoughts and Observations:

• I thought the new photo location out on the Pier for the World of Color that featured Mickey Mouse was a nice addition to the space. It brought some extra energy to the area and gives a great way to see Mickey. I did not see any hours posted and it was not listed in the times guide either.
  
  
• We headed out to the Fun Wheel first and what looked to be 5-10 minute wait turned into a 20 minute wait due to some bad luck.. to start it off custodial was finishing a clean up in one of the swinging cars, and then as the wheel spun around they had to make three e-stops (not sure the proper term here) to let people who were afraid of the swinging gondolas off. Add in they were only forcing parties of 1 or 2 to ride together (parties of 3 were left alone) and some slow loading/unloading and it was a much longer wait than it first appeared.
  
  I do not understand why some parents insist on dragging their kids onto the Fun Wheel, especially the swinging cars.. Over the years I have seen quite a few kids (and some adults) with the height, swinging, or just act of going around not able to make it around twice. I wish people would use some better judgment sometimes...sometimes it does work out and you can get some extra time at the top.
  
  
• My bad luck streak with the Zephyr continues.. I need to break myself of the habit and head that way first if its operating...
  
  
• As I roamed around the hub at Disneyland a sign caught my eye.. the one at Plaza Gardens. It listed the College band as performing at 2:30, but starting next week, this seemed odd. I then saw some of the band heading for the stage, so I figured it was a schedule change. It was a pleasant surprise. Since this was only their second day in the park the first set consisted of tunes from their other sets, but it was a start. There were no USC students again this year just their director, Ron.
  
  For those that are interested their schedule Friday was: 2:30 Plaza Gardens, 4:20 Castle, 5:10 Flag Retreat, 6:00 Pre-parade, 7:15 Train Station.
  
  
• Also noticed in the time guide they had the College Band listed as performing Friday night at the Jump, Jive, Boogie Swing Party (7:00, 8:00, 9:00), so either the guide was wrong, the times were wrong, or their is a second College Band... I did not make it down to the party and will try to next time around if it is listed this way. I am guesing the time schedule had the wrong information.
  
  
• Another interesting schedule note .. on Monday afternoon I dropped Disney an email, through disneyland.com asking what dates the College Band would be performing this year. They promptly wrote back on Tuesday that they did not know and to submit my question again in a week or so. I thought it was odd they did not know or could not find out. Especially since the schedule should have been set on Tuesday for Thursday (which was their first day in the park)..
  
  
• I spent some time walking around and watching the Glow Fest festivities. There are two parts each evening. The first is from 6:15-8:15pm and takes place in the Sunshine Plaza. Then at 8:15 the party moves to the Backlot until park closing (my guess is until guests head to line up for the last World of Color Show which is after park closing).
  
  
• Glow Fest - the first part (Sunshine Plaza)- I was extremely disappointed in this part of the Glow Fest activities. It started off very promising with a quirky set of entertainers (and a former Billy as our host), but it really dragged along as a long Bollywood dance. Then to top it off the show repeats itself.. or at least the dance numbers. I stood around for the first 45 minutes to get a good flavor, then headed over to Disneyland for the College Band and came back a little before 8:00pm to spend another half hour or so and the dance numbers were the same I saw earlier (they do look better with the lights on). I was expecting to see something interesting as the party transitioned to the Backlot. I had read about something where they were going to drum the sun down.. I had visions of Tapestry of Nations with live drummers or some type of show. Instead it was the same dance number as earlier basically and then a mini procession to the Backlot as the lights and music came on. It was very anti-climatic. I thought an opportunity was lost here. I would have liked to have seen musicians instead of dancers or in addition to. As far as I could tell there was none.. the drummers appeared to be just dancers. I walked out of this portion of Glow Fest with the feeling I had wasted too much time waiting to see if it would get better.
  
  
• Glow Fest - the second part(Backlot) - I thought the second part of Glow Fest which includes the Backlot party, adult beverages, loud music, and dancing actually worked quite well. Most of those in attendance seemed to be having a great time and really enjoying themselves, even the CMs seemed into it. The lights, energy, and activity were great to see. I think the area does not look that good during the day and it really destroys the Backlot feel, but for a temporary addition I do not have any big problems with it. There were plenty of CMs on hand to watch the crowd and things seemed to be running smoothly. The projections on the Hyperion wall were fun to see and they really transformed the feel of the area. The other screen near the restrooms was not in operation when we walked by.
  
  
• I think there should be another way to get from the Hyperion to World of Color without having to go through the party zone. If you go to one of the later showings of Aladdin and have kids and do not want to expose them to the party scene for one reason or another you are out of luck. I am curious how the traffic flow is when the theater lets out.. anyone experience it? I see they have shifted the Aladdin times earlier this week so the last one is over by 8pm.
  
  
• I also saw online that some guests were upset about the alcohol sales. I do not have a problem with the sales, DCA has always had beer and wine on its menus. I do have a complaint with the cheap booths they are selling it out of.. it works with the theme of the fest but its rather hokey to me and screams of a way to make some cash quickly with no real effort. Same can be said with parking the two food trucks in the Sunshine Plaza. I thought they worked better on the backlot.. but in the Plaza they really do not fit. It was odd to have all the activity going on the main street and if you verred off to the area by Monsters it was a dead zone. Seems they could have found a way to use this area more.
  
  
• As you saw in the photos I saw the World of Color from the new area under the Silly Symphony Swings. The fountains and fire effects are much more impressive from water level and this close. The show though was really lacking since I knew what I was missing in terms of the projections and lasers which are not visible from that angle. I spoke/overheard those around me and most that had not seen the show were impressed and seemed satisfied though. Also be warned that the area looks like it will get quite wet if the wind is even slightly blowing in that direction. Friday it was blowing straight toward Paradise Park sort of so we were in the clear there and the views were incredible. I was a little disappointed that the sound was not better there. Seems the surrounding sound is no where near as good as the Paradise Park system (also they did not pipe in the sound from the pre-show to our area).
  
  
• As I spoke with those around me waiting for the show quite a few commented on how they had been around around all day but did not know to get a Fastpass for the show. Seems a larger educational campaign may be needed for tourists.. I am sure passholders will figure the ropes out quickly but what about your average tourist? It is spelled out on the time sheets but guess they do not read those that carefully.
  
  
• As we were leaving we arrived at the tram stop and saw a long line of guests so walked down to the second stop. I noticed that no trams were moving.. everything was stopped for some reason. This seemed odd. So we decided to walk vs wait around. As we walked we saw a handful of trams all stopped along the tram route and overhead the CMs onboard apologizing for the delay, but could not hear a reason for the delay. We made it all the way back to the garage, stopped at the restroom and made it up the escalator to the roof before we saw the first tram heading down the tram route. Anyone know what was going on Friday?
  
  
  
• Interesting Web Finds/Notes:
  Below are some interesting links, notes, and rumors I found/stumble across/or have been informed of since the last Geekspeaks column.
  
  
  • Some Recent Press Releases:
    • 6/21/10 - California Hotel & Lodging Association Members Win AH&LA Stars of the Industry Award; The Chancellor Hotel on Union Square in San Francisco Wins Special Event Award and Wade Heath of the Disneyland Hotel Wins Outstanding Employee of the Year
    • 6/18/10 - Disneyland Resort Provides Sign Language Interpretation for Guests with Hearing Disabilities Sign language interpretation program provides service without the need for advance arrangements
      
      
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