Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com sends us these photos from his trip to the parks on Friday, May 23, 2014.

To kick off the holiday weekend and the summerseason Disneyland Resort (as well as Walt Disney World) were hosting Rock Your Disney Side. Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and the Magic Kingdom in WDW were open 24 hours, from 6am Friday until 6am Saturday. I attended the middle third of the day more or less. I arrived at the parks around 1pm and left around 10pm. Laura was at Disneyland in the morning and left around the time I arrived. Jeanine arrived right before I left and stayed overnight.

Due to the parking and traffic problems the Disneyland Resort suffers from during these types of events Disney was taking an aggressive approach to parking. When I exited the freeway just after noon the Ball Road bypass was closed as was the Mickey and Friends garage. They were directing traffic to the Simba lot. I decided this was a bad idea since I knew I was leaving early and did not want to get stuck in possible gridlock. So I opted to go around to the Toy Story lot. Getting into the lot easy but then they kept directing me further. I ended up in the far corner of the Katella Cast Member lot, beyond the Bambi section against the far fence. Below is a picture looking from my car back toward the convention center. It took approximately 30 minutes from the time I exited the freeway until I was walking to the bus. The bus transportation to the park was quick and efficient and within a couple of minutes I was at the security checkpoint. Leaving was a different story. It took me over 30 minutes from Main Street USA until I reached my car. All in all it was not a pleasant parking experience today. I understand the need to prevent grid lock in the evening when the crowds arrive but to penalize those guests who show up earlier in the day does not seem like the right thing to do.

Since my last visit ticket prices have gone up. Here are the current rates.

A large sand Olaf was created near the center of the Esplanade. Josh Gad was on hand in the morning to open the parks.

First stop Disneyland.As you entered the park you were given a button and card promoting Maleficent.

The time guides for the day.

The lockers are closed as they start to work on a new walkway backstage to help with the crowds on Main Street.

Main Street has its traditional summer overlay of red, white and blue.

For the 24hr event there were quite a few food offerings. The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor featured this Black and White Ice Cream Sandwich.

Walked through the Candy Palace.

Hero and Villain Cupcakes

Plenty of Maleficent treats.

The other big promotion today was this large 32oz mug. A majority of the dining locations and carts featured it.

Two large screens flanked the castle today. They were showing guest Twitter and Instagram pictures.

Darth Vader popcorn buckets were available from the cart in Tomorrowland.

No Captain EO showings today. Instead Marvel has taken over with movie screenings with showings of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, etc.

The show times for the day. They were showing standard versions of the films, no 3D.

A Star Tours photo op near Innoventions. Assuming at some point characters will be out. For now just a static backdrop.

More mugs…this time Storm Trooper.

A look down at the sub lagoon from the Monorail. These looked slightly brighter to me, maybe some painting going on? Or just the light/my memory..

Work on Alice in Wonderland is progressing. The extended walkways are taking shape.

A check on Alice from ground level, you can see the old and then new extension.

Small World had to use its extended queue.

In Toontown, the fountains are out from behind walls. This one is missing Roger though.

Mickey’s fountain.

The Go Coaster is back in operation too.

Goofy in front of his house.

Stopped by the Springtime Roundup. It was quiet as usual.

Roger Rabbit showed up while I was there (also Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Brer Bear, Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh, and Baloo were available for pictures while I was there)

The Stage Door Cafe offerings.

Pirates has reopened and had a 25 minute wait and a lot of guests moving around.

The Harbor Galley had a special soup today.

Hungry Bear had a hot dog for the day.

The Mint Julep Bar had punch.

The walkway through New Orleans Square was blocked off again.

This time it was also blocked off near the perfume shop.

With Pirates open and the other two access points blocked this there was a traffic jam. You could access the two stores through this tunnel but everything else was walled off.

In Frontierland the Trading Co has reopened.

Took a quick look inside and it looked more or less the same.

A turtle near the Frontierland entrance just hanging out watching the crowd.

This was a common sight throughout the park. Guests laying around or sitting anywhere they could find an electrical outlet.

Due to there being no early Soundsational today the Main Street vehicles were running still. I counted 7 (2 buses, 2 trolleys, 2 horseless carriages, 1 fire truck) circling around.

A photo op for the 24hr event in Town Square (same as last year, just a different banner)

Time to head over to Disney California Adventure.

With the media equipment cleaned up you can now get closer to Olaf.

Buena Vista Street was decked out in red, white and blue too.

A special edition of the Buena Vista Bugle was on news stands today. It was only a single page (front and back).

Clarabelle’s featured a special hand dipped bar today.

Award Wieners featured Maleficent items

The Muppets film was not being shown today, instead a Frozen sing-along had taken over.

Buena Vista Street also had a photo op with clocks.

Taste Pilots Grill special offering.

The person next to me ordered one.. so here is a picture of what it actually looked like.

Noticed the fries at Taste Pilots were skinnier than they have been. More on par with say McDonalds size. They tasted better to me too. Still not as good as the old shoe string fries at Award Wieners or even the waffle fries at Taste Pilots but a step up from what they had been serving.

A large clock to stand in front of and have your picture taken. You supplied the hands.

The Wharf renovations have moved on to the part of the building that spans the walkway.

Pacific Wharf Cafe featured a chowder for the day.

Captain America shield shaped bread.

A stage set up on the Wharf for a dance party later tonight.

Flo’s offering was a sandwich

Time for the nightly Flag Retreat. Tonight it just featured the Dapper Dans, no live band.

There were commemorative mouse ears available today. This is the back.

More merchandise for the day.

There was also a pin (on the right)

On the castle stage throughout the day an MC would come out to promote the DisneySide hashtag and events.

Here is a video clip to give a sample of what was going on.

Caught a showing of Mickey and the Magical Map.

The show seemed more or less the same to me, no changes jumped out to me.

Went for a cruise on “it’s a small world” which just re-opened. No substantial changes visible, most of the work was done backstage.

Looks like the prairie dogs are not returning.

Back to Disney California AdventureGRR is still closed for renovation.

Another photo backdrop, this time in Paradise Gardens.

The Paradise Garden Grill offering.

And Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta

Here is the Mac & Cheese Flatbread.

Through a Twitter promotion Disney announced tickets to meet Maleficent to promote the film. They were distributing them at the Blue Sky Cellar.

Times were from 8pm till 2am. When I was there they were giving out ones for the block after midnight.

Hollywood Blvd.

In case you do not want a turkey leg but really like the shape they offered a crisped rice treat version today.

Maleficent merchandise in Elias & Co.

Maleficent treats being created at Trolley Treats

In Clarabelle’s they were setting up ice water

Back to Disneyland. The park was much more crowded but still not holiday crowded…more like summer.

Passing by the Castle.

Food lines were getting bad. Here is the Pizza Port line.

Caught Magical to wrap up my evening.

As I left the lines to enter Disneyland were really long. Well beyond the Monorail beam, almost to the center of the Esplanade.

Hope you enjoyed this highlight tour of the Disneyland Resort. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full Disneyland Update I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

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