Sitting in the club lounge right now (12:25pm), and I just learned something interesting. From 5pm to 7pm, lounge employees go table to table and ask guests if they would like an alcoholic drink, but drinks are given all day upon request. A lounge employee just told me that, for example, some guests like having mimosas for breakfast. I asked for an "Angry Orchard Hard Cider", and it was delivered to me a minute later. I'm drinking it right now, very good and highly recommended to those of you who like cider (5% alcohol).
POWER WALK REVIEW
We left the Paradise Pier at 5:30am, to be certain that we arrived at the California Adventure "side entrance" before 5:45am. We had no trouble entering the Grand Californian via the west entrance. There was a constant stream of employees arriving for work, and one of them held the gate open for us without asking why we wanted admittance. We were the first people to arrive at the California Adventure entrance, other guests trickled in until 5:55am or so, at which point the two Disney employees responsible for the walk arrived.
One guest was there for some type of "morning stretch in the park", the rest of us (13 guests total) were there for the power walk. The power walk leader explained that the walk was totally booked (20 guests), and that guests are given until the last second to arrive. At 6am, we all signed waivers (with my wife signing on behalf of our 15 year old daughter) and were given vests. I suspect it is not uncommon for guests to decide, at 5:30am, to skip the walk.
The leader then gave us a short description of what we could expect. He said that the Power Walk has been offered for over 18 years, and that it is the oldest "guest activity" which is offered at
Disneyland. He also said that, until a few years ago, people knew what the Power Walk involved, but recently more and more people have signed up for the walk, thinking that it was a leisurely stroll with lots of opportunities to take photos and wander around.
The leader made it very clear that the walk was going to be strenuous, and he gave us an opportunity to abort. All 13 guests decided to take the walk. Before the walk started, the leader stated that the maintenance staff were 100% in control of the park, that they all had duties to perform, and that we were to do our best to not interfere with them (we saw numerous vehicles during our walk).
The actual walk proceeded as follows:
- we walked, at a fairly brisk pace, from the Grand Californian entrance of California Adventure, past Soaring, and to Carthay Circle; the pace at this point was equal to my maximum walking speed, so I knew I was in for a challenge (we were going maybe 3 miles/hour)
- at Carthay Circle, we switched to "power walk mode" (4 miles/hour) and headed north to the main gate, back to Carthay Circle, and over to Guardians of the Galaxy where we had a 3 minute break; I was tired at that point, and much appreciated the break
- after the break, we power walked back to Carthay Circle and onward to the vineyard ("Blue Sky" building), where we rested for perhaps 1 minute
- back to power walk mode: past the Ariel ride, past Goofy Flight School, and stopping in front of the new "Emotional" ride (the Old Flik's Flyers); I barely managed to finish that segment (the trailing employee actually asked me if I was OK)
- another short break, then the final power walk took us past the Incredicoaster, up the hill, and stopping in front of the Lamplight Lounge; I was at the end of my endurance by then, so I was thankful that the worst was over; after another short rest, we walked at a brisk pace (but slower than power walking) past Soaring to the exit to the Grand Californian, at which point the horrible punishment was over.
To put this walk into perspective, I am 60 years old, forty pounds over weight, and am in terrible shape. So, it is not surprising that the walk was challenging for me. My wife and daughter, and most of the other guests, didn't have any serious difficulties with the walk. There was one lady (fortyish) who seemed to be having some difficulty, but not as much as me. On two occasions during the power walk, we encountered wet sections where the pavement had just been washed (by miniature street cleaners) and we had to slow down for those two sections. I don't think I would have been able to complete the walk, if we hadn't slowed down for those two segments.
So, in conclusion: the walk was interesting, and I'm glad I did it, but because of the horrible shape I'm in it was all I could do to finish. As long as guests are in reasonably good shape, and know what to expect, I think they would enjoy this walk.
EDIT: one of the guests had some sort of "fitness monitor"; we covered 1.73 miles in 33 minutes, including approximately 5 minutes in breaks.