Rap on a table, bang on a gong, send us a Disneyland Update from regions beyond . . .
What a wonderful time of year. Hinges are creaking, pumpkins are grinning, fall colors adorn the windows and lampposts of the parks, and guests seem to be getting into the spirit with Halloween themed attire and pumpkin-spiced treats of all kinds. Oogie Boogie’s new Halloween Bash is packing in the crowds at Disney California Adventure, while warm weather and moderate crowds continue to make this a great time to visit Disneyland. However, we don’t expect the crowds to stay away forever, and indeed it is starting to get a little busier in the parks, especially after dark. There’s a lot more for us to see and explore in today’s update, including more entertainment cuts and changes, and construction everywhere.
Disneyland
Halloween Time
The Disneyland Resort now offers two sorts of Halloween decor. Disneyland is predictably cheerful, with non-threatening pumpkins and bright fall colors. Meanwhile, California Adventure has a darker color pallet and a theme focused on bats and the headless horseman! What’s your scare level?
Haunted Mansion Holiday is one of the most popular attractions in the Resort right now, with waits regularly topping one hour. Although it has a higher capacity than Millennium Falcon, the aging Haunted Mansion Holiday regularly draws longer waits.
You can still find Madame Leota’s “Heirlooms of the Passed” on the gypsy wagon at the exit of the Mansion. These ghosts in a jar are neat, but they’re expensive at $60 each.
If I was crafty, I’d make myself some of these using interesting bottles and Halloween lights. But let’s face it, I’m not.
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Disneyland Crowds
Here’s the good news/bad news depending on your point of view. The park crowds and attraction waits remain very enjoyable during the day (on most days), but have been absolutely unbearable in the evenings when passholders descend on the park in droves for the nighttime entertainment (parade, fireworks, Fantasmic). Though that could change next month due to the Electrical Parade run ending on Sept 30th and fireworks only happening on weekends (projections-only during the week). Not sure how many people are going to want to show up for the Halloween Screams projections. . . while they are neat during the fireworks show, they don’t come close to supporting a show on their own.
It has been so strange (but wonderful) this season to not see guests queued up on the bridges and pathways around Pirates of the Caribbean. Generally, guests have been contained within the Pirate’s garden on most days.
Be advised that due to half of the Matterhorn being down for emergency repairs, waits regularly top 60 minutes, as they do for Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Hyperspace Mountain. The rest of the park has been a dream with waits, even some of the biggest attractions are usually in the 10 to 15-minute range. And while the park does get much busier in the evenings thanks to the nighttime entertainment, the waits for attractions don’t soar because of the extra bodies.
Construction Updates
As always, the Disneyland Resort is absolutely filled with projects in various stages of completion.
Tomorrowland Projects
After YEARS of speculation about the imminent removal of the french fry rocks at the front of Tomorrowland, the process is now well underway. Walls went up around half of the rocks a few weeks ago, and now surround the rocks closest to Plaza Inn as well. Part of the project was to lower the curbs on the Tomorrowland side of the Hub. Although, the bigger challenge is to remove the rocks that clog up traffic in the evenings during parades and spectaculars and on busy days.
The entry to Tomorrowland is a maze of walls at the moment, but it will all be worth the wait. It’s really a shame that they don’t have the budget to remove the Astro Orbitor and renovate the old Rocket Jets atop the old People Mover tower (the mechanism is still there, folks!). But we’ll bide our time until the big and long-delayed Tomorrowland redo plans are finalized, sooner rather than later we hope.
There’s a tight path between the project and the Plaza Inn.
And another corridor right in the middle, where the old Tomorrowland sign once stood.
A grouping of rocks still remains close to Buzz Lightyear.
And thanks to our Twitter friend, @EPCATdork, for helping us get a good look at the construction site. You can see that the rocks closest to Plaza Inn have already been demolished. The project will continue through October and likely wrap up in time for the Christmas season in November.
Nearby, scrims are up on the facade of Star Tours. Yes, they have a purple cast to them. We don’t know if that means that there is a color change in the works or simply a printing variance, but we’ve included the sister walls on the Buzz Lightyear side as a comparison.
At the Tomorrowland Theater (that is still showing Path of the Jedi), the planter nearest the Starcade has been behind walls for a couple of weeks. Likely for the removal or reshaping of the planter to open the area up a bit more. This isn’t the busiest of spots, so we are curious what the motivation is here.
And Launch Bay continues to host “Annual Passholder Corner.”
Meanwhile, waits at the Matterhorn continue to be very long due to an incident that resulted in half the mountain needing to be closed for repairs. It was a scary situation when a chunk of rockwork near one of the waterfalls collapsed into the attraction. But the park was quickly able to reopen the unaffected side of the mountain, leaving the attraction operating at half-capacity.
We’ve received several inquiries asking if it’s safe to ride the Matterhorn in this condition. Disney and OSHA have inspected the attraction thoroughly. You are much more likely to be injured by the rough ride than by rockwork collapsing on you. But it does open the discussion on whether it’s time for Disney to do a major rebuild of this attraction, perhaps with a whole new track, not unlike what they had to do with Space Mountain. It would be a great opportunity for the park to improve the ride experience and upgrade the show. But please, no Frozen overlay!
Adventureland Sign
Another project which is just about to wrap us is the enhancement of the Adventureland sign. It’s likely that the hut-like structure, which is planned for the northern side of the sign, will be installed any day now and the construction walls should be removed shortly after. I’ve included a photo of how the sign looked before it was rebuilt so you can get an idea of how it will look when done.
Entertainment Shuffle
Entertainment at the Disneyland Resort continues to undergo changes and cutbacks. There are some new announcements as well. Let us know what catches your attention and what doesn’t resonate with you.
Christmas is Coming
Even though today is the first day of fall, Disneyland is always thinking ahead. Christmas is set to begin November 8 and will last through January 6, 2020. Some things to look forward to include the “Believe…In Holiday Magic” fireworks, the Christmas Fantasy Parade, and seeing Sleeping Beauty Castle lit in holiday lights for the first time in its paint job from earlier this year. But we’ll get to that in a little bit.
Magic and Music Coming to Frontierland and the Golden Horseshoe
This week, Disneyland announced a new entertainer coming to Frontierland and the show set to take Laughing Stock’s place at the Golden Horseshoe.
Starting next week, a roaming magician is going to be performing magic throughout Frontierland. This magician is expected to stay throughout the fall season, but this is really meant to be a temporary entertainment fix until the real show begins later in the season. Although, having walkaround characters/entertainers like the citizens of Calico during Knott’s Ghost Town Alive (or Citizens of Buena Vista Street at DCA) would be a very welcome addition.
The replacement for Laughing Stock is set to be a dueling piano show that will play classic tunes from the Wild West as well as take requests from guests. While the idea of a dueling piano show might be fun, we can’t help but feel underwhelmed given the rich history of this location.
Everybody Get Your Ears On… Temporarily
It’s hard to believe, but we’re officially done with summer. And even though the Resort has been in Halloween-mode since the beginning of the month, Christmas is already creeping up on the entertainment schedule. The last scheduled showing for Halloween Screams is set for Halloween itself. However, fireworks are not planned for its last public viewing of the season. The last chance to see Halloween Screams with fireworks is October 27.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and that includes this popular nighttime show. In the transition between Halloween and Christmas, “Mickey’s Mix Magic” will return starting November 1.
The light at the end of the tunnel is “Believe… In Holiday Magic,” one of the most beloved firework shows, which begins on November 8. Believe will run until January 6, 2020. The show will most likely have a projection-only and projection and fireworks versions, just like Halloween Screams and Mix Magic. Although, one thing we noted during the Halloween Screams projections-only version is that without the fireworks, the show was lackluster…Maybe a little Holiday Magic (and snoap) will fix that.
Goodbye Main Street Electrical Parade…For Now
After an incredibly popular limited-time run of the Main Street Electrical Parade, it is time to say goodbye once again. The MSEP ends this week on September 30, but it’s likely we’ll see this stalwart parade return again the next time Disneyland needs a boost in attendance. Though, we would LOVE to see Paint The Night return again.
Without a parade in the park, what’s going to fill the void through the end of October? Mickey’s Bandtastic Cavalcade of course. It is mindboggling to think that for the entire month of October the only “parade” will be the don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it Cavalcade. Guests literally left the parade route grumbling complaints after its last run. And we’d have to agree with them. We never thought we’d have to see this dud again. Sadly, this is your only parade at Disneyland until Christmas, folks.
The nostalgia of the Main Street Electrical Parade lured Disney fans from all over and jammed the park to near capacity in the evenings. In many respects, it was the Electrical Parade that was Disney’s big summer success. Galaxy’s Edge never packed the park the way this ancient parade did. I’m surprised that Disney hasn’t extended the MSEP until the start of the Christmas season to keep that mojo going. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens after the MSEP ends. Will guests show up for a cavalcade and projections instead of fireworks (during the week)?
Guests will just have to power through the month of October until Christmas entertainment starts on November 8.
Star Wars Land Updates
The lack of long lines in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge continues. This land just isn’t seeing the sort of frenzy that a hot new popcorn bucket or previous new rides have received. There are certainly some crowds here, and the Cantina stays consistently busy, but there needs to be more critical mass in order to pull a greater number of guests all the way to the back of the park. The opening of Rise of the Resistance in January will help tremendously, but we sincerely hope the park will free up the resources necessary to rush entertainment and smaller attractions into this land as well.
There are a few updates in Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities.
While walking through this treasure trove of a shop, I noticed that the Ark of the Covenant (from Indiana Jones), which had been well hidden on the upper level of the shop, has been removed. It was taken out about a week ago.
Meanwhile, many of the saber hilts have been restocked.
As have the Kyber Crystals, which are still located behind the counter.
Here’s something sort of funny that we spotted on the tag for Yoda’s cane. . .
“Do not strike people or animals with this toy.” Have we really gotten to the point that we have to warn people about all the potential bad things they could do with an object?! Is this a case of lawyers gone amuck, or a necessary precaution?
By 2:30 pm on Friday, Ronto’s Roasters had just one guest in line.
And not a single guest at the popcorn stand.
The Jewels of Bith stall was also empty.
But just next door, the Creature Stall was busy.
We recently visited the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening in Orlando and noted that the obelisk in the Marketplace was quite different than the one in California. Similar idea, but much smaller:
There was also a rumor floating around last week that the Batuuan Spira Credit Medallion (gift cards) had sold out and wouldn’t be restocked. However, we found LOTS of them in stock this week and were told that there are no plans to discontinue them. You can find them at the Resistance Supply carts.
One of our readers had asked to see the transition between Frontierland and Galaxy’s Edge. The wood slats of Frontierland gives way to laser sliced rock.
This is the actual dividing line between the two lands:
Disney California Adventure
A Halloween Treat
For the last several weeks, we’ve been showing you images of Halloween going up in both parks. Disney California Adventure, in particular, is in the mood this year. The new Oogie Boogie Bash was very well done, but the daytime activities for all guests are also appreciated. We’ve got a few items to show you below AND a fantastic video from Trevor from the nighttime party.
DCA takes on a purple and black hue this time of year.
Just to make sure you don’t leave with any pennies left in your pockets, there are extra Halloween merchandise carts set up throughout the park.
One of the coolest things in the park is the Headless Horseman statue across from Carthay Circle. You can see him in action leading the parade during the Halloween party as well.
By day, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is open as usual. But on Halloween party nights, it becomes Villains Grove. There are a few clues about what happens in the Grove you can spot by daylight.
A wall of villain portraits lines the pathway leading to Villains Grove.
The camp circle remains off-limits.
A few props dot the area, like the candelabra in the Hunchback section of the Grove.
The Queen of Hearts garden has grown strands of white roses.
Lighting equipment is noticeable throughout the trails.
For a summary and gorgeous photos from opening night of Oogie Boogie’s Bash, read more here:
UPDATED: First Looks at Oogie Boogie’s Bash – a Halloween Party at Disneyland!
AND . . . video of the party from Trevor. Don’t miss this one, folks:
Avengers Campus Construction
Construction continues over at the future site of Disney California Adventure’s upcoming Marvel land.
The new land will stretch from the Guardians of the Galaxy ride all the way to the Parade Route near the Blue Sky Cellar.
While it’s not a massive space like Galaxy’s Edge, it does pack in the attraction, shops and restaurant into an efficient space and is located in a high traffic section of the park. But we must note that the E-Ticket is not coming until later. Will that be a problem for Marvel land in the way it was for Galaxy’s Edge?
This week, the construction walls in front of Guardians was pushed back, allowing the reopening the FastPass distribution.
Additionally, now that the walls have been pushed back, the new color scheme for the Marvel land ground is visible. Instead of the standard brickwork found throughout Beuna Vista Street and Hollywoodland, there is a new gray and white alternating brick pattern in front of Guardians that looks not unlike a barcode.
PhilharMagic Sign Removal
The old Sunset Showcase/PhilharMagic sign has been taken down from the original entrance on the Hollywood Backlot. It almost looks like it was never there to begin with…which is a good thing! The new entrance and sign on the main route through Hollywood land are a much more logical placement and should help draw more guests (perhaps once a more popular attraction arrives).
Although the show itself still needs a lot of improvement (the animation looks subpar by today’s standards), it does attract more guests than the movie previews which were previously showcased here.
Marvel Hide and Seek Meet and Greets
On the Hollywood Backlot, the Marvel Character Meet and Greets are needing a little TLC.
Captain Marvel’s plane is getting dirty. I hope she takes it through a plane-wash before heading out on her next mission because she’d never be able to see out that window!
While most of the Marvel characters have their Meet and Greet areas in visible spots, Black Panther’s Meet and Greet is almost completely hidden in an unused corner of the land. In order to get to his area, you have to look behind Captain Marvel’s large meet and greet space.
Black Panther’s space is well utilized, the hedges are great at creating a separate space, it’s just hard to find unless you know what you’re looking for.
This and That
Arendelle Aqua
A new character/movie-inspired collection dropped throughout the Disney Parks this week. Arendelle Aqua, the latest on-trend Disney color, offers a large selection of merchandise and foods.
This is an extensive collection. There’s the typical Ear Headband and matching Spirit Jersey, with additional items as well.
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There’s also a variety of t-shirts for adults and children.
I like that this collection also has a few shirts for men. The previous collections have been targeted almost exclusively towards women, so seeing some items designed for men (or unisex) is refreshing. We hope to see more of this in the future!
There are a few pieces of jewelry . . . an Ear Headband pendant and a cuff bracelet.
You can also find a few non-wearables in the collection, like pillows, phone cases and water bottles.
To round off the Arendelle Aqua merchandise collection, there are a few backpacks and purses.
It is a very pretty color, but seems oddly out of place at Halloween time. I wonder if this whole line would be more popular if it were packed away until just after Christmas for the awkward period after the holidays when winter can be so dull. Unlike other collections which flew off shelves, we haven’t seen a lot of people sporting the collection yet.
And no color collection is complete without a handful of treats.
For the most part, the treats are color-correct, but the cotton candy-flavored churro reminded us more of Cookie Monster’s iconic super-saturated blue. The sugar didn’t stick to the churro at all (I feel sorry for the poor Cast Member who was trying to bury the churro in the blue sugar in order for it give it a good coating, only to have it all fall right off) and the burnt-sugar flavoring was very faint.
Carthay Circle Projection Oops?
Earlier this week we heard a report of Carthay Circle projecting the Oogie Boogie Bash projections instead of the bats that are supposed to appear on the tower on non-party nights. We aren’t sure if this was an accident or if it was intentional. Either way, they’re fun to watch!
Esplanade Halloween Banners Corrected
We had previously shared images of Ghost Galaxy banners in the Esplanade, even though that Halloween overlay of Space Mountain did not return this year. Disney has corrected that error and replaced those banners with Millennium Falcon artwork.
Stroller Struggles
Cast members are reporting that beginning October 7th, all strollers boarding the parking trams or Mickey Vans (special access vans) will need to be folded. Guests who can not fold their stroller will have the option of taking the new bridge to Downtown Disney and walk into the parks from there. There are procedures in place to assist disabled guests who can not fold a stroller, but they must use the disabled access ramps at the tram load/unload.
We’re glad to see Disney taking steps to get a handle on the out of control stroller situation. Disney cracked down on wagon-style strollers earlier this year, but many of you indicated that you’d like to see Disney go further. Disneyland is a small park with a lot of guests, the proliferation of ever-larger strollers has made a definite negative impact on the resort. But what is the fine line between the comfort of all guests and the needs of parents and young children? It’s a very delicate situation for Disney to navigate and no matter what they do, they are going to upset those who use (and sometimes abuse) strollers.
Parking Structure/Bridge
Trevor sent us a great video of the new bridge from Pixar Pals to Downtown Disney. Here’s what the new path looks like, as well as a quick rundown of new things in Downtown Disney:
Simba Parking Lot Construction
There’s some new construction at the Simba Parking lot behind the Paradise Pier Hotel. It looks like they are redoing the asphalt. Perhaps they’ll add a tram route like they used to have.
Refurbishment Calendar
Disney is always refurbishing something. This is the most recently updated calendar as of September 23rd:
Currently Under Refurbishment:
- Red Car Trolley: April 1st, 2019-2020
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh September 16th-26th
- Mark Twain River Boat: September 23rd-26th
Upcoming Refurbishments:
- Matterhorn Bobsleds: October 21st-25th and October 28th-November 1st
- it’s a small world Holiday Install: October 21st-November 8th
- Mark Twain River Boat: October 28th-November 1st
- Indiana Jones Adventure: starting November 4th
- Autopia: starting November 4th
Halloween Ticket and Travel offer to Disneyland, and Kids Free in San Diego!
Here are some links that you can use to enjoy our current Halloween Time specials and Kids Free Month for San Diego from Get Away Today:
Is anyone still reading? This was a long one! What caught your eye? Happy to see the french fry rocks going so quickly? Glad to see the Adventureland sign restored to its classic look? Are you a fan of Arendelle Aqua? Have you visited this Halloween season? What were the hits and misses for your family? Concerned about the recent entertainment changes at the resort? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Have a fantastic week everyone!
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