Welcome to the last day of September 2019. Recent announcements have caused a stir at the Disneyland Resort as several Disney Park executives from around the globe have been shifted around to different parks or areas of the company. All of this has caused quite a commotion, and that’s on top of the usual hectic news cycle you have come to expect. Today, we bring you the final moments of the Main Street Electrical Parade as it’s about to be unplugged, construction updates, mysterious projects, entertainment shifts, policy changes, price increases and so much more.
Executive Shuffle
In a somewhat surprising announcement on Tuesday, the Disney Company decided to move several Disney Park executives to different parks or areas of the company.
This November, Disneyland will have a new President. Rebecca Campbell was previously President of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Disney’s direct-to-consumer and international segment, and prior to that was President of the ABC Owned Television Station Group and President of ABC Daytime. One thing she doesn’t have is theme park experience. Normally, a Disneyland Resort president will have been groomed at the Disneyland Paris resort or have run one of the theme parks in Florida. Luckily for Rebecca, Disneyland Anaheim has a well-established management team to help teach her the ropes.
Shockingly, Disneyland’s current president, Josh D’Amaro, who only took the position in March of 2018, will be returning to Orlando to become the Walt Disney World Resort’s new President.
The revolving door of Disneyland Presidents continues to spin ever faster, perhaps a reason why it is so hard for the Resort to maintain relations with the city and get important projects such as the canceled hotel and parking structure completed. Disneyland could benefit from a long-term caretaker who is able to create a vision for the resort, evangelize it among the staff and partners, and see it through to fruition.
More about the executive switch-a-roo here:
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Disneyland Resort Updates
Crowds
Now that the Resort has been in Halloween mode for almost a month now, it has shown an increase in attendance. Daytime crowds remain manageable, but by nightfall, the park is in packed-to-uncomfortable condition. That could lessen considerably after this evening. Tonight is, unfortunately, the final showing of the Main Street Electrical Parade, for now at least. The success of the Electrical Parade proved that locals could be motivated to visit the park for a familiar Disney experience.
It’s a lot easier to navigate the park when it looks like this instead of wall to wall people.
We’ll be watching to see if the uptick in attendance continues now that the parade has ended.
Construction
As summer comes to an end and fall activities take over, construction projects continue unabated.
New Adventureland Icon
We’ve been following the reconstruction of the Adventureland sign since the old one was removed to eliminate obstructions in the tight pathway. Last week, a new tiki hut icon was added to the Adventureland sign. Some additional landscaping will be completed and the construction walls will soon come down.
Here’s what it looked like last week:
And here’s how it looked earlier this year before the reconstruction:
Tomorrowland
There are three projects going on in the land that Tomorrow forgot.
Space Mountain Garden/Queue
An interesting project is underway near Space Mountain. It appears that an escalator or speedramp (or just stairs perhaps) may be under construction. The railing from the Tomorrowland Theater rooftop (queue area for Space Mountain) has been removed and at ground level the concrete has been dug up.
Star Tours/Buzz Lightyears Walls
The printed scrims that we’ve been sharing from the Star Tours building have now appeared across the way on the Buzz Lightyear side of the land as well.
Rock Removal
The french fry rocks at the entry of Tomorrowland are rapidly being removed.
All but a few of the rocks are behind walls and already removed.
As we fly above the walls we can see that the rocks are but a memory.
On the side closer to the castle, there is an equipment box that remains to be concealed or removed.
Only the rocks nearest Buzz Lightyear remain.
Speaking of rocks . . .
Matterhorn Emergency Repair
Disneyland’s iconic 60 year old Matterhorn remains at half capacity due to structural issues with the facade.
The portion of the mountain that collapsed remains behind construction scrims.
Entertainment Updates
Main Street Electrical Parade Glows Away Again
Tonight, September 30, is the last time to see the Main Street Electrical Parade until Disney decides to take it out of storage again. Sunday night crowds were huge, so expect the same tonight if you’re planning on viewing the dazzling lights and hearing the iconic electro-syntho-magnetic musical sounds one last time.
Cavalcade Returns
Unfortunately, with the end of the nostalgic Electrical Parade, the underwhelming Mickey and Friends Band-Tastic Cavalcade will begin another short run tomorrow (October 1) and last until the Christmas Fantasy Parade resumes on November 8th. It’s no parade, but better than nothing until real entertainment returns.
Here’s our video from the Cavalcade’s previous run:
Wandering Magician of Frontierland
If you thought you saw magic being performed out and about in Frontierland, you weren’t mistaken. Magic Castle magician, Brian Ochab, is now performing feats of close-up magic for guests who stumble upon him. Look near the Golden Horseshoe and hang out for a bit if you find him. Brian is a well known and award-winning prestidigitator.
Dueling Pianos
Meanwhile, the Golden Horseshoe awaits a pair of piano players, who will play “iconic tunes of the Old West” and take requests from the audience. A casting call notice for improv piano players is scheduled for Oct. 8, so we likely won’t see the finished product in the park until late fall.
Operations Updates
Stroller Policy Changes Coming
It appears that additional stroller rules are about to be rolled out, according to castmembers. Guests with strollers will be asked to fold all strollers prior to loading onto the parking trams or take the new parking lot bridge if they can not fold their strollers. Alternatives are available for disabled guests.
More Price Hikes at Oga’s Cantina
The bar at Galaxy’s Edge is more costly than ever. The already expensive Oga’s Cantina cocktails have gone up a minimum of $1, and $3 to $10 more for beverages in collectible mugs.
DCA
Avengers Campus Construction
Construction continues for Avengers Campus. More steel has been erected and subsequently covered in scrims. By the looks of it, things are happening rapidly.
We saw lots of bumblebees working all over the construction site.
California Adventure Halloween
While Disneyland has the classic Halloween decor, DCA is where the party’s at. For real. Nearly the whole park is decorated (the primary exception being Pixar Pier) and it really feels like Disney has invested in DCA to make it feel right for Oogie Boogie Bash at night and all guests during the day.
I will say though, that I miss seeing the bats flying out of Carthay Circle. I love the projections at night, but the tower needs some spooky pizzaz during the day.
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Although most of the Halloween decorations are pretty obvious, some of them are more subtle, like the purple and gold wrapping on the arches at the entry of Hollywoodland. bat pattern!
Although the park was busy when we visited, Grizzly River Rapids only had a 5-minute wait. Cast members set up a game of toss.
Disneyland Resort Halloween Treats
And Halloween isn’t complete without some sweets! We stopped into Trolley Treats and found all sorts of goodies. It’s almost impossible for me to walk out of the store without buying something. What can I say, I’ve got a sweet tooth…a real wicked one!
Over at Disneyland’s Candy Palace, you can find a similar assortment with a few variations. Namely the Doom Buggy rice crispy treat and the Main Street Electrical Parade line of treats.
Oogie Boogie Bash
The new Halloween party at DCA has proven successful and getting mostly positive reviews (even from us). On party nights, people are lining up for hours before the mix-in time starts.
If you have valid park admission during the day, you don’t have to exit the park to wait in the crazy line at the gate. Instead, you can check-in inside the park. That will save you a LOT of time.
Outside the Parks
Mickey and Friends Construction
Now that the pedestrian bridge has opened, it is something of a double-edged sword. Walking to Downtown Disney from the parking structures has never been easier, especially since there are no stoplights to wait for and no long tram waits. Guests seem to be using the new bridge. We saw several families with young kids sleeping in their strollers on their way back to the car. Much better than having to wake them up to get on a tram.
However, unless you are parked on level 3 or 4 of Pixar Pals, getting to the bridge can be confusing. Plus, once you walk to Downtown Disney, there is frequently a security personnel shortage. It took us nearly 20 minutes to get through a line of 10 people ahead of us. But we’ve been trapped here as long as 40 minutes in the past.
With that said, the benefits of the bridge are that it allows you to see all of Downtown Disney and take your time exiting the resort at night.
The tram drop-off area opened last week, and it functions beautifully. The traffic flow is very logical and efficient.
Construction for the new elevator at Mickey and Friends continues. Although, the surrounding area looks like it will be behind construction walls for a little while.
This area will most likely get a statue of Mickey Mouse to mirror the Pixar ball at the base of Pixar Pals’ escalators. After that is installed, brickwork will complete the area.
This and That
New Designer Ears
A new set of Designer Disney Ears dropped on Saturday. These ears designed by Heidi Klum, supermodel, entrepreneur and television host, sold for a modest price of $600!!
These ears are by far the most ornate of the Designer Ears yet, made with a metal frame and over 150 Swarovski crystals. They were extremely limited in quantity with less than 500 made and limited to one per guest; they have since sold out.
[Update 9/30: We are hearing unclear stories about the Ear’s sold-out status. It is possible that they are treating it more like a limited release instead of a limited edition. Meaning that the limited release Ears will continue to be stocked for a limited time, not bound to edition size.]
The next set of Designer Ears are set to come out on October 4, created by Star Wars actress Ashley Eckstein, for Triple Force Friday.
Artist Jerrod Maruyama’s Hipster Mickey Ears will be released on October 18. I’m anticipating a lot of guys wearing this one once this comes out.
New Wrapping on Disneyland Candy
Disneyland-made candy now has new packaging. Gone are the black, shrink-wrapped styrofoam packages (at least from what we could see), and instead are a unified bag design with a clear cutout of Sleeping Beauty Castle and a checkbox for what the contents are.
Hundreds of Plant-Based Menu Items Coming Spring 2020
If you’re vegan, vegetarian, or have dietary restrictions, you’ll be happy to hear that new items are coming next spring. There will be hundreds of new plant-based foods coming to the Disneyland Resort. The new food program is set to launch this week in Disney World and hits the West Coast in the spring.
Tenaya Stone Spa
The Grand Californian is replacing its Spa. The new space is inspired by nature and Californian heritage, and it will be a full-service spa similar to its predecessor, Mandara. Tenaya, meaning “to dream” in some indigenous languages, will open next spring.
All-In, Guns Blazing, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge Promo
This past week, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was front and center throughout Disney’s family of television networks. Star Wars land propaganda was shown on ABC, ABC’s Primetime, Freeform, Disney Channel and Disney Channel Junior, and even ESPN.
Although it took different forms, like Serena Williams celebrating her birthday in Star Wars land, or The Goldbergs visiting Disneyland for their family vacation (they even did a special event screening at the Opera House), it was all intended to drive traffic to make up for a less-than-stellar summer at the Disneyland Resort.
However, the picture that they’re painting isn’t necessarily an accurate one. In the 2-hour promotion last night on Freeform, “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Adventure Awaits,” they showed guests walking around with their lightsabers and droids out (when guests are asked to keep them in boxes and bags in reality). Obviously, there was some TV magic at play, when one of the starts just walked right up to Savi’s Workshop to build a lightsaber. No reservation needed.
We are glad to see the land getting some quality promotion, but it would be good if they could at least keep it accurate so guests aren’t disappointed when they are asked to holster their brand new $200 lightsaber.
Did any of the Galaxy’s Edge promo catch your eye?
Halloween Ticket and Travel offer to Disneyland, and Kids Free in San Diego!
MiceChat and Get Away Today bring you the best theme park travel deals. 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:
Gumball Rally 2020
The 2020 Gumball Rally will be rolling your way in February. Time to get your teams together and register. The trophy is done and looks amazing (it celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Matterhorn, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage).
Here’s all the information you need to learn more about our competition to see who can ride the most attractions at Disneyland in a single day:
Well my friends, that brings us to the end of another insanely long Disneyland Resort update. Do you have thoughts on the executive shake-up? Are you happy with the new Adventureland sign. What would you like to see happen with all that newly freed up space at the front of Tomorrowland? Did you catch any of the Galaxy’s Edge promo? Was it a bit of a cheat that they portray the land as allowing you to use your lightsaber and droid? And how do you think the unplugging of the Electrical Parade will impact attendance through October?
Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to hearing from you below! Have a great week, and check back with us a little later today as we say farewell to Illuminations at Epcot.