The holidays have officially begun at the Disneyland Resort. The lure of twinkling lights, holiday food, parades and fireworks, and the long Veterans Day weekend had guests flocking to the resort in numbers not seen since before the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
In this Disneyland Update, we’ll take a look at the spike in attendance, as well as construction projects, and some interesting and somewhat scary news from around the parks. And tomorrow, we’re going to take in the sights and sounds of the holidays in our second part of the Disneyland Update.
Start up your snoap machines and turn on the Main Street holiday loop, and let’s take a look at the merriest place on earth . . .
Treehouse Troubles
There was a scary incident at the Tarzan Treehouse in Adventureland last night. A guest was able to break one of the slats on the rope bridge. The attraction was emergency closed.
It’s unclear how the guest was able to break the board, but one report from a witness claims a father was trying to show his kids that the bridge wouldn’t break by jumping up and down on it. This is why we can’t have nice things, folks . . .
Shockingly, a MiceChat reader who worked the opening crew of Tarzan’s Treehouse had the following to say about the safety of the attraction:
Here’s a link to more information, including photos and comments from some of our readers who were in the park at the time:
Breaking News – Tarzan’s Treehouse Emergency Closes at Disneyland
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crowds! Crowds! CROWDS!
After a summer of unprecedented low attendance, Disneyland has had an epic start to the holiday season. Parking lots filled to capacity, festival food booths had epic waits, not a spot was left on Main Street for Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks viewing . . . and yet, somehow, it still felt more like the holidays than a mad crush of tourists.
Early morning waits (as seen below) grew from 30 minutes to an hour and well beyond as the day progressed.
Within half an hour of posting the message below, wait times for the Matterhorn topped 90 minutes.
One of our MiceChat readers paid for preferred parking at Mickey and Friends and ended up not being parked there. In fact, by 4:05pm both of Disney’s massive parking structures were full!
No matter where you went, there was always a crowd of people. It did make us miss the amazingly easy conditions during the summer season.
Every stand, booth, eatery and shop had massive lines, even for simple things like popcorn! While some places can manage a crowd quickly and efficiently, others struggle to keep their heads afloat. When having dinner at the Plaza Inn, the whole restaurant was complete chaos with queues going every-which-way. Unfortunately, they weren’t staffed to operate the entire restaurant, causing even longer waits than necessary.
When you can’t see the pavement because of all the people . . . it’s time to go home.
Equivalent Exchange?
Cast Members were given a not-too-difficult choice this week . . . a year of free Disney+ (hooray), but they’d have to give up their front gate sign-in passes (boo). Cast Member discussion groups were overwhelmingly offended by this lopsided attempt to get them to give up their Disneyland admission perk.
Which would you choose?
Snow White Redo?
Disney filed work permits with the City of Anaheim for $445,000 of enhancements to Snow White’s Scary Adventures. Most of those funds will be used to replace sets, install some new support beams, replace projection equipment and rockwork. Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, $445,000 isn’t enough money to replace an attraction in an age when a single animatronic can cost over a million dollars. No date has yet been announced for this refurbishment.
Disneyland Projects
Main Street Opera House
The scrims around the Opera House have come down, revealing a brand new and glossy coat of paint on the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln facade.
Tomorrowland
The last major part of Project Stardust is beginning to wrap up. The curb around the outside of the Hub has now been flattened. For the last few months, we were wondering if they would be able to finish the project by the time the holiday season started. And it turns out they were only able to reopen the center section of the construction project. A few different spots of construction remain.
There are still long stretches of wall, but the center section has been removed and the walls have been pushed significantly back on the northern half of the project. Though, our spy in the sky shows that more walls should come down soon.
The small control box which was previously concealed in the old rocks is still behind a small set of walls.
The center section of the project has been revealed. The old Tomorrowland sign and center rock structure are now wide open space. This was much needed in the massive crowds during the fireworks this past weekend.
There is one outcropping of rocks left on the side of the Astro Orbitor nearest Buzz Lightyear.
On the opposite side, it appears that the walls will come down soon. The new rock-free garden has been planted.
With the central Tomorrowland sign now removed, the signs above the defunct Peoplemover track are the remaining entry portal to the land. Nothing says “Tomorrow” like a long-shuttered, but beloved, attraction.
Emergency Exit
Meanwhile, there are two projects near Space Mountain. The most noticeable is the construction project near the old Starcade. A large emergency staircase is going up to allow a rapid exit for guests queued on the rooftop of the Tomorrowland Theater for Space Mountain.
Consolidated Fastpass
Nearby, the new consolidated Fastpass terminals struggled to keep up with demand on this busy weekend. With just three machines replacing all of the Fastpass machines in Tomorrowland, it’s clear that a bit more capacity is needed on busy days. Perhaps mobile terminals or castmember hand-held machines could be used. Or, here’s a crazy idea: make the digital Maxpass service free and let all guests use it so they can do away with the Fastpass machines entirely.
Autopia Refurb
Parts of the Autopia queue are behind wraps.
Star Wars Land
Some new construction walls have popped up around the Rise of the Resistance queue.
This and That
Candy Cane Schedule
The dates for the widely (and wildly) popular handmade candy canes have been announced and distributed. Usually, people want the bragging rights of saying they got their candy cane from Disneyland, but folks, they come from the same place regardless of what park you buy it from at the Resort. If you really want to wait in line for a wristband, and then wait again when it’s time to purchase your candy, our suggestion is to go on the days they’re available at DCA.
Matterhorn Bobsled Funko
A new giant Funko of a Matterhorn Bobsled (plus Abominable Snowman) was released on Friday. Do you think this is a must-have?
Seasonal Popcorn Buckets
The new seasonal popcorn buckets have made their appearance in the parks, and people have been all over them! There are three different seasonal designs, a Christmas Tree, a Buffalo Check Green Alien, and a classic round bucket, they are definitely some of the hottest items of the season.
Five and Dime FuelRod
Moving beyond the FuelRod controversy from a couple weeks ago, there is a new swap station at the Five and Dime in DCA. Now that FuelRods has backed off their announced plans to charge for swaps, will you continue to use the service?
Avengers Campus
Drywall is going up in Marvel land. Time is ticking to get everything done by next summer, but it looks like they’ve got a good handle on it. Haze from the many local fires made it a bit more difficult to get a good shot this week, but you can still make out the quick progress they are making on this compact new land.
The former Tough to be a Bug building, now Spider-Man:
That’s the Ant-Man themed brewery below:
And here’s the large building opposite the Brewery which will also contain the shop and other services.
Discount Theme Park Tickets and Travel
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More Disney News Not To Miss . . .
During a Disney investor call last week, Bob Iger admitted to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge weakness and theme park attendance issues:
There’s More . . .
Once again we find ourselves with more photos and news than we have room for in one update. Join us again tomorrow for more Disneyland Resort photos.
Did you see anything above that you’d like to provide thoughts or additional information on? If you were a cast member, would you take the front gate sign-ins or the Disney+ access? Do you think Tarzan’s Treehouse will simply be repaired and reopened or will safety concerns sideline this classic attraction? We’ve been bringing you tales of low crowds for so long that 3 full days of absolutely PACKED conditions were like a sign of the pre-Galaxy’s Edge days.
Let’s hear from you. Have a great week everyone. Please use the social sharing buttons below to share this column with your friends and family.
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