The first month of 2020 has come and gone, and with it came the grand opening of a new E-ticket attraction, a Lunar New Year festival, and lots and lots of construction scrims. Disney is hard at work freshening up the Disneyland Resort during the off-season, and there are construction projects scattered all throughout the parks. Let’s take a look at what’s new this week in the parks!
The Early Jedi Catches the Boarding Pass
Have you experienced Rise of the Resistance yet? If you haven’t and hope to do so in the coming months, you best set your alarm clocks and prepare for an early morning! By 7:15am on Friday the Disneyland entry lines stretched all the way to the California Adventure gates. Unfortunately, guests were not let into the park until 7:40am. As a result, many guests that showed up later than 7:30am did not make it through the turnstiles in time to get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance.
Within minutes of park opening, boarding passes were all gone and the familiar signs made their way back into the park, “All boarding groups for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance have been distributed for today.” Backup boarding group passes seemed to be available for 10-15 minutes after the 8am release time, but primary boarding groups only lasted mere seconds. This is a pattern that shows no sign of ending anytime soon, and demand for the attraction remains high.
Will the boarding pass system become the new norm whenever Disney opens a new attraction? Sure, Rise of the Resistance is drawing in larger-than-normal crowds, but future attractions may see similar popularity levels.
The virtual queue process is a necessary evil to help control the potential for overwhelming lines for a new attraction, but the system does come at a cost. While those of you reading this site know all about getting to the park early and using the Disneyland App to secure a Boarding Pass, regular tourists unfamiliar with how the system works have essentially no chance.
Unfortunately, it’s the casual guest who has seen the television ads for the new ride and doesn’t know to read MiceChat or the Disney Parks Blog that ends up without a ticket to ride. We are sure the Virtual Queuing system will continue to evolve, we just hope that Disney can come up with ways of making it fairer for the common guest. Do YOU have any ideas for improving the process?
If you are still unfamiliar with how boarding pass system works, check out our complete guide here:
Everything You Need to Know About Getting a Boarding Pass for Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland
Are you happy with how the boarding pass system has worked so far?
Once the initial boarding pass rush had died down for the day, the crowd levels became manageable and the rest of the day at The Happiest Place on Earth was truly fantastic.
DISNEYLAND REFURBISHMENTS
Rise of the Resistance may be what everyone is focused on these days, but what about the rest of the park? With the off-season in effect, there are projects in various states of completion that can be found all around Disneyland. Let’s take a look!
Haunted Mansion
Jack Skellington has ended his extended holiday stay in the Haunted Mansion and the classic attraction is now hidden behind a wall of scrims. Along with the removal of its holiday overlay, the Mansion will receive some touch-ups and behind-the-scenes enhancements. While these changes may not be visible to guests, they will help the attraction continue to run smoothly for years to come.
Legendary Imagineer, Sam McKim’s, paint-over of Ken Anderson’s original sketch for The Haunted Mansion is displayed on the scrim. It’s a wonderful touch and helps keep the massive construction screen from looking so bland.
Piles of wood and materials removed from the attraction have been seen backstage. And, with an attraction this age, it isn’t a surprise that they are also supposedly having to deal with some asbestos abatement in the process.
But it should all look as good as new when it returns. And perhaps we’ll see some upgraded technology as well.
The entrance to the attraction has been adorned with some original concept art and a bit of history about the attraction. Some of these pieces are also on display in the Disney Gallery on Main Street as well.
Snow White’s Scary Adventure
One attraction that will be receiving some very noticeable changes during its refurbishment is Snow White’s Scary Adventure. The changes include enhanced show elements along with a reimagined finale that will help the ride end on a more positive note.
Similar to The Haunted Mansion, Snow White also has themed scrims that surround the entire facade of the attraction.
Snow White’s Scary Adventure does not currently have a re-opening date, but we expect it to reopen sometime before the attraction’s anniversary in July.
NEWS – Snow White’s Adventures to Be Less Scary at Disneyland
Are you looking forward to seeing the changes to this timeless attraction? Or does the promised brighter storyline have you concerned?
King Arthur’s Carrousel
Just steps away from Snow White is another refurbishment project well underway, King Arthur’s Carrousel.
Like the Mansion, some information and concept art has been placed on the construction walls.
Between Snow White and King Arthur’s Carousel, the center of Fantasyland is more scrim than fantasy at the moment.
Tomorrowland Projects Continue to Stretch into the Future
We once again revisit the same two projects that have been ongoing for months now. Has any major progress been made? Let’s find out!
The mural on the left side of the Tomorrowland Entrance has (partially) been unveiled and displays a shiny new surface that can’t be too far from completion. There is a good chance that the scrims were removed because of the windy weather we’ve been having, but progress has certainly been made. How much longer until the scaffolding is completely removed? One can only hope that it is very soon.
The Space Mountain emergency stairwell has become one of the slowest-moving projects in the entire resort and continues to drag on.
We really have no idea how much longer this addition will take, hopefully not too much longer.
Here is a quick list of current and upcoming refurbishments happening around Disneyland:
Current Disneyland Refurbishments:
- Mark Twain Riverboat: January 7th-February 6th
- Snow White’s Scary Adventures: January 7th-Summer 2020
- Haunted Mansion Refurbishment: January 21st-Spring 2020
- King Arthur Carrousel: January 21st-Spring 2020
Upcoming Disneyland Refurbishments:
- Sailing Ship Columbia: February 10th-13th
- Indiana Jones Adventure: TBD
“Magic Happens” Parade Arriving Later This Month!
The debut of the brand new parade, “Magic Happens”, is almost here! Stay up-to-date with the latest information surrounding the parade here:
FIRST LOOK at Disneyland’s New Magic Happens Parade (PHOTOS!)
The parade is scheduled to debut on February 28th and feature floats from both old and new Disney characters. Are you looking forward to the debut of Disneyland’s brand-new parade?
Star Wars: Return of the Sporks!
The infamous Galaxy’s Edge sporks have returned to Black Spire Outpost. The item gained lots of attention shortly after Galaxy’s Edge opened because guests were stealing them, only to sell them online. Disney stopped using the sporks almost right away. The new sporks can be purchased in Docking Bay 7 for the price of $10.99, and include a little cloth carrying bag.
Soarin’ Over California Returns
It appears that Soarin’ Over California will be making its return to California Adventure for the duration of this year’s Food and Wine Festival! The Festival will run from February 28th – April 21st and we bet that Soarin’ will be a popular draw.
Soarin’ Over California Returning to Disney California Adventure
Avenger’s Campus Construction
Progress is moving at light-speed on the latest addition to California Adventure. Work is being conducted at a fever pitch for the Summer 2020 opening of Disney’s newest land. More and more exterior theming elements continue to show up each week.
Towers and exterior decor are being added quickly on the Spider-Man side of the land in particular.
The Avenger’s Headquarters building on the east end of the land is not nearly as far along as other structures. There is still lots of exposed metal framing waiting to be covered up.
It is hard to believe that we are only a few months away from experiencing the new land. Disney released a video this week showing off their new Spider-Man animatronic stunt figure that will be swinging above the land.
You need to check this out. It’s hard to believe they can launch an animatronic like this . . .
High-Flying Spider-Man Stunts Over Disneyland’s Avengers Campus!
Construction continues in front of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout entrance in an effort to update the pavers found around the trolly tracks. The new paver pattern will match the pattern in Avenger’s Campus and will help make Mission Breakout feel like part of the new land.
The new parade rehearsal/office building being built behind Luigi’s Tires has been covered with printed scrims, obscuring whatever progress is being made. For many of the major construction projects, Disney has been utilizing prints on their scrims to keep the areas in-theme and do a great job at hiding an eyesore from guests’ view.
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
Mater is currently running at half-capacity as one turntable is down for refurbishment.
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year merchandise flew off the shelf this year, as the “festival merchandise” booth no longer has any festival merchandise left to sell!
And just in time too. The California Adventure Food & Wine Festival will launch on February 28th.
Grizzly River Run
The water ride will be down from January 21st – February 13th as it receives it’s yearly maintenance.
Carthay Circle Re-opens
Carthay Circle has emerged from a month-long kitchen refurbishment and is once again available to guests.
This and That
Now for some of the smaller news segments around the Disneyland Resort this week.
Faded Paint, Fading Dreams?
While walking around the park, we couldn’t help but notice the faded and chipping paint on the mural in Hollywood Land.
We hope this is on the list of things to be updated before the new Marvel land opens this summer. The longer it is left alone, the worse it will get, so we hope to see this fixed soon.
Jamba About to Return
The Jamba Juice renovation/renaming is nearly complete. The juicery-turned-healthy-eatery has been closed since November. This week, the construction walls have been removed, now showcasing the new facade and sign. There are still black tarps in the windows, so there’s still some work to be finished. Jamba is supposed to reopen sometime in spring 2020.
New Disneyland Merchandise
This week, there was a new merchandise collection that was unveiled: Ink & Paint. It’s a line inspired by classic Disney animations that helps bridge the worlds of art and fashion. Check out an in-depth look at the new park merchandise here:
Apparel and Decor Become Art with the NEW Disneyland Ink & Paint Collection
Disneyland’s Southern California Resident Ticket Deal is Back!
3-Day Disneyland Resort tickets for travel now through May 21, 2020 are available at a $106 savings on each adult ticket and $86 savings on any child (ages 3-9) ticket! It is only valid for residents who live in ZIP codes 90000-93599. Residency will be verified at time of booking and government photo ID is required to use the tickets at the parks.
Here’s the best part . . . we have them cheaper and can be combined with hotel discounts and an additional $10 off using the “micechat” discount code (on 3 night stays) – Shop the SoCal Resident Special HERE
Not a SoCal resident? Our partners at Get Away Today help you save money on Disney theme park tickets and travel packages. For Discounted theme park tickets, hotel, airfare, and travel packages to Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Universal, Knott’s Berry Farm and other family vacation destinations, always start HERE: Get Away Today (When calling, mention MiceChat so you get your special rates and deals!).
Let’s Hear From You
Has the Boarding Pass process worked out well for you? Do you think that a friend or neighbor who doesn’t follow the Disney blogs would know that they needed to arrive at the park before opening just to have a chance of riding Rise of the Resistance? A lot of change came to Disneyland in preparation for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, what updates and enhancements would you like to see at Disney California Adventure as it prepares to open its new Marvel land?
Thanks for reading folks. Please don’t miss our epic Bowers Museum event this Friday and Gumball Rally on Saturday. This is your last chance to register for both:
LAST CALL: MiceChat Anniversary Events – Disney History & Gumballs – Feb 7th, 8th & 9th
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