It should surprise no one that the pace of new things opening at Disneyland is picking up as we head into spring break and the summer season ahead. But there are a few things that took even us by surprise this week. We’ll take a look at the new parade and Food & Wine Festival which both open later this week, the new look of Tomorrowland, and a variety of new things in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge (including an alternate version of Millennium Falcon). Plus, construction, refurbishments and much more!
New This Week @ Disneyland
There are a number of new things this week at the Disneyland Resort:
The NEW Magic Happens Parade Premiers this Friday
Find your favorite spot on the curb and get ready for the twice-daily (3:30 & 6 PM on opening day) new parade at Disneyland. It’s a high-energy extravaganza with all-new floats, new musical score, over the top costumes, and lots of dancing.
Disneyland shows the parade route (as normal) but with 4 pins in the route. We are assuming that some dance breaks may happen in these spots.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new parade:
https://www.micechat.com/245353-new-magic-happens-parade-to-debut-at-disneyland-this-february/
Food & Wine Festival
DCA’s signature festival returns from February 28 through April 21st this year. There are nearly two months of eating and events this time around. However, it appears that there will be one fewer booth at this year’s festival (two previous booths will not return and there is one new one). There were fewer booths at the Festival of Holidays this past year as well. We hope that means the funds were reallocated to additional entertainment and general enhancements. We’ll be there for the opening to check it out and let you know.
When we shot this update, the booths hadn’t all been placed yet, nor received their final signage.
New this year, many establishments in Downtown Disney will also be getting into the act with special festival-inspired items.
Paradise Garden Grill didn’t even bother reopening after Lunar New Year. It’s still listed on the archway leading into the garden area, but not actually open.
For our guide to this year’s Food & Wine Festival, please read the article below:
DCA Food and Wine Festival Opens Today – Here’s What You Need to Know
Rise of the Resistance Not Included in Star Wars After Dark Event
There has been a bit of fan uproar that Rise of the Resistance won’t be open during the Star Wars-themed After Dark event August 27th. Unfortunately, the ride requires about 12 hours of maintenance every night. So, keeping it open just isn’t a possibility right now. But with Star Wars Celebration taking place that same week at the Anaheim Convention Center, we doubt many will try to cancel their tickets.
Speaking of Rise of the Resistance, it continues to block up pathways in Galaxy’s Edge as guests insist on waiting for their return time in front of the attraction rather than returning after their boarding groups are called. The situation becomes worse when the attraction goes down for long periods. It takes a minimum of 9 cast members to block off the area in front of the attraction when it goes down.
Instant Sell-Out – Betsy Johnson Little Mermaid Collection
Those who were looking forward to the new $148 Betsy Johnson Little Mermaid ears had to get up early and get in line at the Disney Dress Shop in Downtown Disney on Friday. The new ears sold out as quick as the cash registers could ring up the guests. But lucky customers were able to meet with the designer.
Some of the jewelry in the line was still available later in the day and also placed on display in the parks.
Disneyland Update
What a surprisingly interesting week at Disneyland! While the remnants of Valentines lingered, there are some new details popping up in Tomorrowland and Galaxy’s Edge.
Crowds
It was a moderately busy week, with crowded spots and long-ish waits. But the weather was lovely (other than a rainy Saturday), and we’ll only see crowding grow as schools head into Spring Break. The crowds begin to pick up in late-February and start to wane in mid-April. We are just entering the busy season.
Main Street USA
The Peter Pan window at the Emporium is blocked out for refurbishment. These windows were installed for Disneyland’s 60th anniversary. We’d love to see some of them swapped out from time to time.
The decorative metal arch at Coke Corner was removed some time ago and has not returned. It was reduced in size during Project Stardust and now seems to be gone altogether. Some white planters have been placed in the spot where the arch was.
The original arch is on the left below and the smaller version that replaced it on the right. It is now gone entirely:
Indiana Jones AP Nights
We told you about special AP nights for Soarin’ over California. Now comes word that there will be AP nights for Indiana Jones as well, on March 4th & 5th. There will be one additional hour of ride time for this one attraction on those two nights, after park closing. A special wristband will be required. Details on how the ride time will work have yet to be announced.
Tomorrowland
New decorative details are beginning to pop up in Tomorrowland. The entry murals have been completed and new gardens that mimic the style of the fountains from the mid-60s have been installed.
The garden which hides the control box for the Astro Orbitor remains behind walls for now but should be addressed soon.
The emergency stairs at Space Mountain are just about done and have been built in a style that matches the rest of the mountain. But for us oldtimers, it just reminds us that there were once speed ramps here to zip you up to the 2nd level of the queue.
The Path of the Jedi has once again been replaced by a movie preview – This time around for Disney/Pixar’s Onward.
There didn’t seem to be anyone waiting to watch the new preview.
Fantasyland
Fantasyland remains a realm of construction scrims. . . .
But what’s up with the urine colored sky on the Snow White scrim?
The King Arthur Carrousel is also wrapped in scrims. It can be seen all the way over by Storybook Land. You can see that the roof for the carrousel was removed, but is just starting to be reinstalled.
We always like seeing attraction history added to construction walls. In this case, for King Arthur Carrousel.
New Orleans Square
Are you missing the Mansion? It has a nebulous “Spring 2020” reopening date. We know that the refurbishment has been extensive, and though most of it is likely to be invisible to guests, it was necessary to keep this 50-year old attraction running smoothly.
There’s some something odd going on with the Mark Twain and Columbia refurbishment schedules. The Twain was down for an extended refurbishment and is now back up and running. During that time, Fantasmic does a “stage finale” which doesn’t require the ship. The Columbia was set to have a refurbishment following the Twain, but due to overruns on the Twain project, the Columbia has to be rescheduled. That’s most likely because Fantasmic doesn’t have a replacement for the Columbia and has to be canceled when the Columbia is down. With spring break upon us, the park wouldn’t want Fantasmic to be down until it’s completely unavoidable.
However, beginning March 8th, both the Columbia and the Mark Twain have no operating times listed on the Disneyland schedule, but Fantasmic does. Unless Disney has an alternative to the Pirate segment that they’ve never used before, something has to give. We’re keeping an eye on this one.
Star Wars Land
We mentioned earlier about the upcoming Star Wars After Dark event, but what else has been happening in the land at the edge of the galaxy? Well, there’s been an update to the Millennium Falcon that’s sure to be popular with regulars but a potential headache for castmembers, as well as a few smaller updates around the land.
What do you do when you build an ultra-themed experience that isolates a whole section of a theme park to such a specific moment in time that you can’t sell current merchandise in it? That’s easy, of course! You just park an outdoor vending cart in the tunnel right before entering the land!
Two of the entrances of Star Wars land have set up ugly outdoor vending carts filled to the brim with Baby Yoda merch. Because Star Wars land is so strictly tied to its story, selling these items within the land would be completely inappropriate for the ultimate-themed Star Wars experience. . . at least as far as Imagineering is concerned.
Even though the merchandising technique is inelegant and obstructive, it shows that Disney recognizes the demand for popular products. Star Wars land is built in a way that wholly keeps Disneyland’s hands tied. Worse, as the Star Wars story evolves, the land will be further and further out of touch with the stories, characters, and merchandise that folks expect to find in a Star Wars land. We do hope that Disneyland is eventually able to get Imagineering to loosen their grip on the land and allow it to tell ANY Star Wars story and be home to any Star Wars character.
“Chewie Mode!” In a recent update to Millennium Falcon, a new game mode was discovered that replaces Hondo with Chewie. Allegedly, this mode was available from the opening of the attraction but it gained explosive recognition over the weekend when Imagineering leaked it.
There is a brief moment in the standard version of Smuggler’s Run where Chewie takes over the controls once you’ve returned to Batuu. But if each member of your ride pod completes the correct steps at the right time, you hear from Chewbacca throughout the ride!
To learn more about Chewie mode and how to unlock it, be sure to read below!
How to Unlock Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run “Chewie Mode”
Around the land, there have been a few small changes. In front of Kylo Ren’s Tie Fighter, there are new boxes that are scannable from the Datapad app.
In the space between Droid Depot and Savi’s Workshop, there was a pair of castmembers stationed with a droid play mat. The mat serves as a maze for new $100 droid owners looking to show off their skills.
DCA
Disneyland isn’t the only park with new things going on. Here’s what’s been happening at DCA.
Avengers Campus Construction
The next big project at the Disneyland Resort is gaining traction . . . and superheroes. Avengers Campus is making strides towards its completion, as well as an interesting step backward.
As we approach the Food & Wine Festival this Friday (with a possible Thursday soft open for the booths), crowds will start pouring in to get a taste of new foods in the pre-summer fest. However, the construction walls for the new land have been extended, pushing them into the parade route.
The construction walls jut out towards the waterfall on the backside of Grizzly Mountain for a short stretch.
The future Spider-Man attraction is much further along than the rest of the new Avengers Campus.
The surface treatments are being applied in some areas.
And removed in others. The former red panels were installed and then removed. We’ll be interested to see what this section of the facade looks like when it’s complete.
The antenna installed near the parade route look not unlike the pipes and antenna on the Guardians of the Galaxy tower.
Looking at the construction site from between Guardians and Luigi’s, there are new wood panels and siding being installed. It’s astounding to think that just a few short weeks ago this was a patch of dirt.
Speaking of Luigi’s, we really like the printed scrim. Even though there’s a new administrative building being constructed just behind the attraction, it doesn’t stick out too badly. It looks like this building is coming together pretty quickly.
This side of the building will look just like the image on the scrim when complete.
The entry to Guardians still has a large set of construction walls, creating a pinch point. The repaving project seems to be taking a long time.
Something that we noticed in the area, when the Awesome Dance Off isn’t happening, is that there was no area music . . . only the ominous sound of electrical humming from the tower. We’re really hoping that Avengers Campus doesn’t take a page from Star Wars land and go with ambient sounds over area music.
Maters Refurbishment
Over at Mater’s, the attraction is still running at half capacity. The turntable closest to the parade route remains behind construction walls. Generally, this attraction has a very short wait, but since it is running at a significantly reduced capacity, waits have doubled.
Hollywood Land
The mural along Hollywood Blvd has been fully covered with blue tarps. The faux Hollywood skyline was looking pretty run down recently. In the meantime, there is a small Hollywood sign on the construction walls in front of the Hyperion Theater.
While we were in the park, part of the scrim was taken down due to wind, revealing the same old mural. We couldn’t tell if there had been any significant work done yet.
We did see a “Filming Today” sign by the construction scrim. While some Avengers Campus commercial filming was done earlier in the week, we didn’t actually see any happening when we were there.
The Captain America meet and greet has been moved closer to Captain Marvel while the mural is behind scrims. Cap’s shield has definitely seen better days and could really benefit from a repaint.
For some reason, there was a Dora Milaje standing out by Captain Marvel’s jet. The Black Panther meet and greet is located off to the far left of this shot, in a weird spot that’s difficult to find (it’s technically backstage).
Monsters Inc FastPass
The recent addition of FastPass to Monsters Inc has already seen a few changes
Both standby and FastPass enter through the same entrance but shortly split after turning the corner.
The attraction has seen a boost in wait times since the addition of FastPass. How do you feel about it?
This and That
On top of all the other things happening at the Disneyland Resort, there are a few smaller details we wanted to share. . .
Mickey Balloon Ear Headband
In the ever-growing collection of Minnie Ear Headbands around the resort, a new one was released this week. It’s two of the red Mickey balloons you can find in the parks, and they light up! It’s a cute concept that I’m surprised they haven’t done sooner.
New Ink & Paint Dress
In the Dress Shop in Downtown Disney, there’s a new outfit from the Ink & Paint collection. The dress seems a bit reserved for a collection that celebrates color, but we like how it colorizes from pencil sketches at the top to inked at the bottom.
To see more of the Ink & Paint collection, be sure to read the article below.
Apparel and Decor Become Art with the NEW Disneyland Ink & Paint Collection
New Tattooine Spirit Jersey
There sure was a lot of new merch this week! Another Star Wars spirit jersey made its way into the parks. The jersey features the Star Wars planet Tatooine, it’s the thematic reflection of the previous Hoth spirit jersey.
The Tatooine one uses a warm color palette while Hoth spirit jersey uses cool tones.
I hope they’ll make spirit jerseys for other Star Wars planets… I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see one for Batuu in the near future. Personally, I’d enjoy seeing options for Endor and Naboo. Any requests?
Small World Touchups Complete
Last week, there were some details on “it’s a small world” getting a light touchup. On our visit this week, any remaining scrims were removed and the clock face is turning once again.
Disney Ticket Deals!
Kids Spring Sale
For a limited time, Get Away Today is offering savings of up to $86 on 3-Day Disneyland Tickets for kids ages 3 – 9. Valid on travel now through May 21, 2020, this deal is good on all 3-Day tickets, including 1-Park per Day, Park Hopper and tickets with Disney MaxPass. Tickets must be used within 13 days of use or on May 21, 2020, whichever comes first. It is the lowest price you’ll see on child tickets this year!
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Southern California Resident Offer
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These tickets can be used any time between now and May 21, 2020. Come for Rise of the Resistance and Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival. Consider adding a discounted hotel stay and enjoy a fun-filled and affordable staycation. Get this deal HERE for a limited time.
- You can save even more with our promo code when you book a 2-night stay with at least two tickets. USE CODE: MICECHAT
(When calling, mention MiceChat so you get your special rates and deals!).
Let’s Hear From You
Do you think having merchandise carts lined up just outside Galaxy’s Edge exposes what’s wrong with the strict theme of the land? Looking forward to trying to get Chewie as your guide on Millennium Falcon? Avengers Campus sounding interesting to you? Let us know in the comments below!
