Disneyland Update – Popping In and Bugging Out

We have another huge Disneyland Update for you today, folks. I don’t know how it’s possible, but this year has simultaneously been the longest and the fastest in history. Can someone explain how it’s already the last week of July?! While summer has been on a low boil, plans for fall are already starting to get disrupted. Beloved Halloween events are being canceled and those that haven’t look less likely to happen with every passing day. But there are some things happening in the Disney and theme park universe that you’ll want to know about. Let’s take a look. 

And be sure to read all the way through to the bottom for a special reader photo section remembering A Bug’s Land at Disney California Adventure. . . 

Downtown Disney Updates

This is an unfortunate time to be opening a new shop, but that’s just what happened this week in Downtown Disney as the California Sole shoe store opened to very sparse crowds. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t people shopping elsewhere in the outdoor mall. Tortilla Jo’s and Ballast Point have reopened and reservations filled up quickly. Plus, there’s news of Disneyland closing a loophole on face masks and how they must be worn. 

Downtown Disney Face Mask Policy Updated

Disney already required guests 2 years of age and older to wear a mask. However, there wasn’t a lot of guidance on what types of masks were permitted. Disneyland has now updated those rules to specifically rule out neck gaiters and open-chin masks (such as triangle bandanas). In addition, guests will no longer be allowed to walk around while eating and drinking. Instead, guests must be stationary while eating and drinking and keep a safe physical distance from other visitors:

We are glad to see additional clarity in the rules. The remaining issue is a general lack of comfortable places for guests to pull aside to consume their snacks and beverages in some parts of Downtown Disney. There is ample seating on the west side of Downtown Disney (near the old AMC Theater complex). . . 

However, guests of Wetzel’s Pretzels and Salt & Straw will find very little available seating in the east end of the shopping district. And the few available spots under the planters fill up quickly. 

Perhaps Disneyland can make the Grand Californian courtyard available for seating.  

The Grand Cal courtyard should be sufficient additional seating capacity since Black Tap’s quick-serve window is using the Splitsville patio for seating.

And the larger Starbucks on the east side has the advantage of a comfy outdoor patio of its own.

New Shoe Store Opens – California Sole

We visited Downtown Disney last week and saw that the old Sanuk store has transformed into California Sole, a new shoe store that sells a broader range of footwear.  Sanuk’s are still available along with several other brands. You’ll find lots of theme park appropriate shoes here, including many that are ultra-lightweight and breathable. But you won’t find any Disney-themed shoes here at this time. It’s really just a small shoe store not unlike what you’d find in a local mall.  

Downtown Disney Restaurant Reopenings

Two table service restaurants have reopened, Ballast Point and Tortilla Jo’s. Since indoor dining is not currently permitted, there is limited outdoor seating and carryout only. Reservations are currently required for both restaurants. But it might still be worth asking about availability anyway if you happen to be in the area at a time that isn’t busy.  

New Signs Everywhere

As the days go by since the July 9th reopening of Downtown Disney, all sorts of enhancements and additions have been made to signage and procedures. 

Distancing markers have been pasted on garden benches and round signs added to gardens. Hard to miss these: 

And markers have even been placed on walls that folks might be tempted to sit on:

Rinse Soap Trapped in Never-Find-Me-Land

We feel terrible for the good folks at Rinse Soap. When their store opened last year, we were shocked that Disney placed them just outside the new security gates for Downtown Disney. That made it all too easy for guests to miss the location entirely. Now their situation is even worse since the entry to their location is located mid-security process. You’d have to let a cast member know you want to head over to Rinse soap after the temperature check, but before being sniffed by the dogs. And if you miss your chance, you have to leave the secured area, make the long walk back to the entrance of the security screening, and try again.

We love the Rinse Soap products, like their good-smelling hand sanitizers. They even have smart-looking masks for sale. Stop by and say hello, they’ll be VERY happy to see an actual guest! 

Jamba Display Removal

This is a small item, but Jamba (formerly Jamba Juice) has removed the interactive light wall inside their newly redesigned store. Interactive features require a lot of cleaning for safety. We suspect it will be reinstalled when times return to normal.  

Salt & Straw Seasonal Menu

We are fulfilling a request here. We were asked if Salt & Straw was doing specialty flavors and it turns out they are. It’s “Berries, Berries, Berries” right now in the store: 

If you want to skip the line, you can mobile order: 

Downtown Disney Crowds

The shopping district remains quite popular, though you are most likely to encounter long lines and parking suspension on the weekends (this past weekend saw numerous closures of the parking lot due to overcrowding).  

These photos were taken mid-week, so this is just an example of what mid-day crowds look like on a normal day. Lines would be much longer on the weekend. World of Disney remains the most popular location. The Disney Dress Shop, Marceline’s Confectionery, the Disney Home Store, and the pin cart also build lines. But most of the other shops are walk-ins throughout the day. 

On both Wednesday and Thursday, the World of Disney line reached all the way out to the Esplanade between Disneyland and California Adventure.  

To find the end of the line, just look for the cast member holding a sign. 

Pin traders haven’t given up on their passion. The Pin kiosk maintains a line from open to close every day. 

The line for the Dress Shop generally maintains a line all day as well.  

Same with the Disney Home store. 

And Marceline’s Confectionary.

If the lines get long enough, the various shops will use a virtual waiting system. Cast Members take your phone number and text you when it’s your time to return.  

Rumors: DVC Tower Approval

Some of the staff of Disney’s Vacation Club have been chatting and it looks like Disneyland may be planning the reopening of just the DVC portion of the Grand Californian. The DVC properties were also the first to open at Walt Disney World, allowing guests to book almost a month before the parks opened.  There are other hotels open in the Anaheim area, so it would be possible. And with Downtown Disney now reopened, there would be places for the guests to dine if the hotel didn’t wish to reopen all of the restaurants and facilities.  

High Above Disneyland

We have just a few new aerial images from Disneyland for you today. While we can see some progress on the hub projects, most of these images are just glamor shots that will make you long for the day we can return.  

The gates are still firmly closed at the Happiest Place on Earth, let’s take to the skies to see more . . .

The park remains empty, of course, but you can see a bit of the scaffold on Snow White’s Adventures and the giant sno-cone that is the King Arthur Carrousel refurbishment. 

Just below the icy slopes of the Matterhorn is the crystal blue water of the Submarine Voyage. Eight of the subs are docked just under the Monorail platform. 

Looking down the center of Tomorrowland toward the Hub, we see one of the saddest sights of all . . . the abandoned track of the Peoplemover. 

On the west side of the park, you see the massive show buildings which make up Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and New Orleans Square shops and restaurants. 

Soon Splash Mountain will join New Orleans as well as it transitions to a Princess and the Frog theme. 

The most visible projects on our journey this week are the two Hub enhancements. The first is the pathway expansion leading to Frontierland. As you can see, workers are on the bridge, the Frontierland sign has been removed (and will be replaced when the project is complete) and trucks are on site.  Benches are all over the place around the Hub and between the Frontierland bridge and Fantasy Faire. While flowers remain planted beneath the Partner’s Statue, the larger gardens of the Hub are empty.  

The east side of the Hub also remains under construction. . . 

They appear to be mostly done here.  Fresh pavers have been placed on the leveled curb area. 

It’s the little things in these images that have us really missing the parks. Did you spot anything we missed? 

Halloween is DOA

Ah, Halloween. . . the candy, costumes, and all sorts of spooky (and not always scary) delights. But as with almost everything else 2020 has touched, this year’s events will be very different, if not canceled outright. Here’s what’s been announced so far…

Disneyland Halloween Canceled

Last year was the launch of the Disneyland Resort’s newest Halloween party, Oogie Boogie Bash. Held at Disney California Adventure and hosted by Disney’s iconic villains (with Oogie Boogie taking top billing), it offered a new twist on a Disney-themed Halloween. But as of this past week, the Oogie Boogie Bash for this year has been called off.

Because there has been no guidance from state officials regarding the reopening of theme parks yet, Disney decided to preemptively cancel Halloween since there’s just no longer enough time to properly prepare, sell tickets, order merchandise, etc. 

In the past, tickets for Disneyland’s Halloween events would go on sale in June or July. But this year, there was no mention of a date for ticket sales. Really, the only thing that Disney announced about Halloween this year was a bunch of new spooky merchandise last month. While we were really looking forward to the imaginative reshaping of DCA for Halloween, it’s really for the best that the event has been called off. I can’t fathom a way that Disney would have been able to successfully do a Halloween party that allows for social distancing. The event primarily serves as a trick-or-treat opportunity, with Cast Members passing out candies in long conga-lines of guests, there’s a special parade and a new World of Color show. All of those activities are hard to manage social distancing and practice the best health procedures in a health crisis. Sure, it’s disappointing, but it’s just one year. We’ll get through this . . . and, hopefully, Disney will use the year to make the events even better.

For more information about Oogie Boogie Bash’s cancellation and to remember what the last year’s event looked like, be sure to check out our article below:

CANCELED: Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween Event at Disneyland Resort

If the parks do open in time for Halloween, we might see some decorations put up in the parks, but it seems very unlikely that there will be time to prepare the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay.

Would you even want it this year? Since the regular version of Haunted Mansion hasn’t been seen since last summer, many would likely rather see the classic return with the park. Let us know your thoughts: 

Walt Disney World Halloween Canceled

Part of the reason we weren’t particularly surprised about the cancellation of Disneyland’s event has to do with Walt Disney World. Last month, WDW dashed the hopes of thousands by announcing their mega-popular Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has been canceled for the year. Mickey’s special-ticketed after-hours event is tremendously attended and runs even longer than Disneyland’s event, August through October! It’s a HUGE deal for WDW to cancel an event that makes them so much money. But the writing was on the wall that Disneyland would likely follow suit.  

You can read more about WDW’s decision to suspend Halloween parties in the article below, along with the announcement of their new hybrid Food and Wine/Flower and Garden festival at Epcot.  

BREAKING NEWS: Walt Disney World’s Halloween Parties Cancelled, Modified Food & Wine Festival

Universal Halloween Canceled

Another heavy-hitter in the haunt industry has also canceled its events for 2020. Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights in both California and Florida are also off the books for this year. While HHN never went on sale for Universal Studios Hollywood for 2020, they were in Orlando which would have marked its 30th anniversary the event.

Haunt events take a lot of time to plan, design and build mazes, hire and train talent, and of course actually run the event. But they are also incredibly lucrative. Universal promises to come back bigger and better next year to win back your business. 

There’s more information about Universal’s decision to cancel its Halloween Horror Nights below.

CANCELED! Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights 2020 is DOA

The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor

Since we’re talking about Halloween event cancellations, there’s more bad news from Dark Harbor. Their events at the Queen Mary in Long Beach and a new event out in Florida have been canceled as well. But they’re looking forward to scaring the “ship” out of you next year!

So…What’s Next?

At the time of publication, there is still no word from Knott’s Berry Farm, Legoland, or SeaWorld regarding their plans for Halloween. It would not be surprising in the least to see any event canceled this year. 

With that said, when we last visited Knott’s Berry Farm last week we noticed that they were already working on their backstage mazes and had many props piled up backstage as well. If anyone can figure out a way to offer a smaller limited-crowd event, it would be Knott’s. But we’re not sure the numbers (or safety) work out for this year.

Maybe it’s the pessimist in me talking, but I’m starting to worry about Christmas as well. Holiday events and parties usually start just days after Halloween, so we’re really just a couple months away from finding out if the next holiday season will be upended as well. If ever there was a reason for everyone to wear their masks and keep their social distance . . . or this could just be the year without a Santa Claus. 

Knott’s Taste of Calico Extension

After all this news of cancellations, we’ve got something a little happier for you. Knott’s Berry Farm has extended its well-received Taste of Calico food and wine festival. Taste of Calico was originally scheduled to have ended yesterday, but last week Knott’s announced additional dates through mid-August. Additionally, the hours of the event have been lengthened: Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm-9pm, and 12pm-8pm on Sundays.

While we were hoping that Knott’s would use timed entry to help with overcrowding, we’ve heard that after the initial rush on opening day the crowd levels have significantly evened out. And, extending the runtime of both the festival and its operating hours helps provide more time for interested guests to try some delicious food and buy specialty artisanal items. Admission remains limited and pre-purchased from Knott’s website in the form of tasting cards.

You can read more about Taste of Calico, and everything else happening around Knott’s Berry Farm in our recent update below:

Knott’s Berry Farm Partially Opens for NEW Festival!

This & That

We have all sorts of odds and ends to fill you in on in the Disney/theme park world. . . 

Popcorn . . . The El Capitan Theater Reopens Its Snack Bar

Many Disney fans are familiar with the iconic El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. It’s owned by The Walt Disney Company and is frequently used to premiere their new films. But since movie theaters across the nation have been closed for months, the El Cap has needed to find a new way to keep the lights on. They’ve found two ways to raise some money during this unprecedented time: 1) sell snacks, and 2) sell marquee space. MiceChat Junior Reporter Lindalee Rose shares more about it in the video below:

While I don’t know if I’d be willing to drive to Hollywood Boulevard just for some theater snacks (that I can get 10 for $10 at Ralphs) and a Mickey-shaped pretzel, it might be neat to see a personalized message in lights. Gotta give it to Disney for thinking outside the box…

Disney Movies Delayed

Speaking of movies and movie theaters, Disney has decided to alter its distribution schedule for many of its upcoming films. Mulan’s theatrical release has been delayed indefinitely, and several of Disney’s upcoming films —including the Avatar sequels and new Star Wars projects— have been delayed by at least one year. To see the list of affected films, take a look at the article below: 

Breaking News: Mulan Delayed Indefinitely, Plus Star Wars and Avatar Setbacks!

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Merch Coming to Target

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was originally planned to be a totally in-universe representation of Star Wars. Items sold inside the land would not be available outside, and Star Wars-branded merchandise sold outside the land would not be available inside Galaxy’s Edge. But starting August 30, Galaxy’s Edge items are on their way to Target. We have info on products and plans for the new merchandise in the article below: 

New Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Merchandise Selling Out at Target

Meet Ken Potrock

In a new Disney Cast Life episode, the new Disneyland Resort President, Ken Potrock, shares a few encouraging words as more Cast Members return to work at Disney Parks around the world.

Speaking of Cast Members, our thoughts are with all the folks still furloughed. This week brings the end of the extra federal unemployment benefits, California’s unemployment has been extended for a total of 26 weeks, but it likely won’t be enough to sustain most of Disney’s employees until the parks reopen. It’s a tough time to be a Disney Cast Member and we know a lot of you are in the same boat.  

FIFTH’s Fresh Air Comedy

How about some live entertainment in a socially distanced and mask-required setting? The FIFTH is a restaurant and lounge across the street from Disneyland on the roof of the Grand Legacy Hotel. We like to go there in the summers to watch Disneyland fireworks and have a drink. With all that stopped for now, the establishment is offering a special Fresh Air Comedy Show on July 29. Comedians Trevor Wallace, Craig Conant, Shapel Lacy, Audrey Stewart, and Erik Griffin will entertain you while The FIFTH offers their full dinner and bar menu. A portion of the profits will go to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a charity that helps children with cancer and families impacted by COVID-19. you can find more information about Fresh Air Comedy HERE. 

And if you’re thinking about a few nights away from home for a quick getaway, our friends at the Anaheim Hotel are offering a special Dive ‘N’ Dine stay-cation package. The package includes watching a Saturday night poolside movie (safely socially distanced of course), $40 food and beverage credit for The Pizza Press, and accommodations for two nights. Learn more about The Anaheim Hotel’s Dive-N-Dine special, HERE.

It’s a Bug’s Life After All – MiceChat Reader Photos

This week, we’re taking a trip back in time to one of DCA’s most charming areas, “a Bug’s Land.” We asked our MiceChat Facebook group to share their favorite memories of the area, and within a few hours, there were over 120+ pictures of all things Bug’s Land. Let’s take a moment to reminisce about the bugs who were exterminated by the Avengers.

Of course, the bugs are giving way to Marvel. This . . . 

Will soon be this . . . 

Let us know which version of the land resonates most with you (Pixar’s Bugs or Marvel’s Avengers)? 

And a huge thanks to all of our readers for sharing photos this week, and to Logan Collins for assembling this section! Bug’s Land had a unique charm to it, and it’s something that we’ll miss, but we are looking forward to the future as well. To see the rest of the MiceChat readers’ photos of Bug’s Land, be sure to join our MiceChat Facebook group.