We have a springtime treat for you today, exciting aerial photos of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure! With the reopening of theme park operations just a few weeks away, there’s a lot of activity. We’ll show you what’s being done to get the resort ready for you… including some fun ride testing video!
Before we get those amazing aerial photos, let’s explore some of the recent Disneyland news:
Yellow Alert
Don’t worry, that’s a good thing! Mayors in Orange County (where Disneyland is located) met with the OC Health Authority late last week and heard some very encouraging news. Even though the county just moved to the Orange Tier last week, they are already preparing for the even less restrictive Yellow Tier. It seems that each time the state reaches a major vaccination milestone, tiers are adjusted and counties that have qualified can move without waiting. As a result, Orange County could move to the Yellow tier as soon as later this week or next.
Irvine’s Mayor, Farrah Khan, explains the process:
What Yellow Tier means for Disneyland is more guests and greater capacity.
But, while Yellow means up to 35% guest capacity, it doesn’t increase ride or indoor shopping capacity. And that likely means longer waits. Because Disneyland is already locked into a rehiring and training process for 25% capacity operation at the moment, it’s very likely that they will continue down that path and then start a 2nd round of hiring and staffing once reopening lessons have been learned and they are ready to expand guest capacity.
Here’s what happens in each tier for theme parks (note that as the state reaches new milestones, some of these restrictions could be lifted or loosened):
Outside of the theme parks in Downtown Disney, retail would remain at unlimited capacity (as long as social distancing can be maintained) and restaurants could be at 50% of total capacity.
We can hear the questions from those of you out of state. . . with Disneyland restricted to sell tickets only to residents of California, when will you get to visit?! Our advice is not to worry. Let Disneyland and California locals work out the kinks. If conditions continue to improve, we believe that travel restrictions will be removed. There’s a lot of hope right now that operations at the resort will be much closer to normal by mid to late summer.
Growing Pains
Getting cast members back to work in the parks is proving to be harder than anticipated. Guests at A Touch of Disney have experienced longer than expected lines for food and slow service at many establishments. Part of that problem is that Disney has had trouble filling shifts. When they called cast members back to work, they didn’t anticipate a large need to cover sick (and other) call outs. As a result, there has been a lot of extra stress and pressure on those who do show up for work . . . which makes them more likely to get stressed and call out themselves – a vicious cycle. Cast members have been quite vocal about the problems with their unions and there is lots of finger-pointing and blame going around.
On Disney’s side, they have had trouble getting cast to agree to come back. The current process (for most union positions) calls for those with the most seniority to be offered a position first (though not necessarily at their previous location). Cast can say no. However, once Disney reaches the bottom of the current callback list, they start back at the top and the cast member can’t say no a 2nd time without an approved reason. If they say no again, they are separated from the company in most circumstances. Then the company moves on to the next tier down on the seniority list and starts the process all over again.
Unfortunately, what’s been happening is that some folks are saying yes to returning but then either don’t show up or change their mind just a day or two before their return, which doesn’t give Disney enough time to replace them.
Staffing for reopening of the theme parks is sure to be problematic and even once all positions are filled, park operations may run into the same issues that A Touch Of Disney has suffered with last-minute shift call-outs and not enough (or any) replacements.
Here’s how Disneyland’s food service union explains the difficult situation:
Hang on for a bumpy ride folks!
Boozy Bayou
Disneyland’s ever-popular Blue Bayou restaurant, located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, will be getting a menu makeover when it reopens that includes beer, wine, and cocktails.
This isn’t the first place in the park to serve alcoholic beverages, Disneyland’s Club 33 has been serving cocktails since 1967, and in 2019 Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge opened with a Cantina that serves mostly sweet adult beverages. So, this evolution at a pricey table service restaurant isn’t completely unexpected.
But unlike beverage sales and service at California Adventure, guests at Blue Bayou will be very limited in how much they can order and will not be able to take adult beverages out of the restaurant with them.
We’d like your thoughts on where else (if anywhere) you’d like to see alcoholic beverages offered at Disneyland:
DisneylandForward
For those of you who may have been living off-planet for the last two weeks, Disneyland has started the process of gaining approval for a major expansion of the resort. And while “Expansion” may make you think of an increase in land, Disneyland is only seeking approval to redevelop their existing land to accommodate more shopping, restaurants, attractions, and hotels . . . and possibly squeeze a 3rd theme park in there as well.
As the Easter Bunny was busy hopping across Orange County yesterday, he captured some new shots of Disneyland for us. One of the interesting aerials includes most of the existing Resort area, including the current Toy Story Lot, future parking structure, and the west side of the resort where theme park attractions are planned among the existing hotels. We thought we’d overlay some notes on the image for you to give you an idea of what things might look like in a decade or so, and one key piece that we think is missing.
In the image below, you see the west side of the resort at the top. The “Mixed Use Theme Park Expansion” zone includes huge parking lots on the left and right of the yellow box, with the Paradise Pier Hotel and the Disneyland Hotel in the middle. Most of that non-hotel space is being set aside for mixed theme park use (meaning there would be a mix of theme park, hotel, and retail/dining in the same area).
The Pixar Pals and Mickey and Friends parking structures are just to the right of the yellow box and aren’t expected to be part of the expansion. But Disney could surprise us with a repurpose of the cast member surface lot just to the right (north) of the Mickey and Friends structure . . . which would be just the right size for a Star Wars Hotel and is located across the street from Galaxy’s Edge.
Looking just above, you see the square “Mixed Use Expansion” on the lower left of this image. This is the Toy Story Parking Lot, which has always been intended for theme park expansion. However, in the current plan, it’s much more likely to be a modern entertainment, restaurant, and shopping zone designed to appeal to Convention Center visitors and Disneyland Resort guests alike. The new resort parking lot is in purple in the lower middle of the image above. The purple extension at the top of the box is the proposed pedestrian bridge over Harbor Blvd.
But it’s that large red box at the bottom that we’d really like to point out today. That’s the perpetually financially challenged GardenWalk mall. It’s not owned by Disney but sits smack dab between the Toy Story lot and the Disneyland Resort (and new parking). While it is not part of the DisneyForward plan, we sure would like to see that change. With GardenWalk, Disney would be able to connect all the pieces of its property without guests having to physically leave the Resort. Without this property, guests will likely have to board buses to get to the theme parks from the new entertainment zone on Harbor.
Here’s our previous coverage on the expansion plans, including maps and information we learned on a call with Disneyland representatives and Imagineers:
BREAKING NEWS – Disneyland Resort Future Expansion & Possible 3rd Park
Now, on to some really fun new aerial photos of the Disneyland Resort…
Up Up and Away Disneyland Update
You’re going to really like these photos folks. We’ve got to thank the Easter Bunny for hopping by and sharing these aerial photos of Disneyland with us. We’ve shared a few sets of these photos since the parks shut down in March of 2020, but you’ll notice old projects have wrapped up and some new ones are in progress. You’ll see workers everywhere . . .on the Matterhorn, in trucks, on boats, it’s very encouraging and exciting.
From the front of the park, you can only catch a tiny glimpse of Main Street.
The Emporium windows all have their curtains drawn, perhaps to protect the animated displays from sunlight . . . or perhaps because the displays have been removed.
Even a closed Disneyland draws crowds to take photos at the closed gate.
But to really see the park, we’ll have to take to the sky. Let’s swoop in from the east side of the resort this time. From a distance, you wouldn’t know that there haven’t been guests here in nearly 13 months.
As we zoom in, you start to notice all those empty pathways.
The waterfalls are off at the Matterhorn. It’s hard to see from this distance, but there’s a worker in an orange vest under the center waterfall, and another in a yellow vest in the far left of the mountain on a rock outcropping.
One area that had a lot of work done during the closure was the central hub. Two pathway projects were completed, a Frontierland bridge expansion and a Matterhorn Way curb leveling. Note the truck parked at the entry to Adventureland and the pink blossoms on the trees in the hub. Gardens around the hub have yet to be planted.
As custodial workers have been called back, they report that the park was quite dirty, as you might suspect. Nearly everything needs a deep cleaning. And the ducks that call all the park’s waterways home were a major culprit in leaving their . . . um . . . mark . . . over many surfaces.
Below we see the Mark Twain docked in Frontierland, a barge with an umbrella is likely servicing Fantastic equipment at the top end of the Fantastic stage.
Shadows unfortunately block a good view of the Haunted Mansion.
But we can still see that scaffolds are down, and pet tombstones have returned to their rightful place.
Nearby is a drained Splash Mountain. We do wonder if this one will reopen. Way back in June we told you about plans for Splash to be rethemed to Disney’s Princess and the Frog. At that time, Disney intended for Splash to reopen with the park and close at a later date for the transformation. However, the park remained closed much longer than Disney had anticipated. With the long and difficult to navigate interior queue (several flights of stairs and tight corridors), potential for masks to get wet, and pending changes to the ride, we think the odds may be in favor of this one staying closed so it can be prepared for its retheme. We’ll keep an eye on this one and see if we can figure out if it will have a short reopening before it undergoes the big change.
From this view, we can only see the back side of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, however, plans are in the works to make Rise of the Resistance comply with the state’s no indoor queuing and 15-minute ride limit. We suspect that the preshows will just be left open for walk-through (possibly including the shuttle), and guests will walk straight through the queue to the trackless ride vehicle. The attraction does have a large outdoor queue, which was rarely needed with the virtual queuing in place. And while it would diminish the experience a bit, we think they can make this work. Would you rather be able to ride a lite-version of Rise of the Resistance or leave it closed until indoor queuing returns?
What we are less certain about is Millennium Falcon. There’s so much to touch in this attraction. It’s all about pushing buttons, flipping levers, pulling switches . . . plus, the enclosed pods would mean a very low guest capacity. We’ll see if they can figure this one out to satisfaction of inspectors.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is fully enclosed and all the HVAC has been installed on the roof. And while it might look about ready to go from the outside, this attraction isn’t scheduled to open to guests until 2023!
Small World Mall looks so empty. It’s such an open space that without guests it feels particularly otherworldly. But you’ll see signs of activity even here. A white truck is parked outside the toy shop. The backstage gate is left open. And at the top center, just behind Dumbo, you can see that Storybook Land has been drained.
When we last visited Disneyland in March of last year, Snow White and the Carrousel had been scaffolded and hidden from view. The Snow White project wrapped up a while ago and will reopen with the park as a transformed attraction. The scary ending and many of the darker scenes have been reimagined. Even the name of the attraction has dropped the “Scary Adventures” for an “Enchanted Wish.” The previously dark bricks on the exterior of the attraction are now in warmer tones. And in the center of the area is the robin egg blue canopy of King Arthur Carrousel. The construction scrim has finally been removed and the horses appear to have returned to their mounts.
And if we zoom in a bit farther than the resolution holds out, you should be able to make out that scaffolds have been set up in the Storybook Land canal, approximately where the rose arches are.
Here’s a shot to make you wish you were here. The natural beauty of Big Thunder Mountain beckons. Two workers chat on Big Thunder Trail. Adventure awaits just around the river bend… if you can score a ticket.
Speaking of tickets, it’s getting close to time for Disneyland to at least tell guests when tickets will go on sale and how reservations will work for those who had already purchased tickets before the shutdown. If folks are going to plan visits and hotel stays, they’ll need to do that soon.
To be notified when tickets go on sale, be sure to follow our social media (Facebook – Instagram – Twitter) and sign up for the MiceChat Newsletter:
Now, a quick hop over to Disney California Adventure, where we have a few more aerials and some ride testing footage. The completely sold-out “A Touch of Disney” ends on April 19th to prepare the park for reopening.
With most of DCA already open to guests of the event, there’s just one main area everyone is curious about…
What you see below is Avenger’s Campus. If the giant “A” on the pavement doesn’t give it away, the Quinjet on the top of the building to the right of the Guardians of the Galaxy Tower certainly will. Cast members continue to test the new Webslingers attraction. Things are just about ready to go, but Disney has decided not to open the new land with the park on the 30th. That will have to wait until park capacity increases and Disney feels it’s safe to do a major press event.
Cars Land has been open for the Touch of Disney festival. During a visit this past week, we caught some testing.
Here’s a 40-second video of Radiator Springs Racers and Incredicoaster testing:
The photos below were taken on a day the festival was closed. So things look pretty calm. But the Stage 17 shopping switches doors so it can be accessed from the Esplanade on non-festival days. Buena Vista Street remains closed when the Festival isn’t on.
We expect most of California Adventure’s attractions to reopen with the park on April 30th. There is some question about Midway Mania (the blasters and back to back seating may be an issue) and possibly Grizzly River Rapids (due to the potential to soak masks).
See that parking lot in the upper right? Future DCA expansion or 3rd park? What would you like to see?
Downtown Disney Updates
While we’re looking forward to the reopening of Disneyland, we also can’t ignore what’s happening around Downtown Disney. This week there are a few changes to how you enter the shopping and dining district from our preferred Harbor entrance.
As we’ve been advocating for months now, the Harbor-side entrance of Downtown Disney continues to have little-to-no wait on a regular basis.
If you’re planning on visiting Downtown Disney, save yourself time by using the MiceChat rate at the Anaheim Hotel and walking across the street to head into the district.
After making your way through security, there’s a new guided channel to guide general Downtown Disney guests away from the guests attending A Touch of Disney.
During the hour before and after A Touch of Disney opens, you’ll find a long line of guests waiting to get into the festival. If you are headed to the event, make sure you are getting in the right line. If you are headed to Downtown Disney, you’ll either be able to walk right in near La Brea Bakery, or you may be asked to queue up at the tram loading station if there’s a big crowd waiting to get in.
It’s likely that the parking lot trams will not be running with the parks reopen. Disney added a few props, like an Autopia car photo op, to help dress up the walk from the structure. It would be nice if they left these details for guests when the parks reopen. .
The Guest Relations Cast Member that was posted near the queue into Downtown Disney from the Esplanade was showing off his cute Disney nuiMOs characters with cast member costumes! Stich’s homemade Guest Relations costume is too cute!
Once in Downtown Disney, the crowds were pretty light. That said, we visited during the week and avoided most of the huge Easter weekend traffic.
Towards the middle of Downtown Disney is where the bulk of the crowding is. But for the most part, it’s pretty manageable. Since the county is in the Orange Tier, the shops are allowed to operate at 100% capacity (as long as social distancing and other safety requirements are still met), so there are very minimal waits to enter for shopping. The sole exception to that remains Marceline’s because of its small size.
If you haven’t visited the Star Wars Trading Post yet because of the 4+ hour waits in the opening month, now’s your opportunity. Waits are now consistently 15 minutes or less, especially during the week.
I find it ironic that Disney was able to design, print and hang custom banners for the limited time Touch of Disney event but not produce any actual merchandise for it. A shame that we can’t have that wonderful Mickey color-burst logo on something to take home.
Although Easter may have come and gone, the Disney Eggstravaganza is here to stay for a few more weeks. You can keep an eye out for Disney character themed eggs around Downtown Disney until the 18th of this month. You can purchase a map from participating locations for a redeemable prize of a collectible Easter egg of your own.
At World of Disney, you could walk right into the store. It appears the days of waiting in an hours-long virtual queue are behind us, fingers crossed.
There’s plenty of new merchandise around World of Disney just in time for spring.
To see the latest in Disneyland merch, take a look at Natalie’s great Disneyland Merchandise Updates below:
Disneyland Merchandise Update – Fun Spring Mugs, Bags, and Baby
While we were shooting our Update, we captured a very special moment for a pair of Disney fans: a proposal!
Our congratulations to the happy couple!
It’s Easter – MiceChat Reader Photos
Before you head to your local grocery store for half-off Easter candy, we wanted to remember some great moments from Easters past at the Happiest Place on Earth. We asked the MiceChat Facebook group to share their Easter-time photos of the Disneyland Resort. Here are a few of the great submissions we got!
There’s nothing quite like seeing the Pink Lapacho trees in full bloom at Disneyland. It certainly sets the mood for a bright, springtime day in the parks.
For many guests, getting a picture with a special Disney character is worth the trip! You’ll find Mickey wearing a special spring outfit, plus if you’re lucky you might even see the Easter Bunny!
It’s the bunny-est time of the year…
Although the rabbit in the Haunted Mansion’s cemetery may be departed, it certainly isn’t forgotten on Easter.
And for a real blast to the past, let’s take a quick trip to Big Thunder Ranch! For you younger folks who don’t remember the Ranch, it became a planet at the edge of the galaxy. The area would be decked out in pastel colors and there’d be plenty of intricately decorated Easter eggs on display.
One of the resort’s ways of celebrating Easter-time is through the Egg-stravaganza scavenger hunt. It’s an entertaining way to spend an afternoon, scouring the parks for Disney character-decorated eggs hidden around the parks. (Available only at Downtown Disney this year, but in both parks as well in previous years)
Thank you to everyone who shared a photo with us this week! We’re eagerly awaiting our return to Disneyland, and every week our readers help fill the void with special photos and memories of the parks. To see more of the photos from this week’s Easter theme, be sure to join the MiceChat Facebook group!
This & That
Disneyland isn’t the only theme park with signs of life. In fact, some are fully open as of this weekend. Let’s take a very quick look at some of the other SoCal theme parks:
Major Reopenings
You may have heard a lot recently about the roller coaster-centric Six Flags Magic Mountain. Well, that’s for good reason: they were the first California theme park to reopen in its entirety: rides, shopping, and food. Although attendance is capped (at 15% on April 1st but going up to 25% today), theme park rides have returned to California.
We were there on April 1st for a Passholder preview, and we covered the surprising highs and some disappointing lows from the park’s reopening. But we are hopeful that they’ll be able to work on some of those issues.
Take a look at the article for our full thoughts on Six Flags’ reopening.
The other theme park with a reopening date coming up is LEGOLAND. Currently, the park is hosting a series of preview days with a limited selection of offerings that started April 1 and lasts through the 12th. Current passholders and ticketholders, plus LEGOLAND Hotel guests will have priority access to reserve access to the park. LEGOLAND will reopen to all guests on April 15th.
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SeaWorld Seven Seas Food Festival
Our contributor, Brian Pinksy, took a trip down to SeaWorld to get a taste of this year’s version of their Seven Seas Food Festival. It’s got a hefty price tag, required purchased admission PLUS a tasting card. On a good day, you’re looking at roughly $120. And while SeaWorld hasn’t announced when their rides will reopen, most shows and exhibits are open to guests. Take a look at the article below to see if this food festival is worth the trip for you.
Universal Studios Hollywood Super Nintendo World Construction
One project that we’ve been keeping an on eye is happening over at Universal Studios Hollywood. Ever since Nintendo World opened in Japan, we’ve been anxious to see it for ourselves at our local Uni Studios in Hollywood. Although the area is still under construction, it’s exciting to have something like this to look forward to. Here are a few shots from our most recent trip to Universal Studios for their Taste of Universal event.
They’ve opened the Lower Lot for Taste of Universal! That allowed us to get a bit of a closeup on one of the hills.
You can read more about the construction and the Taste of Universal event in the article below!
A Taste of Universal Studios Hollywood NOW OPEN with Surprises!
Theme Park Travel Deals
(Discount Theme Park Tickets and Travel Packages)
It’s time to give the family something to look forward to. Our travel partners at Get Away Today are here to help you with that by planning a future theme park vacation. There are all sorts of new theme park tickets and travel deals, including a 2 free days offer at Walt Disney World, hotel discounts, ticket deals to various theme parks, and SOON TICKETS TO DISNEYLAND: More details and to get a quote (HERE)
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Let’s Hear From You
That’s it for today! As Disneyland’s April 30th reopening grows closer, more and more information and news is leaking out. Were you surprised to hear that adult beverages are on the way to Blue Bayou? Did you spot anything interesting in the aerial photos? Excited to see rides testing in the parks. And what should Disney do about their staffing troubles? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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