January is often looked at as Disneyland’s “off-season”, but there is plenty of activity to be found all throughout the resort. With several major construction projects underway and the return of a popular seasonal celebration, the resort feels anything but slow. let’s journey through the land of construction scrims and Lunar New Year celebrations…
Lunar New Year Returns
After missing last year’s celebration due to the extended park closure, Lunar New Year has made a triumphant return! Disney’s California Adventure is home to a variety of food offerings and festive entertainment, all geared towards celebrating the Year of the Tiger.
A corner of the park has been decorated to help celebrate the holiday, with different food and entertainment offerings found in each one. The central hub of activity is along the parade route from approximately The Little Mermaid attraction to Paradise Gardens.
The maps label that area “Festival Corridor.”
While crowds at Disneyland were low, waits for food and characters at the Lunar New year festival were quite long, with popular items running out well before the end of the day.
Between the amount of food and entertainment for Lunar New Year, it’s enough to keep you busy for a few hours. There have been some updates to popular offerings, such as a new float for Mulan’s Lunar New Year Processional, meeting Raya at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, and seeing Tigger as the star of the Year of the Tiger.
Musical groups set the mood in Paradise Gardens.
There’s a Magic Key Holder-exclusive photo op and button giveaway just beneath the Silly Symphony Swings that’s themed to Lunar New Year.
AND, come hungry because food plays a starring role with festival booths and menu take-overs.
The Grand Californian Hotel’s snack cart has a selection of Lunar New Year goodies (and also some Valentine’s Day offerings) that you can enjoy.
For and in-depth guide to Lunar New Year at Disney California Adventure, be sure to read our complete coverage below:
Disney California Adventure Lunar New Year: Raya, Food & Tigger Too!
World of Color Update
After a long hiatus, the beloved nighttime spectacular is inching its way towards returning. Visual progress is minimal, but the fountain table is constantly being raised and lowered as work continues.
There is no doubt preparations are being made to get the show up and running soon. While no exact date has been given, Disney has confirmed that World of Color is scheduled to return to the resort sometime in 2022.
Disneyland Refurbs and Construction Continues
Splash Mountain is closed for refurbishment with no reopening date announced, but don’t expect this one to last too much longer than 6 weeks. Fans of the ride can rest easy, as this closure is not the start of The Princess and the Frog re-theme just yet.
We hope that the current downtime will address lighting and audio-animatronic issues that have been building up in recent weeks. It would be great to see this attraction in tip-top shape one last time before the big re-theme.
Are you looking forward to Splash Mountain’s return?
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Progress continues to be made over in the Tomorrowland Lagoon, as colorful coral pieces are still being installed.
The new decorations look vibrant now, but their colors will be muted once water returns to the lagoon. Seeing the ride without water makes you realize just how expansive and detailed this gigantic set really is.
Sections of the track are being repainted in preparation for reopening sometime in the near future. As for an opening date, we’re just going off of the signs on the constructions walls saying that the subs are “resurfacing this winter.” But with ToonTown set to close in March for a long refresh, it’s likely the park wants to get the subs open prior to that to help add a little extra capacity. So it shouldn’t be too much longer until you see this lagoon refilled.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Welding continues on what will one day be Disneyland’s newest attraction. From the outside it doesn’t look like much progress is being made, but things will get moving quick once the steel framing is complete. For now, the frame of the El CapiToon Theatre is shaping up nicely.
Though, we’ll have a hard time tracking the status of this project come March, as Toontown is scheduled to undergo a lengthy closure for a major redevelopment.
Tarzan’s Tree House
Construction scrims are still up around Tarzan’s Tree House, as the project seems to be never-ending. What began as an unannounced closure in September is still underway, and a reopening time frame is anyone’s best guess.
Low Crowd Levels?
It’s the off-season once again and this past weekend felt like it. Saturday was a very pleasant day in the parks, with most pathways being wide open with plenty of room to move about.
It wasn’t empty, as crowds still gathered for Mickey’s Mix Magic and certain daytime entertainment. But you could still easily get a pretty good spot until shortly before showtime.
An hour standby wait for Rise of the Resistance? Not too shabby for a weekend wait! In fact, the pattern we’ve been noticing of low park crowds but very long standby waits was MUCH different this week than last. We FINALLY saw reasonable wait times return this week! We hope this means that fewer guests are using Genie.
January is historically a time of lowest crowds at the resort, and the current health situation has likely scared off many additional guests as well. But the weather has been BEAUTIFUL, with daytime highs in the low 70s and much cooler evenings (bring a jacket for the nighttime shows).
The plus side to lower crowds is greater Magic Key availability. Most weekdays are now available through April. Getting a weekend reservation is still a bit tricky.
Magic Key Appreciation Month Details
Speaking of Magic Keys… February has been deemed “Magic Key Appreciation Month”, and we now know what what those Key Holders can expect.
Exclusive Magic Key-branded sunglasses and special edition prints will be distributed throughout the parks and special food offerings and merchandise will be available for purchase.
If you are a magic key holder and want to learn more about the February celebration, check out our coverage below:
UPDATED INFO: Disneyland Magic Key Holder Celebration Month Details!
Let us know how that Magic Key is working out for you:
Major Downtown Disney Construction
The West End of Downtown Disney is getting ready for a complete overhaul. Plus there’s some work happening that has us excited about the eventual return of the trams. Let’s take a closer look…
Tram Route
This weekend’s windy weather forced the tarps along the chain link fences to be removed, giving us a great view of the progress being made behind them. Things look to be wrapping up on this repaving project, and with the trams testing almost daily, it won’t be too much longer.
Your long walk from the Parking Structure will hopefully soon be over.
Downtown Disney West-End Construction
A new project is just about to kick off in Downtown Disney. Sugarboo has been closed, and both Starbucks and Earl of Sandwich will close by the end of the month as this section of the shopping district is transformed.
Earl of Sandwich is set to close on the 27th, with Starbucks just a couple of days later on the 29th.
Concept art shows a mid-century vibe and extra green space. A variety of vendors will take residence in the former AMC theater space. It is very likely that Earl of Sandwich will return as well.
Disneyland Hotel Construction
Work continues at the Disneyland Hotel. Foundations and structural elements are being placed for what will become the Disney Vacation Club Tower. No opening window has been announced, but progress is still at the ground level.
This and That
And now for some of the other stories around the Disneyland Resort.
Fantasmic! Revival
Rivers of America is continuing to prepare for the return of Fantasmic!
Like World of Color, Fantasmic! doesn’t have an announced reopening date. The only thing that has been confirmed is that it is scheduled to return sometime in 2022.
But they generally don’t do big refurbishments and then just let an attraction sit closed. So, we should see this one in time for Spring Break.
Construction Walls in Frontierland
Construction walls have been erected around the Shipping Office next to the Mark Twain loading dock. We’re not entirely sure what the project is, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for updates.
Lunar New Year at Plaza Point
Lunar New Year has made its way into the new Plaza Point holiday store on Main Street USA. The themed section is small, but finally allows Disneyland to partake in the holiday (in a very small way). Though, it’s really too bad they don’t decorate one of the side streets for the holiday and and a food cart or two outside the store. It would be such an easy addition.
When Plaza Point was first announced Disney mentioned that while the store would focus on Christmas, but would feature seasonal celebrations throughout the year. It comes as no surprise that Lunar New year is being offered here.
ESPN and The Super Bowl Come to the Disneyland Resort
Attention all football fans! The Super Bowl is coming to the Disneyland Resort to help carry the excitement all the way through till the big game. Network Hosts from ESPN can be found in California adventure starting on Feb. 9th thru Feb. 13, the night of the big game.
Favorite ESPN personalities such as Super Bowl Champions Ryan Clark, Booger McFarland, Tedy Bruschi will be there, as well as Hall of Famer Randy Moss. These hosts and many more can be found at the Paradise Bay viewing area throughout the week. Times for the viewing are:
- Wednesday, Feb. 9, through Friday, Feb. 11, at select times from 12-6 p.m. PT
- Saturday, Feb. 12, at select times from 12-2 p.m. PT, and approximately 6 p.m. PT
- Sunday, Feb. 13 from 8-11 a.m. PT.
If you do not have a park reservation, don’t worry! Downtown Disney will also be offering a fan experience that will feature games and give-aways. This outdoor fan event will take place from Feb. 10th thru the 13th between the hours of 1-7pm.
Discount Theme Park Tickets and Travel
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Two Big MiceChat Events Not-To-Miss.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of MiceAge/MiceChat, we are hosting three big events February 11th through 13th…
(Feb 11th) A Night of Jungle Cruise History and Comedy
All are invited to join us on January 11th at the Anaheim Hotel for a wonderful celebration inspired by Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise. Two D23 Archivists and Historians will present a history of the iconic attraction, followed by stand-up comedy and skits from former Jungle Cruise skippers! And, since it’s our 20th anniversary, there will be little surprises as well, including the giveaway provided by Lost Temple Traders of a special tiki mug designed and signed by the co-director or Raya and the Last Dragon!
Tickets are very limited and selling out fast. Snag a spot today:
(Feb 12th) MiceChat Gumball Rally
Our competition to see who can ride the most attractions at Disneyland in a single day RETURNS! Don’t lose your heads, but this year’s limited-capacity event is nearly sold out. Be sure to gather together a team of 2 to 4 people and grab your spot TODAY. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have at Disneyland…
(Feb 13th) MiceChat 20th Anniversary Disneyland Meetup
And save the date of February 13th for a classic MiceChat Disneyland meet-up.
We’ll meet in the central hub of Disneyland, next to the Walt and Mickey statue, as we have for 20 years! Then we’ll head off to ride the Disneyland Railroad and adventures unknown. We’ll also have special prizes you won’t want to miss.
This year, due to current conditions in the park and the difficultly of finding large group dining, we’ll be starting at noon, but not heading off to lunch. We recommend eating before the noon meet-up. The event is expected to last a little over 2 hours, but many folks will continue hanging out together for the rest of the day. So, whether this is your 100th meet-up or your very first, make a friend and have a magical MiceChat anniversary at the Happiest Place on Earth.
And if you can’t make it to the parks and events above, we’ll have some special surprises coming up for our readers at home as well!!!
Let’s Hear From You
What do you think about this year’s Lunar New Year offerings? Are you pleased to see so much construction and refurbishments taking place around the resort? How do you feel about Magic Key Holder Appreciation Month starting in just a week’s time? Ready to help us celebrate MiceChat’s 20th anniversary? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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