Disneyland Update: Reservation Riddles, Disney Dilemmas, Cool Construction, and Holiday Hints

This week may have felt like a temporary return to summer with its 90+ degree days, but rest assured, Disneyland is fully immersed in the fall season. Along with the heat, visitors to the resort contended with swelling crowds. Many Magic Key holders are struggling to secure park reservations, leading to increased anxiety as they attempt to plan their Halloween visits before the holiday season rush intensifies. Additionally, we’ve taken some fantastic construction and spy photos for you. There’s plenty to delve into, so let’s dive right in…

The Problem With Reservations

Booking October reservations for Magic Keys has been challenging due to limited availability. Some days may not have any passholder reservations left, but same-day tickets are still up for purchase. Frustrating! (there was JUST a lawsuit over these very issues!)

The reservation system can be tricky to navigate, and making mistakes when modifying a reservation is easy. Although the system has reduced overcrowding, it still has flaws. One of our staff made a mistake when modifying his reservation for the upcoming week. To his dismay, he modified the wrong date and lost his Friday reservation—an irreversible error. His only option was to buy a day ticket. He’s left wondering how he managed to make such a mistake. If Disney could modify the reservation format from a list to a calendar, or allow toggling between the two, it would be far more user-friendly. Also, rectifying an error should be simpler instead of having to wait on hold for hours, only to be told the only remedy is purchasing a day ticket.

The attached screenshots showcase the calendars for October Disneyland reservation availability for day tickets and the top-tier Magic Key. Notably, day tickets have broader availability this month, while the Inspire Key is mostly booked on weekends for the entire month.

Reservations have sparked controversy among Disney fans since their inception in Disney Parks globally. With Walt Disney World recently easing reservation restrictions, we’re keen to see if Disneyland might follow suit. Get the full scoop on ticketing changes (including a sale on kids’ tickets!) in the article linked below.

https://www.micechat.com/369573-disneyland-and-wdw-updates-reservations-genie-ticket-deals-more/

We’re eager to hear your perspectives. While reservations prevent parks from reaching the horrible gridlock conditions of the past, the booking process can be horrible for locals who don’t want to plan weeks and months in advance. Furthermore, we find it questionable that Disney accepts upfront payment for your Magic Key, yet can deny entry even if day tickets remain available. If the park isn’t at capacity, why shouldn’t a Magic Key holder gain access?

Disneyland Walkthrough

Before we get too much further into today’s Disneyland Update, let’s give you a chance to hear the news directly from the big man, Dusty Sage, himself. Every Friday at 5pm, Dusty shares the latest news from the Disneyland Resort with live walkthrough around the Disneyland Resort. This week, he had a special guest: Disney Legend Bob Gurr! Bob joined him for the first part of the live show. In case you missed it, you can watch it here. It’s definitely worth watching!

 

Before going live, Dusty and Bob rode Haunted Mansion Holiday. During the tour, the attraction stopped, and Bob had a priceless reaction. Check it out below!

You can check out Dusty’s live stream on the MiceChat Facebook and YouTube pages at 5pm Pacific every Friday!

Speaking of Dusty, he’s doing some BIG events in the next few weeks, be sure to take a look: 

• Garner Holt Foundation Grim Grinning Gala (INFO)
• The Weird World of Rolly Crump (Selling out fast)
• Tours of Walt Disney’s historic Hollywood Hills estate (history tours by day and candlelight ghost tours at night. (Tickets are sold by HauntedOC HERE)

Disneyland Operational Changes

The Disneyland Resort is making some operational changes as well as launching a great ticket deal for families. Let’s take a look at some of the important changes that you’ll want to take note of.

180-Day Disneyland Reservation Window

Starting later this month, you will now be able to book reservations further in advance. You can now view the reservation calendar and secure your theme park slots for dates up to 180 days in advance (previously 120 days). This change is designed to make it easier for you to plan your vacations with more certainty, without the worry of booking hotels and flights without knowing if you’ll be able to access the parks. Of course, it could also mean that important dates book up even sooner. 

Genie+ New Attraction Additions

The Genie+ service at Disneyland is undergoing an expansion. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which was previously available only as an Individual Lightning Lane with an additional charge, will soon be included in the Genie+ lineup.

Additionally, Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, which typically has short wait times and does not require Lightning Lane, will also be added to the Genie+ service.

PhotoPass Lenses

Disneyland is extending the duration for using PhotoPass Lenses purchased with Genie+. Now, purchasers can use the lenses for up to 45 days, even after their Disneyland trip is over.

Magic Key Extras Unlocked

Coming soon: “Magic Key Extras Unlocked” – a new feature designed to make it easier to find all the perks of Magic Key ownership. That’s a lot of marketing for features you already get. 

Disneyland Resort: Kids Tickets As-Low-As $50

Starting October 24, 2023, you can save a lot of money on tickets for children. Disneyland is introducing tickets for children aged 3-9, which start at only $50 per day. These tickets are available for 1, 2, or 3-Day Park adventures from January 8, 2024, until March 10, 2024.

For the full details on these changes, check out the link below.

https://www.micechat.com/369573-disneyland-and-wdw-updates-reservations-genie-ticket-deals-more/

If you’re interested in booking the new kids tickets or discounted adult tickets, you can do so through our travel partners at Get Away Today. When you book your travel through our partners, you help support MiceChat AND get a great deal for yourself: Book theme park tickets, hotels, packages and cruises HERE

The Ghostly Materialization of Crowds

It’s an unfortunate fact that from now until the end of the year (Halloween to NYE), the Disneyland Resort is often at its absolute busiest. People (rightfully) love the Halloween and holiday seasons, but you should temper your expectations. Monday through Thursday still seem to be the most crowded days (due to their lower cost), and the weekends have been milder because of higher ticket prices. But this weekend was much busier than we expected, especially considering the high heat. But today is a holiday for most schools and many businesses. It always adds to the crowds when the kids are out of school. 

Here’s a quick look at the crowd conditions from this week.

Midday on Friday wasn’t too bad on Buena Vista Street.

And Disneyland on Friday was hit and miss.  

Pinch points like Adventureland and Fantasyland can really feel jam-packed on a busy day.

The abundance of construction walls in Toontown are somewhat difficult to navigate. The land is still fairly new and popular, which means that having a large section of the land blocked off is quite inconvenient. 

On Friday afternoon, the walkways were becoming more congested the closer we got to the afternoon parades and nighttime fireworks. Walkways around the parade route are always very crowded just after a parade passes. We will have to see how that changes after Magic Happens goes back into hiatus next week. There will be a long pause on parades until the Christmas parade returns in November.

 

Saturday Mid-morning had very reasonable waits, even though the park was fairly busy. 

 

To give an idea of how the crowds change, we shot a time-lapse of the crowds moving on Main Street on Saturday afternoon. This time-lapse was shot over a thirty minute time period.

Hot, Hot, Hot!:

While we didn’t break any heat records this week, it was still a difficult transition going from 70º days back to 90+º days, all within a few days.

So where were the coolest spots in the resort this week? In DCA, the Grizzly River area and Animation Academy won that award with shade and air conditioning. Almost every shady spot along the Grizzly Peak trail was packed with folks trying to avoid the sun. 

Grizzly River Run had a wait time that surpassed an hour, which is not unusual for hot days like we were experiencing. 

Over in the Animation Academy Building, guests were enjoying the break from the heat and harsh sunlight. With the building having several options for refreshing activities, it was the best option in the park for that reprieve from the uncomfortable conditions outside.

In Disneyland, there are some attractions that offer relief from the heat, but they often have long outdoor queues. Popular options include Haunted Mansion Holiday and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Are you planning to visit the parks during this unpredictable weather season? If you happen to go on the hotter days, we’ve gathered some resources that may help you navigate the heat.

MiceShots: Disneyland’s Coolest Spots On A Hot Summer Day

Welcome to Constructionland:

Our regular readers know that there are construction projects all over the Disneyland Resort. Some weeks it feels like no work has been completed, but this week we do see some progress. Let’s review their progress.

Toontown

Toontown had a grand reopening earlier this year, but it seems that its popularity has caused a lot of stress on the land in the form of premature wear and tear and things that just never worked quite right. Some items have been removed from the land while Donald Duck’s splash pad never had the chance to open at all.

Hopefully these walls will be down soon to open the land back up to more breathing room. The large scale of this project is creating a significant bottleneck in the walkways. 

A quick peek over the wall shows us that new brick-colored pavers have been laid all around the fountain. The area is scheduled to reopen on October 29th.

The platform that holds the fountain elements is also starting to be reassembled. 

Space Mountain

Are those rollercoaster tracks being placed on top of Space Mountain!? Nope! That’s just the scaffolding that is required to do maintenance on the outside of the large, irregularly shaped show building. There is a whole lot of painting going on. The high occupancy, crowd absorbing attraction is due to reopen on October 25th

Adventureland Treehouse

The Adventureland Treehouse is getting closer and closer to becoming Adventureland’s freshest attraction, and we got a small view of the functioning water feature that will be such a large part of this reimagined walkthrough attraction.

Ladies and gentlemen… the waterwheel and contraption in motion: 

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

The old Chickapin Hill is looking more and more like a flat-topped salt dome as the former Splash Mountain attraction is being reimagined into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Although there aren’t any significant changes to be seen, if you are watching the mountain on a daily basis, you can notice some subtle differences.

The Mark Twain Riverboat

The Mark Twain Riverboat went into drydock for a major refurbishment on Sept. 17th and still doesn’t have a return date.

Schmoozies

The only construction project in DCA to speak of is Schmoozies. The quick-serve drink stand went down for a refurbishment on July 30th with a return date that has since vanished. While we don’t have an answer to the reason behind the missing return date, we hope to see the walls down sooner than later. This is a looooooong refurbishment for such a small venue. 

Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney has undergone some major changes recently and it seems like things are picking up at a quicker pace. Let’s take a look at the progress made over the last week.

In the center of Downtown Disney the new Paseo & Centrico Mexican restaurant and bar are under construction. The new huge shade structure for Centrico appears to be completely framed and painted. The roof will go on next. 

As we look up at the balconies of Paseo, we can see new shade structures going in. 

The west-end expansion (the side nearest the Disneyland Hotel) is progressing quickly as well. Below are some views that we don’t usually get to see. It really gives us a great perspective on how large these buildings really are.

The future site of Din Tai Fung is getting some preliminary roofing done.

But the area between the buildings is still mostly dirt. 

Refurbishment Schedule

Here’s our most recent Disneyland Resort refurbishment list with all the known projects listed in the present and near future.

Currently Under Refurbishment:

• • Tarzan’s Treehouse Transformation: (September 1st, 2021-2023)
  • Splash Mountain – Conversion to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure: (May 31st, 2023-Late 2024)
  • Schmoozies!: (July 30th-TBA)
  • CenTOONial Park: (September 15th-October 29th)
  • Mark Twain Riverboat: (September 17th-TBA)
  • Space Moutain: (September 18th-October 25th)

Upcoming Refurbishments:

• • it’s a small world – Holiday Install: (October 23rd-November 9th)
  • Goofy’s How-to-Play Yard: (October 30th-November 9th)
  • Redwood Creek Challenge Trail – Holiday Change Over: (November 1st-9th)

This and That

We’ve still got a little bit of ground to cover on this week’s Disneyland Update. Enjoy these smaller stories from around the Disneyland Resort. 

Loki Season 2

On October 5th, Loki Season 2 made it’s long awaited appearance on Disney+. And in true company synergy, a new character has been added to Avengers Campus to promote the new season. Time Variance Authority agent O.B. is meeting Avengers recruits alongside Loki for a limited time.

Check out Scott Renshaw’s review of this long-awaited 2nd season.

Loki Season 2: A Dance with Time, Trickery, and Self-Discovery

Tables On the Bridge

We noticed last week that tables have been added to the bridge that connects Critter Country to New Orleans Square. While we are always happy to see new seating around the resort… the bridge is a major artery in the park, which makes for an awkward spot to dine. Worse, there’s absolutely no shade. 

Holiday Merchandise Starts to Arrive

Merchandise is always ahead of the calendar season, and this week we saw the first shipment of new holiday merchandise at Disneyland. The first holiday items include toy trains, ears, sprit jerseys, bags, and even new Hanukkah items. We will see a lot more as we get closer to the Christmas season, but for now, here is a peek at what we found…

For a detailed look at the holiday merchandise that is currently in the stores, take a look at Natalie’s holiday merchandise guide.

Unwrapping Disneyland’s 2023 Holiday Merchandise

Disneyland Holiday Food Offerings:

Disneyland is teasing some food-related merchandise that will be coming to the resort for this coming holiday season.

Meet the upcoming Nutcracker Mickey popcorn bucket… with a chinstrap under his nose. It sort of looks like an oxygen tube. 

The Christmas Parade reindeer sipper is cute. 

Kermit straw clip.

And a red ornament glow cube. 

One holiday sandwich caught our eye. This is described as a sharable loaded torta. It will be part of the Viva Navidad celebration. 

Tiana’s Palace – Queue News

Tiana’s Palace is brand new and everything from the theming to the food is wonderful, but over this past week there was something noticeably missing… and that was the long line to get in that we’ve seen since the establishment opened. While the line was missing, there was still a three to four-hour wait time for mobile order pick up. Thursday mid-lunch rush, the line was barely out the door of the quick-serve restaurant.

On Friday evening, at about 5:00, we were able to walk in and the place was empty. 

Have you had a chance to visit Tiana’s Palace? Do you like the food? Too spicy or just right? 

MiceShots

I’m a bit biased as a photographer, but I’m thrilled to show you what I think is the best part of our latest update – the fun photos we took this week. While we spent a lot of time gathering news in the parks, it’s just as important to take a moment and appreciate the detail and beauty around us… 

We love the fall colors in the floral garden at the Disneyland entrance.

On Thursday and Friday of this past week, we noticed that the fountains in the moat were not on. It may have been due to Santa Ana winds (which also brought us the high heat).

 

I was able to watch “The Heartbeat of New Orleans” on Friday evening for the first time. The art in the animation was beautiful. I felt like I could watch the show over and over.  

Watch for yourself, it’s a very short show under 4 minutes in length: 

 

Let’s Hear From You!

While we know that the reservation system is sticking around for now, are there any tweaks you’d like to see made to the system? Would you like to see the return of “Good to go” days during the week that don’t require a reservation, even if weekends and busy periods still require them? If day tickets aren’t sold out by the day before, should Disneyland put them up for grabs for Keyholders? And what do you think of the upcoming operational changes, including the two attractions being added to the Genie+ lineup?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!