Welcome back to the Disneyland Resort. This week brings us a slew of entertainment cuts and changes, the relocking of Magic Keys, a big shuffle in Downtown Disney, Construction projects and lots more.
AND… Be sure to follow our Instagram today for live coverage from Tiana‘s Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World!
Disney Suspends Magic Key Sales (Again)
Well, it’s happened again. As of June 5th, Disney has suspended the sale of the Magic Keys, Disneyland Resort’s Annual Passholder program. This time around, Magic Keys were available for new purchases for a total of 92 days, the longest run since the program’s rebranding.
While we can speculate about the reasons why Disney has chosen now to close down sales (including reaching capacity, a reason for guests to purchase multi-day tickets, FOMO, etc.); It is very likely they will return by the end of the year.
Those of you who do hold a Magic Key will be able to renew for up to 30 days before its expiration date. That being said, if you plan to renew, we recommend not waiting until the end of that period to be safe because if you let it lapse, you’ll have to wait for Disney to reopen the new purchase sales window again.
For information about the Magic Key program, check out our article:
LOCKED! Disneyland Magic Key Sales Paused: Everything You Need To Know
The Entertainment Shuffle
Following the unionization of Disneyland’s characters and parade performers, several entertainment offerings are suddenly being “re-evaluated” or cut. It’s highly irregular for Disney to shake up entertainment AFTER the summer season has started, but that’s exactly what’s happening.
Club Pixar
First on the chopping block, as we mentioned in last week’s article, is Club Pixar, which has now been stripped of its DJ and dancers.
The offering was dreamed up to have a dance party atmosphere, but it didn’t meet guests’ expectations.
So what is being offered? Well, not much. We see the remnants of stage elements still in place, including the abandoned DJ booth above the Hollywood Backlot Stage and the background screens on the stage. Benches have been placed back in their standard arrangement in front of the stage as guests now sit in the area to get out of the sun.
Across the walkway, The Shorts Stop Drive-In Theater continues to play Pixar short films throughout the day. The seating in front of the screen is completely unshaded and I cannot imagine those seats will be comfortable to sit on as we get into the blistering days of summer. Even though the screen is bright enough to see even at noon, you wouldn’t want to sit here long during the day. Do you see any shade in the image below?
On either side of the Drive-In Theater set-up are several carnival-esque games that only operate from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. These cheap-looking games, which don’t offer any prizes, don’t hold anyone’s attention for long. They certainly aren’t a reason to venture over to this desolate area of the park. Quite frankly, this area just feels sad right now.
And that’s about it. Beyond the Food Booth and other festival-special food offerings at the Hollywood Lounge, I’m not sure there’s a reason to come to Club Pixar anymore.
I feel like Disney did not understand what guest’s expectations were (and we never saw the elements of what historically has made a Disney Dance Party work). Guests were expecting a Mad T Party or ElecTRONica type of experience, but Disney certainly did not reach that level of scale, theming, or entertainment.
Other than the name, there’s no “Club” element left at Club Pixar. Instead of Disney making this a hub of Pixar character interaction and fun, it’s just another empty shell in an area of the park that is already blighted. Sad, sad, sad and not at all what any paying guest should expect from Disney. It’s time for Disneyland President Ken Potrock to take a stroll through this glum ‘entertainment’ offering and demand that his team do better.
Dr. Strange: Mysteries of the Mystic Arts
More sad news. Dr. Strange: Mysteries of the Mystic Arts will end its run on June 30th. The character-based show features feats of magic in the crumbling sanctum on Avengers Campus. Aside from a general lack of shade during daytime performances, this was a rare bit of stagecraft in a park that has largely abandoned real shows (Hyperion, we’re looking at you).
The show debuted with Avengers Campus in 2021 and has been a crowd favorite with standing room only for the majority of shows. Another unfortunate budget cut just in time for the busy summer season.
Dr. Strange will still be meeting guests in Avengers Campus, but we hope his show returns to the sanctum with enhancements in the future as it is one of the few truly entertaining shows in the land.
Anger is Coming
If the previous sections didn’t steam you up then this might: Anger is making his theme park debut as a part of Pixar Fest on June 14th (the same day as the opening of “Inside Out 2” in theaters).
Coming to the Pixar Promenade Clamshell, Anger will be meeting guests alongside two of Riley’s other emotions from the first film, Joy and Sadness. We’re always glad to see more characters… but wouldn’t it have been great to see one of the new emotions from Inside Out 2?
Fantasy Springs Debuts at Tokyo Disney Sea
On June 6th, The Oriental Land Company debuted their newest Tokyo DisneySea expansion, Fantasy Springs. We’re pointing it out for a couple of reasons, first, to remind you of what Imagineering is capable of when accountants or misguided suits don’t get in the way, and second, because much of this was used to help pitch DisneylandForward to the city of Anaheim.
This huge expansion takes up a large area of land that was previously Tokyo Disneyland’s parking lot, and features four attractions, five restaurants, and a brand-new hotel. There is so much to see and do, it’s just…another reason we’re jealous of the Tokyo Disneyland Resort.
The attractions in Tokyo’s newest land are geared at younger families, including a trackless dark ride (Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure), two boat dark rides (Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival and Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey), and a tracked outdoor ride (Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies).
Rockwork surrounding the land helps hide that it actually sits alongside Tokyo Disneyland’s ToonTown.
There is so much to this brand-new land that I cannot cover it all here, but you can check out our article that goes over all the details:
UPDATED! Fantasy Springs At Tokyo DisneySea Will Make You Jealous
WounderGround Reopens
In Downtown Disney, an unexpected surprise occurred as the WonderGround Gallery reopened on Friday in the location previously held by California Sole, which closed several weeks ago even though it was listed on the Disneyland website as a refurbishment.
Inside the new store location, guests will once again find specialty Disney art, but in a much smaller space. The WonderGround Gallery is one of my favorite shops to explore with all the unique pieces of art along its walls. Every trip leaves me wondering if I have more room at home for something to add.
You can still find the artist’s bench in the middle of the store with artists working on hand-drawn art throughout the day.
This continues the ongoing game of “musical chairs” in Downtown Disney following the Disney Dress Shop taking up residence in WonderGround’s previous space several months ago.
All this rearranging is to accommodate Marceline’s Confectionery, which will expand into the space that used to house the Disney Dress Shop.
On the day of our visit, we could hear jackhammering in the old Dress Shop space as crews are getting it ready for Marceline’s to take over. While Marceline’s is closed, a kiosk has been set up outside to service Disney guests’ sweet tooths.
Disney Pride
June brings LGTBQ+ Pride Month, and Disney generally does a good job of celebrating with decorations and merchandise. Later in the month Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite will be held on June 18th and 20th, and a selection of new Pride merchandise is now available in stores.
Outside the World of Disney store, we find a floral Mickey Pride silletas.
At night, the trees behind the display are lit with a rainbow of colors.
Inside World of Disney, we found several Pride merchandise displays, all featuring Rainbows in the design in different ways.
You can check out all the merchandise with our latest Disneyland Merchandise update:
Disney Merch Update: The Duck, Pride, Patriotism, Wonder & Sugar
Construction Around the Resort
Although Disneyland is supposed to have adventure around every corner, lately we seem to be finding a lot of construction walls around every corner as well. So let’s build upon this week’s update with all the construction occurring around the resort.
Light Post-Haste!
Before we break down the construction projects currently underway, we want to look at an issue that seems to be plaguing the entire resort: light poles are missing from both parks and Downtown Disney… most of them covered by trash cans to keep you from tripping.
We have been reporting on this issue for awhile, and Disney is continuing to respond to an incident that occurred several months ago where a pole fell and injured a couple of guests.
Downtown Disney Construction
Let’s take a look at what’s happening in Downtown Disney…
Din Tai Fung
The Din Tai Fung restaurant on the west side of Downtown Disney is approaching its completion at a rapid pace.
The Taiwan-based restaurant Din Tai Fung opens its Downtown Disney location this summer. The brand is best known for its dim sum, especially its Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings), but guests visiting Downtown Disney can look forward to more than just tasty food; the location will also offer exclusive merchandise.
The merchandise is divided into two distinct collections. DTF Essentials includes a hoodie and a shirt in a no-frills style with decorative patches that pay homage to the original location in Taiwan.
The Anaheim Collection includes a shirt, a pullover sweatshirt, and several accessories inspired by Din Tai Fung’s mascot, Bao Bao (that is a steamer lid on his head, in case you are wondering), and his little friend Shao Mai.
The Bao Bao plush purse and plush keychains of Bao Bao and Shao Mai are some of the more creative items offered.
The collectible pins will surely appeal to the many pin-collecting guests who visit the park (note that these are not made by Disney, so you can’t use them for pin trading).
The apparel will be available at the restaurant’s grand opening, and the accessories will follow later this Summer.
Outside the restaurant, we can see crews are working hard on the finishing touches with the exterior pavement. We expect the construction walls surrounding the restaurant to come down very soon.
Parkside Market
Across the plaza from Din Tai Fung, Parkside Market is also being worked on at a rapid pace, it is finally ready to be enclosed.
Security Tents Are Gone
The old security tents that used to face towards the Disneyland Hotel are now completely gone. As of last week, the new Downtown Disney entrance and security checkpoint opened on the other side of Din Tai Fung.
What Happening at Jo’s?
Tortilla Jo’s has now been closed for several months, with no visible work occurring around the building.
Tables and umbrellas have been left around the exterior of the restaurant, but none of the chairs.
The space has been reserved for a new steakhouse and barbecue restaurant concepts. We hope more details will be announced soon.
We did spot a building permit filed recently with the city of Anaheim mentioning that Disney is planning on filling in the fountain across from Tortilla Jo’s, which might be the first work visible for the new restaurants.
A Tale of Two Earls
Earl of Sandwich, a very popular eatery in Downtown Disney, continues to operate in their temporary home on the east end of the shopping district. The spot was abandoned by La Brea Bakery when it closed last year, and was supposed to be taken over by Porto’s Bakery (and would have been under intense remodeling at the moment if the original plans Disney announced for the district had been followed through). While we are unsure about what is happening behind the scenes, on the ground there is a bit of a duel location occurring.
On the west end of the district, a second temporary location trailer was parked several months ago for the restaurant to operate from until Earl could be placed in their final permanent home on the west side of Downtown Disney. However, the trailer is not currently operating for guests… yet. We have seen employees coming and going from the location with all the equipment they would need to operate. So it appears that the trailer will be in use soon.
While this trailer is a bit of an eyesore, we can understand the current situation is not ideal for any of the parties involved. We hope Disney and their tenants can get everything sorted out soon.
You can find out more about all the new additions to Downtown Disney here:
Downtown Disney Transformed: Updates on New Restaurants & Shops!
Disneyland Construction
Main Street Scrims
Walking down Main Street, we can see two sets of buildings continue to receive some exterior refurbishment. The south end of the Emporium and the Palm Reads Parlor’s Porch have scrim and construction walls around these two buildings. All shops remain open during the work.
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln continues to remain closed while the show is currently being refreshed. We are unsure when this attraction will reopen, the lobby is currently open to guests who want to escape the hot summer heat.
Castle Forecourt
At the end of Main Street, in the castle forecourt, several boxes that we reported on last week have been removed.
The work has wrapped what appears to be a groundwork project fixing up the cement squares that make up the park’s central compass rose.
Thank goodness, I almost forgot to Never Eat Soggy Waffles…
New Orleans Square Dustup
Meanwhile, over in New Orleans Square, work continues on getting the new extended queue for the Haunted Mansion completed with extended garden spaces taking up the previous Magnolia Gardens area.
Construction walls continue to adorn the area, while they extend from the New Orleans Square Train Station, around Tiana’s Palace, and all the way down to Hungry Bear in Critter Country.
Currently, in the work site, we can see a giant pile of dirt outside of the Train Station.
Not much visible work has occurred at the New Orleans Square Train Station but we expect the station to be more accommodating to wheelchair guests than previously once all the work is completed.
Turning our attention to the main attraction, The Haunted Mansion. We can start to see the new queue taking shape.
We can also see a giant new tree being planted closer to the train station-side of the work site.
Not much work is visible at the attraction exit at the moment. We know a new gift shop is being built in the space between the Haunted Mansion exit and the edge of the Tiana’s Bayou 2nd lift.
The Critter Country Crush
Moving down the construction walls further, we come across the Critter Country bridge.
This bridge is currently open but will close on July 8th for major construction work to commence on the bridge and around the rest of Critter Country. The walkway will be closed between New Orleans Square and the western entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge with no current date listed, as of now, for expected completion and reopening.
Taking a look at the land from the train bridge, we can see all the walkway pavement in the land beyond the construction walls on the main walkway all the way to the entrance to Tiana’s has been removed.
Turning our attention to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure show building, work continues on this highly scrutinized attraction. We can see fake trees that line the starting area of the attraction taking shape while crews continue to work on roofs and other details around the attraction.
The new shingles on the 2nd lift hill (the mill) are aged and look like they’ve been there forever.
Dusty is on his way to a preview of the Walt Disney World version of the attraction now (just two days ago he was among the first on Disney’s new tropical island of Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point) so we’ll have his thoughts very soon. But there’s not much that isn’t already known about the attraction now that Disney has released a somewhat disappointing video of the entire ride. If you haven’t already, check out all the details about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, watch the video, and let us know your thoughts below:
GUIDE: Everything You Need to Know About Tiana’s Bayou Adventure!
California Adventure Construction
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
While we reported that Redwood Creek Challenge Trail was scheduled to reopen last week, it appears it has fallen off the refurbishment list and we are unsure when it will finish up.
Golden Vine House DVC Sales Office
Work is also wrapping up at the Golden Vine House, previously known as the Blue Sky Cellar, which will be featuring Disney Vacation Club in the space. The construction walls have came down around the building after we took these photos.
Disneyland Resort Refurb Calendar
Currently Under Refurbishment:
- Splash Mountain – Conversion to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure: May 31st, 2023-Late 2024
- The Haunted Mansion: January 22nd-TBA
- Redwood Creek Challenge Trail: March 4th-TBA
- The Coffee House at The Disneyland Hotel April 2024-June 30th
- The Disneyland Story presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln: April 16th-TBA
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: May 1st-TBA
- The Briar Patch – Remodel to Ray’s Berets: May 1st-TBA
- Pooh Corner – Remodel to add Critter Club: May 1st-TBA
Upcoming Refurbishments:
- Fantasyland Theatre Popcorn Stand: June 16th-July 11th
- Davey Crockett’s Explorer Canoes: July 8th-TBA
- Hungry Bear Restaurant: July 8th-TBA
- Critter Country Fruit Cart: July 8th-TBA
This & That
Silhouettes Shop in the Disneyana
A new opportunity has opened at the Disneyana store on Main Street U.S.A. Disneyland has started to offer silhouette portraits as a secondary location, which adds additional capacity for the unique handcrafted souvenir.
Not to worry though, the Silhouette Studio further down Main Street continues to offer the popular service.
Classic Space Mountain Returns
As of Monday last week, the seasonal offering of Hyperspace Mountain ended and the good old regular Space Mountain returned to operating for guests.
Fantasmic Show Tips
With the return of Fantasmic, we wanted to offer several tips and tricks that can help soothe the rigmarole of seeing this Disneyland staple… especially if you are a first-time viewer.
- First off, Fantasmic generally operates with two showtimes at 9 and 10:30pm. Do not arrive early! Park Cast Members will kick out all guests from the viewing sections before they finished with the show set up. This applies to both shows. We recommend arriving for the first show at 8 and the second show at 10pm.
2. We recommend booking a dining package reservation as dining package guests are granted viewing sections closest to the center of the seating area nearest the water and have one of the best views of the show.
NOTE: These guests are required to sit on the ground, so if sitting on hard cement is not the best option we recommend saving your hard-earned dollar and choosing one of the standby sections.
3. We recommend trying for the second show of the night. Most of the time, the second show has many of the up-close Standby viewing sections wide open until show time.
4. If you arrive for the first show, you are welcome to view fireworks from your viewing section. Who doesn’t love two shows for the price of one?
To find out more about the Fantasmic Dinning Packages on budget check out our article below:
New Fantasmic Rancho del Zocalo Dining Package – Be a VIP on a Budget
MiceShots
And now to our favorite section of the update: MiceShots. I recently purchased a new camera and wanted to experiment with various scenarios. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Mike and Sarah also captured some beautiful images this week.
We love Sarah… she’s the Thomas Kincade of Disneyland photography.
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Let’s Hear From You!
That’s it from this week at the Disneyland Resort. I would like to thank Mike Kindrich, Samantha Davis-Friedman, Natalie Kipper, Suzanne Lee, and Sarah Anne for the awesome help getting this update together. What do you think of the entertainment mix-up coming to the resort? Do you think it’s ok for Disneyland to be cutting back on entertainment offerings just as the summer crowds are ramping up? Did you miss out again on Magic Keys? What do you think are some good additional recommendations for Fantamsic? Let us hear all your ideas in the comment section below.
