DISNEYLAND UPDATE: Critter Country Comeback, Halloween Magic & Labor Day Madness

It was a news-packed and park-crowded week at the Disneyland Resort.  And while it might look like fall in the parks, it’s as hot as ever with summer temps (and highs in the 90s to 100s this week, too!) and Labor Day crowds.  We have a ton of news for you today from the reopening of Critter Country to new shops and dining coming to Downtown Disney to Red Car Trolley troubles, a new “Coco” show, and more — we’ve got it all covered in today’s big special holiday update. 

You ready to read to all the news before heading to your Labor Day BBQ? Let’s get started! 

Welcome to Disneyland!

It was a warm and busy Labor Day weekend at Disneyland – but the parks are gorgeous in their orange, black, and purple hues as they celebrate the Halloween season. 

 

Posted attraction wait times were fairly manageable over the weekend, but walkways and crowd flow in the parks told a different story, with the park often feeling noticeably packed.

A look at Disneyland wait times late Saturday afternoon – not terrible for a holiday weekend! 

Even though the wait times weren’t bad, crowds in the park felt heavy.

Switching parks…

A look at California Adventure wait times late Friday afternoon:

 

Critter Country transforms into Bayou Country

Critter Country reopened on Friday after a nearly two-month closure to accommodate some ground re-grading and repaving as well as ongoing construction surrounding Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.  The land’s “Critter Country” name isn’t long for this world — even the spiel on the Mark Twain Riverboat already refers to the land as “Bayou Country.”  The new name will debut alongside the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in mid-November, but could be adopted sooner as the land opens in phases over the next couple of months.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Construction 

The reopening of Critter Country revealed new details at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.  Work on the Salt Dome, the bayou out front, and the themed facades on the front of the mountain are nearing completion.  

New signs on construction walls hint at the ride’s new storyline

 Logs have been cycling regularly and we even heard the ride’s soundtrack playing loudly.  We’re almost there!  

All of the new faux plants, flowers, and trees added to this attraction look great now, but we sure do wonder how quickly it’ll all age. The California sun won’t be kind to all of it — will Disneyland keep up with the costs of replacing the tons of sun-bleached and damaged fake plants on this attraction’s exterior? Splash Mountain handled this issue differently with live plants on the exterior.

Around the corner, new posts are going up along the outdoor queue path.  

These posts will support shade sails to help keep guests in the queue comfortable. 

Our first glimpse at the bright new yellows and greens of Tiana’s Foods.

Heading further back into Critter Country, we got new views of the attraction’s cheerful, bright main entrance facade, lampposts, and overall updated look.  The rustic feeling of Splash Mountain is long gone and in its place is the charming, bustling Tiana’s Foods headquarters. 

Note the new green arched structure — we’re guessing this might be the Lightning Lane scan-in area.

New lampposts.

The transformation from Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Foods is a big difference, indeed!

Lots of new pavement around the attraction entrance.

In some areas you can spot 4-5 types of pavement all running into each other… it doesn’t feel very cohesive.

Tire tracks in the “mud” from Tiana’s Foods delivery truck.

The mountain is covered in faux greenery.

And in some places, you can spot props and set pieces for the outdoor portions of the attraction.

 

Not all areas have been covered in fake plants, though.  Will landscaping control this section or are more fake plants still incoming? 

The exit area of the attraction. 

A portion of track that’s newly-enclosed has been themed well.  This used to be an outdoor section of flume.

Exploring again…

With Critter Country back open, the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes are back in operation.  It’s good to see them back on the river again! 

Cooking up the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree

Coming soon to Critter/Bayou Country, the Hungry Bear Restaurant will reopen as the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree, inspired by Disneyland’s classic Country Bears.

Signage for the re-themed restaurant has been installed and is ready to welcome guests.  Aside from a small Country Bear-themed mural on the back of the patio, there isn’t much visible in the way of the new Country Bear theme.  We’re hopeful more is on the way. 

The path to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has reopened.

This delightful sign has been updated with the restaurant’s new name as well.

Currently the only reference to the Country Bears that’s visible is this mural of Ursus H. Bear, Grr-ill Master.  We really hope more props and theming is on the way! 

We sure do hope that Max, Buff, and Melvin make an appearance at the new Barbecue. 

The churro and lemonade cart located next to the main entrance for the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree is open again as well – and with a twist… Mickey pretzels have been added to the menu.

A visit to the Hundred Acre Bayou…? 

Next door to the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh has returned.  Aside from a new ramp entryway, no noticeable changes could be seen when we went on the attraction over the weekend.  Despite no big changes, the attraction which is normally a walk-on, was posting big wait times.  Chalk it up to being closed for a while, Labor Day holiday crowds, and general Halloween Time crowds. 

New ramp-like entrance.

30 minute wait on Saturday afternoon! 

We have no idea how a trip through the Hundred Acre Woods makes sense for a land that’s being renamed “Bayou Country.”  We can only hope that Disney will finally do something about this lackluster attraction and replace it with something that fits the land’s new theme.

Louis and Ray move in

Elsewhere in Critter Country, some Princess and the Frog stars continue to move into new stores they’ll soon be the proprietors of.   Across from the Hungry Bear, the former Briar Patch hat shop is becoming Ray’s Berets.  The hat, accessory, and toy shop will be themed to Ray, Tiana’s firefly friend from the film.  

Below, concept art of the re-themed shop.

At the back of Critter Country, half of Pooh’s Corner has reopened, even though the entry facade is still getting some work done.  

The Pooh Corner side of the store doesn’t look much different, but it does look like it got a nice cleaning.  

Pooh Corner stops in the plush room now.  Below, the candy room is to the right and the new Louis’ Critter Club area will be to the left.  

Walls block the entrance to Louis’ Critter Club but a sign announces it’s coming soon. 

The left half of Pooh’s Corner is being transformed into Louis’ Critter Club.  Themed as the home-away-from-home of Louis and his critter friends from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the shop will sell apparel, accessories, and home goods inspired by The Princess and the Frog. 

The Winnie the Pooh-themed props on the rooftop have been removed.  

It’s nice to see the Teddi Barra Swingin’ Arcade reference survive. 

The Winnie the Pooh meet-and-greet area near the shops remains in place.  We’re surprised this wasn’t changed out to be a Louis meet-and-greet. 

Transforming Downtown Disney

Work continues on multiple projects throughout Downtown Disney and last week, Disney announced two new stores and details on upcoming dining offerings. 

D-Lander Shop and Avengers Reserve stores coming soon!

Two new shops, the Avengers Reserve (selling Marvel apparel, collectibles, comics and more) and the D-Lander Shop (selling fashion-forward clothing and accessories for Disneyland fans) will go into the new storefronts next to the Downtown Disney LIVE! lawn.  

Meanwhile, the Parkside Market quick service food court that’s connected to these storefronts next to the Downtown Disney LIVE lawn continues to take shape.

Earl of Sandwich’s new permanent home

Next to the new Downtown Disney entrance and security checkpoint, an all-new Earl of Sandwich will be built.  This two-story building will square off this end of Downtown Disney.  It will feature the Earl of Sandwich we all know and love downstairs, with the new Carnaby Tavern upstairs, a table-service restaurant and pub with a theme inspired by the British Invasion. 

The new table-service Carnaby Tavern will be inspired by the 1960s British Invasion and also include an indoor-outdoor patio and bar.

The new two-story Earl of Sandwich will be built where the colorful stretch of construction walls is currently located. To the left is the Parkside Market and new storefronts, and to the right is Downtown Disney LIVE! lawn and Din Tai Fung.  The path leads directly to the security entrance. 

The existing Earl of Sandwich and Tavern in the former La Brea Bakery location will remain open until early 2025.  At that time, they will close so the building can be demolished and the long-delayed new Porto’s Bakery and Cafe can begin construction. 

A look at the current Earl of Sandwich Tavern menu.

We hope Disneyland is planning on better utilizing the space surrounding the existing Earl of Sandwich/La Brea Bakery building. Porto’s will be in high-demand and Disney would be wise to utilize as much of the outdoor patio area or even remove a couple under-utilized ticket booths to make more room. The days of needing that many ticket booths are long gone and with DisneylandForward approved, hopefully we’ll start to see Disneyland move forward with redeveloping the esplanade area with landscaped walkaways and other guest amenities.

Allowing Downtown Disney to move in closer toward the esplanade with Porto’s Bakery might not be a bad idea…

This space can get busy during peak seasons, after fireworks/park closing, or during events but with some creative master planning, it can be better utilized than it is now and still allow for easy crowd flow.

Marceline’s Confectionary transforms into the Wonderful World of Sweets

The popular Marceline’s Confectionary remains closed for remodel and expansion and last week, Disney announced the shop would reopen with a brand new name.  Disney’s Wonderful World of Sweets will open “this winter” and will feature new treats including fresh-made Werther’s Original Caramel popcorn… that’s really the big news for those of you who have fallen for the treat at EPCOT. (Make EPCOT Karamell-Küche Popcorn at Home)

New restaurants by Michelin-starred Chef Joe Isidori 

Also among the announcements for Downtown Disney was new information on the previously-announced steakhouse and barbecue concepts.  These new restaurants will take over the space currently occupied by the vacant Tortilla Jo’s.  

The steakhouse will be a table-service location with a bourbon whiskey-focused bar program.  The barbecue restaurant will be quick service, serving up traditional American BBQ with an outdoor bar serving up beer and moonshine cocktails.  Both restaurants are from Michelin-starred chef Joe Isidori, adding to the growing lineup of Michelin-starred chefs and restaurant chains in the Disney mall.  Disney did not announce a timeline for construction. 

For our continued Downtown Disney evolution coverage, check out the MiceChat article below:

Downtown Disney Transformed: Updates on New Restaurants & Shops!

New Downtown Disney security entrance 

Work continues on the new Downtown Disney entrance for guests of the Disneyland Hotel. It’s a simple tent covering, striped blue and yellow to match the Disneyland Hotel.  

Considering how nice the big mid century-styled entrance to Downtown Disney on the other side of Din Tai Fung turned out, we’re guessing this entrance is a placeholder until Disney decides what to do with the ESPN Zone building next door. 

Reimagined “Coco” show debuts in Disney California Adventure

On Friday, a new reimagined version of the seasonal Coco-themed show at Disney California Adventure debuted.  The “A Musical Celebration of Coco” show, a staple of Disney California Adventure’s Halloween Time offerings, has been reworked into the new “The Storytellers of Plaza de la Familia Celebrate The Musical World of Coco!” — yes, that is the very long, actual title! 

The show is charming and entertaining but no longer features live musicians, only two live singers.  In previous years, the Grammy-award winning Mariachi Divas performed in this show.  This change is likely the result of tightening entertainment budgets that we’re seeing happen across the Resort. 

 

Even without the Divas, the show is still quite fun and a nice offering that highlights the popular Coco film and a fitting piece of seasonal entertainment for Dia de los Muertos. 

 

Inside Plaza de la Familia, the beautiful Arbol de la Vida and Memory Wall are worth visiting every year 

Guests leave memories for family members who have passed. It’s a touching and deeply meaningful display. 

 Holiday Happenings and Christmastime Cutbacks

Speaking of tightening entertainment budgets across the Resort, Disney announced its lineup of holiday offerings last week.  This year’s lineup isn’t much different from the last several years, as Disneyland continues to coast on its solid roster of holiday offerings.  Below, the concept art for new character costumes for this year’s holiday season.

Unfortunately, with entertainment budgets shrinking across the Resort, the popular Viva Navidad street party in Disney California Adventure is being cut down from multiple daily performances to only being offered on “select days.”

The show has a large cast, comprised of local third-party dance and music groups.  We suspect the recent change in Disneyland’s entertainment union contracts are playing a role here.  Limiting the number of shows allows Disney the room to not have to hire third-party contractors as full-time employees with benefits for only the holiday season. 

Meanwhile, a new offering in Disneyland this year will see a Santa Claus meet-and-greet area with activities take over the Fantasyland Theatre.  It’s a bummer they won’t use the theater as a theater but at least there will be something going on back there.  

For more coverage of the holiday news and offerings this year, see our full coverage below:

UPDATED! Time to Plan: Disneyland Resort 2024 Holiday Guide

Red Cars at Risk

The big news that took Disneyland fans by storm early last week was word that the Red Car Trolley would be closing in 2025 to accommodate Avengers Campus expansion construction.  We broke this news in our Disneyland update last week but we’re following up on this news again this week.  

  

We’d like to reiterate from our coverage last week that the news of the Red Car closure was not unexpected.  Due to the location of the two new Avengers Campus attractions being located behind the existing Avengers HQ facade, we expected the Red Cars to be impacted in some way, even if just temporarily during construction.  This is because the Red Car Trolley’s maintenance barn is also located behind the Avengers HQ facade, with the trolley’s backstage gate being cleverly blended into the Avengers HQ facade.   What is becoming clear now, however, is that the Avengers Campus expansion needs the space currently occupied by the Red Car’s maintenance barn. 

When you’re in Avengers Campus, you can spot the trolley tracks disappear into the big Avengers HQ facade at the back of the land. This facade serves as a stage for shows, the home of the Avengers Vault gift shop, and as themed backstage gates for the Red Car Trolley. 

To make matters worse for the Red Cars, Imagineering is in the process of finalizing plans for the new Avatar-themed expansion for Disney California Adventure.  This expansion is most likely going to take over much of the Hollywood Land area of the park, if not all of it.  So, if Avatar does end up taking over the entirety of Hollywood Land, then there too goes half of the Red Car Trolley’s route with it.

So is there hope for the Trolley?  We think there could be.  It’s worth noting that Disney has decline to comment on whether the attraction’s closure in 2025 would be a permanent one.  Instead, Disney has only said more details would be shared at a later date.   We admit that it’s a dangerous path to get your hopes up with these sorts of things. For example, back in 2016, Disney flatly denied there were plans to close the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for a then-rumored Guardians of the Galaxy re-theme up until they finally decided to own up to it.  But we have heard indications that Disney is weighing their options at this point and seeing if it would make sense to relocate the Trolley barn and reroute the attraction path.  

We certainly hope Disney decides to save the Red Cars — while they may not carry a ton of riders and people aren’t lining up every morning at rope drop for them… that’s not the point of the attraction. The Red Cars are part of the theme of Buena Vista Street and Hollywood Land and add kinetic energy and charm.  They breathe a lot of life onto Buena Vista Street and Hollywood Blvd. and serve as the only in-park mode of transportation, compared to Disneyland’s railroad and various Main Street vehicles.  Plus, the real Red Cars took Southern Californians all over the place — from bustling Downtown Los Angles to the Santa Monica Pier, down to Long Beach and beyond.  Expanding California Adventure’s Red Car route to take riders all over Disney’s imaginary worlds of California is a great piece of connective tissue to help glue this park together. 

We’ll keep up with the latest on the Red Cars, Avengers Campus, and all of the ongoing projects in the works at Disneyland in our Disneyland Resort Project Tracker.

Disneyland Resort Project & Rumor Tracker

Construction Kingdom & Refurbishment Roundup

Let’s take a look at the various construction and refurbishment projects underway…

Main Gate Repaving

Work continues on repaving and tree replanting work in front of Disneyland’s entrance.  

Walt Disney moves in

At the Main Street Opera House, the new “Walt Disney: A Magical Life” show continues to be installed so it can open as part of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary celebration in 2025.  “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” is closed at this time. 

Disneyland Railroad and Monorail closures

Transportation systems inside Disneyland remain down for refurbishment.  The Disneyland Railroad and Monorail are both currently down for refurbishment.

Jungle Cruise Chaos

Jungle Cruise will close September 16 through October 3 for a refurbishment that will include a $600,000 fix to the Bengal Tiger scene.  

We’re happy to see this scene finally get fixed after being mostly-covered with construction walls for quite some time. Hopefully some of that budget will include fixing other broken effects — the ride is in rough shape and multiple scenes need work.

Haunted Mansion Grounds Expansion Progress

Work continues on the major expansion of the Haunted Mansion’s queue and the construction of a new gift shop at the attraction’s exit.

The reimagined courtyard between Tiana’s Palace and the Haunted Mansion is slowly coming together.

New thematic elements are emerging in the Haunted Mansion’s new queue, including the wrought iron gate you can see below.

A closer look at the new wrought-iron gate.

The wall will surround the Haunted Mansion’s new expanded grounds and gardens, where the new extended queue will go.

At the attraction’s exit, the new carriage house-themed gift shop has gone vertical. 

Below, you can see how the gift shop will look when finished. 

The shop looks like it’ll take up quite a bit of space in an area that is prone to bottlenecking already.  We’ll see how this turns out but my initial reaction when seeing the steel frame going up this weekend was that this could end up being a headache for crowd flow in this area of the park.

Peter Pan Plans

The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World recently unveiled an update to the Native American scene in the classic Peter Pan’s Flight attraction.  

The changes bring the depiction of Native Americans up to contemporary standards.  Keep an eye out for similar changes to be made at Disneyland’s version of the attraction in the near future. 

Cars Land Changes 

A lot of work continues around the Cozy Cones in Cars Land.  The walls impact crowd flow at the popular snack stands and there’s no seating in the area for the time being. 

This & That

Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit

Downtown Disney’s Halloween scavenger hunt includes Disneyland and Disney California Adventure this year. The festivities began Friday, August 30, and run through November 1, 2024.  There are game boards available to buy for all three locations — Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and Downtown Disney and they are $9.99 each.  Each game board purchase includes redemption for a final “prize,” which is a small Halloween sipper cup.  

A pin set of the Halloween sipper cups is available as well.

Pumpkins painted after different characters are scattered throughout the Resort for the game. 

Mater Manifests

Although the Vampire Mater popcorn bucket was unavailable at the beginning of Halloween Time, (August 23rd), we’re happy to report that the cute collectible has since made its way into Cars Land.

Hotel Hauntings

The Evil Queen from “Snow White,” in old hag form, is the subject of this year’s Halloween display at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.  Construction on this giant confection has wrapped and the finished display is pretty spectacular. 

 

At the Disneyland Hotel, the seasonal Haunted Mansion overlay around the hotel is in full swing.

Goofy’s Kitchen is also decked out for the spooky season as well.

The Cheshire Cat’s disappearing act

The Cheshire Cat that’s hidden in the wall alongside the Alice in Wonderland attraction was missing last week, likely to get a fresh coat of paint.

San Faded-sokyo

A lot of the lanterns strung up in San Fransokyo Square are faded and discolored.  The “Big Hero 6” theme of this area debuted just a year ago.  Oof.  

Around the Parks

Alright, that just about does it for the news this week.  We’ll wrap up today’s update with some views from around the parks…

A couple Cast Members’ furry friends that have passed on are represented on the ofrenda in Frontierland’s Zocalo Park.  What a sweet touch, and we love the artistic style. 

We love the rotten jack-o-lanterns on Buena Vista Street — we just wish there were way more of them! They are the perfect counterpoint to the not-at-all-scary version of Halloween at Disneyland. 

 

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Let’s Hear From You!

What do you think Tiana’s Bayou Adventure so far?  Are you looking forward to it opening at Disneyland?  What should replace Winnie the Pooh now that he’s in the Bayou?  What are your thoughts on the potential death of the Red Car Trolley?  Are you looking forward to the continued changes coming to Downtown Disney?  There’s so much to discuss — be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below!