DISNEYLAND UPDATE: Fall Fun, Packed Parks & Monorail Magic!

After weeks of sweltering heat, fall has arrived at the Disneyland Resort, bringing cooler air, festive celebrations, and, of course, a surge in park attendance. From vibrant cultural displays for Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month to the surprise return of a classic Monorail experience, there’s a lot happening this season. But it’s not all smooth sailing—construction walls are up everywhere, crowds are back in full force, and new developments have many buzzing with speculation. Whether you’re planning a visit or just love keeping up with the Mouse, we’ve got the inside scoop on everything you need to know this week at Disneyland! And away we go…

(My sincerest thanks to Samantha Davis Friedman and Natalie Kipper for their help with today’s Update. Thank you for your kindness, expertise, and time!)

Fall Arrives & Crowds Thrive

It’s finally fall! With that comes noticeably shorter days, cooler temperatures, and fall celebrations. We visited the parks on Thursday, and the first thing we noticed was the return of larger crowds. Matterhorn had an unusually long wait of 110 minutes on Thursday evening and several other E-ticket attractions were also showing long wait times, while other attractions still had fairly average wait times. Let’s take a closer look.

While it wasn’t miserably packed, there were enough guests in the afternoon to clog the normal pinch points we check to gauge attendance.

Disney California Adventure (DCA) didn’t feel as busy on Thursday, but it also happened to be an Oogie Boogie Bash after-hours party night.

After 6 p.m., DCA was cleared of daytime guests, most of whom wandered over to Disneyland to finish the evening, so Disneyland was noticeably busier as evening approached.

A Walk in the Park with Mike and Suzanne

If you want to check the crowds at Disneyland or get a better view of the park, join Mike and Suzanne for the Live at 5 evening stroll through the park on Thursday.

Dusty was busy on business in New York City last Thursday and will be back with you on our next Live at 5 later this week on this coming Thursday!  REMINDER: Our LIVE AT 5 videos are on THURSDAY through October. 

Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month

In addition to Plaza de la Familia in California Adventure through Nov. 2, Disneyland Resort is celebrating Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month through Oct. 15 with special food and entertainment.

Encanto fans can meet Isabela and Luisa near the Dia de Los Muertos display outside Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante in Frontierland. But don’t worry, Mirabel still meets guests at this location too. Check the Disneyland app for appearance times.

Delicious new dishes celebrating Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month are a Torta Cubana at Rancho del Zocalo in Disneyland (Breaded steak, sliced ham, panela cheese, jalapeño mayo, guacatillo sauce, beans, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and onions on a grilled bolillo).

Across the esplanade at California Adventure, Award Weiners is serving a Torta de Milanesa (beef Milanesa with grilled ham and panela cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions, jalapeños and avocado spread on a telera roll) and Stuffed Pan Dulce (cream-filled pan dulce with macerated berries).

The new Coco Floral Skull Sipper is currently available in both parks at the following locations:  

On weekends through Oct. 15, live musical performances at the Downtown Disney LIVE! Stage include DJs, a mariachi quartet, the Pacifico Dance Company, and Son Habana. Plus, the Latina-owned food truck Vchos will serve traditional Salvadoran pupusas near the stage.  

Last but certainly not least, the resort’s celebration of Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month also includes a new window display at the Emporium on Main Street U.S.A.

Be sure to check out the new mural in the Downtown Disney District titled “Love and Traditions,” which will be on display through Nov. 2 to celebrate Día de los Muertos.

Constructionland

If you didn’t think any more construction walls could go up at this time of year, you’re in for a surprise. Let’s check out the progress of the existing projects and look at what’s new. There’s a lot to talk about!

Downtown Disney:

The Downtown Disney District has been undergoing a massive transformation. While some new places have opened over the last several months, there is still much work to be done.

Parkside Market

This area has been under scrims for the last several weeks. There has not been much noticeable change from the outside. But we’re sure that plenty of work is taking place inside the building.

Marcelines

The bakery that was formerly known as Marceline’s Confectionery is well on the way to becoming a giant candy store to be called Disney Wonderful World of Sweets.

Unfortunately, the new name feels very unoriginal. A much more fitting theme would be from Wreck-It Ralph’s co-star, Vanollope von Schweetz, or perhaps King Candy. What do you think? Is “World of Sweets” interesting enough… or could there have been a little more creativity in the name?

Regardless, as Dusty harped on for the last couple of years, Marceline’s was long overdue for an upgrade and we hope this is it.  

Tortilla Joes

We looked at the old Tortilla Joe’s building last week, but couldn’t help but notice how beat up the main entrance looks.

You would expect to see holes from a mounted sign being removed, but now it appears as if something struck the building in that spot multiple times. This is just bad show. Hopefully, this dilapidated appearance will be remedied soon and construction can begin on the new steakhouse and BBQ establishments on the way. 

Esplanade

Over in the esplanade, the project to relocate planters farther away from the Disneyland gates is still underway.

There are still parts of the project in the demolition stage, and if you look closely at the photo below, you can see one of the trees halfway cut down. When they build the new planter, a large new tree will be planted.

Disneyland

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

There has been a lot of visual progress recently, with finishing touches being put on this attraction.

Over the last week, the rest of the lighting fixtures have been installed…

…the Lightning Lane and standby queue wait time signs are just about finished being installed…

… and the attraction queue entrance is also nearing completion. We’ve heard cast previews will be starting on Oct. 22, which is the first sign the attraction is in the home stretch for its grand opening on November 15th.

Haunted Mansion

There is very little to see over the construction walls surrounding the Haunted Mansion’s new garden and queue area. We believe the cinderblock building towards the back is the new ADA elevator shaft, and while the area is really taking shape, there is still much work to be done

There’s been a bit of Twitter chatter about the new Madame Leota gift shop at the Haunted Mansion exit, including from a former Imagineer who predicts New Orleans Square walkways will be extra congested once the construction walls come down.

Judging by this image #Micechat this building is to close to the guest walkways. During Fantasmic, during holidays, during peak season this area will be gridlocked. Surprised this got approved. #HauntedMansion pic.twitter.com/DSqNbsJfC2

— Jim Shull (@JimShull) September 16, 2024

Some posts also express concerns about the scale of the building when compared to the mansion (for which it’s supposed to be the carriage house) and the nearby “salt dome” for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Others worry that it blocks sight lines for the two adjacent attractions.

Is someone in charge of creative @Disneyland who hates Disneyland? This huge structure crowds a bottleneck, messes with the scale of Haunted Mansion, and blocks Tiana’s Bijou Adventure. Mind-boggling. https://t.co/4hZzWnGBOJ

— OLD DISNEY/NEW DISNEY (@TRVLtruth) September 19, 2024

The original concept art does depict a smaller scale building than what’s actually going up. We’ll have to wait and see what other changes are made to the area to ensure proper guest flow in the main walkways. But in a decade that has seen the removal of countless planters and guest-flow obstructions (including the old tree stump entry to the Tarzan Treehouse), it’s curious that a potential new obstruction was built in such a tight area. 

We looked at the construction site this week, and from what we can see from this angle, we hope there will be enough space between the store entrance and the existing walkway. And since post-Fantasmic traffic heads toward New Orleans Square and the Frontierland and Adventureland exits to the Hub, this area probably won’t be impacted much more than it was when there were FastPass and/or merch kiosks in that spot. What do you think folks? Problem or no problem? We have a feeling that Disneyland engineering teams did consider all of this before construction began and that will become much more apparent when the shop opens and the walls come down. 

Disneyland Railroad

The Disneyland Railroad refurbishment is a major one this year. More than just a deep cleaning and repair of smaller items, this time around we’re seeing a large portion of the track being replaced. There is also much more going on that we can’t see, such as work on the ride control system. Disneyland has not announced a return date for this attraction, but I would put my money on mid- to late-October.

The Main Street Train Station is wrapped up like a mummy. We sure hope all those popcorn lights are being replaced as the building has had many burned out bulbs and loose strands since well before Christmas last year. 

Jungle Cruise

Tours will not be departing daily while this attraction is down for refurbishment. Many attraction elements have been in sad shape, including a partially collapsed set where the Bengal Tiger resides. 

A scaffold and scrim have been placed across the river, obstructing the view of the Cambodian shrine. Hopefully, this indicates that the set will be repaired and the shrine will no longer look like a tiger in a box.  

Here’s how the tiger scene originally looked…

And how it was quickly altered after a portion of the scene collapsed in the middle of an operating day.  

Pixie Hollow

Pixie Hollow closed for refurbishment on the 16th and won’t reopen until October 14th. The entire area, including King Triton’s Water Garden and surrounding walkways, has been walled off. While we won’t make any wild assumptions, it seems unlikely that this is the big remodel of the Tomorrowland entrance as some outlets are guessing. Especially on such a short refurbishment schedule.

Disney California Adventure:

Missing Interactive Mickey

Construction walls went up around the DVC kiosk several weeks ago, but have since been removed. However, with the removal of those walls, we noticed the large wooden Mickey is missing. We’ve been told his arm broke off, requiring his removal for repair. Hopefully, he will return soon. It’s a fun little piece that is interactive with the Magic Band+. Trashcans are used like bandaids these days in the Disneyland Resort. Missing light post? Put a trashcan on top of it. Missing Mickey?  Trash can! 

Pixar Pier

The entrance buildings of Pixar Pier are currently being worked on, with scaffolding over Lamplight Lounge and Knick’s Knacks. It’s great to see upkeep happening in the parks, even though a lot of work is currently going on at the same time. Maintaining the parks is a tricky situation as there’s definitely a balance between letting things go unrepaired and too much happening at once. Though, a robust after hours maintenance crew can help shorten or completely mitigate the need for lengthy refurbishments guests can see during the day. At Tokyo Disneyland, they are able to paint and repair things incrementally after hours (as they used to do here at the Disneyland Resort), making much of the scaffolding unnecessary unless actual construction needs to be conducted.  

 

While wandering through the park, we noticed a railing falling apart. It feels like this is something that’s not inspected regularly, like the light posts. But it’s basic infrastructure like this that takes so much abuse from weather and guests. When maintenance crews are properly staffed, things like this don’t happen as often, get noticed more quickly, and can be more rapidly addressed. 

Disneyland Refurb Calendar (updated 09/23/24)

This and That

Pixar Place Hotel is hosting Joseph Yakovetic as he paints pumpkins. The artist showcase will continue next month as he shows off his artistic talents in pumpkin carving.

It was Disney Merch All Along

Fan-favorite Oogie Boogie Bash villain and self-proclaimed “that witch” Agatha Harkness’s new series “Agatha All Along” launched on Disney+ last week, joined by a themed merchandise collection. These new “Agatha All Along” items were spotted at Downtown Disney’s World of Disney and inside Avengers Campus at the Collector’s Warehouse.

The central motif for all this new merchandise is the Three Goddesses. Who are they? What purpose do they serve? It is a curious design choice for merchandise promoting a brand new show, rather than opting for something (or someone) more easily recognizable, like Agatha herself.

The previously released Scarlet Witch Color Story Collection (which we found at the Disney Dress Shop in Downtown Disney) focuses on Wanda Maximoff’s iconic crown and identifiable silhouette:

What style of merchandise do you prefer, subtle nods or overt references?

To see more seasonal Halloween merchandise and find links to items on Disney Store, check out our guide:

UPDATED! Disneyland Halloween 2024 Merchandise Puts a Spell… On Our Wallets!

 

Front of the Monorail

One of our favorite seats on the Monorail is now open! You can once again request to ride in the front seat with the pilot. We were able to take a one-way ride on Thursday from the Downtown Disney station to Tomorrowland, but if you want to take the full tour, you must start your trip at the Tomorrowland Station. That’s also your best chance to get a ride in the front cab. 

Here’s a short clip going through Fantasyland.

MiceShots

Wow! That was a lot to cover. After all of that walking, it’s time to enjoy some of the prettier parts of the resort.

Clouds always make a wonderfully dramatic backdrop for photos around the parks.

On Thursday, Mickey’s Trick or Treat shows were cancelled; however, the doors still opened for character meet and greets, which was a great alternative. This also gave the opportunity for guests to take photos of their favorite characters in their Halloween costumes.

We often see guests decorating the front steps of The Little Man of Disneyland’s home. This time, it seems that Disney did the decorating, having left a jack-o-lantern next to his front door.

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We’ve covered a lot today! Do you think the path in front of Madame Leota’s shop will become a new pinch point for guests? Have you had a chance to ride in the front cab of the Monorail? And are there just too many construction walls for this time of year? Share your thoughts in the comments below!