Another week has come and gone at “The Happiest Place on Earth,” and while summer begins to fade, fall is already creeping in with Halloween décor popping up around the parks — a little early — to nudge guests toward thoughts of cooler weather and autumn festivities.
On the project front, things are buzzing, with a fan-favorite attraction taking some downtime, a special Disney Jr. event at DCA this past Friday, and an investor meeting that doubled down on familiar plans we’ve been following for a while now — the launch of new cruise ships and the addition of an Avatar-themed attraction — highlighting them as major drivers for future growth.
There’s plenty to see and talk about this week, so grab a churro and let’s jump right in.
Halloween Prep
The parks are getting ready for the spooky season, which officially begins resort-wide less than two weeks from now on August 22nd, but holds its first after-hours Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure on August 17th… which means that at least DCA needs to have all of its Halloween decor installed in time for that $140+ a night event.
The parks are starting to assemble their Halloween looks. Windows are being redressed.
Special activities are under construction… such as the Villains Grove overlay of Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.
Most of the Disneyland 70th anniversary decorations have come down from the Carthay Circle tower… And a few spooky bats should be seen fluttering through the bell tower any minute now.
Pumpkins are perched precariously on their posh perch.
The purple lights DCA is known for during the spooky season are already up in the trees around Carthay Circle fountain.
And the first of the Buena Vista Street bats has fluttered onto the Monorail bridge.
Oogie Boogie Ticket Tracker
We’ve been tracking ticket sales every week, and with only 6 days until Oogie’s first after-hours bash, there are still tickets available for 4 nights in August… but all dates in September and October are now sold out.
It’s never too early to start planning for Halloween and we have lots of info for you:
- 2025 Disneyland Halloween Time Guide
- 2025 Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights Guide
- 2025 Universal Orlando Resort Halloween Horror Nights Guide
- 2024 Knott’s Scary Farm Guide
If you like to be scared year-round, don’t miss our guide to the new Universal Horror Unleashed experience that opens THIS WEEK in Las Vegas:
Universal Horror Unleashed Las Vegas – Scaring Up ALL The Details!
Disney’s Q3 2025: Theme Park Magic is Paying the Bills
The Bottom Line – Disney beat earnings expectations but missed revenue by a hair, then raised full-year guidance anyway. Revenue was up 2% to $23.7B, income before taxes climbed 4% to $3.2B, and diluted EPS more than doubled to $2.92.
The standout? The “Experiences” division — theme parks and cruise ships — pulled in more than double the operating income of the “Entertainment” division (movies, streaming, and TV). Experiences brought in $2.516 billion; Entertainment managed $1.02 billion. Translation: parks and cruises are driving the company, and they’ll be even more critical if/when Josh D’Amaro takes the CEO role. He’s a parks guy and has no real background in the struggling movie/TV side, so expect Disney to keep pouring money into the part of the business that’s actually growing.
Translation: Wall Street might have wanted more, but castles and churros are keeping the lights on.
Streaming Shuffle – Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ all posted gains, now totaling 183 million subscribers. Hulu will merge into Disney+ globally as the “general entertainment” hub — fewer apps to scroll before you end up watching Tangledagain.
Parks, Cruises & Pandora Dreams – Experiences revenue jumped 8% to $9.09B. Walt Disney World saw a record-breaking Q3, with Q4 bookings already up 6%. Disney also spotlighted its incoming cruise ships (yep, the ones we’ve been talking about) and the long-rumored Avatar attraction at Disneyland, confirming it’s more than blue-sky talk.
Sports & Speed Bumps – ESPN will go direct-to-consumer later this year, but traditional TV continues to slide. Iger called recent film results “disappointing” — CEO-speak for “we’ll fix it eventually.” It’s enough to keep speculation alive that Disney might seek a partner or even spin off Entertainment as a separate company.
The Takeaway: Parks, cruises, and streaming are keeping Disney’s ship steady while TV and film take on water. With record attendance and expansions ahead, the outlook is far more “Happily Ever After” for Josh D’Amaro when Bob Iger’s contract ends in late 2026. Disney’s been tight-lipped, but shareholder pressure for a succession plan will only grow. If the board’s eyeing a parks executive for the top job, they’ll need to prove they’ve learned from the last time a “parks guy” took over — Bob Chapek — and we all remember how that horror story ended.
Constructionland
There’s never a dull moment behind the construction walls at the Disneyland Resort — and this week is no different. Let’s take our weekly stroll to see what’s new, what’s changing, and maybe even what’s quietly disappearing.
Downtown Disney Buzzing With Construction
While the empty lot where Tortilla Joe’s once stood remains quiet (for now), other parts of the Downtown Disney District are buzzing with activity, including the old ESPN Zone building, which has changed colors. Those once-iconic (if creepy) moving sports heads are covered once again as the space gets ready to welcome a few brand-new shops to the district.
A new two-story Earl of Sandwich has been tucked behind scrims for a while, and that hasn’t changed this week. Every now and then, a little progress peeks through when the breeze shifts the scrims. And after another extension a couple of weeks ago, the current Earl of Sandwich and Earl of Sandwich Tavern have remained open, with the current extension set for at least 30 days.
The Lego Store has been behind construction walls for a few weeks, and we’re starting to see some of the classic Lego statues quietly disappear. Just in the last few days, the Beauty and the Beast figures were taken down, leaving only a faint shadow of their colorful past.
Sephora has reopened after a few weeks of work and welcomed shoppers back this past week. Meanwhile, work is underway inside Sunglass Icon by Sunglass Hut, which has been tucked behind construction walls alongside some concrete repairs happening in the walkway across from the shop (near the Naples fence).
Major Projects Continue in Disneyland
Disneyland is in the midst of a holiday decor changeover, but there are still several major construction projects in the park.
It seems Tomorrowland is having some trouble with signs and vehicle clearances. Two signs, just several feet from each other, have lingering damage to them. While we have reported on the damaged Tomorrowland sign in the past (and the damage was just painted over in response), the paint is once again peeling and cracking around the damaged area.
Accidents happen, but it’s rough when you’ve got multiple signs showing the same kind of damage just feet apart, and none of it’s getting fixed. The damaged Star Tours sign is also showing some corrosion, which tells us this happened a while back. Just to the left, the corner of the overhang has a few battle scars, too.
Someone in the park’s Safety Department might need to give a friendly reminder to the folks who drive around the parks after hours about vehicle clearance heights, because the low-hanging stuff isn’t doing well… and these are expensive repairs.
Edelweiss Snacks remains behind the scrims but the snack stand is still open, so have no fear, you can still get your turkey legs and garlic bread.
The big project at Disneyland right now is the joint refurbishment of Storybook Land Canal Boats and Casey Jr. Circus Train.
New scrims have gone up, showing the familiar picturesque scenes we all recognize, though one glaring omission stands out: Monstro the Whale seems to have taken a little swim offstage. We’re pretty sure Monstro isn’t going anywhere for good, but those rocks that once made up Skull Rock? They aren’t as important and well hidden by the Dumbo queue… so it’s anyone’s guess what’s next for that little piece of Disneyland history.
Disney California Adventure
As soon as guests enter DCA, they’ll see that the entrance to Elias & Co. is once again behind big construction walls… and just a few months after the last major exterior refresh. The good news: There are still plenty of other ways to get inside the shop. We’ll be watching closely to see if this leads to anything more than a quick touch-up.
San Fransokyo Lanterns Replaced
A few weeks ago, we mentioned how horribly faded the red lanterns that decorate San Fransokyo were looking. It appears someone besides us was paying attention because we were delighted to see the lanterns over the water have been replaced with bright and colorful new ones.
Avengers Campus Expansion Milestone
Imagineering shared on Instagram that the Avengers Campus expansion has gone vertical, a construction milestone marked by the placement of the first steel column. The Parks Blog posted this while we were standing in Cars Land, looking at the big orange construction crane. Now that the project has gone vertical, we’ll have more exciting things to share in the weeks ahead.
The expanded Marvel-themed land will have two all-new attractions: Avengers: Infinity Defense, which will take guests on a thrilling multi-versal mission to defeat King Thanos and Stark Flight Lab, which will invite recruits to test new flight tech being developed by Tony Stark.
Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar (updated 08/08/25)
We’ve got a few noteworthy closures on the horizon that you’ll want to keep on your radar, including the annual transformation of Haunted Mansion into Haunted Mansion Holiday, which is already underway.
Also notable this week is that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will start another refurbishment right after Labor Day, so get your wildest rides in while you can. And for those of you who like to explore the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island will also be closed for a few days in mid-September for a bit of TLC.
Currently Under Refurbishment
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue: June 30 – September 4
- Redwood Creek Challenge Trail – Villains Grove Install: July 21 – August 14
- Storybook Land Canal Boats and Casey Jr. Circus Train: July 28 – TBA
- Incredicoaster: July 28 – August 14
- Haunted Mansion – Holiday Install: August 9 – 21
Upcoming Refurbishments
- Radiator Springs Racers: August 18 – TBA
- Mark Twain Riverboat: September 8 – 11
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: September 2 – TBA
- Main Street Cinema: September 8 – TBA
- Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island: September 15 – 17
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant: September 17
This & That
Disneyland Live @ 5
We had a lot of fun on our last Disneyland Live. We took you through “it’s a small world” to hear the new final verse, took a journey to see the latest construction, and looked for signs of Oswald filming in the parks. If you missed us last Thursday, you can still catch the Live at 5 replay by following the link below.
And be sure to follow the MiceChat Facebook and YouTube pages for notification when we go live again this Thursday!
Filming Continues Inside Disneyland
John Favreau and his film crew continued their work in Disneyland last week for the upcoming Oswald series on Disney Plus. While they’ve been spotted across the park, the Main Street Cinema and small areas of Fantasyland were particularly bustling with crew members last week.
If you’re visiting the park while they’re filming, you may even see yourself on screen!
Disney Jr. Events
On August 8th, Disney Jr. Let’s Play! brought fun activities to California Adventure, including a Disney Jr. Let’s Play! Block Party, special stage shows, and photo ops featuring Disney Jr. characters.
Our favorite mini MiceChatter even got in on some of the fun!
Merchandise Mobile Disappearing Act
Merchandise Mobile Checkout has been quietly removed from all but three shopping locations: Emporium in Disneyland Park, Elias & Co. in California Adventure Park, and World of Disney in the Downtown Disney District.
We’ve heard guesses that this change may be due to difficulties enforcing limits for high-demand items, but it could also be a simple staffing issue. In any case, we’re glad to see this service reduced and hope it’s only used on the busiest days in the future.
Visit Walt Disney’s Storybook Mansion
Dusty has been hosting sold-out tours of Walt Disney’s stunning Hollywood Mansion for the last few weeks, and due to overwhelming demand, he has added August 16th to the calendar.
Follow the Walt Disney Storybook Mansion page on Facebook (HERE) for details as tours are added and future events and tours are announced. Plus, reach out to Dusty about hosting your own private events, parties, weddings, screenings, and tours at the Disney Mansion (enquire here).
MiceShots
And that wraps up another Monday Update! Thanks for tagging along as we explored all the changes around the parks this past week. Be sure to check back next Monday. There’s always something new brewing at MiceChat.com.
Before we go, we wanted to share some of our favorite photos from the week.
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Let’s Hear From You!
We covered several pretty big items this week. Are you ready for Halloween to make a screaming return? Do you welcome the Fall vibes in August? Will you be attending any of the Oogie Boogie Bash dates or are you priced out? And which construction projects are you most eagerly following? Let us know in the comments below!
This Disneyland Update was shot and assembled by Mike Kindrich with additional thoughts, opinions, and news items from Samantha Davis-Friedman and Dusty Sage. And our huge thanks to Brian Pinsky for keeping up with Disneyland’s refurbishment calendar and the entire MiceChat crew for keeping up with the news.