Holidays soft-launch at Disneyland as Hiro and Baymax arrive in Tomorrowland

The holidays soft-launched at Disneyland over the weekend, bringing most of Disneyland’s big holidays season online for park guests. With the holidays officially launching this Thursday, November 13, we’ve got a full update today filling you in on this year’s seasonal offerings. In addition to Christmastime, we also take a look at the new Big Hero 6 meet-and-greet in Tomorrowland where guests can now meet Hiro and Baymax from Disney’s latest animated film.

Don’t miss your weekly Disneyland Resort crowd forecast — provided by our friends at MouseAddict — in the Weekly News and Information Roundup at the end of today’s update!

Get an up-close look at the magic! Don’t forget — You can click on any photo in today’s post to see a larger, high-resolution version!

We’ve got a big holiday-filled update today, so let’s get started!

Welcome to the Holidays!

Disneyland soft-launched its big holiday season over the weekend with a majority of the seasonal decorations up and special attractions and entertainment open for guests. Had it not been for 90 degree temperatures, the parks would have felt like a true winter wonderland over the weekend.

[center]Main Street, U.S.A.[/center]
Save for the park’s Christmas tree in Town Square and the overhead garland, Main Street is now ready for the holidays. The background music is still playing the park’s traditional loop but will switch to the holiday tunes by the end of the week.

Garland up on Main Street facades…

The new East Guest Flow Corridor is finished but wasn’t put into use over the weekend.

Poinsettias throughout Town Square

No Christmas tree quite yet…

No overhead garland yet, either.

Disney Showcase has switched over from Halloween merchandise to holiday goods.

The garland along Main Street appears to have been fully replaced this year, with the new garland featuring gold tinsel throughout. While maybe not period-appropriate, it’s nice and the tinsel shimmers festively in the sunlight.

[center]A Christmas Fantasy Parade[/center]
Disneyland’s “A Christmas Fantasy” Parade debuted for the season on Friday.

While it’s been changed and updated numerous times throughout the years, A Christmas Fantasy is now in its 20th season and it shows. Maybe it’s time for Disneyland to start working on a brand new Christmas parade?

Despite its age, the parade continues to evolve, with the catalyst for this year’s changes being Frozen. Over the summer, Disneyland pulled Mickey and Minnie’s “A Christmas Fantasy” float out of storage, gave it a simple Frozen-themed overlay and turned it into a Frozen pre-parade, running in front of the daily Mickey’s Soundsational Parade. With Soundsational dark for the rest of the year, the Frozen float is now back in A Christmas Fantasy while the parade runs for the holidays. Yet, while the float has returned, it hasn’t been given back to Mickey and Minnie.

Instead, Mickey and Minnie have been moved to the Santa’s Mailroom float, which has traditionally been where Mrs. Claus appears. With Mickey and Minnie relocated, Mrs. Claus now longer had a home in the parade and has been removed entirely.

Meanwhile, Mickey and Minnie’s ice skating float continues to run with its Frozen overlay and Anna and Elsa have now been woven into the parade.

[center]Frozen Filming[/center]
Disneyland filmed its portions of the annual Disney Parks Christmas Day TV special on Sunday, with additional filming expected today. Traditionally known as the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade and more recently as the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, the special has been rebranded this year as the Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration.

Disneyland’s filmed portions were dramatically scaled back this year, with no parade filming down Main Street, U.S.A. Performances in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle were filmed on Sunday, with more expected today. Below, Trey Songz performing on Sunday. Photos by our talented friend @IzabelleKo (Flickr).

Equipment was set up for filming in Cars Land over the weekend as well.

[center]Jingle Cruise[/center]
Meanwhile, in Adventureland, work is still underway on prepping the Jungle Cruise for its holiday overlay.

The Jingle Cruise was a new offering last year, with some decorations throughout the queue and holiday-themed on-ride jokes. This year Disney is extending the Christmas decorations throughout the jungle.

A peek into the jungle from the Indiana Jones Adventure exit path shows some new decorations strung up for the 2014 season. It doesn’t exactly look like a big budget.

Hopefully the finished product will look better than some half-glimpses through the trees. We’re excited to find out when the Jingle Cruise opens this weekend.

[center]Haunted Mansion Holiday Fastpass[/center]
New Orleans Square has been decorated for the holidays for a couple weeks now, with Haunted Mansion Holiday open since Halloween Time started in September. But with holiday crowds on their way, Disney has finally turned on FASTPASS service at Haunted Mansion Holiday.

This same scenario played out last year, with Haunted Mansion Holiday operating through the busy Halloween Time season without FASTPASS only to get the service turned on at the start of the holiday season. It’s a strange move because without FASTPASS, the standby queue for Haunted Mansion moves efficiently, with less crowd flow impact on nearby New Orleans Square walkways. Now that FASTPASS is available, expect standby wait times to climb even higher, with huge overflow queues filling up the nearby walkways and Magnolia Park areas.

[center]Frontierland[/center]
Over the last couple weeks we showed you New Orleans Square, Critter Country, and Toon Town as they were decorated for the holidays and now Frontierland is also ready for the season.

Back at Big Thunder Ranch, the Jingle Jangle Jamboree isn’t open yet, but the ranch and cabin are all decorated for the holidays.

[center]“it’s a small world” holiday[/center]
The ridiculously delightful “it’s a small world” holiday opened over the weekend for its first cruises of the holidays.

No major changed inside the ride but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a must-do for the holidays.

A wonderful new wrought-iron bell tower has replaced the piñata-style tower in the South America room.

The sea serpent from the ride’s welcome room is relocated to the South Seas area for the holidays this year.

The only thing worse than the shoehorned-in America room is the America room during the holidays.

Of course, the finale room is as spectacular and festive as ever.

[center]Buena Vista Street[/center]
Over a Disney California Adventure, Buena Vista Street is decked out and ready for the holiday season.

The amazing Buena Vista Street Community Bellringers are back!

The best.

The wonderful Buena Vista Street Christmas tree is up

Best Christmas tree ornament ever

[center]Hollywood Land[/center]
Hollywood Land only had some garland up over the weekend…

…but back in the Hollywood Studios area, Muppet*Vision 3D is already closed as Disneyland quietly works on temporary Frozen-themed attractions rumored to open December 20 in the Muppet Theater and the nearby Stage 17.

Muppet Theater is getting a Frozen-themed overlay and is expected to be home to a sing-a-long show, similar to what is offered at Walt Disney World.

A Frozen-themed winter playground with ice skating is expected to open up in Stage 17.

[center]Cars Land[/center]
Meanwhile, Cars Land is ready for Christmas.

Lots of new Cars Land Christmas merchandise available this year

[center]¡Viva Navidad![/center]
And back on Paradise Pier, the unexpected hit of last season — ¡Viva Navidad! — is back at Paradise Garden.

The wonderfully festive and cultural entertainment Viva Navidad offerings weren’t ready on Friday, but are rumored to soft-launch today, Monday, November 9.

The excellent Viva Navidad menu is back at Paradise Garden Grill, with a couple additional offerings available next door at Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta.

Torta plate

Chicken mole plate

Barbacoa sopes

Viva Navidad chicken and corn salad

SuperHiro

In Tomorrowland, a new meet-and-greet for Hiro and Baymax from Disney’s Big Hero 6 opened on Saturday, following an Annual Passholder preview on Friday. The new meet-and-greet, themed as Hiro’s garage workshop from the movie, takes up the back portion of the Starcade, effectively ridding the arcade of its remaining video game cabinets.

Baymax in particular is a really neat and unique character to see in the park.

Meanwhile, you can get a Big Hero 6-inspired lunch over at California Adventure’s Award Wieners

And Baymax souvenir sippers were available starting Friday but were sold out before the weekend was over. Keep an eye out for more soon.

Refurbishment Roundup

[center]Main Street Makeovers[/center]
Even with the holidays ready to launch, work still continues on projects around the park. On Main Street, the Main Street locker facility has finally reopened.

Signage is returning to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor after its recent facade refurbishment

Marquee is still not back

[center]Royal Remodel[/center]
In New Orleans Square, the Royal Courtyard is still closed and under construction…

[center]Fastpass Fix[/center]
Over at Indiana Jones Adventure, the FASTPASS distribution area is behind walls for some work.

[center]Riverboat Refurbishment[/center]
Nearby, the Mark Twain is still in dry dock until later this month.

[center]Food Fixes[/center]
In Disneyland, the food cart in the hub recently got some nice new Main Street, U.S.A. decals.

Nice!

In Fantasyland, the fruit cart across from the Village Haus is still behind walls but finally being rebuilt now.

[center]In Crust We Trust[/center]
Over in California Adventure, the Bakery Tour is closed for a refresh after running in its original incarnation with Rosie O’Donnell and Colin Mochrie since the park’s opening day in 2001.

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Weekly News & Information Round-Up
Weekly Theme Park Hours November 10-16, 2014
[B]Disneyland Park[/B]	[B]California Adventure[/B]
Monday: 9 am – 10 pm Tuesday: 9 am – 11 pm Wed.-Thur.: 10 am – 8 pm Fri.-Sun.: 9 am – 12 am	Mon.-Tue.: 9 am – 8 pm Wed.-Thu.: 10 am – 8 pm Fri.-Sun.: 9 am – 10 pm
[CENTER]For a complete listing of theme park hours, visit the Disneyland.com Theme Park Calendar[/CENTER]
[center]Closure and Refurbishment Schedule[/center]
[b][center]Disneyland Park[/center][/b]
“it’s a small world”: Closed through November 6 to install holiday overlay. Plaza Inn Restaurant: Closed through November 6 for refurbishment. Big Thunder Ranch: Closed November 1—6 to remove Halloween overlay and install holiday overlay. Space Mountain: Closed November 3 to remove Halloween overlay. Jungle Cruise: Closed November 3-13 to for refurbishment and to install Jingle Cruise overlay. Pinocchio’s Daring Journey: Closed November 12-13 for refurbishment. Snow White’s Scary Adventures: Closed November 12-13 for refurbishment. [B]Mark Twain Riverboat:[/B] Reopens November 29, 2014. Storybook Land Canal Boats and Casey Jr. Circus Train: Closed December 1-18 for refurbishment. Fantasyland Fruit Cart: Reopening unknown. Matterhorn Bobsleds: Closed January 5-May 13 for refurbishment. Haunted Mansion: Closed January 12-22 to remove holiday overlay. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Closed January 12-February 5 for refurbishment. Splash Mountain: Closed January 12-April 2 for refurbishment. Snow White Grotto and Wishing Well: Closed January 12-April 30 for refurbishment. Peter Pan’s Flight: Closed January 12-May 7.
[b][center]Disney California Adventure[/center][/b]
Bakery Tour: Closed through January 16 for refurbishment. Turtle Talk with Crush: Closed October 28-29 for refurbishment. Goofy’s Sky School: Closed December 1 for refurbishment. Toy Story Midway Mania!: Closed December 8-11 for refurbishment. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: Closed January 5-8 for refurbishment. Soarin’ Over California: Closed January 6-May 14 for refurbishment. World of Color: Dark January 7-March 12 for refurbishment. Luigi’s Flying Tires: Closed January 12-December 1, 2015 for conversion to new attraction. [B]Blue Sky Cellar:[/B] Closed indefinitely.
[b][center]Downtown Disney and Disneyland Resort Hotels[/center][/b]
None.
November 10-16 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Planning a Thanksgiving visit? This week only, when you purchase Tomorrowplan in the Mouseaddict app you’ll get an extra week of projections, right up through Thanksgiving. Already activated Tomorrowplan? You’ll get the extra projections, too, as thanks for being a Tomorrowplan Fan. On Tuesday, help thank our veterans at the 4:00pm Flag Retreat in Town Square. This special day will be marked by the 1st Marine Division Band and Joint Services Color Guard from Camp Pendleton, California. The holidays wasted no time taking over the parks, so this Thursdays’ “official” opening doesn’t add much more – except crowds. From here on out, expect to reach high levels of crowds every day through the New Year. Crowds will come and go, but you’ll usually find the heaviest after 5pm. Surprisingly, hotel rooms are very available, with hotels offering deals this week. Look online for the best rates. The free Mouseaddict app for iPhone and iPad features more than five dozen categories of searchable resort information, weather forecasts, park and show schedules, the latest news and articles from MiceChat, and more. Download free on the App Store or at mouseaddict.com.
[center]Headline Roundup A quick look at noteworthy Disney theme park headlines from around the web.[/center]
Disneyland will begin offering reserved viewing, dining packages for popular “Fantastic!” show starting December 12 (Disney Parks Blog)

OK! That wraps up this week’s holiday-filled edition of Dateline Disneyland. Are you ready for the holidays or are the high temperatures in Southern California making it hard to enjoy the tinsel and lights? Let us know in the comments section below! Your donations really do help keep Dateline Disneyland alive! We’re still here because of your help. If you enjoy getting your weekly Disneyland fix from Dateline Disneyland, please consider helping us with a safe and fast PayPal donation — click here! For more Disneyland news, be sure to read MiceChat’s weekly In the Parks blog. And be sure to check out our sister blog, Dateline Disney World – a fantastic weekly photo blog covering Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida! Thanks for reading. See you at Disneyland! [B]- Andy[/B]

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FTC-Mandated Disclosure: Promotional consideration for this edition of Dateline Disneyland was provided by the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel & Water Playground.