Disneyland is getting ready for the launch of its popular Halloween Time season with new merchandise hitting store shelves and decorations going up in shop windows. The park is also now readying two attractions in New Orleans Square for the annual Halloween festivities — the Nightmare Before Christmas-themed Haunted Mansion Holiday will welcome guests when Halloween Time kicks off on September 14, with pirate-themed makeovers available starting September 1 at the new Pirates League in the nearby Court of Angels. Meanwhile, work continues on Disneyland’s new Fantasy Faire area and locals return to Cars Land following the end of Annual Passport summer block-outs.
Get a closer look at today’s update! Click on any photo in today’s column for a large, high-resolution version of the image.
| Welcome to Disneyland! |
Annual Passholders previously blocked out for the summer will likely boost crowd levels at the parks weeknights after the work day ends, but overall crowd levels continue to drop this week. TouringPlans.com can help you navigate the parks with our per-park Crowd Calendar, Lines – Mobile Wait Times App that gives access to current and estimated wait times for attractions, and Touring Plans detailing the best plan of attack for hitting the attractions. With summer crowds here, it’s a good time to subscribe to TouringPlans.com to plan your strategy to avoid the crowds!
Below are the predicted resort-wide crowd numbers for select days generated by the TouringPlans professional statisticians as measured for the upcoming week. For the access to the full year and per-park crowd level predictions, visit our Crowd Calendar.
— Fred Hazelton, Statistician, TouringPlans.com
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Crowd Prediction |
Crowd Tips |
| Tues., Aug. 28 | Here are some quick-hit notes that we hope you’ll find helpful as you prepare your visits for the week:
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| Wed., Aug. 29 | 3 /10 | |
| Thu., Aug. 30 | 3 /10 | |
| Fri., Aug. 31 | 4/10 | |
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| Crowd levels are based on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded.
See Disneyland crowds for the next 365 days. Do more. Wait less. |
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Halloween Time will soon hit Disneyland, with the return of the popular Mickey Jack-O-Lantern here at the edge of Town Square.
A look at very reasonable wait times from Saturday afternoon.
| Movie Night on Main Street |
On Thursday, Disneyland hosted its first Annual Passholder Movie Night. Al Lutz had mentioned the upcoming movie nights in a recent MiceAge.com Editor’s Note, but Disney made no formal announcement of the event.
The event took place with no formal announcement by Disney and no promotion beyond a sign posted outside the Main Street Opera House encouraging Passholders to cast their vote between The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
Even without promotion, the event officially hit capacity and Annual Passholders were let into the Main Street Opera House to watch a 7:00 p.m. screening of The Lion King. With the first Movie Night sold out, it’ll be interesting to see how future Annual Passholder Movie Nights are handled as the events appear to be a quick success.
| Creeping In… |
Last week we showed you a selection of new Halloween merchandise hitting the shelves at Disneyland stores. This week, we take a look at Halloween Time decorations now up in Main Street’s Disney Showcase.
Disneyland’s wildly popular Halloween Time season doesn’t officially start until September 14, but you can get your first taste now on Main Street.
Lots of Halloween Time fun in the store window displays as well:
Beyond Disney Showcase, there are still plenty of patriotic summer decorations along Main Street for now…
In New Orleans Square, the quiet Court des Anges has closed as the new Pirate’s League moves in.
The Pirates League is a pirate-themed makeover boutique popular at Walt Disney World that Disneyland will test this Halloween season in the New Orleans Square courtyard.
The Pirates League opens September 1, two weeks before the start of the Halloween season, but is set to only remain open through Halloween before closing before the holidays.
Nearby, the Haunted Mansion’s final day was Sunday and is now closed to install its annual Nightmare Before Christmas-themed holiday overlay.
Haunted Mansion Holiday opens September 14 with the start of Disney’s Halloween Time.
Last week, Disney gave a sneak peek at this year’s Haunted Mansion Holiday gingerbread house. The Orange County Register gave some additional behind-the-icing information on the 9-foot gingerbread house.
Construction Kingdom |
Refreshment Corner’s patio archway is getting some refurbishment work…
At the end of Main Street, the new Fantasy Faire princess meet-and-greet area continues to take shape with steel construction growing behind construction walls.
New concept art has been added to construction walls…
Views from the Omnibus…
A peek through cracks in the wall…
Inside Fantasyland, work on the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique facade continues
Back at the Fantasyland Theater, a lot of the forest-themed stage dressing leftover from the old Snow White — An Enchanting New Musical has been removed as the space prepares for a new production.
The Fantasyland Theater’s snack stand, the Troubadour Tavern, is closed while the Theater is dark.
The snack stand serves up bratwurst along with popular stuffed baked potatoes.
The popular potatoes have now relocated to the Harbour Galley across from the Haunted Mansion at the edge of the Rivers of America.
The Harbour Galley’s regular menu is still available in addition to the potatoes.
| Welcome to California Adventure |
No visible progress at the remaining construction walls next to California Adventure’s main entrance
Disney Imagineer Brandon Kleyla discussed the window displays and shop backstories in a recent video from the Disney Parks Blog
Halloween merchandise can be found in the Julius Katz and Sons shop on Buena Vista Street.
A look at wait times Saturday afternoon.
In Cars Land, wait times are often more reasonable during weekdays, but Radiator Springs Racers wait times hover around two hours when locals hit the parks after work and on weekends.
Luigi’s Flying Tires wait times range between 40-60 minutes with quicker loading procedures
| Building Sandwiches |
In Downtown Disney, a look at Earl of Sandwich construction…
The old Compass Books Newsstand kiosk is now completely gone
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| Weekly News & Information Round-Up | ||
| Weekly Theme Park Hours August 27—September 2, 2012 |
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| Disneyland Park | Disney California Adventure | |
| Monday-Thursday: 9 am – 10 pm Friday-Sunday: 9 am – 12 midnight |
Monday-Thursday: 9 am – 10 pm Friday-Sunday: 9 am – 11 pm |
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visit the Disneyland.com Theme Park Calendar |
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2.2—4.4 out of 10 |
4.6—6.1 out of 10 |
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with 1 being the least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded. For crowd predictions for the next 365 days, visit  |
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A quick look at noteworthy Disney theme park headlines from around the web. |
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| Are you ready for Halloween Time to return to Disneyland? What’s are you most excited to see return during the holiday season? Let us know in the comments section below and thanks for reading!
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| FTC-Mandated Disclosure: Promotional consideration for this edition of Dateline Disneyland was provided by TouringPlans.com | Do More. Wait Less. and the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel & Water Playground. |
August 27, 2012 at 5:42 pm
It’s just TOO EARLY for all this Halloween stuff to be up. At least wait until mid-September to start. And leave the Mansion alone until AFTER Halloween!
August 27, 2012 at 7:22 pm
HMH is fun, but yes, as a temporary overlay, it’s getting a little old. I’d much rather see the Mansion plussed for Halloween, telling the story even deeper, and have a new, permanent Nightmare dark ride instead. But where to put it…
August 27, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Thanks for the update!
August 27, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Great subject. I am on the fence on the overlay. I like it for a short time 1 to 2 months. But 4 plus months is too long. Anything that long has gone well past a temporary overlay. I am proud to anounce that I finally got my Premium AP. It has been a long time coming and I will be putting it to go use. Thanks Andy for all of your hard work and passion for DLR.
August 27, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Keep in mind that the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay is quite extensive. Although not as immersive as it’s a small world Christmas, it is still more detailed than that overlay or Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. A Christmastime-only overlay would hardly warrant three weeks of down time for the installation and a couple more in January for the removal. As a local who visits regularly, I really enjoy the change each September, especially after more than forty years of essentially the same (although still terrific) Haunted Mansion. Also, given the amount of Nightmare merchandise available year-round in New Orleans Square (and, sadly, everywhere else), there is no way the overlay will be shortened.
That said, i would love to see multiple and more pronounced changes from year to year, besides the gingerbread house. Wouldn’t it be great if the HMH overlay periodically featured a Hat Box Ghost placement? Bet that would change the tune of those who want a shorter overlay.
And for those that have not seen Nightmare, you do not need to see the movie to enjoy HMH, although it certainly helps in appreciating characters other than Jack.
August 27, 2012 at 11:35 pm
Haunted Mansion Holiday is what my family and I look forward on seeing if we can make it that time of the year, My family and I live out of state and we have been to the Disneyland Resort in Spring, Summer and Winter but we have always found our favorite time is in the Fall, the park is less packed the heat is gone and the weather is great. We will be traveling in October and we can’t see any other better time than going that time of the year, Nightmare Before Christmas overlay is special time and I don’t see anything wrong with it, I feel that is what makes the resort special that they can cater to the holiday seasons. AP holders may disagree because they are mainly Southern California residents and can be at the park all year round but us out of state people love the holiday change.
August 28, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Me and my wife, and a few friends just went for 3 days this last week. All I can say about the new Buena Vista Street and Cars Land is “WOW”. They really put in the extra effort with these additions. We fell in love with what I consider a new park now. All of us spent the majority of the time in California Adventure, vs before Disneyland was always the park that you line up for and enter first in the mornings. All of us ended up buying C.A. themed merchandise. They still have some more work to do, but overall it is a completely different park now than it was a year ago.
Favorite new thing: Radiator Springs Racers at Night w/ the fireworks in Disneyland going on at the same time. (The timing in order to do this has to be spot on) All you photographers out there better start getting some of these shots because they make for great pictures.
August 28, 2012 at 9:32 pm
My family loves HMH!!! (But then again that is one of our favorite movies and we collect all the Nightmare mechandise and have it displayed in our home and my man has a half sleeve tattooed on his arm with all the characters….so safe to say we may be partial:) ) It is one of our favorite parts of Disneyland when it comes to the fall/winter. We almost feel like after going on it after the Nightmare overlay is down that it is almost kind of boring. I mean, yes it is a classic Disney ride and we still go on it every time in the other parts of the year, but the Nightmare overlay is so detailed and adds so much to it. Not to mention that since it is so detailed and they spend so much time on it, it would almost be a waste to just have it up for a short amount of time.
August 29, 2012 at 9:14 am
http://www.miceshots.com/usr/67/08-27-12-IMG_5067.jpg
They need to fix the chip on the nose of the ship’s figurehead. (Not to mention abrasions on her breasts.)
August 29, 2012 at 10:58 pm
Thanks for the update. : )
August 31, 2012 at 3:15 pm
I look forward to the carved pumpkins every year! I like to see them after dusk when they are lit up — amazing! And, thanks to those with the skilled hands to do such great work.