Disneyland is currently in the middle of a surprising number of minor construction and refurbishment projects that include the Storybookland Canal Boats, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, with Big Thunder and Alice in Wonderland soon to follow. That’s not to say that there are not enough attractions left open to enjoy your day at the Disneyland Resort. With Halloween Time in full swing, Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday overlays add a bit of extra fun to the park. More reasonable crowd levels than we’ve seen in months, make now the logical time for Disney to get their refurbishment projects completed. Here is what you can expect to find if you’ll soon be visiting the parks.
FANTASY FAIRE VILLAGE
The Fantasy Faire Village rolls along towards a 2013 opening. The construction walls have pushed out further towards the hub at the center of the park. This will soon be the new home of Disneyland’s princess meet and greets.
Green construction screens obscure the steel framing of the structure.
MAINTENANCE
There are a number of projects happening at the park right now. One of which is the Indy refurb that caught many off guard, including Disney. After a short planned refurbishment, park planners realized that there was a lot more work left to do. So the ride will be down for at least 14 weeks.
Indy is scheduled to return at the end of the year.
Frontierland
In Frontierland, fences have gone up to work on a cart along Big Thunder Trail. At the same time, a large portion of the back route towards Fantasyland has been re-surfaced.
Fantasyland
Both the Casey Jr. Circus train and Storybookland Canal Boats are being spruced up.
Mickey’s Toon Town
Finally, Mickey’s Toon Town is looking a little rough around the edges. Benny the Cab, who normally graces the entrance to Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, has been missing in action for weeks now.
It also seems that the hills are alive with the sound of peeling.
Tomorrowland
Pizza Port has reopened while the maintenance department continues to touch up the facade.
This is great. But it might be a good idea to turn off the mist spraying rocket adjacent to the entrance for now.
The entrance is soaking wet.
A wet floor just before walking into the slick-floored Pizza Port isn’t exactly the best idea.
But what would make us happier is for Pizza Port to be granted a full refurbishment on the inside as well – hopefully including an updated menu – as this spot is getting a little long in the tooth.
Main Street U.S.A.
The City Hall building is still behind the scaffolds and trompe l’oeil murals.
The Mad Hatter has returned from a quick refurbishment.
HALLOWEEN TIME
Despite the construction, Halloween Time in the parks is still in full swing.
The Dapper Dans ride down Main Street on the horse drawn carriage singing Grim Grinning Ghosts.
The Halloween Tree is a lovely sight to behold at night. With its glowing orbs of red and orange laced with spooky and mischievous jack-o-lanterns, it just begs you to get into the Halloween spirit.
If you haven’t visited yet, we highly recommend the new Halloween Carnival Jamboree in the back of the park. It is a charming little holiday festival that is too easily overlooked in its remote location. Stop by for a look and share this tip with your friends and family. We’d love to see more of these little festivals in the park throughout the year.
Even the goats are in the spirit.
In the festival itself there is some amazing pumpkin carving going on.
TRICKS ON THE TREATS
An insidious little change has slowly been occurring in the the shops around the Disneyland Resort. The larger ticket items that one normally sees in the stores have maintained a fairly steady price this season. However, if you head towards the cash wraps, where the impulse items are, you will find that prices are going up (in some cases dramatically).
impulse buys such as the standard bunch of mickey lollipops, have jumped in price from $3.95 to $6.95. Yikes! Better stick with the other suckers where the prices have remained relatively unscathed so far.
We’ve been told that prices on lots of little affordable items have recently gone up. If you’ve noticed this trend, please comment below with examples. We are not big shoppers and are hoping our readers can help fill in the blanks.
CURRENT WAIT TIMES
A look at the wait time boards show that this is off season. Radiator Springs Racers still pulls in a long wait, but the rest of the park has returned to reasonable levels.
RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS
You have heard the stories. Fast Passes selling out by noon for the latest E-ticket addition to Disney California Adventure. We visited mid-week, in the morning and by 10:30am this was the status…
The end of the line reached out to the front of the Carthay Circle Theater Restaurant.
The return time at 10:30. YIKES.
DUFFY
Don’t forget, Mickey’s lovable travel companion, Duffy, has his Halloween photo-op/meet and greet ready to go. With merchandise just inside the store to go along with his seasonal theme.
FRANKENMERCH
There is an upcoming Frankenweenie product release and signing happening next Saturday from 3:30-5:30. Mark your calendars now for October 6th – 3:30 to 5:30 at Off the Page.
FRANKENMOVIE
We round things out with the odd decision by park management to simply run the new Frankenweenie preview and trailer in the Muppet-Vision theater continuously, all day. In the meantime, Muppets is currently listed as down for “improvements.” Since the theater is being used as a screening room, we doubt that any real improvements are being made.
And that’s our update from the Disneyland Resort. Yes, there’s a lot of work going on right now. But please don’t let that stop you from dropping by. Crowd levels are enjoyable and Disneyland looks fantastic in its Halloween best.
We’ll see ya real soon . . . In The Parks