Twas the week before Halloween and all through the park, the guests were all queuing and the lines hit high marks. The pumpkins were nestled all snug in the hub while Christmas creep began with holiday grub.

It’s that time of year folks. Halloween isn’t even here yet and Christmas can’t wait to move in. We’ve got all sorts of things to show you this week, including holiday merchandise, Star Wars Land construction and the park in the rain . . . with a bit of electrifying video.

Disneyland

DUMBO IS 75

We’d like to lead off with a happy birthday to Dumbo, which turned 75 yesterday! The film was released in 1941. The Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction at Disneyland opened in October of 1955 (It wasn’t ready for opening day). The ride remains a Disneyland classic and is one of the few attractions to have been built in every Magic Kingdom style park around the world (including Shanghai).

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A Rainy But VERY Crowded Day At Disneyland

Every day at Disneyland is special. But there are those days which try your soul. Yesterday (Sunday the 23rd) was one of those days. The morning started out with perfect temperature and a nice overcast sky. There was only a 10% chance of rain and it looked like it was going to be a great day to visit the Happiest Place On Earth. However, crowds were very heavy with Fall break for some schools & Halloween Time packing folks in. It’s not fun to wait an hour for Pirates, or an hour and a half for Space Mountain. It’s even harder to navigate Tomorrowland or Adventureland when it’s wall to wall people. But, thankfully, the rain came without warning and began to flush crowds out of the park. There are some great Disneyland attractions which you can experience without a wait, even on the busiest days of the year.

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Halloween brings huge crowds. There’s no doubt that Halloween has become as popular at Disneyland as Christmas. The September through December period is now Disneyland’s peak season. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around this popularity since Fall was always one of the least crowded times of year to visit when I was a young lad in theeeeeeee (oh, shoot, looks like my keyboard got stuck).

All the major attractions had lines in the hour+ range on Sunday.

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Crazy crowding in New Orleans Square.
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The Pirates queue wrapped all the way up onto the bridge and was 55 minutes long when this photo was taken in the afternoon.
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Peter Pan’s queue is always a bear, and yesterday was no exception.
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When I arrived at 11am, the queue for Matterhorn was already 45 minutes long.

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The wait for the Mansion was an hour and queued up in the Magnolia Garden’s park in front of the New Orleans train station.

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Sunday was the last day for “it’s a small world” before its holiday overlay is installed. We had intended to ride . . . but the line was very long. Oh well. The Holiday version is less annoying anyway.  😉

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I was at the park with the MiceChatters for our regular Sunday meet-up. We frustrated that we had to wait 40 minutes just to buy our lunch and that all of the lines for the rides we’d normally visit were too darn long? But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. There are ALWAYS attractions you can visit without a wait, even on the busiest days. You just need to shake off your expectations and open your mind a bit.  We did a few of those things . . .

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The Main Street Vehicles are always a great option on busy days. But beware, operating hours for these attractions are generally confined to the earlier part of the day.

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Tiki Room is also a great option. Grab a Dole Whip (which is dairy free) and take it into the theater with you.

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We decided to do something that normally we wouldn’t even think about . . . we climbed the gazallion stairs of Tarzan’s Treehouse.
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The view from up there is amazing.

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The teapot and cup look mighty familiar . . . and that cup has a chip 😉
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Although it is currently docked until the river reopens next summer, the Mark Twain is still worth a visit.
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Same situation with the Trains. The New Orleans and Main Street stations remain open to guests, even though the attraction isn’t currently operating.

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The Horseshoe is a good spot to get out of the sun or rain and offers entertainment and refreshments. . . though, it was still very crowded on Sunday.

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One of the best activities at Disneyland is taking in the scenery, plantings, and characters.
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Gaston walks briskly through Fantasyland. He’s a hard character to catch. He shouted “Out of my way . . . I’m gorgeous!” Indeed.
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A foul looking fellow bumped right into me as I was shooting this update. 😉

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Love, love, love the next one. . . but lots more steps . . .

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Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through is one of the true gems of Disneyland.

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Of course, there’s lots of construction and refurbishment going on at Disneyland as well.

The Columbia continues her renovations for the new Fantasmic.

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Tall scrims have returned to the stage on Tom Sawyer Island. There’s also a large piece of equipment visible.

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What’s that big gray box above the turquoise boat?

 

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Looks like it might be a projector.

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Another dock rebuild.

Splash Mountain is down until November 5th for refurb. As a result, all of Critter Country closes during the week-days. . . but the land does reopen on the weekends so you can ride the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

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Tomorrowland remains a land between themes. Part retro-future, part Star Wars, part Pixar   Photo_5669

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95 minute wait for Ghost Galaxy.
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They still haven’t put anything new in the upstairs of the old Innoventions building since Marvel moved out.
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Seating is important. On Sunday, most of the benches in the park seemed to be occupied. In Tomorrowland park, not only were the kids playing with the floating ball, the parents were sitting on the benches which surround this unique water feature.
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The Orbitron hasn’t functioned in ages. They really need to do something with this platform and the surrounding People Mover tracks. Keep it and do something with it, or tear it all down. Disney has had since 1999 to figure this all out. There’s an entire generation of kids who have no idea what the platform was used for or what was on the old People Mover/Rocket Rods track. As I stood in the shoulder to shoulder crowds of Tomorrowland, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated . . . especially since a high capacity ride like the old People Mover would soak up many of those guests and give them something to ride on a busy day.
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Here’s another frustration . . . the Starcade is still promoted with a functioning neon sign.
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Which leads to ugly closed doors. Just another derelict spot in a troubled land.

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And then the rain came. I LOVE the park in the rain.

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Apparently the most dangerous spot in Disneyland. 😉  It takes a temporary fence and two posted security guards to protect you from the ugly remains of the compass in the middle of the Esplanade on a rainy day. Why don’t they just pull this out and put bricks down until they can install the beautiful fountain which was always planned for that very spot?! Bricks would be cheaper than staffing people to keep guests from walking on a slick surface. And there’s nothing magical about the crumbling remains of the old decorative terrazzo anyway.

 It’s Christmas Everyone

Well, it well be very soon. Some early decorations are going up now, merchandise is making its way into the parks, and the upcoming week should see a tremendous amount of change in the parks.

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Some early Christmas decorations are making their way into New Orleans Square. More should be on the way this week.

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Main Street is getting into the Holiday spirit, with Christmas beginning to edge out Halloween.

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These dress ornaments are adorable:

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It’s rare to find Bambi merchandise, but this sure does fit the holiday well. Look at that fancy gravy boat that Thumper is sitting on.

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Star Wars Land Construction Update

This construction project is hitting warp speed. The river is scheduled to return by summer. We should start seeing the rock work go up around the new train tracks soon.

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The entry tunnels into the land serve the dual purpose of creating a surprise entry for guests and providing support for the Disneyland Railroad which will travel above.

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The brown fence on the left is Critter Country trail. The building with the shingles in the center is Hungry Bear. A new boardwalk is being constructed between Hungry Bear and the river. It will loop up around Hungry Bear and connect with Star Wars land.

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Sorry these photos are all so dark. It was a dreary day. In fact, it was sprinkling at the time these photos were taken. You know what’s even more rare than rain in Southern California? Lightning! As I was taking these photos, I saw several large bolts. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture any on camera. But I did get a short video of one of the smaller displays. There’s been a disturbance in the force!

 

Disney California Adventure

We are going to try something a little different this week. We’ll be bringing you Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney photos tomorrow.

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Thank you !
All of us on the Disneyland Photo Update crew would like to thank you for joining us today. Each week we’ll feature different photographers and commentators (often more than one). Today’s MiceChat Disneyland Update was photographed and assembled by DustySage. Are you a member of the MiceChat Sunday Meet-up Facebook group? If you are interested in meeting up with fellow theme park lovers in the parks, please be sure to follow this group: MiceChat Sundays in the Park. And please follow the MiceChat Facebook Page for news and updates from the Disneyland Resort and beyond:

Goodbye For now!

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That’s it for this week’s Update.Are you a photographer? Do you love the parks? Would you like to contribute to the Disneyland Update or other MiceChat columns? Contact Dusty Sage: [email protected]

Dusty Sage
Dusty is the founder and CEO of MiceChat.com. When he's not visiting theme parks and writing, editing or speaking about Disney and theme parks worldwide, Dusty is involved in multiple Disney related projects and charities. He helped save and restore the charming Walt Disney Birthplace in Chicago, launched the Dick Van Dyke Foundation, and is the curator of Walt Disney's historic 1930's estate in Hollywood. If you've got news or photos to share with the MiceChat community, or would like to book Dusty for an upcoming event, please contact [email protected]