Have you made a New Year Resolution? If you were able to make one for Disneyland, what would it be?
Yesterday was the last day for the holiday season at the Disneyland Resort. Today’s Disneyland Photo Update takes a look at the parks as they wrapped up a very busy period. The decorations will start coming down right away. Haunted Mansion Holiday and Jingle Cruise begin their transformation back to their former selves today as well. As a result of those two attractions being down, Small World Holiday will remain around for a while longer. It will continue to operate as it is until January 23rd.
This is a huge update folks. We have over 300 photos for you and nearly an hour of video to enjoy.
The Holidays Depart
It was a beautiful and VERY busy holidays at Disneyland this year. With three attraction overlays, a Christmas parade, holiday fireworks, special treats, merchandise and decorations, Disneyland is really the ultimate holiday destination. And that means crowds, crowds, crowds. The week after New Years Eve turned out to be one of the busiest of the year, with both parks needing to restrict entry. Will the removal of the holiday offerings lead to lowered crowd levels? We can only hope.
The tree and decorations will all disappear in the blink of an eye.
And, with the removal of the snowy rooftops on the castle, we’ll see the castle in its plain and beautiful condition for the first time since the 60th anniversary celebration began in 2015.
Disneyland
Shortly after park opening on Friday, Peter Pan already had an hour long wait – and that was on one of the lesser busy days of the week.
Annual passes are unblocked and Disneyland Resort screeches to a miserable halt. BOTH parks are in gridlocked condition….
Posted by MiceChat.com | The Happiest Place in Cyberspace… on Wednesday, January 4, 2017
But, in the mornings, the pathways remain largely open, especially in the little out of the way places.
The Castle Heraldry Shoppe closes this week on the 12th. Disneyland ended the lease for the company which runs the shop. Disney has not yet announced what they need the space for. Here’s a Facebook post from the shop owners. We wish them well.
Castle Heraldry Shoppe Disneyland December 18, 2016 at 9:58am
The store is closing, but the memories will remain.
The Castle Heraldry Shoppe was open in 1994 in the entrance to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. The store was small but offered a variety of products and gifts for everyone. The shoppe moved to its present location when Sleeping Beauty’s Castle was updated. Still offering some of the original products and the ability to add to the options, we still offer unique gifts.
The experience for the cast members that have worked at the Shoppe are innumerable. Cast members witnessed the placing of a time capsule,meeting Roy Disney, celebrating Disneyland’s 40th, 50th, and 60th Birthday, and meeting guests from all over the world, to name a few.
We will still be here until January 12th, 2017 offering all of our Heraldry. Come in and get the Heraldry you have been waiting for.
ToonTown looks great at the holidays. Back to normal this week. But the force arises just behind this happy land.
In Tomorrowland, the force continues to rule. This is really the temporary Star Wars land until the real thing opens . . . far, far away . . .
Haunted Mansion Holiday is one of the highlights of the season and really packs in the crowds. Although this is one of the highest capacity rides Disney has ever built, it can still run hour+ waits throughout the holidays.
I couldn’t help myself. I needed to take one last ride. And I recorded it just for you.
The river reconstruction project continues at a rapid pace. Additional tarps went up around and over the Fantasmic stage. All sorts of work is happening in this area. Big changes on their way to Fantasmic.
Speaking of change. The Columbia refurbishment continues. The new masts have yet to make their appearance.
Star Wars land construction got muddy this week with a bit of rain at the resort. But a massive crew continues to work on this project.
Meanwhile, behind Big Thunder . . .
A blue tarp is over one of the big new rocks. Probably to protect it from the rain.
Disney California Adventure
With the closure of the Festival of Holidays and associated entertainment at Disney California Adventure yesterday, there aren’t going to be as many reasons to visit the park. DCA is very short on main draw attractions right now. When it’s cold, folks aren’t really interested in Grizzly River Rapids. Not everyone can ride a looping rollercoaster like California Screamin’. Sorin’ is very popular, but a very slow loader as well. The really strong family E-Tickets are Radiator Springs Racers and Toy Story Midway Mania (which isn’t really an E-Ticket). And that’s it for major attractions in the park. It’s a shame that Disney didn’t build a brand new Guardian’s ride in this little park and keep Tower of Terror as well. DCA is going to seem boring for a while.
Disney is wasting no time preparing the Tower of Terror for its new Guardian overlords. The cocoon is now fully in…
Posted by MiceChat.com | The Happiest Place in Cyberspace… on Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Seeing this line in person was shocking. I’ve never seen so many people queued up for California Screamin’.
Something new! Friday was Three Kings Day and DCA celebrated with a special performance by singer/storytellers. The celebration lasted through the weekend.
Dusty takes you on a tour of Disney California Adventure and shows you some of the changes coming to the park.
This and That
There’s a major pool refurbishment going on at the Grand Californian Hotel. The pool deck has been removed and the pool jack hammered.
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All of us on the Disneyland Photo Update crew would like to thank you for joining us today. Today’s MiceChat Disneyland Update was shot and assembled by Dusty Sage. |
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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]
And please share your comments below. Remember that New Year Resolution for Disneyland we asked about at the top of the update? What one thing would you have the resort do if you had the power?
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