Welcome back to the Monday Disneyland Update. While the rest of the country may be sitting fireside trying to warm up, here in California we just need to open our windows to the near 90º heat. Which makes Disneyland a great escape if you are looking for a slice of summer. And boy oh boy is Disneyland busy at this time of year. Let’s take a look around and seek what’s cookin’.

This Is Not A Drill

 

Speaking of HOT . . . Splitzville, the under-construction bowling alley and sushi restaurant, had a fire on Saturday evening. Thankfully, it appears that the fire was contained to a dumpster and no significant damage was done to any buildings. By Sunday morning, there was no visible sign of Saturday night’s excitement.

Keith Lapinig (@keithlapinig) posted the following video to Twitter on Saturday evening:

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This is what the building will look like when complete.
Disneyland

 

Although the parks are focused on the holidays at the moment, there are all sorts of little things going on.

Pixar Play Parade moving to Disneyland with New Units

The Pixar Play Parade is set to return on April 13th. But this time around it will be headed to Disneyland and not DCA. It’s all part of the Piar Fest celebration. While it makes no sense to us that the Pixar Parade would be at Disneyland since the new Pixar Pier is opening at DCA, we are excited to hear about new parade units for this aging street fest.  Thre new units will join the parade this summer:

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Space Mountain Single Rider

They’ve been testing Single Rider at Space Mountain. That could be a big time saver for you if it isn’t important to ride with your friends or family. I personally found it extremely uncomfortable having a person that you don’t know so physically close to you.

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Single Rider queues up at the exit of the attractions.

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Actual Christmas decorations in Tomorrowland.  Those are wreaths on Innoventions.

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The murals in Tomorrowland are looking dingy. But look above them and you’ll see some new devices which have been installed. Not quite sure what these are. Could be for more droid tests.

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Matterhorn Fence/Landscaping

Additional fencing and mulch has been installed around the Matterhorn.  The new internal fencing is quite tall.

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Crowds

It was a really busy weekend at the resort. Everything from parking to ticketing to getting into the parks was jam-packed.

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From the safety of the train, look across Small World and at that sea of people on Small World Mall!

While we expect the park to stay busy throughout the holiday season, conditions may ease a bit beginning next weekend when the SoCal and Deluxe passes are blocked. Signature passes are blocked after next weekend. In general, while the parks can be crowded at any time, you might catch a lucky break those last two weeks of the year due to top-tier pricing and passholder blockouts.

Stroll around Disneyland

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One of the few reminders of Jingle Cruise past is this tree. Do you miss the holiday overlay of Jungle Cruise?

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What to do with the Main Street Vehicles when the park is too packed to drive them up and down the street? Use them as a photo opportunity of course!

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Small World Holiday continues to be insanely popular, only made worse with Fastpass. Once manageable lines become monsters when Fastpass is added.

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Have you made a point to see the projection show on the facade of Small World after dark? It happens every 15 minutes and is really well done.

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, Disneyland Update – Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire

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Chrismas parade about to step off at Small World

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Not A Bug’s Life “Government Insect Trap”

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Great place to relax now that it is smoke-free

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Candlelight cleanup – Last week Town Square was a tangle of stages, chairs and lighting for the annual celebration of Christmas. But you’d never know about the magic from just one weekend ago. It was all cleaned up in a snap.

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It’s Christmas in Pooh Corner.

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Socks have become a thing. Some of the designs are really fun. You’ll find them in stores across the resort.

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Banana Jelly Beans. Yum!
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This is actually a cookie tin which is filled with treats.

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Treats

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Watermelon Churro. Who’s tried one? How is it? Sounds more like a summer flavor.

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Merchandise

It’s shopping season and many of you have been writing in to us wanting to know what’s in the stores. While impossible to show you everything, here are a few things that caught our eye this week:

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Purse Ornaments

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This is a shirt was first designed for Disney’s Animal Kingdom and it should stay exclusive to DAK.
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The demand for Oogie has certainly “died” down recently. He’s rarely out of stock.

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Short line for Oogie and long line for the newest craze . . . the AT-AT bucket!

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Rose Gold Ears are still selling out the same day they come in. They are kept behind the counter at the Emporium on Main Street.

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Sally ears are still popular but not selling out

Star Wars Launch Bay

The new film is almost here . . . We are hoping for updates to the exhibit and more merchandise.

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The only thing I saw inside the entire Launch Bay for The Last Jedi was the On Demand Phones cases and Merchandise inside the Gift Shop.

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DCA

Candy Canes

It’s rare for Disney to advertise the price of something outside of the shop. How many of you had a $14 (after-tax) candy cane this year?! It’s a cash grab I tell ya, but I bought one. The Castmembers inside work under extremely hot conditions only to make 200 per day. It’s one of my favorite parts of the holidays at Disneyland!

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Candy Cane Success!

If you arrive early in the morning you can even take pictures in front of the Trolley with Candy Cane cut-outs.

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Around DCA

The preview for A Wrinkle in Time will be playing soon at the Sunset Showcase Theater.

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Here’s the latest trailer for the film. Does it look interesting to you?

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Goofy’s Sky School is still closed for refurbishment but is scheduled to reopen on the 21st of this month.

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Star Wars Land Construction

Both of the big show buildings in the upcoming Star Wars Land are now well along the path to being enclosed. The Mountains are scaffolded and being sculpted. This will all look very different come the first of the year.

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Downtown Disney

How many of you have given up on parking at Downtown Disney because it’s become too difficult?

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Cars block intersections most nights and Anaheim PD has to direct traffic down the street to keep things flowing. On both Saturday and Sunday, North-bound traffic on the 5 freeway exited Ball Road and were met with an epic long line to get to Mickey and Friends. The line of cars stretched from the offramp, down Harbor, all the way down Ball to Disneyland Drive and the Parking Structure. That’s an hour or more from the freeway to the parking structure. Yikes!

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Here’s the next blockbuster film folks. The early reviews on Star Wars: The Last Jedi are very positive.

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Disney is making a donation to Make a Wish for every person that shares their ears online. It’s true!

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Just #ShareYourEars and you can help Make A Wish on Disney’s dime.

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, Disneyland Update – Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire

, Disneyland Update – Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire

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Hopefully the fire does not delay the construction on Splitsville too long.

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This location between Splitsville and Build-A-Bear that experienced the small fire on Saturday evening – Story at the top of today’s update.

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The new Star Wars VR experience in Downtown Disney is coming along quickly now. Since this photo was taken, the sign has gone up.

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D Street will be closing after the holidays to make way for a new Disney home goods store.

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Disney has not decided if the D-Tech On Demand will be moved to another location in Downtown Disney, like World of Dinsey; so after the Holidays the location inside Launch Bay will the be only on operating.

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All of these shops will finally close soon to make way for a new brew pub.

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There’s a much larger push for Toys For Tots at the Disneyland Resort this year.

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Keep in mind that this highly popular store will soon be closing to make way for a new restaurant. They don’t want to leave, Disney is forcing them out.

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Gingerbread House

The Disney Grand Californian gingerbread house is quite impressive.

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You need a really big cookie sheet to make this.

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See Ya Real Soon
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 shot by Brian Pinsky with additional photo contributions from Dsny Debbie and support from Photo Matt. 

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New Year’s Eve at Knott’s with Micechat

 

What are you doing for New Year’s Eve this year? MiceChat is offering another amazing event to ring in the new year. This time around it features Mrs. Knott’s Famous Fried Chicken and a full buffet of delectables. There will also be a Knott’s history presentation from Knott’s Preserved co-author Eric Lynxwiler, VIP seating for the ice show and fireworks at midnight! Plus rides, shows and attractions! It’s a great way to spend an evening, especially since most of the Disneyland passes are blocked out that day.

More info HERE

Don’t Miss Out! Friend and Follow Us:
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:

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]

 

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Brian Pinsky
Brian is an avid visitor of Disneyland and has been a Passholder for over 20 years. He is currently studying Civil Engineering and loves to map out the parks in his free time.