Disneyland always commands a certain amount of magic, but add a light misting of rain, as was the case off and on this week, and you have a transcendent, surreal playground. As the fair weather guests disappear from the park the remaining park goers are rewarded with a tranquil, magical wonderland.
THE DISNEY GALLERY
The Disney Gallery unceremoniously opened a reconfigured exhibit called Realms of Fantasy. Instead of being Castle-centric, this exhibit focuses more on the inhabitants of Fantasyland and lands of fantasy in the Disney parks.
We also get a look at some of the released artwork for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster in the yet to be completed New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World.
Check out this exhibit sometime. It’s great.
FANTASY FAIRE VILLAGE
The new princess project near the castle continues construction.
MOTORBOAT CRUISE DOCK
On kind of a downer note, the tranquil dining area, formerly known as the Motorboat Cruise Dock, is showing signs of real disrepair. Rust is now fully visible at water level, which could very well be spelling the demise of this beloved spot.
Let’s hope that Disney is willing to spend a little money on keeping up this relatively quiet portion of the park, even though it doesn’t add to rider capacity or revenue.
FANTASYLAND THEATRE
The archway for the Fantasyland Theatre was revealed Tuesday. It looks pretty much the same as before, freshly painted and awaiting proper signage.
JINGLE JANGLE HOLIDAY
The wonderful Jingle Jangle Jamboree continues its run in the Big Thunder Ranch area of the park. We highly recommend a visit to this far corner of Frontierland as it offers nearly wait-free access to a rotation of very popular characters and, if you’re lucky, obscure ones too.This area closes with Christmas Time.
RIVERS OF AMERICA
Pointed out by members of the MiceChat discussion boards, a tree has fallen along the banks of the Rivers of America.
Frankly if it wasn’t pointed out you really wouldn’t notice it. Looks rather like the wilderness if you think about it.
In Disney California Adventure the park is handling the the culminating holiday season with as much panache and polish as its older sibling next door. While news out of this park this week was slow, there are a few interesting bits of info.
For instance, Andy Castro reported days ago that Stage 17 was used to test a new type of interactive entertainment being developed by imagineering. While the test was running, the terrible, “Dancin’ with Disney” offering was scuttled.
Mercifully, Dancin’ has not returned.
CALIFORNIA CANDY CANES
Disneyland isn’t the only place that candy canes are made. The new candy shop on Buena Vista Street goes through the same painstaking process. Here is a look.
A slow news week but a wonderful time to soak in the final days of Christmas at the Disneyland resort.