Welcome back to the Disneyland Resort where things are really on a roll. Today we take you for a look at Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and Mickey & Friends Parking as lots of changes big and small are on their way to the resort. If you missed our coverage of the Disneyland After Dark event, you can find that HERE.
| Downtown Disney’s New Attraction |
Downtown Disney earns the top spot in the update today with the imminent opening of Splitzville and the announcement of another restaurant on the way.
Over at Splitsville, the restaurant/bowling alley is just about ready to open. Construction walls have come down and Disney has announced the facility will open Monday, January 29th. If all goes well, there should be soft openings this weekend. The Alley will feature 20 lanes and a full kitchen and bar.
The Disney Parks Blog gave a preview of the menu:
Macho Nachos: Loaded with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar jack cheese, queso, black bean corn salsa and pickled jalapenos. Nachos are then drizzled with avocado ranch and served with a side of sour cream.
Chicken Thigh High Sliders: Two crispy chicken thigh sliders tossed in Asian barbecue sauce and topped with slaw.
Poke Bowl: Your choice of salmon, ahi tuna or tofu with pickled radish and avocado over bamboo rice. Bowls are topped with spicy mayo, Nori threads, sesame seeds, scallions and Togarashi spice.
Sweet N’ Spicy Chicken Bowl: Tempura-battered chicken, broccoli, red and green peppers are tossed in spicy Thai chili sauce and served over sushi rice.
We cannot wait to try the food and to prove to the world that Dusty is the worst bowler on the Update Team. Seriously though, we are big fans of the Splitzville in Disney Springs Orlando and look forward to giving the Anaheim version a try.
Just around the corner from Splitzville, Ridemakerz and Build-A-Bear have moved out and their spaces gutted. Build-A-Bear can now be found at the Outlets of Orange just a few miles away.
The Disney Dress Shop will be gone in a few weeks, completely freeing up space for the new Black Tap Craft Burges and Brews to start moving in.
All this work is to prep the building for not one, but two new restaurants coming later this year. Disney has just announced a second restaurant for this building: Ballast Point.
San Diego-based Ballast Point, a pioneer in the craft beer industry and one of the nation’s leading craft breweries known for high-quality, award-winning and innovative beers, today announced the opening of a brewery, tasting room and kitchen in the Downtown Disney District at the Disneyland Resort. The opening marks the first-ever brewery for Downtown Disney. Opening in late 2018, the 9,350-sq. ft. space will house a three-barrel “research and development” brewery, New American restaurant and outdoor beer garden. This will be Ballast Point’s first location in Orange County and seventh in Southern California.Wildly popular San Diego-based brewer Ballast Point will open its first Orange County location in Downtown Disney District later this year. Ballast Point pairs its high-quality, award-winning beers with an extensive menu of Southern California cuisine—salads, small plates, flatbreads and entrees featuring local, sustainable and seasonal ingredients. The space will house the first-ever on-site brewery, tasting room, kitchen, and outdoor beer garden at Downtown Disney District.
From the concept art, it appears that Ballast Point will take over Build-A-Bear’s upstairs space. It will be interesting to see how Disney divides the building up to accommodate the two restaurants
Over at Naples, the restaurant is expanding to better accommodate demand. Their bar will now be moved outside to the patio, and the establishment will be adding an additional wood-burning oven.
Across the way from Splitsville, D-street has been pushed out by The Disney Home store, which should be opening next month.
Throughout Downtown Disney, the planters have switched over to a Spring color palette.
A major remodeling of World of Disney is on the way and the building is definitely in need of it.
Let’s just hope it doesn’t look like the latest Disney Stores . . . which have a boring Microsoft Store look to them. I sure do hope they maintain a whimsical design.
| Disney California Adventure |
Buena Vista Street Lock Out
Entering the park earlier this week, guests were greeted by a sign saying there are no lockers in the park. Both BVS and Grizzly River Run Lockers were closed for upgrades.
Grizzly Peak
Grizzly River Run continues its winter Refurbishment. We can see them replacing the woodwork on the pedestrian bridges.
The path just beyond the smoking section is all boarded up.
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail continues its refurbishment. We are expecting the attraction to open in April sometime. Walkway netting and padded walkways all need replacement as we noted back in November.
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Hollywood Land
It won’t be long before Loki and Thor go back through the Bifrost and the king of Wakanda, Black Panther comes and visits.
Pacific Wharf
Work continues on the Bakery Tour. The entire bakery area has been torn up for a complete remodel. As a result, the Pacific Warf bakery is no longer serving Soda nor freshly baked bread. The soda pumps are stored in the bakery section, and the bread at the moment is being trucked in from the West Place Mall. Don’t worry though, the bakery is scheduled to restart production next week on February 2nd.
Work continues on the refurbishment of the covered tables at Sonoma Terrace. From the main walkway, they look closed. But in fact, they are open, something the CMs want us to tell you.
Cars Land
Over in Carsland, All the Christmas Decorations have been taken down including the secondary poles down the street.
Disney has left the Horn-O-Plenty in place behind Luigi’s. This is a leftover Halloween decoration. I wonder how long is it going to last?
Paradise Pixar Pier
Work continues on Pixar Pier as more construction wall has been install along the corridor to Midway Mania. This area is definitely starting to remind me of 2009’s Wall Street.
Disney has now boarded up the walkways in front of Treasures in Paradise and Ariel’s Grotto.
No ice cream in Paradise.
Newly printed panels can now be seen down the walkway with new concept art and a variety of Pixar Characters.
Concept Art Changes:
We can now see Disney completely ditching the Theater idea instead using the entrance arch for a bandstand.
Also changing the name of Bing Bong’s Confectionary to Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff.
Also, we have a full-sized picture of the Incredicoaster Neighborhood entrance.
We can see that the California Scream Cam shop turning into a Cookie Stand.
Over at Toy Story Mania, Scaffolding now adorns the building as the yellow and orange paint scheme will be repainted as yellow and green.
Midway Mania’s Fastpass is currently located at the World of Color Fastpass distribution. One of the World of Color carts is printing out TSMM tickets at the moment. You can find them near the Little Mermaid and across from the restrooms.
King Triton’s Carousel is now scheduled to close March 2nd to begin its transformation. There was some confusion as the attraction stayed open even though it was posted closed during the first couple of days of the Pier Closure.
The attraction Marquee for Screamin’ has not been removed yet.
Scaffolding can also be seen climbing up Mickey’s Fun Wheel. All the gondolas have been removed. Maybe Disney can fix the ongoing problem that Fun Wheel lights have with sections going out and/or staying on during World of Color.
The Parade Gate on the far side of the Pier has been removed as construction walls now reach all the way to Paradise Gardens.
Disney will celebrate Lunar New Year beginning this weekend. This is the year of the Dog . . . and you can expect to see Pluto featured everywhere around Paradise Gardens.
This year’s Lunar New Year Celebration will include:
- Hurry Home — A nighttime water show on Paradise Bay before World of Color (it was delightful last year).
- Disney characters such as Mulan and her friend Mushu, along with Mickey Mouse and his pals, all dressed up for the occasion — including Goofy dressed as the God of Good Fortune
- Specialty food – Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese foods at marketplaces and Paradise Garden Grill
- Commemorative merchandise featuring designs inspired by the different cultures of East Asia
- Lucky Wishing Wall – where you can add your own wish
- Procession – Mulan’s festive Lunar New Year Procession returns
Disney has set up a few of the Food Booth to sell specialty foods from China, Vietnam, and Korea.
In Paradise Garden, Boardwalk BBQ has already switched over to the new menu.
Elena of Avalor has moved out and Mulan has moved into the garden’s meet and greet hut.
The Lunar New Year Celebration will run daily from January 26th through February 18th.
| Mickey & Friends Parking Structure |
Construction work continues on the lower level of the parking structure as Disney preps to move the tram route yet again. The moving of the route this time will be to accommodate the construction of the parking expansion – as the current route is in the way of the new multi-story structure.
Disney is expecting the structure to take up to 2 years to complete. Disney will be limiting the number of disabled parking spots in the structure as both Chip & Dale and Pinnochio lots will be unavailable and Disney will only be able to use the limited amount of disabled parking on the upper levels. If you have a disabled placard, be prepared to park at Toy Story until construction at Mickey & Friends is completed.
Out in the Tram Courtyard, Disney is removing the last of the remaining original wheelchair ramps.
| Micechat’s AMAZING Anniversary 15th Weekend! |
Come join us and celebrate MiceChat/MiceAge Anniversary with another AMAZING evening of food, wine, celebrities and Disney history!
Join us on the evening of February 2nd at The Anaheim Hotel (across the street from Disneyland)
Featured Panels
Welcome To The Jungle:
David Koenig presents a panel of original Jungle Cruise skippers! The jokes will be corny and the history will be heartfelt.
First Lady of the Haunted Mansion:
Garner Holt, the legendary creator of the world’s best animatronics, presents one of the original female Imagineers, Tania Norris, who worked with Walt Disney and all the early Disneyland creatives. Tania joined Imagineering to help design New Orleans Square and the Haunted Mansion! You are going to LOVE her story!!!
Amazing Disney Authors:
Meet award-winning Disney authors David Koenig, Mindy Johnson, and Dave Bossert as they discuss their latest releases. Get your signed copies of:
- Mouse Tales
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons
- Ink & Paint – The Women of Walt Disney’s Animation
PLUS: We’ll have delightful hors-d’oeuvres, a bar, and an opportunity for you to meet with our special guests and authors.
EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY: If you are also competing in the Gumball Rally the next day, you can early register at this event.
Sign up for the MiceChat Anniversary Kick-off Event today – HERE.
And that’s not all folks!
MiceChat Gumball Rally – Feb 3rd
Join us for the world-famous Gumball Rally on February 3rd, 2018. It’s a competition to see who can ride the most attractions at Disneyland in a single day. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have in the parks. For more information please visit the Gumball Rally Page HERE.
MiceChat Anniversary Mega Meetup – Feb 4th
And on February 4th, we’ll meet at Disneyland for a full day of meets, events, meals, and fun. To be notified of the full schedule of events, please enter your email below:
Sponsored By:
| 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 shot and assembled by Brian Pinsky with additional photo contributions from Dsny Debbie and Suzanne Lee. |
| 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: |
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]
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