The Disneyland Resort is filled with love and refurbishment is in the air. Disney’s Limited Time Magic celebrations continue with two charming offerings, True Love Week and the recently ended Lunar New Year in Disney California Adventure. Fantasmic returns today, sans the Mark Twain River Boat, and Big Thunder Mountain barrels along on its 10 month refurbishment. That’s not to mention the rapid progress at the Fantasy Faire Village project and the dizzying return of the tea cups in Fantasyland.
True Love Week continues at the Disneyland Resort and will run until Sunday, February 17th. The Valentine’s Day themed, Limited Time Magic event has bathed the park in hearts, pink and red tones and Disney Characters paired up with their true loves throughout the park.
- Floral Heart: A giant floral heart is situated at the tip of Town Square facing the Castle.
- Disneyland Sweethearts: Also near Town Square, guests will find a photo location with resident Disneyland sweethearts – Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck.
- Blushing Castle: By day, romantic heart banners adorn the Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. As the sun sets, Red and pink hearts are projected onto the Castle as well.
- Valentine Wishes: Flowers, garlands and decorative doves will create a second ideal location around Snow White Wishing Well near Sleeping Beauty Castle. At night, magical lighting adds a romantic touch to the wishing well and Snow White Grotto.
- Cupcake Lovers: Chefs have prepared a specially themed Valentine’s dessert: a chocolate cupcake with raspberry mousse filling and dark chocolate mousse frosting. It is available at Jolly Holiday Bakery Café in Disneyland, Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café and Pacific Wharf Café in Disney California Adventure, and Disneyland Hotel Coffee House.
- Valentine’s-themed Takeaways: Limited-edition pins, plush, newly-designed apparel and Vinylmations are available.
- Royal Romance: The Princes join their loves at the Royal walk on the Small World Mall.
FANTASY FAIRE VILLAGE
Lavish detail seems to be heaped on the village area of the upcoming Fantasy Faire Village. But, the spire for the new Royal Theatre which was installed this week, doesn’t have quite the same level of detail. And is very . . . um . . . pink.
You can see that they went with total Tournament style for the theatre area. The problem is that, from what we can see at the moment, the design seems to have the broad strokes and color palate found in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland, but not at Disneyland. That design aesthetic isn’t bad per se, but it certainly doesn’t feel right with the far more detailed, intimate surroundings of Disneyland. Also, that conflicting design scale so close to the relatively small icon of Disneyland park seems to compete for attention. Reducing the the size of the thing by a good 50% could work to solve the issue.
Set to open on March 12th, previews could begin as early as March 6th for this princess meet and greet area. Ignoring the “pepto-palace” on the left hand side, the rest of the village is coming along beautifully and drips with delicious detail.
BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAILROAD
Nothing much new to show you at the Big Thunder Mountain project. But it is still fascinating to see this wonderful attraction getting the attention it deserves.
FANTASMIC
The Rivers of America have been let back in to obscure the Fantasmic fountains. Tonight, the show makes its return. However the finale that is usually played out on the Mark Twain will take place on the island stage since the Mark Twain is still in dry dock.
MARK TWAIN
The Mark Twain continues on its refurbishment journey. The boat will miss the return of Fantasmic, but will be back in business on March 28th.
MAD TEA PARTY
As of today, February 15th, the Mad Tea Party (the teacups), should be reopened and spinning once again. This past Wednesday we snapped these shots through the construction screens. You can see the base of the teacups and the spinner wheels all waiting for the cups to be installed.
SILLY SYMPHONY SWINGS
The Silly Symphony Swings has been dismantled and is down for a full refurbishment. The ride is literally in pieces and splayed out on the platform above. The carnival style attraction will return on March 15th.
FAST PASS ENFORCEMENT
It’s true. Fastpass times are now being enforced resort wide. But the enforcement is being rolled out in phases. Currently there are signs perched on the Fastpass machines reminding guests that their return times matter now (got that passholders?).
There is still a grace period for now of one half hour after the return window. But, it would be best to get into the habit of punctuality.
CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR
The Limited Time Magic offering, Lunar New Year, wrapped up its “extended” run on Wednesday the 13th. A charming little event, this special celebration was surprisingly successful and rather enjoyable. Located in a small area near the Little Mermaid attraction, the San Francisco street was awash with crimson lanterns, character meet and greets, face painting, and crafts.
Every so often a fun little processional would entertain guests.
So far, these Limited Time Magic celebrations are turning out to be a good bit of fun. Let’s hope that they stay this way.
MiceChat has some limited time magic of our own to announce. The World Famous Gumball Rally, will return for one magic day on May the 4th at the Disneyland Resort. What’s a Gumball Rally you ask? It’s a race through the Disneyland Resort to see who can ride the most attractions in a single day (with lots of surprising little twists along the way, of course). But if you’d like to participate, you’ll need to act quick. We are limited to 500 tickets and we’ve already sold one third of our spots. Find a friend or family member or two and sign up today HERE.
We’ll see ya real soon, In The Parks!
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