Disneyland celebrated the Easter holiday last week with several Easter-themed offerings including meet-and-greets with the Easter Bunny at Disneyland and an egg hunt in Disney California Adventure. The “Spring Fling” Easter-themed offerings were around for only a week as part of Disney’s Limited Time Magic promotion and included appearances by rarer characters including Roger Rabbit and Carl Fredricksen from Pixar’s “UP.” Meanwhile, refurbishments continued in Disneyland as Iron Man gets ready to move into Tomorrowland‘s Innoventions later this spring. It might be April Fool’s Day but we’ve got a no foolin’ update for you today to kick off your week.
Get a closer look at today’s update! Click on any photo in today’s column for a large, high-resolution version of the image.
| Welcome to Disneyland! |
Easter sunrise at Disneyland
Our friends at Touring Plans can help you beat the remaining Spring Break crowds with their tips and crowd forecast below:
Spring Break crowds get a little thinner this week at Disneyland. TouringPlans.com can help you navigate the parks with our per-park Crowd Calendar, Lines – Mobile Wait Times App that gives access to current and estimated wait times for attractions, and Touring Plans detailing the best plan of attack for hitting the attractions. Now more than ever, it’s a good time to subscribe to TouringPlans.com to plan your strategy to avoid the crowds!
Below are the predicted resort-wide crowd numbers for select days generated by the TouringPlans professional statisticians as measured for the upcoming week. For the access to the full year and per-park crowd level predictions, visit our Crowd Calendar.
— Fred Hazelton, Statistician, TouringPlans.com
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[center]Overall Crowd Prediction[/center] |
[center]TouringPlans.com Crowd Tips[/center] |
| Tues., Apr. 2 | [center]10 /10[/center] | Here are some quick-hit notes that we hope you’ll find helpful as you prepare your visits for the week:
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| Wed., Apr. 3 | 8 /10 | |
| Thu., Apr. 4 | 7 /10 | |
| Fri., Apr. 5 | 8/10 | |
| Crowd levels are based on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded.See Disneyland crowds for the next 365 days. Get Disneyland wait times on your iPhone, Android, or Smartphone.Do more. Wait less.  Dateline Disneyland is sponsored by TouringPlans.com. |
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A look at Disneyland wait times midday on Easter Sunday:
| Limited Time Magic |
[center]Spring Fling
at Disneyland Resort
March 25 — 31, 2013[/center]
Disneyland Resort theme parks had a few Easter-themed offerings last week as part of it “Spring Fling” Limited Time Magic offering. In Town Square, Disneyland offered meet-and-greets with the Easter Bunny as well as a very short “Bunny Hop” interactive show.
The Easter Bunny met with guests at a special photo op next to the Disney Showcase store
Disneyland also offered the special “Bunny Hop” interactive street show in Town Square before each showing of the Mickey’s Soundsational Parade.
The entire “Bunny Hop” was a rather short affair. It featured no musical soundtrack beyond the a cappella harmonies of the Dapper Dans. Mickey, Minnie and the Easter Bunny rolled through Town Square aboard a minimally-decorated float followed by several Disney bunnies including the rarely-seen Roger Rabbit.
The float parked at Christmas Tree point and the bunnies and Dans headed out onto Main Street to teach guests how to do the bunny hop dance.
Participating groups fell into two groups – some participated in learning the bunny hop while others took the opportunity to get quick photos with their favorite bunnies such as Brer Rabbit, Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh, the White Rabbit and Roger Rabbit.
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And in just a few short minutes the whole affair headed backstage and disappeared. It was very short and came off as being a very hastily-put together show with shoddy planning. A lot of guests lined up early for the Bunny Hop Sunday afternoon only to get mixed information from Cast Members about where the show would happen and only to find out that it was an interactive street show so lining up early for a good section of Main Street curb to sit and watch from wasn’t really necessary. Still, it was good to see characters like Roger Rabbit and the Easter Bunny out.
Over at Disney California Adventure, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail offered an Easter Egg Hunt as part of the area’s Wilderness Explorer Merit Badge scavenger hunt.
Guests hunted eggs and matched their designs with letters on the map to spell out a secret message to earn their Egg Hunter Merit Badge
The secret message: “SPRING HAS SPRUNG”
The Wilderness Explorer show featuring Russell featured a special guest at the end
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Carl Fredricksen made an appearance as “Easter Bunny Carl”
Guests could line up to take a picture with Russell and Carl after the show
Overall, the Wilderness Explorer egg hunt was a simple idea but could be challenging at times for those participating. The Egg Hunt was a lot more fun and lasted longer than Disneyland’s chaotic Bunny Hop offering. It was also free, which is an improvement over the previous week’s Vinylmation Egg Hunt at California Adventure, which cost $4.95 to participate. Still, the Vinylmation egg hunt came with a set of Vinylmation keychains but those were only worth the cost if you’re a Vinylmation fan.
[center]Film Screening: Walt Disney’s Dumbo
Limited Time Annual Passholder Magic Event
at Disneyland Park
April 4, 2013[/center]
Disneyland Annual Passholders can screen “Dumbo” at the Main Street Opera House on April 4.
- Film Screening: Walt Disney’s Dumbo
- Thursday, April 4, 2013
- Opera House, Main Street U.S.A. – Disneyland Park
- 5:00 p.m. (Film run time: approximately 64 minutes)
- Wristband distribution for the event will begin at 11:30 a.m. on the day of event.
- All participating Guests (ages 3 and older) must be valid Annual Passholders on the day of the event.
- Registration and check-in must be completed in person at the Main Street, U.S.A. Opera House on the day of the event only; no phone reservations or other registration will be accepted.
- It is recommended that all members of your party check-in together, as space is very limited for this screening.
- All participating Annual Passholders must present their active Annual Passport to the event Cast Member, who will check event availability. Photo ID may be required.
Let your imagination soar at this special Annual Passholder screening of the classic animated film, Walt Disney’s Dumbo. Relive the enchanting tale of the circus elephant with enormous ears who learns to achieve his full potential. Attendees will also receive a souvenir Dumbo-themed bucket – perfect for snacks, while supplies last.
- Date
- Event Location
- Screening Time
- Event Registration and Wristband Distribution
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| A Marvelous Future |
Back in Disneyland, Tomorrowland’s Innoventions building will soon be home to a temporary exhibit showcasing costumes from Marvel’s upcoming “Iron Man 3” movie.
Innoventions has been a broken concept since it opened at Disneyland. Even if it’s temporary, hopefully the Iron Man exhibit can breathe some new life into this huge and terribly misused bit of Disneyland real estate.
Inside, you can currently find such cutting-edge technologies as the Kinect for Xbox 360.
Other displays like the Healthy U, originally sponsored by St. Joseph Hospital, are still in place but have been stripped down and don’t even appear on the official Innoventions exhibit listing on the Disneyland.com website.
The fountain still has logos for St. Joseph Hospital’s 75th Anniversary. The hospital celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 2004.
It’s unclear if St. Joseph even actively sponsors the exhibit anymore. It seemingly hasn’t been updated since opening in 2000.
In some places monitors remain in place, but their keyboards have been removed. The screens just display Innoventions screen savers and are no longer functional for guest use.
But where will Iron Man go? It appears the new Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries exhibit looks like it’ll go in next to Healthy U. Blue construction walls are up around the space now.
Below is Disney’s description of the upcoming Iron Man exhibit:
Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries will give Disneyland park guests the chance to see Tony Stark’s Hall of Armor, featuring Iron Man suits Mark I-VII – the same suits featured in “Iron Man 3.” And you will even be able to virtually “suit up,” yourself! Through simulation technology, guests will be able to see what it’s like to operate the latest pieces of the Mark 42 Iron Man armor, even getting the chance to test out its infamous repulsor blasts.
Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries opens inside Innoventions on April 13 and will run through September.
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Refurbishment Round-Up |
Meanwhile, work continues on some refurbishment and construction projects around Disneyland. Over in Fantasyland, the Fantasyland Theater continues to get ready for its upcoming stage show, “Mickey and the Magical Map” opening in May.
More stage dressing going up
A big paint bucket
In Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain’s extensive refurbishment project continues…
And the Mark Twain Riverboat’s refurbishment was extended through April 17.
And back on Main Street, the Refreshment Corner archway got its lighting fixtures back but not all of the archway itself has returned. It might not…
| The Gumball Rally Strikes Back! MAY 4, 2013 |
Can you conquer every attraction at Disneyland in a single day? MiceChat’s famous Gumball Rally returns this spring to put you to the test — Tickets on sale now!
- When: May 4th, 2013.
- Where: Disneyland Resort (both parks) in Anaheim, California.
- Cost: Approx. $27.50 per person.
- How Do I Sign Up?: Eventzilla Gumball Rally Registration Page
- How Does the Rally Work?: Details on the Rally Information Page.
| Welcome to California Adventure |
Over at California Adventure, not much to see as the park continues to welcome its first big spring break crowds since reopening last summer.
A new Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shirt at Oswald’s
As well as a fun new iPhone 5 case
A new Buena Vista Bugle has hit newsstands
Some nice spring color in Carthay Circle
The Buena Vista Street popcorn cart is selling fun new Buena Vista Street popcorn buckets
Over on Paradise Pier, the Silly Symphony Swings have reopened
Just for fun… a quick on-ride video of the swings:
A couple photos in Cars Land…
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| Weekly News & Information Round-Up | ||
| Weekly Theme Park Hours April 1 — 7, 2013 |
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| [B]Disneyland Park[/B] | [B]Disney California Adventure[/B] | |
| Daily: 8 am – 12 midnight | Daily: 8 am – 10 pm | |
| [CENTER]For a complete listing of theme park hours, visit the Disneyland.com Theme Park Calendar[/CENTER] |
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| [center]Expected Crowd Levels[/center] [center]presented by TouringPlans.com[/center] | ||
| [CENTER][B]Disneyland Park[/B][/CENTER] | [CENTER][B]Disney California Adventure[/B][/CENTER] | |
| [CENTER][B]HIGH[/B] [B]7.3—9.8[/B] out of 10[/CENTER] |
[CENTER][B]MED-HIGH[/B] [B]4.1—9.1[/B] out of 10[/CENTER] |
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| [CENTER]Crowd levels are based on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded. [B]For crowd predictions for the next 365 days, visit [/B] |
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| [center]Closure and Refurbishment Schedule[/center] | ||
| [b][center]Disneyland Park[/center][/b] | ||
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| [b][center]Disney California Adventure[/center][/b] | ||
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| [b][center]Downtown Disney and Disneyland Resort Hotels[/center][/b] | ||
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| [center]Headline Roundup A quick look at noteworthy Disney theme park headlines from around the web.[/center] |
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Alright, that’s it for this week’s Dateline Disneyland. Thank you for reading. Did you celebrate the holiday at Disneyland’s Spring Fling? What did you think of the Bunny Hop? Let us know in the comments section below!
We’re only here because of generous readers like you. Do you enjoy reading Dateline Disneyland every week? Consider helping us out by donating so we can pay the bills and keep the weekly updates coming! You can donate with a click of a button via PayPal — click here! For more Disneyland news, be sure to read MiceChat’s weekly In the Parks blog. And be sure to check out our sister blog, Dateline Disney World – a fantastic weekly photo blog covering Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida! Thanks for reading. See you at Disneyland! |
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| FTC-Mandated Disclosure: Promotional consideration for this edition of Dateline Disneyland was provided by TouringPlans.com | Do More. Wait Less. and the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel & Water Playground. |