What a colorful we have for you today from the Disneyland Resort.  The park is, of course, in the middle of a very busy Spring Break season. But it is the onslaught of blossoms and spring colors which has the park looking simply beautiful.  If you need to get anything at Disneyana, now is the time, we’ll tell you the sad news.  We can also see more Rainbow Ridge at Big Thunder Mountain, There is progress inside the Innoventions building, and Muppet Vision 3D has re-opened in Disney California Adventure.  Let’s take a little stroll . . .

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

The Spring Break crowds have slowed just a bit from last week’s massive numbers.  Yes, it’s still crowded.  Just not quite as bad.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Sitting quietly and just listening to the Disneyland band in Town Square is something to put on your bucket list.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

DISNEYANA

As mentioned at the beginning, Disneyana will be no more after April 13th.  Market House will be closed as well and expanded.  When  re-opening in the fall, it will feature Starbucks beverages, just like the Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe in Disney California Adventure’s Buena Vista Street.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
The Disneyana store will move down to the front of Main Street and share the space currently held by the Disney Gallery.

CROWDS

While the crowds at Disneyland have lessened, they are by no means gone.  Here are pics from this past Tuesday.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
While the entire inside queue was packed at Autpoia, there was still a mass of people waiting to enter.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
It better be EXTRA wild with a wait like that.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
While Pinocchio did not have a posted wait time, the estimation would be 30-40.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
The same was true at Snow White’s Scary Adventures. No posted wait time, but the line filled the enclosed queue and stretched out to the pathway.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
This was actually a fairly normal wait time.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Tomorrowland, in particular had pockets of clogged pathways.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Something we thought was rather ingenious, they used the strollers to actually help divide traffic in New Orleans Square.

 

MOUSEADDICT

Speaking of wait times MiceChat has partnered with the best of the Disneyland in-park apps to bring you the best wait times, tips, maps, events, schedules and more . . . all with MiceChat integration and special deals. With just a tap in this beautifully designed app, you can read the very latest MiceChat blogs, check your private messages, find showtimes up to a week in advance, view menus and make dining reservations, see current wait times and crowd levels, see the park as it was in 1955, create reminders for shows, dining and FastPass… and too many more features to list here. Here’s the best news: Mouseaddict is free and available right now in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Visit http://mouseaddict.com to learn more and download the app for free.

INNOVENTIONS

In contrast, even on the busiest of days, Innoventions still only has a 5 minute wait to get in.  Of course, the new Iron Man exhibit (which is still under construction and will not be open until April 13th) will likely change that.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Walls near the entry door have been pushed out, expanded to accommodate construction of the new exhibit.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

Sarah the MiceChatter takes a look at the upcoming Innoventions exhibit in her latest video:

 

BIG THUNDER REFURB

Big Thunder Mountain rolls along on its refurbishment schedule too.  Rainbow Ridge is nearly all framed and built out.  The next step, is detail, paint and texturing.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

Along the backside of the attraction, one can catch glimpses of the construction throughout the ride.

 

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Glamorous construction trash.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

DISNEYLAND BEAUTY

Disneyland is simply a beautiful park.  But, we have said it before, it is, arguably, the most beautiful in the spring.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
The Casey Jr. Circus Train rides the outer rim of Storybook Land atop a hill of candy colored petunias.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
The flowers cradle the yellow shrubbery that spells out “Storybook Land.”
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Near the entrance to the Casey Jr. Circus Train, the seasonal flowerbead is ablaze with orange marigolds and purple petunia.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
In Frontierland the bow of the Sailing Ship Columbia peers into the horizon as the canopy of green foliage lazes in the background.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
At the hub of the park, brilliant pink flowers surround the Partners statue.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

PINK TREES AT THE HUB

Speaking of the hub, we thought we would spend a bit of time here. Every year about this time, so many people flood us with emails asking, “What on earth are those lovely pink trees?”  Lets take some time to really look at them.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

Planted in March of 2004, these Pau d’Arco (Tabebuia avellanedae) replaced the 8 original olive trees that resided in that spot.   The olive trees, said to have been close to 125 years old, were removed to allow better viewing of the hub-centric 50th anniversary fireworks that were being developed at the time. Tony Baxter was able to save a few of the trees and personally paid to move them to his house. Smart man!

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

Native to South America the Pau d’Arco tend to bloom for about a month during the spring.  The dazzling, bright pink trumpet blossoms are punctuated at the center with a warm yellow color.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
A detail of the bark, you can also see the twinkling lights wired throughout the branches.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Below, a bed of Pansies, Marigolds, and Petunia surround the trunk.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

As the blooms on the trees cycle, they begin to wilt and fall off.  Subsequently the pink flowers coat the ground and surrounding flowerbeds with a carpet of color.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

What a truly magical landscaping decision.  We look forward to this time of year.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Gumball Rally info – click HERE

The Gumball Rally is a race to see how many attractions you can experience at the Disneyland Resort in a single day.  The event is a little over a month away, so you still have time to grab a ticket.  The date for the Rally is May 4th.

How is it played?
Simple.  Form a team of people numbering 2, 3, or 4 players.  Sign up on the Gumball Rally info page.

It is best to come up with a really clever team name too.  This intimidates your competitors. 😉

Event ticket include breakfast, a game packet, and an award party where we entertain you, give away prizes and then crown the winning teams. (Theme park tickets are NOT included – you’ll need to park hop this year).

We will give each team a booklet that contains one question for each attraction included in the race.  This year, many of the attractions in both parks will be included in the game.  The questions are not trivia. The intention of the questions is only to verify that you rode the attraction.  The questions are simple enough to answer, but very hard to guess, unless you are riding to find the specific thing we are asking for in the question. A few of the questions really keep you on your toes (we’ve got to make it fun).  At the end of the day, you will turn your packets in at the designated finish line and then trot off to go grab dinner and head to the awards party at the Howard Johnson Anaheim Resort.

Nearly every participant come back with huge smiles on their faces – worn out from a wild day at the parks, but with a sense of accomplishment. This is a strenuous activity. 12 hours in the parks and 16 hours of total event time. But WOW is it worth it. The perfect day with friends and family at the happiest place on earth.

WE HAVE ROOM FOR JUST 8 MORE TEAMS! DON’T DELAY, REGISTER TODAY!

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

 

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

We begin our journey inside Disney California Adventure this week by examining some of the new merchandise offerings in Buena Vista Street.  Do any of these strike your fancy?
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
For $34.95 you too can have Disney characters throwing out Facebook references.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$34.95

Then, of course we have the latest in Spring Break attire.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
these basic shirts are a bit more grounded in reality ranging from $24.95-$29.95

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

 This collection of vintage style T-shirts get a little expensive at

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

The retro-chic shirts are actually pretty nice, albeit a tad expensive.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$34.95
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$34.95
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$34.95
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$34.95
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$59.95

The pullovers and sweaters are where things get crazy.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$59.95 for this basic sweater.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
$59.95 for this one too. Ouch.

We know Disney isn’t a charity or non-profit organization but wow!  You would think that the prices could be just a little more reasonable on some of these items.

MUPPET-VISION 3D

And finally we have the return of the sadly ignored Muppet-Vision 3D attraction.  While it is still an entertaining little show, it has simply past its time and seems like a relic compared to the much shorter movie attractions of today. No matter what Disney does, the crowds just don’t show up to these 3D movie attractions in DCA (Tough to be a Bug suffers the same issue).

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
The Oz standee is gone
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Inside, the prop house waiting area seems less cluttered too.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Still sponsored by Kodak. 😉

DCA CROWDS TOO

Disney California Adventure was also pretty packed this week, with the average wait times hovering around 40 minutes per ride.

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Monsters Inc. had a 45 minute wait and needed to use it’s usually empty overflow queue.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Tower’s fast passes were nearly all gone by 11 am and had a 60 minute wait.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Tip, if you wait longer than 5 minutes for the chew chew train in Bugs Land, you’ve waited too long. It’s an attraction which, though cute, suffers from being far too short.

 

disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Screamin’ was at about 90 minutes
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Toy Story had 45 minutes.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
For a thrill, Fun wheel riders had to wait 15 extra minutes as the non-swinging gondolas only had a 45 minute wait.
disneyland resort, In The Parks: Disneyland Resorts Flowers, Wait Times, and Construction
Little Mermaid commanded a 35 minute wait.

That about wraps things up for our In the Parks update from the Disneyland Resort.  If you haven’t done so take a listen to our latest MiceChat podcast here.

MICECHAT PODCAST

MiceChat’s Doug Barnes, Eric Davis, Fishbulb and Dusty Sage compare Disneyland’s new Fantasy Faire Village with Disney World’s new Fantasyland. Plus, Universal and SeaWorld theme park news.
Listen along to the newest MiceChat Podcast and let us know your thoughts.

Direct Link | iTunes Link

Would you like to be on a future episode of the podcast? Submit your questions to the MiceChat Podcast hotline, call 609-935-2147 (by leaving a message you agree to let us use your recorded message in a future podcast) or write to [email protected].

Norman Gidney
Norman Gidney, also known as Fishbulb, has produced and edited many of the articles on MiceChat over the years.