Disneyland‘s busy holiday season officially comes to an end today after a huge New Year’s Eve celebration in both parks followed by a festive Three Kings Day celebration and the final holiday crowds visiting the parks over the weekend. Disneyland now begins 2014, but the year may shape up to be another quiet one for the Resort as it continues to rest on the rewards of Disney California Adventure‘s hugely successful 2012 expansion. Today we take a final look at the various holiday offerings, recap the New Year’s Eve festivities, and take a look at what we can expect from Disneyland in 2014.
Don’t miss your weekly Disneyland Resort crowd forecast — provided by our friends at MouseAddict — in the Weekly News and Information Roundup at the end of today’s update!
Get a closer look at today’s update! Click on any photo in today’s blog to see a larger, high-resolution version.
Let’s get started!
Welcome 2014 |
Huge holiday crowds hit Disneyland on Tuesday to ring in the New Year. Guests packed Disneyland throughout the day with Disneyland’s midnight fireworks being the big draw.
Disneyland saw huge crowds all day. A look at early afternoon New Year’s Eve wait times
Setup for New Year’s Eve festivities in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle
Long wait times throughout the park at all attractions
Extended queue for Pirates stretched across New Orleans Square
Extended Haunted Mansion queue
Lots of stroller parking along the Rivers of America
Would you wait 45 minutes for the Astro Orbiter?
Small World Mall dance party setup
While Disneyland was packed full, the story was very different in Disney California Adventure with crowds far more manageable. Overall, crowds in California Adventure felt like a moderate summer afternoon.
Setup for New Year’s Eve swing party in Carthay Circle
DCA afternoon wait times on New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve band stage in Cars Land
Only a 5 minute wait for Junkyard Jamboree on New Year’s Eve
DCA was just as pleasant in the evening, with live music throughout the park including the great swing party in Carthay Circle.
And the park rang in 2014 with its annual fountains and fireworks show on Paradise Bay
Video of the full New Year’s Eve World of Color Countdown to Midnight show:
After midnight, Disneyland remained open until 2am with Sleeping Beauty Castle looking festive until the morning hours.
End of the Season |
Today, Monday, January 6 marks the final day of Disneyland’s 2013 holiday season.
Your last chance to enjoy some holiday cheer is today!
Santa dons his post-Christmas smoking jacket now that he can relax a big following Christmas
On Main Street, the recently-added flower market was recently scaled back, likely due to the heavy post-Christmas holiday crowds.
Most of the flower market was removed completely. Hopefully it’ll return soon with spring floral now that the holidays and holiday crowds are gone.
Just a bit of the flower market remains
The photo-op covering the defunct ice cream window remains in place
Last chance to enjoy seasonal attractions like the Haunted Mansion Holiday and the Jingle Jangle Jamboree are today. Haunted Mansion will reopen January 18 following the removal of its holiday overlay.
Today is also the last day to see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies perform at Disneyland. Disney announced in November that the park would retire the popular live act. Billy and the gang have been performing at the park for over 20 years and fans are expected to pack their final shows today to say good-bye.
Pluto waits for the Hillbillies…
The Jingle Cruise will remain open for another week, closing on January 13 for three days to remove its holiday overlay.
“it’s a small world” Holiday will remain for now, closing on January 21 to remove its holiday overlay.
The Frozen meet-and-greet, new for the holiday season, will likely stick around with the film continuing to do extremely well at theaters.
The small meet-and-greet in Fantasyland continues to pull really impressive wait times
In California Adventure, the popular Buena Vista Street and Cars Land holiday offerings will end today.
Today also marks the end of Paradise Garden’s successful Viva Navidad celebration. In addition to the regular Viva Navidad line-up, the cultural holiday celebration added Three Kings Day treats, decorations, face painting over the weekend. Three Kings Day ends today along with the rest of Viva Navidad.
The Three Kings Day decorations originally made for the celebration in Disneyland’s Frontierland have moved to Paradise Garden this year.
Three Kings Day crowns at the free crafts station
Free Three Kings Day face painting
Your last chance to enjoy the Viva Navidad celebration is today – if you have the opportunity, don’t miss it – it’s truly fantastic.
The surprisingly great Viva Navidad Street Party also ends today.
On the Horizon |
Disney has yet to announce any major new projects for 2014 but some changes are coming to the park this year and as it approaches its 60th anniversary in 2015.
[center]Dive, Dive![/center]
First up, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is now closed to begin what has MiceAge Update say that the attraction, the Resort’s most expensive ride to operate, is quietly being shuttered by Disney to cut costs.
The attraction wasn’t set to close until Sunday, but was shuttered a day early after having to close due to technical difficulties Saturday afternoon. We’ll be keeping an eye on the Submarine Lagoon for you all throughout the year to see what happens to this historic attraction.
Below, take a final video ride-through of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage from Saturday morning before it unexpectedly closed early.
The attraction closed Saturday afternoon after technical issues
[center]Clubbed[/center]
In New Orleans Square, work on the Club 33 expansion has been underway since the Court of Angels closed in October but now the Club is completely closed as it begins its full remodel and expansion project.
Sunday was the final day of operation for Club 33 and the official end of its original main entrance as well as the Club’s Trophy Room, which will become a new kitchen for the restaurant.
When it reopens this July, the Club’s new main entrance will be through the doors of what was previously the L’Ornament Magique shop and the new main lobby will be the Court of Angels.
Scaffolding and tarps cover the construction that is widening the upstairs bridge that connects the existing Club above Cafe Orleans with the space for the new Club 33 jazz lounge, which is being built in the space above the French Market.
[center]Fixing up Fantasyland[/center]
In Fantasyland, the old Skyway Chalet is rumored to be on the chopping block. The structure has sat unused since the Skyway’s closure in 1994 and Walt Disney Imagineering has decided to let go of the structure, which is not ADA-compliant and slipping further into disrepair. It’s a shame, as the structure could be a really lovely character meet-and-greet location with the proper upgrades and modifications to bring it up-to-date. The plan, however, is to dismantle it as soon as the last of the holiday crowds leave Disneyland, and with that, the old Fantasyland Skyway Chalet will slip into Yesterland.
Elsewhere in Fantasyland, another notable change will be coming soon over at the Alice in Wonderland dark ride. The classic Fantasyland ride suddenly closed in summer of 2010 after a Cal/OSHA inspector pointed out the outdoor portion of the ride track lacked proper handrails for Disney employees and maintenance workers. Disney voluntarily closed the ride and installed a temporary scaffolding and handrail fix for the ride, turning the once open and charming outdoor portion of the ride into an eyesore of scaffolding and tarps.
The attraction has operated with the temporary safety fixes like this since 2010 and after rumored fixes and expected closures, the ride is now expected to close in early February to install a permanent fix which is rumored to include a complete dismantling of the existing outdoor track and the construction of a new track that will be shorter, no longer winding, take up a smaller footprint and, most importantly, be Cal/OSHA-compliant.
It’ll be great to see a permanent fix come for this, which would be going on four years of being covered in tarps and temporary scaffolding this summer, it’s just unfortunate that the permanent fix comes at the cost of trimming the track so its shorter and decidedly less fun.
A video of the current ride experience
Throughout the rest of Fantasyland, the other classic dark rides rumors have suggested that Disneyland had planned to close each of the classic dark rides, starting with Alice, to dramatically upgrade and enhance the classics for the park’s 60th anniversary. Those rumored plans have been reportedly put on hold as even more rumors say that Disney has halted all major projects in response to problems with its major MyMagic+ project in Florida.
Currently, only Alice in Wonderland is officially scheduled to close anytime soon, but hopefully the rest of the dark rides get their updates and upgrades in time for Disneyland’s big 60th anniversary.
[center]Wildest Reopening in the Wilderness[/center]
Around the same time that Alice in Wonderland closes in February, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is expected to begin soft openings in Frontierland. The E-Ticket closed in January of 2013 and remained closed for the entire year after last-minute changes and safety additions forced Disney to delay its scheduled October reopening to February 2014.
Trains are now routinely testing on the Big Thunder track
Murmurs online say that the ride will reopen without the moving boulders in the ride’s earthquake scene.
[center]Say ‘Cheese’[/center]
This year Nikon will begin its new role as the left Disney last year after filing for bankruptcy and choosing not to renew its contract with Disney. Nikon is expected to bring new cameras to Disney’s PhotoPass photographers and bring back the various sponsored “Photo Spots” around the park, among other things. Hopefully Nikon will take over Kodak’s old photo supply and information booth in Fantasyland that Kodak left empty. The information booth is an old Fantasyland ticket booth and has sat unused and ignored since Kodak left, hopefully Nikon can move in and this little piece of Disneyland history can be saved.
[center]See Ya Later, Trashcans[/center]
Back in Tomorrowland, rumors are circulating once again that the Captain EO Tribute may quietly close in the coming days. The show returned to Disneyland in February 2010 as a tribute to Michael Jackson following the star’s death in 2009. In September, fans of the show worried Disneyland was preparing to permanently close it when it was scheduled to close for a three-month refurbishment. The September “refurbishment” was canceled and the show remained open through the end of the year but now rumors are circulating once again that the show could close at any moment as a cost-savings move by Disney until they’re ready to announce a permanent replacement for the 3D theater (rumors suggest a new Star Wars show here). In any case, if you’re a fan of Captain EO, you may want to catch a showing just in case it does glow away soon.
[center]Starbucksland[/center]
In Downtown Disney, the final new Starbucks location for the Disneyland Resort will open in the space formerly occupied by Anne Geddes and later by BLINK by Wet Seal. The new Starbucks location is set to open this winter, which could mean anytime between now and March, and will be the third Starbucks location added on property since 2012.
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Weekly News & Information Round-Up | ||
Weekly Theme Park Hours January 6-12, 2014 |
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[B]Disneyland Park[/B] | [B]California Adventure[/B] | |
Monday: 9 am – 10 pm Tues.-Thurs.: 9 am – 9 pm Friday: 9 am – 12 midnight Sat.-Sun.: 9 am – 11 pm |
Monday: 9 am – 9 pm Tues.-Thurs: 9 am – 8 pm Fri.-Sun.: 9 am – 10 pm |
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[CENTER]For a complete listing of theme park hours, visit the Disneyland.com Theme Park Calendar[/CENTER] |
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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] A weekly look at projected crowd levels at the Disneyland Resort.[/center] |
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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 wraps up this week’s edition of Dateline Disneyland. Hope you all had a happy New Year’s Eve celebration and best wishes for 2014!
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FTC-Mandated Disclosure: Promotional consideration for this edition of Dateline Disneyland was provided by the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel & Water Playground. |