It was a rather quiet Easter week at the Disneyland Resort. The popular EGG-Straveganza maps that led guests on an easter egg hunt through the happiest place on earth sold out quickly. But guests could still scout the parks looking for the eggs on their own. Of course, the big news was the opening of the Maleficent preview at the Bugs Life Theater in California Adventure. This week will also be filled with mildly interesting happenings. To begin with, it’s a small world celebrates its 50th anniversary this Tuesday. Refurbishment tango continues inside Disneyland, and we get more and more of a sense of what is going on at Alice in Wonderland.

LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR THE GUMBALL RALLY!!!

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The MiceChat Gumball Rally is coming up fast! Get your team together and let’s get ready to roll in the event that has you competing with other Disney fans to see who can ride the most attractions at Disneyland in a single day!  Yes, it’s a lot of fun.  If you’ve competed in the event in the past, we have added a few exciting twists to keep you on your toes.  Tickets and Information HERE

Addictometer Crowd Estimates for Disneyland Resort


April 21-27, 2014

MONMaleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

TUEMaleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

WEDMaleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

THUMaleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

FRIMaleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

SATMaleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

SUNMaleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50


We expect smaller crowds this week…

  • Even more refurbs begin today, but it looks like this week and the next will finally mark the peak in this ongoing slew of attraction closures. As we slide into summer, the refurb list grows smaller.
  • Hotel rooms are plentiful, including at the Disney Resort hotels.
  • To ensure accurate and up-to-date wait times and crowd estimates, don’t forget to report your wait times in Mouseaddict by tapping on the attraction’s wait bar. Thank you!

The free Mouseaddict app for iPhone and iPad features more than five dozen categories of searchable resort information, weather forecasts, park and show schedules, the latest news and articles from MiceChat, and more. Download free on the App Store or at mouseaddict.com.

Maleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

 

it’s a small world

The classic Disney attraction will be celebrating 50 years of unity through song on Tuesday, April 22nd.  Mind you, this is not the 50th anniversary of this particular attraction in Disneyland.  That will happen in two years.  Rather, this is the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of the ride at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Thankfully, Disney reworked their earlier refurbishment schedule to keep this attraction open through Tuesday, April 22nd.

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The attraction is scheduled to go down for the second round of refurbishment the day after the 50th anniversary, on April 23rd. It will be closed to finish up the Cal/OSHA work through May 22nd.  We took another ride through the attraction to give you a closer look at some of the work that has gone on inside the show building.

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In many scenes, there are long sections of evacuation routes that are redly apparent.

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Fresh carpet and emergency lighting can be seen in spots throughout the boat ride, directly next to the flume.

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By the way, they installed a lovely water effect here with blue fabric and wind.

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The gophers are gone in the America scene. They were removed to create a wide enough pathway for emergency evacuation of the boats.
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Exit arrows have been painted on the floor and are quite noticeable.

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The refurbishment has been rough on the attraction with some props and sets in need of a touch up.

It’s still a charming ride, regardless of the new access routes which are being installed along the ride path.  Let’s just hope that the finished product addresses some of the show issues when it reopens in May.

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Really?

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Still not much to see here at the lagoon.

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Alice in Wonderland

Over at Alice in Wonderland, it sure looks like the exterior track will remain the same, with new evacuation platforms. We sure hope that turns out to be the case.

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Club 33

The expansion of Club 33 continues, with scaffolds and tarps set up throughout New Orleans Square.

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The old arch to the Court of Angels.
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Peering in through the slats, we catch a glimpse of construction.

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Pirates of the Caribbean

Since Pirates of the Caribbean will be closed for refurbishment from April 28, 2014 to May 22, 2014, we decided to take a ride.  As we had heard, there are many animatronics already missing along the route.  We also noticed a few things in need of repair.

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Poor Barbossa was having trouble mouthing his words on our ride through.
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In the dunking scene, the mayor was stationary.
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One of the three singing pirates was gone.
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The gregarious, pistol-toting pirate on the left in the final scene was missing. However, his audio was still crystal clear.
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Bless his heart, Jack Sparrow needed a facelift.

In all honesty, these problems would have only been noticed by regular visitors.  But that doesn’t excuse it.  That type of mentality may fly in Orlando, but it has normally been unacceptable up until now.

Refurbishment Round Up

Here is your updated list of scheduled refurbishments.

Space Mountain

Space Mountain is scheduled to be closed for refurbishment May 12, 2014 to June 26, 2014.

it’s a small world

Closed for refurbishment April 23, 2014 to May 22, 2014.

Mark Twain Riverboat

Closed for refurbishment April 28, 2014 to April 29, 2014

Gadget’s Go Coaster

Closed for refurbishment April 21, 2014 to May 15, 2014.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye

Indy will be excavating deep inside the Temple of the forbidden eye until May 8, 2014

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Tarzan’s Treehouse

Tarzan will take a break from vine swinging for a week soon.  The treehouse will be closed for refurbishment April 21, 2014 to April 22, 2014

King Arthur Carousel

Closed for refurbishment April 28, 2014 to May 1, 2014

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Maleficent, Maleficent moves in to Disney California Adventure and Small World turns 50

 

Maleficent

Well, well. . .  it appears that a famously evil presence has taken root in A Bug’s Land.  The experience itself is actually pretty impressive for a temporary installation.  Lucky for the park, the Studios were willing to pay for a fancy new HD projector for the theater.

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Approaching the former It’s Tough to be a Bug marquee, our eyes are drawn to the right, where a gnarled, purple briar frames the title pod this temporary attraction.  As it turns out, The “naturalistic” surroundings of It’s Tough to be a Bug are actually a perfect place to be exhibiting a preview.  The minor additions blend in perfectly.

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At night, the sign is illuminated with an eerie green glow.

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It’s too bad that the removal of the original sign couldn’t have been done with a little more finesse.

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Entering the queue we begin to hear the score for the upcoming film.

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We are handed our pair of purple 3D glasses and allowed into the holding area.

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All of the punny theatre posters e.g. Web Side Story, are removed leaving only the barren, earthy walls.

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We enter the theater and the title is waiting on the screen in front of us.  The house is awash in blue and green tones.  The preview itself is fine, at 12 minutes in length it is a rather generous preview too. SPOILER ALERT!!!  They utilize the wind, smoke, and touch effects minimally and tastefully too which was nice to see. END SPOILER

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The upside to this installation is simple. the theater has been upgraded with a very expensive HD projector.  After Maleficent departs, the venue gets to keep the fancy new Real 3D projection system installed for the engagement.  Yes, that is a wonderful trade-off too.

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Though, with all the previews which have been held at the Muppets theater and now the Bugs theater, we’ve got to wonder “What’s next?” Sorin’?.  Thank God for studio money!

No More Red Trolley Sundaes

The Red Car Trolley sundae containers are no more.  Instead you can eat your ice cream from Mickey Pants!

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One Disney

Come on Merchandise Department.  Isn’t it time to move these mugs to Company D or Property Control?  Why are there Epcot and Animal Kingdom Mugs on Buena Vista Street?

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Muppet Vision 3D

The trickle of people into Muppet Vision is waning, despite the brief uptick with the release of the new film.  The extra signage directing people to the attraction have been migrating back towards the attraction too.

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Boudin Bakery

The exterior of the Boudin Bakery is coming along very nicely.  There is some lovely work being revealed here.  It sure does take a long time to age things.  😉

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Grizzly River Run

Strangely, this water ride is scheduled to be Closed for refurbishment from today through June 19, 2014. Many online have questioned why this wasn’t handled during the winter months.

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Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

The interactive play area, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, went down for refurbishment on January 6, 2014.  It was scheduled to open this morning, April 21st.  We are eager to see what would have warranted such a long refurbishment.

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That about does it for In the Parks from Disneyland and Disney California Adventure for this week. Aside from all the refurbs, the parks look spectacular at the moment. If you can break away, this is a great time to visit.

 Andy Castro will be back one week from today and we will be returning to our normal In The Parks routine this Friday.

if you haven’t yet, don’t forget to sign up for the Gumball Rally!  The event will likely sell out at some point today. Don’t miss out!

We’ll see you again soon . . .  In The Parks!

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