There was quite a bit happening at the Disneyland Resort this week.  Halloween Time is back in business at Disneyland and festivities abound.  This week, we take in more of the wonderful Halloween Time decor and look at the updated refurbishment schedule.  The downtime for it’s a small world has been announced which will allow for the installation of it’s a small world holiday for the Christmas Season.  The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is slowly churning back to life with the construction walls receding.  We next see a smattering of refurbs on rides like Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin.  We also catch the news about Big Hero 6 coming to the Magic Eye Theater and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit finally finding a home on Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure.  Here we go!

Tomorrowplan Crowd Estimates for Disneyland Resort from Mouseaddict


September 19 – 26

Fri

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun

Sat

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun

Sun

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun

Mon

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun

Tue

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun

Wed

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun

Thu

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun


  • Hotels are busy this weekend all the way through the middle of next week.
  • You don’t need Madame Leota to look into the future. Just activate Tomorrowplan in the Mouseaddict app and you’ll get two weeks of crowd projections for your Halloween visit.

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.

Disneyland autumn, Disneyland Sweltering Autumn Fun

But first, a special offer for our readers at the Anabella Hotel in September. If you are headed to Disneyland this month, take a look and give the Anabella a call:

  • MiceChat readers get a special 20% discount when they ask for the “MiceChat” special rate.
  • PLUS, during the month of September, in addition to the 20% discount, Micechatters that call in and mention code “B42” receive breakfast for two each day at the beautiful Tangerine restaurant.

Guests must call Anabella directly at 714-905-1050 to reserve their rooms and must mention “MiceChat” and “B42” to receive both offers.

*Offer not available September 7-10 and September 24-27.

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Halloween Time

We begin our update at the front of Disneyland.  Here Halloween is brought to life with festive bunting and pumpkins everywhere.  Just don’t turn around and look at Disney California Adventure.  There’s nothing there for you to see.

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The Heat

This week Disneyland was hit by a round of triple digit temperatures.  This sweltering heat wave effected crowd levels dramatically and kept the locals out.  This left the park wide open for vacationers and die-hard fans to roam the park feely.

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Main Street at 2pm on Wednesday.
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A cast member stationed under the flying saucer as guests walk by in the oppressive sun.
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You could have shot a cannonball down Big Thunder Trail and not hit a soul.
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This Cast member was letting people know that the lower tier was only for guests accessing Tom Sawyer Island. Guests headed to Mansion and Critter Country were asked to veer to the left.
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The wait times reflected the malaise brought on by the heat.

Planter Work

At the front of the park, near City Hall, they have pulled up the curb and railings around the planter.  Odd.

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Halloween on Main Street

Now let;s take in some more wonderful Halloween Time decorations.  Shall we?

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Toontown Halloween

When you head to the park, do not be fooled.  Aside from a few sorry reams of bunting, there is virtually nothing happening in Toontown for Halloween

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Things look okay from here.

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But when you enter, this is it. Messy draping on the gazebo.

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They didn’t even bother to decorate the other side of the bridge that guests pass under to exit the land.

It’s not that the decorations are bad, it’s that they seem so very out of place.  The scant touches of Halloween Time back in Toontown don’t come off as an enhancement as much as an afterthought that was thrown together with leftover fabric and pumpkins from Main Street.  It feels undone.

Refurb Row

Back on Main Street we see that there is still plenty of refurbishment work happening to the facades on the east side of the road.

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In fact, the Photo Supply shop is totally under refurbishment at the moment.

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The passageway into the Photo Shop from China Closet is draped off too.

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Tomorrowland Autumn
Being huge fans of the Horticulture department, we always like to point out the little changes made here and there when we notice them.  For instance, the plantings in front of Tomorrowland have taken a more harvest tone.  Corn Stalks have sprouted up and mums in yellow, orange and rust fill in the gaps.

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Big Hero 6

As the preview de jour for Tomorrowland, the new Disney animated feature film, Big Hero 6, will be offering an extended trailer to guests in the Magic Eye Theater.

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Disney’s “Big Hero 6” opens in theaters in 3D on November 7, 2014.

 

The Disney dudes return to Disneyland to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion and ponder the upcoming enhancements to the Fantasyland dark rides. As Disneyland prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary, there’s lots for us to talk and speculate about. So, join Doug, David and Dusty as we take you for a walk in the park. It’s an amazing audio adventure. Then, we’ll transport you to Scare LA, where Disney Legends Bob Gurr and Alice Davis have a few things to say about the amazing Haunted Mansion.  Be sure to stick through for the very end of the show for a special surprise!

 

Big Thunder Ranch

We stopped by the wonderful Halloween Time Carnival to see if anything new had popped up. To our surprise, Halloween Magic and Mickey’s Mask-a-Rade were performing.

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The show was cute enough and the performers were top notch as usual.  The good/bad is that while we love the song, they recycled the Boo to You song from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Parade from Walt Disney World.

Inside Miss Chris’ Cabin things were all decked out as well.

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 Changes to Legends of Frontierland

The Legends of Fronteirland game was extended recently for an undefined period.  In the process, the writers of the game have begun to experiment with changes to the game story and the game play itself.
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The original conflict of the land dispute is now over.  There is a sense of peace in town, but a friendly competition is now in play for either town to be determined “Best in the West” at the end of day.  Land purchases, heroes created, and town citizenship are some of the metrics used to determine the winner.
All new citizens are given a “welcome packet” upon approaching a station, and depending on the station will determine your first “role” in town.  If you are starting at the Telegraph Office, you’ll be a messenger, Sheriff’s Station, a Deputy, (still to be finished) or Welcome Center, a reporter.
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Each packet now contains a “neutral” name badge with a pre-printed name and a corresponding stamp from where you started from.  If a player decides to buy land, they are then required to choose a side and receive a new “town” name badge in the respective town’s colors.
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The welcome packets are meant to be a streamlined introduction into the game to save the cast members time explaining the game mechanics over and over (and to now stop other guests from having to “cold sell” other guests on the game).  Each quest is supposed to help acclimate new citizens to the way of life in town.  It’s still not perfect, but it’s immensely better than before.
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The last noticeable change is that the Townsfolk are now giving mini-tutorials in town throughout the day.  Most of these focus on how conflicts are solved in town, using the Rock-Paper-Scissor method. Each “instructor” now uses the in-park audio system during these sessions to do 2 things.  First is to draw crowds, second is better audio clarity over the megaphones used prior.

Dia De Los Muertos

We were able to stop by the lovely Dia De Los Muertos decorations out in Frontierland’s Zocalo Park. We love this display and would like to see it expand out through this area of Frontierland.

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Hatbox Mickey

An interesting new popcorn bucket has appeared. Is this an indication of something to come or just a really clever merchandising choice? Either way, we like it!

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Haunted Mansion Holiday

Speaking of the Mansion, here are a few pictures from the Mansion this week.

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Refurbishments

Aside from Nemo, Mark Twain, and small world, there are a few other refurbishments coming to the park at the end of the month.

Mark Twain • November 28th

The Mark Twain Riverboat is closed for a major 3 month refurb.

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Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin • September 22-25

Matterhorn Bobsleds • September 22-24

Snow White’s Scary Adventures • November 4th -November 5th

Pinocchio’s Daring Journey • November 4th -November 5th

it’s a small world • October 20th-November 6th

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Indiana Jones and there Temple of the Forbidden Eye • September 16-18

Big Thunder Ranch – November 1st-November 6th

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage • Through September 26th

Construction walls have almost completely come down from the Finding Nemo submarine Voyage lagoon. The subs will soon be returning to motion on September 27th.

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The seagulls have yet to be installed.

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Sleeping Beauty Castle Changes

The refurbishment in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle is not totally done just yet but from what we can see, the alterations are rather interesting.  Sturdy wooden railings have been constructed along the drawbridge.

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Wooden casings hide the work that is being done where the half circle benches were.  We are really hoping that those aren’t going away.

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Terrazo Tumult

In the Esplanade we are happy to report that the terrazzo compass in between the two parks seems to be getting some much needed care.

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Over in Halloween-less Disney California Adventure we see that Buena Vista Street has a new resident!

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Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was introduced to guests on Sunday last week and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.  We waited about 20 minutes to have a minute with the rambunctious rabbit and he was a lot of fun.

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Refurbishment Round Up

The Bakery Tour, Presented by Boudin Bakery October 21st-January 16th

Golden Zephyr September 16th-September 17th

 

Don’t miss out on any of the upcoming MiceChat events. Gumball Rally, Sip and Nibble, Amazing Halloween events and more (scroll through the list below):

 

That should do it for the Disneyland Resort this week.  Check back soon for more amazing updates from the Southern California theme parks.  We’ll see you 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.