More and more diamond decorations continue to go up on Sleeping Beauty Castle as Disneyland prepares for its big 60th Anniversary Celebration. Meanwhile, refurbishments continue in both parks as big spring break crowds continue to hit the parks, with new work in Tomorrowland as other projects in Critter Country wrap up. We wrap up this week’s update with a quick jaunt through Knott’s Berry Farm’s wonderful spring Boysenberry Festival.
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!
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Hope everybody had a great holiday weekend. We’re back an unexpected week off. A big thank you to Norm with In the Parks for stepping in with a Disneyland update while I tended to a private family matter. Let’s get started!
| Welcome to Disneyland! |
The temporary Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show that’s filling in while Disneyland prepares its new 60th Anniversary show finally got an attraction poster.
Sleeping Beauty Castle continues to get the diamond treatment for its 60th anniversary overlay… More on this later in today’s update…
A look at some Spring Break wait times Friday afternoon (click to enlarge)
Over at Disney California Adventure…
A new Buena Vista Bugle is available on Buena Vista Street newsstands now
No Diamond Celebration bling on Carthay Circle Theater yet.
A look at wait times Friday afternoon (click to enlarge)
| Egg-stravaganza |
In both parks, the 2015 Egg-stravaganza egg hunt wrapped up over the weekend. The maps for the egg hunt cost $4.95 and were available at several locations.
Whether you found all the eggs or not, you could redeem the maps outside of Disney Showcase or at Elias and Co. for a cute plastic character egg.
Meanwhile, the egg decorators at Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree’s Springtime Roundup continue to create some great Disney-themed eggs.
I love this New York World’s Fair egg!
Fuzzball!
| Getting Ready to Dazzle |
The parks continue to get ready for the big 60th Anniversary before it kicks off in late-May.
At the end of Main Street, Sleeping Beauty Castle continues its transformation for the park’s 60th Anniversary Celebration.
There’s a lot of new stuff up on the Castle since we last looked at it.
These new “diamond” domes on turrets don’t look great, maybe we’re still waiting on finishing touches?
All of the pointy diamond crown toppers have been installed on the rest of the Castle turrets
New diamond “jewelry” has been added…
Late 90s-wallet chains and diamonds. What a combination!
Additional bunting and banners are up on the Castle as well…
Compare the castle so far with the concept art…
Meanwhile, a couple of the smaller Castle lighting boxes have returned but are now a bit larger.
News broke last week that Disney had issued an end of run notice for the iconic Disneyland Band. The news of the end-of-run notice came alongside an announcement from Disney that the park will be expanding its exiting live music offerings this summer as part of the 60th Anniversary Celebration. What all this means is that Disneyland will be recasting the Disneyland Band for a bigger and more “high-energy” version of itself. This will force long-time band members to have to re-audition for their roles, if they so choose.
Robert F. Sanders, Orange County Musicians’ Association President, issued the following statement about the news.
Disney seems to believe that these veteran musicians are not qualified for the “new and improved” band. It is simply wrong to ask these seasoned professionals—so beloved by park visitors—to audition for the band they are already in.
It is worth noting that current Disneyland Band members that aren’t selected for the new version of the band won’t be leaving Disneyland. Instead, these musicians will join smaller musical groups in the parks and be in new “break-out bands.” The current iteration of the Disneyland Band will perform through mid-July. The new version of the band is set to debut July 17.
In Fantasyland, Peter Pan’s Flight remains closed through mid-May for what’s expected to be a spectacular upgrade.
Nearby, the facades for Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and what was most recently the Frozen meet-and-greet are now behind tarps for refurbishment.
The Matterhorn’s refurbishment and enhancement project continues…
Not much to see right now…
And in the back of Fantasyland, “it’s a small world’s” facade refurbishment continues…
On the other side of the park, Critter Country has reopened.
The land’s closure included a major refurbishment for Splash Mountain, the installation of fall safety throughout the attraction, and addressing some big termite damage.
Work also included an expansion of the backstage areas of the Briar Patch gift shop
And a big refurbishment for the Hungry Bear Restaurant. The refurbishment here didn’t bring any changes to the restaurant’s otherwise solid menu.
In Tomorrowland, Innoventions is now behind walls. The attraction is rumored to get a new nostalgia-heavy exhibition for Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary in its lower level with upgrades to the Marvel character exhibits upstairs.
Nearby, the Magic Eye Theater is getting some fresh paint as it prepares for its upcoming “Tomorrowland” movie preview, which is also rumored to spill over into the Starcade next door.
The “Tomorrowland” movie preview is set to open by the middle of the month.
Over at California Adventure, Grizzly Peak Airfield continues to come together, though Disney has added higher tarps to block views of construction from the Carthay Circle area.
Views of Grizzly Peak Airfield construction from the Monorail
Lots of new trees!
Work on the Paradise Pier entry arch has wrapped up
The World of Color platform is now once again submerged during the day but evening programming work on the new show continues… You may even be able to catch a sneak peek at the new show with the HoJo Anaheim’s Mattercam!
Cinderella has moved out of the Bug’s Life Theater and “It’s Tough to be a Bug!” is back
Not too much to see over at Luigi’s Flying Tires…
| This & That |
Back in Disneyland, the Jolly Holiday Bakery has a bunch of seasonal pastries worth checking out
Graduation 2015 merchandise is now in shops around the Resort.
Outside the parks, the Downtown Disney marquee on the edge of the Main Entrance Esplanade is getting its new blue-and-silver 60th Anniversary paint job
Down at the former Apricot Lane Boutique, the space has been split in half, with a Disney Vacation Club sales center moving in.
No official word on what’s moving into the other half but we continue to hear that a second Starbucks location will be opening here.
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| Fun on the Farm |
Today we’ll wrap up with a quick detour from Disneyland and take a look at the return of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Boysenberry Festival.
MiceChat has plenty of coverage already of the wonderful springtime goings-on at Knott’s, but I love the Boysenberry Festival so much that I couldn’t let it go by without mentioning it here in Dateline Disneyland.
The Boysenberry Festival takes over Knott’s historic Ghost Town every spring with live entertainment, music and a ton of special and unique food all with a special touch of boysenberry. The team at Knott’s did not disappoint this year, with a variety of returning favorites and amazing new additions to the culinary line-up. Below, a replica of the original Knott’s Berry Farm stand acts as a festival information center and the location to buy your own boysenberry plant.
Oversized boysenberry decorations and educational signs share the history of the boysenberry and Knott’s Berry Farm.
Boysenberry signs let you know where special festival foods can be found.
Fried cheese curds with spicy boysenberry sauce
Foot-long hot dogs with boysenberry relish
Amazing boysenberry lemonade
Boysenberry wine!
Special boysenberry Frappuccinos!
And new this year — the legendary Fun Bun! It’s a cinnamon roll that’s deep fried in funnel cake batter and covered in amazing boysenberry cream cheese frosting. It’s unbelievable.
You can also take home plenty of special boysenberry treats including Knott’s very own Boysenberry BBQ Sauce (it’s amazing)
And boysenberry honey
The festival is a ton of fun and if you’re already visiting Disneyland, you won’t regret the 15 minute drive to Knott’s for an excellent afternoon of amazing food and music as well as must-see So Cal attractions like the recently restored Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride. The festival ends this weekend, so get to the Farm ASAP!
| Weekly News & Information Round-Up | ||
| Weekly Theme Park Hours April 6-12, 2015 |
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| [B]Disneyland Park[/B] | [B]California Adventure[/B] | |
| Daily: 8 am – 12 am | 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]Closure and Refurbishment Schedule[/center] | ||
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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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April 6-12
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.
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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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| OK — that’s it for this week’s update. What do you think of the Castle’s diamond overlay? Is it festive enough for a 60th birthday or is it too gaudy and cluttered? Let us know in the comments below!
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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. |