Building Mickey, Rising Sun, Bibbidy Boutique, Thunder Ranch, Grand Californian,+MORE

WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND!
New maps greet guests at the theme parks.


Inside flap advertising what's new.


The new Celebrate party zones are shown on the Disneyland map


And Mickey's Fun Wheel and the Games of the Boardwalk are featured on the California Adventure map. (Note the Mickey face on the Fun Wheel, and the sunburst and Paradise Pier logo on California Screamin')



PRICEY BARBECUE
This week saw the opening of two new offerings in Disneyland, the Celebration Roundup and Barbecue in Frontierland and the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique in Fantasyland.


Much has been said already about the new Barbeque dining location on the MiceChat boards, mostly dealing with the issue of cost vs. value. At $28.99 per adult, it's hard to justify dining here, but portions are reportedly as big as the price, and early reports are that the food is good, too. But even still, after tax and pre-pay 15% tip, one person's meal comes out closer to $40.


For standard barbecue fare in an outdoor setting, it might be hard to justify the cost, especially if you're looking for a nice meal for the entire family -- even with the continuous entertainment featuring Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye.


The OC Register's Around Disney blog had a review and video clip of the new dining location earlier last week.

New BBQ and entertainment joint opens in Disneyland

"Toy Story" heroes Woody, Jesse and Bullseye are the stars at the Celebration Roundup & Barbecue, a new Disneyland outdoor restaurant located in the Frontierland area.

The stage hosts constant entertainment featuring country music acts and seven different skits starring Disney-Pixar characters.

The restaurant serves food family style, which means big portions are taken to each table in containers that can be passed around to everyone in the party.

Oregon resident Ken Patchett and his family had lunch today at the Celebration Roundup & Barbecue. He said the cost for the meal ($28.99 for ages 10 and up; $18.99 for ages 3-9, plus tax and gratuity) was high, but he liked the food, the open space and the festive atmosphere.

For the full article, click here.

Out on Big Thunder Trail, the repaving project has finished up and the area is once again fully open.




BIBBIDI BOBBIDI BOUTIQUE
Over in Fantasyland, half of the new Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique has opened in the former location of the Once Upon a Time shop.


The retail portion of the store is now open for business, selling mostly the same selection of expensive princess costumes, t-shirts, and accessories that the previous store sold.








The salon-portion of the new store where parents of princesses-in-training will be able to purchase expensive makeovers for their daughters is still behind a curtain as finishing touches are applied before the official opening on April 17.




The flooring in the store is clever textured laminate that appears to have little flowers and clovers growing between the cracks (don't try to pick the little flowers, they may look surprisingly real, but they aren't).







CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION
While new offerings open at Disneyland, construction presses on at DCA as the park prepares to open the re-themed Games of the Boardwalk this week, and Mickey's Fun Wheel in early May.

SAN FRANCISCO STREET RESTROOMS
Progress continues at the new San Francisco Street restrooms






Future entrance?



PACIFIC WHARF BRIDGE
Pacific Wharf Bridge has reopened, once again connecting the Pacific Wharf food court area to Golden State Plaza and allowing for quicker access to Paradise Pier. The bridge's reopening does not mean, however, that the work in Golden State Plaza is complete -- the area still remains largely behind walls and only a narrow pathway allows access from Pacific Wharf Bridge to the Paradise Pier bridge.






Looking back towards Golden State Plaza from Pacific Wharf



WORLD OF COLOR & VIEWING AREA
It's been a busy week in Paradise Bay. A lot of new platforms went up as World of Color construction continues to chug along -- a big majority of the Bay is now covered in black World of Color platforms!


The Golden State Amphitheater's retaining wall continues to get leveled out at a lower height as part of that area's expansion into the bay so it can accommodate 9,000 World of Color viewers.









FUN WHEEL & SCREAMIN' SUNBURST
Mickey's face is being framed in on Paradise Pier's ferris wheel.


Can you see those famous ears?



And the new sunburst icon on California Screamin is being painted on.







GRAND CALIFORNIAN EXPANSION
It's been a while since we took a look at the progress on the new wing of the Grand Californian Hotel.


New temporary emergency escape stairs have been set up for hotel guests who's normal emergency stairs have been taken over by the new hotel wing.






The new pool and hot tub






THIS AND THAT
Downtown Disney's former Club Libby Lu has gotten some repainting inside as the store gets transformed into Studio Disney 365.


Inside DCA, new walls have gone up near the exit of the Golden Dreams Theater.



Back inside Disneyland, Goofy's Playhouse is open again after a refurbishment.


New retractable shade covers were installed in the backyard outdoor play area





The troubled Monorail beam awning in Tomorrowland next to the Tomorrowland Terrace seems to be a continuing headache, despite previous attempts to fix it.


These new walls aren't surrounding area where work is going on, though. It's really just a covering for the accessible ramp. Hopefully this is a very temporary thing, because whatever the problem is - this is not a solution!



And as if the new parade wasn't tacky and loud enough, the confetti clean-up crew that swarms the parade route afterward is just as bad. The custodial CMs do a great job of getting in there and getting the parade route clean as quickly as possible, but the noise from those big vacuums is pretty bad, and are totally wrong on Main Street. It's just not good show.



And the doors at the Jewelery Shop and Fortuosity Shoppe are back in working order.





AROUND THE PARKS
And to finish up the photos this week, a few shots from around the parks...

DISNEYLAND WEEKLY HOURS AND INFO

THEME PARK HOURS 4/06 - 4/12
Disneyland Resort theme parks have increased operating hours for spring break crowds. Be sure to plan your trip to the parks accordingly. For a complete listing of theme park hours, please visit the Disneyland.com Theme Park Calendar

Disneyland Park
Monday - Sunday: 8 am - 12 midnight

Disney's California Adventure Park
Monday - Friday and Sunday: 10 am - 9 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 10 pm

CURRENT ATTRACTION CLOSURES & REFURBISHMENTS

Disneyland Park

• Remember... Dreams Come True Fireworks Spectacular: Performances nightly through spring break season. Show is expected to end permanently following the 2009 peak spring break season. A new show will replace Remember this summer.
• Bibbity Bobbity Boutique: Opens April 17, 2009
• Peter Pan's Flight: Closed May 4 for unknown duration.
• Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years/Main Street Opera House: Closed. Reopens as The Disneyland Story: Featuring Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln September 26, 2009.

Disney's California Adventure Park

• Games of the Boardwalk: Closed. New games expected to open April 7
• Mickey's Fun Wheel: Closed for remodeling. Re-opens May 8, 2009.
• Redwood Creek Challenge Trail: Closes April 27 for unknown duration.
• King Triton's Carousel: Closed through May 20.
• The Lucky Fortune Cookery: Unused food service location is being converted into larger Mexican-style food dining facility. Opens June 14.
• Paradise Bay: Drained for construction of upcoming Disney's World of Color show.
• Disney's World of Color Nighttime Spectacular: New show under construction. Debuts Spring 2010.
• Golden State Park and Amphitheater: Closed. New, larger amphitheater for Disney's World of Color viewing under construction in same location. The new amphitheater will open December 2009.

CORPORATE RESTRUCTURING RESULTS IN 1,900 LOST JOBS
Disney continues to lay off hundreds of salaried employees in its theme park division, making good on its promise to downsize the Theme Parks and Resorts division in the United States. The OC Register's Around Disney blog shared details on the news:

Disney says 1,900 jobs lost, 300 locally
Walt Disney Co. officials announced today that 1,900 salaried positions have been eliminated because of restructuring in part made necessary by the troubled economy.

Disney announced in mid-February that it had begun laying off employees after a round of voluntary buyouts, but the company did not release a figure on how many employees had lost their jobs until today.

Locally, some 200 people have been laid off at Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort and an additional 100 positions will not be filled there, Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown said. The positions were executive, management and administrative jobs behind the scenes.

Most of the positions eliminated came from elsewhere in the company, including 900 layoffs in Florida. And 500 open positions will not be filled there. About 200 positions, from layoffs and the elimination of open spots, came from other Disney sites.

In total, it marks an 11-percent reduction in workforce in the executive/administrative segment, Brown said.

"These decisions were not made lightly, but are essential to maintaining our leadership in family tourism and reflect today’s economic realities," Brown said. "We continue to work through our reorganization and manage our business based on demand."

For the full story, click here.

DISNEY CRUISE LINE COMES TO LOS ANGELES, CREATING 2,600 JOBS
Disney announced that its Disney Wonder cruise ship would move to California next year for a two-year stay (with a possible three-year extension). The move is expected to generate 2,600 jobs in the Los Angeles area. Around Disney had details:

Disney cruise ship to dock in Los Angeles

In a move that officials expect will create 2,600 jobs in the Los Angeles area and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue, Disney Cruise Line announced today that it will move one of its two ships from Florida to Los Angeles.

The Port of Los Angeles will become the home base for the Disney Wonder cruise ship, pending approval of a two-year contract with an option to extend it another three between Disney and the port.

Disney estimates the move would mean 250,000 cruise-ship passengers here over five years.

The ship’s original home base is Port Canaveral in Florida, said Disney Cruise spokeswoman Christi Erwin Donnan.

For the full story, click here.

ENHANCED ELECTRICAL PARADE, NEW FIREWORKS TO DEBUT SUMMER
An April 24 press event will give further details on the changes to the popular Disney's Electrical Parade which will return to DCA this summer, as well as more info on other new nighttime entertainment including the new fireworks show which is planned to replace Remember... Dreams Come True. Again, the Around Disney blog broke the news:

Electrical Parade on its way back

The classic Electrical Parade at Disneyland is on its way back, this time to Disney’s California Adventure.

Disney spokesman John McClintock said the seasonal night parade — marked by float’s and characters decked in thousands of lights — will start again in June.

There will also be a number of other new after-dark shows and attractions — possible a new fireworks show.

McClintock said all of the details of these new shows and features will be announced April 24.

For the full story, click here.

WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM TO OPEN FALL 2009 IN SAN FRANCISCO
Again, from the OC Register's Around Disney blog:

Disney Family Museum to open this fall… in San Francisco

The Walt Disney Family Foundation, headed up by Walt Disney’s sole surviving daughter, has announced it’s going to open the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

The museum will be dedicated to Disney’s life and work, featuring drawings he did as a child, storyboards from classic Disney movies and the original Oscar he received for “Snow White,” the first feature-length animation in history.

Other pieces from the Disney family archives and stuff on loan from the company will appear in the museum as well when it opens in the fall of this year.
Why is the museum, which opens this fall, in San Francisco?

Elaine Mellis, a spokeswoman for the Disney Family Museum, said that the family had considered putting the museum in a number of different cities — Kansas City where Disney started his early career, Chicago where he went to art school and, of course, greater Los Angeles where he met with his greatest success as an artist, animator, producer, studio mogul and developer.

The family finally settled on San Francisco for a couple reasons, Mellis said.
First, the Disney family moved north to Napa Valley after Walt’s death, where they still remain. The family has rented space to store their archives for the last 10 years in the Presidio, a huge decommissioned military base now involved in extensive revitalization efforts.

For the full story, click here.

Are you a weekly reader of Dateline Disneyland?

Does Dateline Disneyland help provide your weekly Disneyland fix? If so, consider donating to Dateline Disneyland so the updates can keep coming. Help out and "Buy me a Dole Whip!" You can donate any amount through a quick and safe PayPal donation. Thanks for your support! CLICK HERE TO DONATE

QUICK LINKS:
| | |