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Alice in Blunderland, More Pier Tunes, DCA construction, Extreme Sports Weekend, MORE

Posted 07-26-2010 at 01:26 AM by Dateline Disneyland
Updated 07-26-2010 at 11:57 AM by Dateline Disneyland

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Disneyland's modest 55th Anniversary celebration has come and gone as the summer crowds continue to pour in. California Adventure continue its multi-year expansion and "re-Imagining" as Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland gets safety modifications and Star Tours closes for an extreme makeover. Meanwhile, Downtown Disney played host to a weekend of extreme sports events as the nearby Disneyland Hotel continued its remodeling project.

For more information on any of the construction projects featured in today's update, just look for a Project Tracker water mark and click that photo for more information on the project and to join the on-going discussion.

Many thanks to Fishbulb and Mac Daddy for their fantastic photographs this week.

Inside Dateline Disneyland

Welcome to Disneyland! Alice in Blunderland, Star Tours closes California Construction Checking on on California Adventure's on-going $1 billion remodel and expansion... Paradise Pier Music The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure Cars Land Downtown Action Downtown Disney hosts Action Sports Weekend events This & That Disneyland Hotel remodel, Vinylmation signing Around the Parks Photos from around the parks... Weekly News and Information Round-Up Weekly theme park hours, closures and refurbishments, New Haunted Mansion movie, Downtown Disney crepe stand, Taste of Downtown Disney event

WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND!
The big news at Disneyland this week was the unexpected closure of the Alice in Wonderland dark ride.


Reports came in that Cal/OSHA had shut down the Alice in Wonderland attraction when inspectors deemed the elevated outdoor portion of the track unsafe. Cal/OSHA and Disneyland denied the reports, but the news spread. Disney eventually spilled details on their version of the story, saying the closure was voluntary after a Cal/OSHA representative pointed out the issue during a visit to the park on an unrelated matter.


The Los Angeles Times ran a story on the closure

Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland ride closed to install safety equipment
One of Disneyland's oldest attractions, the Alice in Wonderland ride, has been closed since last week while workers install safety barriers recommended by California work-safety inspectors. Park officials said they hope to reopen the ride in the next few weeks.

Disney officials said the Anaheim park voluntarily closed the ride July 15 after California Department of Occupational Safety and Health inspectors pointed out that it lacked handrails needed for maintenance crews who work on an elevated segment of the ride.

The Cal/OSHA inspectors were in the park on a separate matter and did not order closure of the ride, Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said. "We like to have all of our rides ready for our guests," she said.

The ride, which opened in 1958, takes guests on rail-guided cars that resemble caterpillars into a dark tunnel that features glowing characters from Disney's 1951 animated version of the Lewis Carroll classic. Toward the end of the ride, the cars roll outside, along an elevated rail segment with no handrails or barriers to prevent maintenance workers from falling off.

Brown said park workers would install scaffolding or barriers along the elevated segment. [ FULL ARTICLE ]

Regardless of how the closure came to be, the attraction is now shuttered for at least a few weeks, according to Disney. Hopefully a solution can be found that doesn't mess up the aesthetics of this unique-to-Disneyland ride that opened in 1958.





Meanwhile, over in Tomorrowland, today is the final day for a major Tomorrowland E-Ticket—Star Tours. The attraction closes today, July 26 to begin its re-imagining and will reopen next spring with new storylines and digital 3D projections, among other upgrades.



CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION
Construction continues at various Disney California Adventure projects...

PARADISE PIER MUSIC
Paradise Pier recently said good-bye to the calliope-style Beach Boys music in Paradise Pier and started playing music similar to the music introduced a few months back in the World of Color viewing area (Paradise Park). The Paradise Pier version of the background music is a bit faster-paced, which makes sense with the higher-energy attractions found along the Pier. You can hear a sample of the new music below.

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://datelinedisneyland.bandcamp.com/track/paradise-pier-background-audio-summer-2010">Paradise Pier - Background audio - Summer 2010 by Dateline Disneyland</a>

Below is a map of the Paradise Pier area of the park showing where the two music loops are being played. The Paradise Park audio encompasses everything from the bridge to Paradise Pier, to Paradise Park, all the way to the Silly Symphony Swings. The Paradise Pier audio covers everything from Ariel's Grotto to the Maliboomer.



THE LITTLE MERMAID: ARIEL'S UNDERSEA ADVENTURE
Work continues on the Little Mermaid attraction as reports filed in this week that the construction site was smelling like roofing tar. Work on this attraction will continue to progress quickly as it heads toward its May 2011 opening date.

























CARS LAND
Work on Cars Land continues as well, with more permanent ride track being installed at the upcoming Radiator Springs Racers E-Ticket attraction.








Cars Land rock work rises behind Pacific Wharf



DOWNTOWN ACTION
This weekend Downtown Disney played host to an Action Sports Weekend event that featured an appearance by skateboard star Tony Hawk.


The event was put on with very little promotion from Disney and lasted just one weekend. It'll be interesting to see if this is a test for future larger-scale events of this kind. California Adventure hosted the X-Games Xperience in 2003, but nothing like it has returned to the Resort until now.


Skateboarding demonstrations in Downtown Disney










Booths sell sports-related merchandise and clothing









THIS AND THAT
Also in Downtown Disney this weekend was another Vinylmation release and signing event at D Street.


Disney has really created the next big thing in tradable park collectibles since it debuted pin trading in 1999.




And down at the Disneyland Hotel, work continues on the property's multi-year remodel project. The Hotel will be closing popular Hotel features soon as demolition gets underway. The Jungle Cruise-themed remote control boats will close July 31 and the nearby Lost Bar and Croc's Bits & Bites will close the following day, August 1.
















AROUND THE PARKS
We'll finish up the photos this week with some brilliant shots around the parks from the always amazing Mac Daddy. You can view more of his amazing Disneyland photos at his Flickr Photostream.

Dateline Disneyland is sponsored by our good friends at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel - Anaheim Resort. A short walk from the park, HoJo Anaheim is conveniently located next to Disneyland with nearby dining and freeway access. For more information on HoJo Anaheim, room rates, or to book your stay today, visit HoJoAnaheim.com/MiceChat. Rooms now available for as low as $59 per night! The HoJo Anaheim is now offering deeper discounts for Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders! On select nights, Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders can get rooms for as low as $59 per night, plus tax. For more information visit the HoJo Anaheim Innsider Boards which features an up-to-date listing of available nights, or call (714) 776-6120 and ask for In-House Reservations to book. If your date isn't listed, the HoJo Anaheim still offers rooms for 20% off their best available rate if you call (714) 776-6120.

WEEKLY NEWS AND INFORMATION ROUND-UP

Weekly Theme Park Hours JULY 26 — AUGUST 1, 2010
Disneyland Park	Disney California Adventure
Monday - Sunday: 8 am - 12 midnight	Monday - Sunday: 10 am - 11 pm
For a complete listing of theme park hours, visit the Disneyland.com Theme Park Calendar
Closures and Refurbishment Schedule
Disneyland Park
Star Tours: Closes July 26 for Star Tours 2 upgrades. Reopens May 2011. Haunted Mansion: Closed August 30 - September 16 to install Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay Main Street Vehicles: Closed September 7 - 30 for refurbishment. Space Mountain: Closed September 12 - 16 to install Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy overlay. Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin: Closed September 20 - December 16 Indiana Jones Adventure: Closed for one day September 22. Mark Twain Riverboat: Closed September 27-30.
Disney California Adventure
Toy Story Midway Mania!: Closed August 30 - October 10 The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror — Disney's FASTPASS Distribution: Distribution area closed and Fastpass service not offered through August 15 for nearby construction related to upcoming Red Car Trolley attraction. Pizza Oom Mow Mow: Closes September 7 to begin retheme to Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta. Reopens May 2011. Burger Invasion: Closed for retheme to Paradise Garden Grill. Reopens May 2011. The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure: Under construction. Opens Spring 2011. Souvenir 66 and Corn Dog Castle: Store and dining location closed for remodeling through May 2011. Red Car Trolley: Track under construction in Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Attraction set to open spring 2012.
Downtown Disney & Hotels of the Disneyland Resort
Arcade (Disneyland Hotel) Closes permanently July 30 as part of Disneyland Hotel remodel Jungle Cruise Remote Control Boats (Disneyland Hotel) Close permanently July 31 as part of Disneyland Hotel remodel The Lost Bar (Disneyland Hotel) Closes permanently August 1 as part of Disneyland Hotel remodel Croc's Bits & Bites (Disneyland Hotel): Closes permanently August 1 as part of Disneyland Hotel remodel

DISNEY ANNOUNCES NEW HAUNTED MANSION FILM AT COMIC CON Disney announced a new Haunted Mansion film at this weekend's Comic Con. The film will be new take on the classic Disneyland attraction and unlike the previous film starring Eddie Murphy—the new movie will be scary! Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) will produce the film and may direct.

Guillermo Del Toro Will Be Rebooting The Haunted Mansion As a surprise at the end of the Tron: Legacy panel Disney had a big announcement to make: they're rebooting The Haunted Mansion, and Guillermo del Toro is going to be [producing and co-writing] it. I know, I was surprised too. Not just that, but del Toro himself took the stage to talk about his plans for the reboot, promising that the movie will be "truly scary" and if you take the children to see the movie, "they will scream." The film will be live action and in 3D (ugh, of course), and they showed off the first logo for the film, which you see above, and the first image of "The Hatbox Ghost," which del Toro says they're hoping to make the linchpin of the film. Del Toro talked about his length about his memories of visiting the original Disneyland attraction as a child, and emphasized that he wants to be truer to it than Disney's earlier attempt to cash in: "We're being true to the original art and aesthetic or the original Imagineers who created the mansion. We are not returning Eddie Murphy's calls." He continued, "To me the mansion has to become the haunted house movie that a generation remembers and loves after being created by us."

For the full article, visit: Cinema Blend: Guillermo Del Toro Will Be Rebooting The Haunted Mansion

TASTE OF ANAHEIM EVENT TO BENEFIT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL Get out to Downtown Disney and enjoy some food, wine and delicious desserts for a good cause

Celebrate an evening of Wine, Food and Friends at the Downtown Disney District Join us as we taste and savor the flavors of fine cuisine, wine and spirits while enjoying the unique ambience and flair of the Downtown Disney District. Top off the evening by indulging in decadent desserts and coffee. Live entertainment will also be featured throughout the evening for your listening pleasure. Guests will enjoy a champagne reception, tray-passed appetizers, olive oil tasting and select wine/spirits/beer pairings at Catal Restaurants & Uva Bar, ESPN Zone, House of Blues, La Brea Bakery Cafe, Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria, Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen and Tortilla Jo's Thursday, August 12, 2010 6:00 p.m. at Downtown Disney. Complimentary valet parking will be provided. Check-in at CHOC Welcome table by Valet Loop. Festival will begin at 6:00 pm Ticket Price: $50

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: CHOC: Taste of Downtown Disney 2010

SWEET & SAVORY CREPES NOW AVAILABLE IN DOWNTOWN DISNEY And finally, from Around Disney:

New crepes stand opens in Downtown Disney Downtown Disney visitors now have a new option for a to-go meal or sweet treat: crepes. A new stand, called Café Renee, opened July 2 near the World of Disney store and the theme park entrances, said Betsy Sanchez, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman. The location sells “sweet” and “savory” crepes, as well as funnel cake sticks. Café Renee originally was supposed to open around Christmastime, but it was delayed because modifications needed to be made to the kiosk, Sanchez said. The stand offers five varieties of sweet crepes, including fruit and nutella, and three savory types, including pulled pork and ham and cheese. The price ranges from $5.50 to $9.50. A scoop of vanilla ice cream can be added for $1. A clerk said that the biggest seller is the nutella crepe, which comes with the chocolate-nutty spread, powdered sugar and whipped cream. The funnel cake sticks, which can come with fruit, ice cream or dips, also are popular. Downtown Disney has been adding kiosks and stands as a way to provide variety in the tight location.

For the full article, visit: Around Disney: New crepes stand opens in Downtown Disney

Alrighty — That's it for this week's Dateline Disneyland. Thanks as always for reading, please be sure to discuss in the comments section below! Thanks again to our great photographers this week—Fishbulb and Mac Daddy! If you would like to help out Dateline Disneyland, consider donating via a safe and secure PayPal donation, or by checking out items in our Amazon.com aStore. Thanks! We're on Facebook! Be sure to like Dateline Disneyland on Facebook and get the latest news and info from Dateline Disneyland right in your Facebook news feed! Click here! Don't forget to join us on Twitter! There are over 7,000 other Dateline Disneylanders who follow us on Twitter, and recieve updates throughout the week with links to breaking news, mini updates, photos, and links to newsworthy MiceChat discussions. Visit Twitter.com/DatelineDisney now! See you here next week! - Andy

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Posted in Disneyland Resort, Disney's California Adventure Remodel/Expansion, Disneyland Hotel, Downtown Disney

Views 18146 Comments 20

Comments

1. 	nice update
   	Posted 07-26-2010 at 02:23 AM by Kritter

2. 	Fantastic start to the week! Adios Star Tours! I couldn't even bring myself to ride it one last time when I was at the park yesterday. I'm just so over that ride. Looking forward to the changes. Thank you for all your hard work on bringing us these great update packed with News and photos Andy!
   	Posted 07-26-2010 at 06:21 AM by Dustysage

3. Thanks for the update! Great photos MacDaddy! Maybe Imagineers should add crossed spears of the card soldiers to help employees feel safer above Alice. I love the music sample from DCA , though I hope the Beach Boys, Bing, the Mamas & the Papas, Randy Newman (but not Al Jolson) will still have a home somewhere in DCA, perhaps in a restaurant, or in a California tourist information center/lounge/restaurant.

   Posted 07-26-2010 at 06:26 AM by jcruise86

4. 	I just noticed the 6-week refurb of TSM! What the heck? 6 weeks to fix a ride that barely opened 2 years ago?!?! I know Fall is the time for ride closures, but there are already too many closures as it is! Sorry, had to vent.
   	Posted 07-26-2010 at 06:33 AM by cris77

5. The real shame about Alice in Wonderland is that it will lose another very unique aspect of itself - and that is the "thrill" of having those caterpillar vehicles seem to come so close to the edge of the tracks during the outdoor portion, especially on the higher sections. Here is my humble suggestion: Take the same idea that the outside of the ride already has - the pink, teal and purple "leaves" that currently fill the landscape of the ride - and shrink them down to a smaller scale, placing them several inches apart all along the outer rim of the outdoor portion of track. A green "vine" can be added to the inside part of the "leaves" and twisted and curved to mimic a real vine, while doubling as a handrail. This keeps the asthetics of the ride intact (a caterpillar, crawling down a viney leaf) while adding (necessary?) safety handrails and keeping the impact of (intrusive?) the safety aspect from being too ugly?

   Posted 07-26-2010 at 08:02 AM by LFTWNG9

6. 	I didn't see it mentioned, but, the talked about tech enhancements to Snow White are up and running. There are new scene mapping/projection effects in the Queen's throne room/transformation scene and the finale scene.
   	Posted 07-26-2010 at 09:45 AM by Sparky

7. 	This is sad, I hope ST2 will live up to it's predecessors! Good Bye, Star Tours, 1987-2010. Timekeeper
   	Posted 07-26-2010 at 11:00 AM by Timekeeper

8. 	Absolutely awesome 'Around the Parks' shots.
   	Posted 07-26-2010 at 12:20 PM by dl_appurtenant

9. 	Thanks for the update. We have no idea when in May Ariel's opening do we? I am planning a trip the 2nd week in and it would be great if we could catch a soft opening of it.
   	Posted 07-26-2010 at 12:35 PM by NetteNutt

10. 	The Mark Twain pic is stunning. Nice job!
    	Posted 07-26-2010 at 01:12 PM by Gemini Cricket

11. 	Cool update!
    	Posted 07-26-2010 at 01:56 PM by Barbossa

12. 	Nice pics. Thanks.
    	Posted 07-26-2010 at 03:04 PM by cablubber

13. 	You Guys are great! I luv MacDaddy's phtography. Beautiful! Looking forward to the Haunted Mansion film. Pan's Labyrinth was brilliantly directed by Guillermo del Toro. Pan's Labyrinth isn't a movie for young children, but an excellent movie nontheless.
    	Posted 07-26-2010 at 03:20 PM by vivian

14. 	Quote: Disney announced a new Haunted Mansion film at this weekend's Comic Con. The film will be new take on the classic Disneyland attraction and unlike the previous film starring Eddie Murphy—the new movie will be scary! Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) will produce the film and may direct. That is pretty darn cool. This is great news.
    	Posted 07-26-2010 at 05:56 PM by toemblem

15. great update!!! The pictures at the end are especially amazing! Night shots are always super tricky, and you definitely have perfected that trick! Too bad that "handrails" are necessary for the ride. I totally agree with a previous poster that they should be kept to blend in with the scenery with matching vines and leaves. Or is it possible to put rails that can be removed? Such as the posts that CMs use during parades? I'm sure it would be safe as long as there was a locking mechanism of some sort. That way the "thrill" can be kept! Love that ride! Still cant get over those awesome pictures!!! Amazing!!! Great info as always!

    Posted 07-26-2010 at 11:34 PM by SleepingCorgi

16. Yet another great update. I believe that we should enjoy Alice in Wonderland for the ride it is, not dislike it just because it has some safety rails. I'm sure the new rails will fit in nicely with the ride, although it will make the track area claustrophobic. I'm glad Star Tours is finally being changed. Even in my twelve years of visiting the parks has made it old. The new enhancements will be a step in the right dirction and will give Star Tours more of a Star Wars feel. I'm looking forward to the Haunted Mansion movie, it should give the Imagineers an excuse to finally put in and work out the Hatbox Ghost. Haunted Mansion isn't a hundred percent scary though. We'll just have to see what happens. Mac Daddy must have some unique talent. I can never how to take beautiful pictures like that.

    Posted 07-27-2010 at 12:05 AM by SorcererHero5571

17. I'm sad that they got rid of the Beach Boys music in Paradise Pier. I loved that music and I thought it fit perfectly with the carnival atmosphere. And everyone knows the Beach Boys! I think the new music is pretty bland. It certainly won't have me tapping my feet like the old music did. MacDaddy's pictures are amazing. That picture of the Mark Twain at twilight with the fireworks is particularly gorgeous. Such a spectacular photo!

    Posted 07-27-2010 at 09:06 PM by lttlmrmd

18. 	Thanks for the update!
    	Posted 07-27-2010 at 11:29 PM by LAZ-E

19. 	new haunted mansion movie should be amazing if he's allowed to do what he wants with it
    	Posted 07-28-2010 at 02:54 AM by originaljahwoo

20. 	you guys must hold a record for riding the ferris wheel at DCA.
    	Posted 07-29-2010 at 06:58 PM by michael darling

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