9/5: Walled in, McDonald's bows out, Half-marathon, Crystal shop, +MORE!
Posted 09-05-2008 at 12:12 AM by Dateline Disneyland
Welcome once again to Dateline Disneyland! There's a lot to get to this week, but first, thanks to photographer and fellow MiceAge/MiceChat columnist David "Darkbeer" Michael for many of the photos found in today's update.
Alright, let's get to it, shall we?
Alright, that's it for this week's Dateline Disneyland. Many thanks, once again, to Darkbeer for his great shots scattered throughout this update. As always, you can see more of his Disneyland Resort and other Southern California theme park photos at his smugmug site: darkbeer.smugmug.com!
And thanks to you, for reading! Be sure to share your thoughts and comments below. See you here again next week!
- Andy
Alright, let's get to it, shall we?
WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND!
Disney's HalloweenTime is only a couple weeks away!
Labor Day marked the final day of the summer season for the Disneyland Resort, and with that, some attractions and restaurants closed their doors, and lots of construction walls moved in.
The parks have new guide maps.
It's mind-boggling that the front of the Disney's California Adventure map uses the Toy Story Mania! logo, but on the inside, well, the attraction's name magically changes to "Toy Story Midway Mania!" How does this make any sense?!
REFURB ROUND-UP
Ariel's Grotto continues its transformation into Pixie Hollow.
Ariel's meet-and-greet chair which was themed as a giant sea shell is gone, and the turn table it was on is getting some serious work done to it.
The King Triton and Ariel statues have been removed, and under-the-sea theming is disappearing...
The construction walls on the Tomorrowland border at Ariel's Grotto aren't the only ones in the area. Inside Tomorrowland proper construction walls sprung up to take care of some repaving in the main walkway between Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.
Over in Fantasyland, construction walls have sprung up around the base of the Fantasyland Skyway chalet stair queue, which was recently home to a large fruit and drink cart set-up.
In New Orleans Sqaure, walls stretching from the French Market restaurant to the far side of the Haunted Mansion have moved in for work in the restaurant and repaving throughout the area.
Because of the walls, the New Orleans Square and Frontierland Railroad Station is closed.
Meanwhile, at the Haunted Mansion, the annual Nightmare Before Christmas seasonal overlay is moving in.
Across from the Mansion, the Harbour Galley is closed for refurbishment while McDonald's moves out.
While some references to the Golden Arches were quickly removed...
...Others still await removal.
The Conestoga Fries wagon is still in place in Frontierland, but is closed and no longer serving McFries.
Over in Adventureland, the Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries has ended. The boulder photo op is gone.
And the Aladdin's Oasis sign is uncovered, but don't expect to see any shows -- the theater is planned to remain dark through summer 2009.
Over in DCA, the Vineyard Room has officially been removed from all signage in the Golden Vine Winery area after it closed this past weekend. There is no word yet on what will happen to the fine dining location in the future.
And nearby, an understated sign appeared in front of the Seasons of the Vine theatre announcing "improvements" for the area. The new Walt Disney Imagineering Resort Preview Center should be opening in the theatre within the next week or two.
And Paradise Pier's Burger Invasion dining location is now closed as McDonald's moves out.
The restaurant will re-open as another quick service location for several months and then close once again as it is converted into the larger Beer Garden complex planned for this area of the park, as part of DCA's $1.1 billion remodel.
The billboard for it still features McDonald's logo.
WISHING STAR MAGIC CRYSTALS
Back in Fantasyland, the Three Fairies Magic Crystals shop that was in the Castle has moved over to the former home of Gepetto's Holiday Workshop.
The new shop isn't remarkable in merchandise or heavy theming, but it does it's job nicely enough.
DISNEYLAND HALF-MARATHON
Darkbeer shared some of his shots of the Disneyland Half-Marathon that took place this past weekend at the Resort in his 9/1 Monday in the Parks column. Here are a couple more... You can get more info on the Disneyland Half-Marathon over at Darkbeer's Monday in the Parks update.
DEPARTMENT 56
In Downtown Disney, Department 56 continues its downsizing project. The new wall sectioning off the store and the newly freed up space appears to be mostly complete.
Some painters plastic and black curtains remain up though.
HALLOWEENTOWN
Main Street, USA is already getting some of its annual HalloweenTime decor brought into various window displays.
Disney's HalloweenTime officially begins September 26 and will run through November 2.
Speaking of Halloween, the King of Halloween, Jack Skellington is celebrating his 15th anniversary with a special Ultimate Collector's DVD Set
The bust has a sound chip that plays various lines from the film.
AROUND THE PARKS
And finally, various shots from around the parks...
Disney's HalloweenTime is only a couple weeks away!
Labor Day marked the final day of the summer season for the Disneyland Resort, and with that, some attractions and restaurants closed their doors, and lots of construction walls moved in.
The parks have new guide maps.
It's mind-boggling that the front of the Disney's California Adventure map uses the Toy Story Mania! logo, but on the inside, well, the attraction's name magically changes to "Toy Story Midway Mania!" How does this make any sense?!
REFURB ROUND-UP
Ariel's Grotto continues its transformation into Pixie Hollow.
Ariel's meet-and-greet chair which was themed as a giant sea shell is gone, and the turn table it was on is getting some serious work done to it.
The King Triton and Ariel statues have been removed, and under-the-sea theming is disappearing...
The construction walls on the Tomorrowland border at Ariel's Grotto aren't the only ones in the area. Inside Tomorrowland proper construction walls sprung up to take care of some repaving in the main walkway between Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.
Over in Fantasyland, construction walls have sprung up around the base of the Fantasyland Skyway chalet stair queue, which was recently home to a large fruit and drink cart set-up.
In New Orleans Sqaure, walls stretching from the French Market restaurant to the far side of the Haunted Mansion have moved in for work in the restaurant and repaving throughout the area.
Because of the walls, the New Orleans Square and Frontierland Railroad Station is closed.
Meanwhile, at the Haunted Mansion, the annual Nightmare Before Christmas seasonal overlay is moving in.
Across from the Mansion, the Harbour Galley is closed for refurbishment while McDonald's moves out.
While some references to the Golden Arches were quickly removed...
...Others still await removal.
The Conestoga Fries wagon is still in place in Frontierland, but is closed and no longer serving McFries.
Over in Adventureland, the Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries has ended. The boulder photo op is gone.
And the Aladdin's Oasis sign is uncovered, but don't expect to see any shows -- the theater is planned to remain dark through summer 2009.
Over in DCA, the Vineyard Room has officially been removed from all signage in the Golden Vine Winery area after it closed this past weekend. There is no word yet on what will happen to the fine dining location in the future.
And nearby, an understated sign appeared in front of the Seasons of the Vine theatre announcing "improvements" for the area. The new Walt Disney Imagineering Resort Preview Center should be opening in the theatre within the next week or two.
And Paradise Pier's Burger Invasion dining location is now closed as McDonald's moves out.
The restaurant will re-open as another quick service location for several months and then close once again as it is converted into the larger Beer Garden complex planned for this area of the park, as part of DCA's $1.1 billion remodel.
The billboard for it still features McDonald's logo.
WISHING STAR MAGIC CRYSTALS
Back in Fantasyland, the Three Fairies Magic Crystals shop that was in the Castle has moved over to the former home of Gepetto's Holiday Workshop.
The new shop isn't remarkable in merchandise or heavy theming, but it does it's job nicely enough.
DISNEYLAND HALF-MARATHON
Darkbeer shared some of his shots of the Disneyland Half-Marathon that took place this past weekend at the Resort in his 9/1 Monday in the Parks column. Here are a couple more... You can get more info on the Disneyland Half-Marathon over at Darkbeer's Monday in the Parks update.
DEPARTMENT 56
In Downtown Disney, Department 56 continues its downsizing project. The new wall sectioning off the store and the newly freed up space appears to be mostly complete.
Some painters plastic and black curtains remain up though.
HALLOWEENTOWN
Main Street, USA is already getting some of its annual HalloweenTime decor brought into various window displays.
Disney's HalloweenTime officially begins September 26 and will run through November 2.
Speaking of Halloween, the King of Halloween, Jack Skellington is celebrating his 15th anniversary with a special Ultimate Collector's DVD Set
The bust has a sound chip that plays various lines from the film.
AROUND THE PARKS
And finally, various shots from around the parks...
Alright, that's it for this week's Dateline Disneyland. Many thanks, once again, to Darkbeer for his great shots scattered throughout this update. As always, you can see more of his Disneyland Resort and other Southern California theme park photos at his smugmug site: darkbeer.smugmug.com!
And thanks to you, for reading! Be sure to share your thoughts and comments below. See you here again next week!
- Andy
Total Comments 27
Comments
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love your pics andy. what kind of camera are you using?Posted 09-05-2008 at 04:07 AM by malice
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Another excellent report!
Great report! I always love reading these because we are so far away from DLR, it gives us a little trip to the magic each week.
LOVE the new Disneyland guide map cover! That is awesome. We will be there in early October, so we will get to enjoy some of the Halloween magic!
Thanks!
SusabellePosted 09-05-2008 at 06:03 AM by Susabelle -
Great report like always! Keep it up!Posted 09-05-2008 at 06:38 AM by WheresMickey -
I love it! This is my weekly fix of Disneyland since I only get down there once a year.Posted 09-05-2008 at 07:59 AM by sassy*tink - Why is Department 56 downsizing?Posted 09-05-2008 at 09:14 AM by perlster
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I'm using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTiQuote:Originally Posted by malicelove your pics andy. what kind of camera are you using?
-Andy
Dateline DisneylandPosted 09-05-2008 at 09:37 AM by MasterGracey -
It looks like Alladin's Oasis is still at least a meet n' greet, right?Posted 09-05-2008 at 10:55 AM by vfire - Very simple. They are using the same image for the front of the guidemap at Disney's Hollywood Studios park. Obviously, the marketing division in charge of these haven't got a clue. It's called "saving money" aka "hoping the clueless guests won't notice".Quote:Originally Posted by AndyIt's mind-boggling that the front of the Disney's California Adventure map uses the Toy Story Mania! logo, but on the inside, well, the attraction's name magically changes to "Toy Story Midway Mania!" How does this make any sense?!Posted 09-05-2008 at 11:42 AM by TDLFAN
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and they are also upholding the longstanding disney park tradition of not being able to use one official name for an attraction, which is a trend that continues to plague disneyland historians throughout the years.Quote:Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy
It's mind-boggling that the front of the Disney's California Adventure map uses the Toy Story Mania! logo, but on the inside, well, the attraction's name magically changes to "Toy Story Midway Mania!" How does this make any sense?!
Very simple. They are using the same image for the front of the guidemap at Disney's Hollywood Studios park. Obviously, the marketing division in charge of these haven't got a clue. It's called "saving money" aka "hoping the clueless guests won't notice".Posted 09-05-2008 at 11:52 AM by twobluestripes -
Amazing update!! Let the changes begin! I can't wait for all of the changes in the parks...
Awesome shots of the parade and around the parks.
Posted 09-05-2008 at 11:56 AM by peoplemover1 - So awesome, i always look forward 2 seeing the pics. I miss DL so much!Posted 09-05-2008 at 12:26 PM by luckyxfighter
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Great update. Love the pics as usual. I can not wait for all the walls to come down. I'm really excited for Halloween time to begin.Posted 09-05-2008 at 12:29 PM by Craigroy8287 -
Great update! Anyone know what's going on with the construction at the old Fantasyland Skyway? Are there any rumored plans? Are they adding a more permanent cart there?Posted 09-05-2008 at 12:46 PM by karen_c - Thanks for the update! There are some great shots of refurbs (Ariel's grotto for instance) but it looks like they were taken from the top of a building -- how'd that happen?Posted 09-05-2008 at 01:44 PM by Werner
- You know I love the Fantasmic! photo.Posted 09-05-2008 at 02:07 PM by mrfantasmic
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The PPP pictures are so awesome.
There's a lot more being "beautified" than I thought. Thanks for the update.Posted 09-05-2008 at 02:32 PM by MonstersGoBoo! -
Thanks so much for the update. I hope the statues from Ariel's grotto are used somewhere else. They're really nice! Also, you said that the Alladin's Oasis Theatre will remain dark until summer of 2009. Do you know what they're planning on putting in there then?Posted 09-05-2008 at 02:59 PM by AliKzam -
Since they are so insistent on selling those "magic crystals", why didn't they more directly tie it to the Pinocchio theme? It could have been the Blue Fairy Crystal Shop or something. I know that "When You Wish Upon A Star" is the song from Pinocchio -- but does the average guest remember that? It's such an iconic Disney song that I'm sure a lot more people associate it with the commercials, the TV shows, the fireworks shows, the parades, etc. a lot more than the movie it came from. But it would give a more cohesive feel to the area.
Maybe I should go freelance for Disney marketing and branding! ha ha haPosted 09-05-2008 at 03:02 PM by giddygirlie -
I think Aladdin's Oasis' time is up. Bring back the Tahitian Terrace!Posted 09-05-2008 at 03:50 PM by Barbossa -
a main power line back to the skyway station??hmmmm...Posted 09-05-2008 at 05:05 PM by vonrollskyway1
