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10/10: Miley's Birthday Bash, Fortuosity Shop, more Nightmare merch, refurbs, +MORE!

Posted 10-10-2008 at 01:58 AM by Dateline Disneyland
Updated 10-10-2008 at 12:46 PM by Dateline Disneyland (Added links to LA Times blogs for more info on Miley Cyrus' Sweet 16)
It's time again for Dateline Disneyland! Before we start, I'd like to thank David "Darkbeer" Michael for his contributions to this week's update. Alright, let's get to it!

WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND!
The first loading area at the Mickey and Friends tram stop is being used again after being closed for most of the summer season following an incident where a tram hit one of the billboards in the loading area.




SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING OLD
Inside Disneyland, the new Fortuosity Shop has opened up where New Century Timepieces was formerly located.


The store still features working watch artists and watches, but a largely reduced selection.






The new shop also features an eclectic mix of Disney clothing, knick knacks, chocolates, and other wearables that are, or at least appear, upscale.


According to the official DisneyGallery.com description, the new shop is supposed to harken back to the old One-of-a-Kind Shop that used to call New Orleans Square home.
Fortuosity Shop features timeless treasures galore! On October 3, 2008, New Century Timepieces will re-open its doors as the new Fortuosity Shop. "The name of the shop was inspired by the opening song from The Happiest Millionaire," says Walt Disney Imagineer and Director of Concept and Show Design, Kim Irvine. "We chose it because it is a Disney word created to express good fortune, which we hope everyone will find some type of fun fortune or treasure each time they visit the shop."

Fortuosity is based on the One Of A Kind shop in New Orleans Square - with lots of old pieces of furniture for displays, lots of funky lights and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, all to create the feel of a shop one would find on Main Street in the early 1900's. With its eclectic offering of accessories, apparel and gift items, this ever-changing location will continuously reinvent itself, while continuing to offer a selection of our Disney watches, clocks and ever-popular artisan watches. So be sure to take more than a moment to linger in this unique shop and discover unexpected keepsakes that you will treasure for a lifetime.




Overall, my first impressions of the shop were less cynical than they were pleased. I found the shop it to be a breath of fresh air, despite the many items that can be found in the other shops along Main Street. Still, the shop offers plenty of Disney and non-Disney-branded items that were previously not available elsewhere on Main Street. The selection and variety is nice.



The theming in the shop is detailed and engaging, and it's nice to see an effort to offer new things in an area of the park in which the offerings were largely a lot of the same.


Hopefully the idea catches on with park guests, and the Annual Passholders this shop seems to be aimed at, and if it does, I hope the selection of unique, Disney items grows - more of the really cool Disneyland attraction poster shirts would be a great start.










SWEET SIXTEEN
Last weekend Disneyland hosted Disney Channel star Miley Cyrus' special-ticket Sweet 16 party.





The party impacted the park heavily on Sunday with some areas closing as early as 3 p.m. and the park as a whole completely closing to regular guests at 5 p.m.


Frontierland was bombarded with theme-shattering party decorations and set-up throughout the weekend.






















LA Times Funland blogger Brady MacDonald has a few Miley Sweet 16 stories over at his blog:
Video: Miley Cyrus celebrates Sweet 16 birthday at Disneyland

Miley Cyrus parties nonstop at Disneyland Sweet 16 birthday celebration

Miley Cyrus invites celebs to Disneyland Sweet 16 party




REFURB AND CONSTRUCTION ROUND-UP
Work continues at the New Orleans Square railroad station.





The roof work atop the Frontierland Shooting Exposition is out from behind tarps.



The River Belle Terrace entry walkway is now uncovered.



The outdoor vending set-up has returned at the base of the Skyway stair queue.


It's much more elaborate and better themed than its previous incarnation.


The set-up also offers frozen and hot drinks.



Toon Town is getting some paint.





The Tinker Bell meet and greet is starting to resemble a tea pot.



The Tomorrowland repaving project presses on...













Over at Disney's California Adventure the new Lounge at the Golden Vine Winery is open in the location that previously housed the pricey Vineyard Room restaurant.





The billboard that used to tout Burger Invasion is now behind walls.



And the Sun Wheel, which was originally scheduled to close September 11 for refurbishment and retheming will finally close after it hosts its last guests on Sunday, October 12.


The Sun Wheel will be re-themed as Mickey's Fun Wheel which will not only help tie together Paradise Pier's new character-heavy theme, but also play a role in the upcoming World of Color water and light show.

Artist rendering copyright Disney


And in Downtown Disney, Department 56's downsizing project is now complete.






And Downtown Disney is getting ready for the holidays already; the multi-colored lighted balls are strung up in the trees.



MORE NIGHTMARE MERCH
And Saturday's Nightmare Before Christmas 15th Anniversary saw even more collectibles released that what was previously on display in Disneyana's window.
























AROUND THE PARK
And finally, various shots from around Disneyland





















That should do it for this week. Many thanks again to David Michael for his photos in today's update. As always, many more of his shots can be found in his smugmug galleries: darkbeer.smugmug.com.

Also, you can find a lot of my Disney theme park photos in my flickr photostream: flickr.com/photos/andycastro.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to discuss below!

See you next week!
- Andy

Total Comments 26

Comments

Old
tcsnwhite's Avatar
In the shop, I noticed that the artist's portfolio with all his or her designs to flip through is missing. It's usually on a little podium in front of the work station, but I don't see it in the photographs above...hmmmmm?
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 03:18 AM by tcsnwhite tcsnwhite is offline
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peoplemover1's Avatar
Great Dateline Andy!! Lots going on, thanks for keeping us up to date.
Love the night time pumpkin pictures and the shooting gallery!!

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Posted 10-10-2008 at 03:26 AM by peoplemover1 peoplemover1 is offline
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WheresMickey's Avatar
Great update!
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 07:38 AM by WheresMickey WheresMickey is online now
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Rixter's Avatar
It's always such a pleasure to take a Friday morning stroll through the park courtesy of Dateline Disneyland. I know how much work goes into these updates. Thanks Andy!
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 07:46 AM by Rixter Rixter is offline
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omiyage's Avatar
Lovely photos! Can't wait to see more Christmas decorations going up, Christmas is my favorite holiday
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 08:28 AM by omiyage omiyage is offline
Old
Thanks for the update Andy. Any idea when they are going to give hands to the clock outside of the Fortuosity Shop?
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 08:42 AM by toemblem toemblem is offline
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Chasbo's Avatar
You gotta love the kid on stage with Miley and Mickey wearing a Dead Kennedys t-shirt.
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 08:52 AM by Chasbo Chasbo is online now
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dl_appurtenant's Avatar
Awesome update...I enjoyed it immensely.

Can anyone tell me how much the Skyway shirts are?
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 08:52 AM by dl_appurtenant dl_appurtenant is offline
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Dustysage's Avatar
Fantastic update Andy!

What upset me about the Miley birthday party was the loud fireworks that woke me up at Midnight. I have to wake up at 4am every Monday morning. Needless to say that I was totally PISSED that Disney decided that Ms. Cyrus "Sweet 16" was more important than my eight hours of sleep.
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 08:54 AM by Dustysage Dustysage is offline
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dsnylndmom's Avatar
Great update Andy!
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 09:01 AM by dsnylndmom dsnylndmom is offline
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disneyland255's Avatar
What a great update! I love all the refurb pics! Not sure why, but they just get me so excited for all the changes coming to the resort in the next 5 years!
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 09:23 AM by disneyland255 disneyland255 is offline
Old
Wow another great update. I go to DL every Saturday and always feel like I'm a better informed guest due to your updates! Thanks Andy.

I guess I'm showing my age though when I say I don't get this whole Miley Cyrus thing. Is she a big enough star to close the whole park for? I don't think they ever did that for Annette.
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 10:44 AM by RikiTiki66 RikiTiki66 is offline
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cellarhound's Avatar
Sweet...

Hey Disney,

Nice nod to the "Happiest Millionare"...

You won bonus points...
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 11:06 AM by cellarhound cellarhound is offline
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NetteNutt's Avatar
In admitting I know this I am embarrassing myself. The kid in the Dead Kennedy's shirt is her brother.

I now realize that I really really need to expand my daughters' music taste because I KNOW too much about Miley Cyrus.
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 11:19 AM by NetteNutt NetteNutt is offline
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MasterGracey's Avatar
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dustysage
Fantastic update Andy!

What upset me about the Miley birthday party was the loud fireworks that woke me up at Midnight. I have to wake up at 4am every Monday morning. Needless to say that I was totally PISSED that Disney decided that Ms. Cyrus "Sweet 16" was more important than my eight hours of sleep.
Yikes! Yeah, I heard about the midnight fireworks. I wonder how much in noise ordinance citation fees Disney shelled out to the City of Anaheim for that ruckus?


Quote:
Originally Posted by RikiTiki66
Wow another great update. I go to DL every Saturday and always feel like I'm a better informed guest due to your updates! Thanks Andy.

I guess I'm showing my age though when I say I don't get this whole Miley Cyrus thing. Is she a big enough star to close the whole park for? I don't think they ever did that for Annette.
Miley's birthday was less of a favor for her, and more of a publicity stunt for Disney theme parks. The event essentially kicked off the "What will you celebrate?" marketing campaign for 2009 with a huge birthday party. Incidentally, birthdays are the main draw of the new marketing campaign -- as everybody is eligible for free admission to a Disney theme park on their birthday in 2009. So using Disney's biggest star right now to promote Disney theme parks is Disney synergy at its best (or worst, depending on how you look at it )



- Andy
Dateline Disneyland
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 11:37 AM by MasterGracey MasterGracey is online now
Old
Good spot on the DK t-shirt, I'm surprised someone at Disney didn't tell him or his dad to change it. Someone should forward that pic to Jello Biafra, he'd probably laugh, faint, or both....
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 12:15 PM by vfire vfire is offline
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Abominable Snowman's Avatar
Great pics!

Thanks for the update
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 01:06 PM by Abominable Snowman Abominable Snowman is offline
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2DieFR's Avatar
I have my eye on the attraction poster shirts in the Fortuosity shop - both the Skyway and Monorail shirts are $30 apiece and look fantastic!
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 01:43 PM by 2DieFR 2DieFR is offline
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Squirt_101's Avatar
Thanks for the update! One of the reasons I love Fridays.....
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 06:39 PM by Squirt_101 Squirt_101 is offline
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hadesthecat's Avatar
Love the Nightmare stuff, looks like I have to take out a loan to get the wife everything she is drooling over
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Posted 10-10-2008 at 06:45 PM by hadesthecat hadesthecat is offline
 

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