4/21/08 - Monday in the Parks - News, Photos and Tips

Well, lots to get to this week, a major impact for Disneyland the next few days, Monorail Red appearing in the park during the day, lots of news, and a commentary, plus many photos.

Mark VII Monorail Red starts Cast Member preview testing

TUESDAY 2:15 PM UPDATE - NOW INTERIOR SHOTS!

Here you go, some photos....





















Lots more photos, including the current status of the "Castle" can be found here.


http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/gallery/4776431_gdptu

The Mark VII Monorail Red has been scheduled to start "daytime" testing before and after regular park hours this week, to prevent guests from getting upset of a Monorail entering the station that they can't ride, since the State of California (DOSH) has not yet approved the new Mark VII design.

The Los Angeles Times was kind enough to mention the Dateline Disney and Monday in the Parks photos of Monorail Blue last week.

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/?p=1712

A Disney official was quoted in the above link that Mark VII Monorail Red should be available to park guests by mid-May.

Disneyland's Quinceanera Dream Come True event to have major impact at Disneyland this week

This Thursday, April 24th, 15 young ladies have won a special after hours celebration of their 15th birthday (a major event in some Spanish-speaking regions). The event will be filmed for the Univision Network.

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disn...ecialEventPage

Due to this event, they will be setting up a large stage in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle starting Tuesday the 22nd.


UPDATE photo from Tuesday Morning, April 22nd





This will require the main pathway over the draw bridge to be closed from Tuesday until sometime on Friday. The side pathways will be available, as will the parade route access to Fantasyland.

Wednesday April 23rd thru Friday April 25th will have the Horse Drawn Streetcars not operating to allow the tracks to be blocked for the event.



Aladdin's Oasis will be closed on the 23rd and 24th to allow for a staging area for the event. Also, the Opera House will be closed starting Wednesday the 23rd, and is scheduled to reopen on Friday the 25th at about 4 PM due to the event.

Princess Fantasy Faire will be closing early on the 23rd and 24th.

The Parade of Dreams will have an early start on Thursday, with a 5:30 PM starting time. A few other minor closures will also happen around the Hub on Thursday.

Alaska Airlines extends the "Kids fly Free" offer for travel through September 30th

The Walt Disney Travel Company and Alaska Airlines has extended its popular "Kids fly Free" offer, which includes 2 extra days if you buy a 3 day ParkHopper. The Los Angeles Times has all the details at this link, including the requirement to purchase by May 31st.

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/?p=1745

Former Disneyland Vice President Greg Emmer to join the ORCA Consulting Group

Well respected Greg Emmer is joining a lot of other former Walt Disney Company executives at the ORCA Group, per a Theme Law article.

http://themelaw.blogspot.com/2008/04...oins-orca.html

Richard Sherman on April 25th, Roy E. Disney and Don Hahn on April 30th to speak at the Newport Beach Film Festival

Wednesday, April 30th at 7:30 PM, Roy E. Disney and Don Hahn will speak at a special screening of many rare Disney animated shorts at the Regency Lido Theater in Newport Beach. Tickets ($15) and more info can be found at the link below.

http://newportbeach.bside.com/2008/f...wportbeach2008

Also, Richard Sherman, the award winning songwriter known for such songs as "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and the "Carousel of Progress" (which he worked on with his brother Robert) and many others will also be part of the Newport Beach Film Festival, this time on Friday, April 25th at 7 PM at the Island Hotel Newport Beach. Tickets are $25, and available at this link.

http://newportbeach.bside.com/2008/f...wportbeach2008





Pixar Play Parade Facts

The Orange County Register has started a new feature, "Did you know?", and the first item chosen was facts and stats in regards to the new Pixar Play Parade.

http://ocresort.freedomblogging.com/...-parade-facts/

Also at the link, there is an e-mail link if you have a future question for the feature.




Anaheim GardenWalk Hotels start the approval process

Also this week over at the Orange County Register, Adam Townsend reported that the approval process has started for the 2 planned hotels on the east end of the new Anaheim GardenWalk project.

The hotels, to be built by the Prospera Hotels company is still in discussions with the Walt Disney Company to manage the 2 new hotels.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/h...88-plans-rooms


One of the locations of the new Anaheim GardenWalk hotels


The main Anaheim GardenWalk pedestrian entrance from Disney Way, scheduled to open on May 31st.


And the main Vehicle entrance to the center from Disney Way.


Today is the last day to vote for the Disney's "Chief Magical Officer"

Voting for the "Dream CMO" ends tonight, April 21st at Midnight, with the winner announced tomorrow.

http://www.dreamcmo.com/

Good luck to all three finalists.

Six Flags Magic Mountain decides to not add tunnels to "X2"

Brady McDonald reported this week at the Los Angeles Times that Six Flags has decided to not add tunnels to the "X" track, but that many other special effects are still being added. "X2" is scheduled to open on May 24th.

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/?p=1713

Short-term decisions versus Long-term decisions - COMMENTARY

Quite a few recent news articles have gotten my attention, and many different folks are asking "Why did Disney make this decision?"

Disney is in the business, as is any other "for profit" company, to make a profit, but sometimes folks will ask, WHY?

The latest Disney decision in the news is the shutting down of the Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK) website. John Frost over at The Disney Blog wrote a nice summary of events, and brings up the fact that Disney might have had to make a decision to renew a third party contract to keep the game going.

http://thedisneyblog.com/2008/04/15/...magic-kingdom/

And Rick Aristotle Munarriz at the Motley Fool makes a very good point in regards to VMK.

http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...s-kingdom.aspx

And that is a key point, EVERY decision that ANY company makes creates both good will and bad will. To be honest, I played around with VMK at the beginning, but found out it wasn't my thing, but it was very creative and had a lot of fans and regular users. A lot of folks put time and money into the game, and then to be told that it is just "over" has left a bitter taste in many mouths. As I understand it, there is no real chance of the website staying open after May 21st of this year.


VMK is still featured at Innoventions


And they are advertising "new" sign-ups, even though that is no longer being offered at the website


There have been other recent instances of "fans" speaking out. The most well known item is Disney's California Adventure Park, and many changes have been made to the park since opening due to what guests have complained about, including the additions of "Flik's Fun Fair" for kids, Tower of Terror for themeing, and the upcoming Toy Story Mania! opening June 17th. Plus the announcement of about $1.1 Billion to improve the park in other ways. But still, as shown in an Editorial from the Los Angeles Times this month, the complaints are kept in the spotlight.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...0,732586.story


Current progress for the Toy Story Mania! area.




This is a clear example where Disney decided to go "cheap" and is paying for it today.

But also in this case, Disney did listen and is trying to improve its product.

Now the most recent story, that Al Lutz first reported in late February is the "small world" possible changes.

There has been a lot of attention on this, with many viewpoints coming out, with websites, Main Stream Media and Disney speaking out about the changes.


Work on the "iasw" facade has started



This week, Disney had the WDI executive in charge of the "small world" project speak on one of the local NPR station, KCRW.

http://savethesmallworld08.blogspot....adictions.html

Ms. Irvine is now the third senior Disney official, along with Marty Sklar and Dave Smith, to go on the record to try and address the worries of many fans that the changes might be "too drastic" for a classic attraction.

In this case, we won't know the final outcome until the ride reopens, but it is clear that Disney does pay attention to the Internet, and other sources, such as e-mail and snail mail.

There is nothing wrong with letting folks know your opinion, whether it is the closing of VMK, the possible changes of "small world", or the disappointing park that DCA was when it opened.

Sites such as MiceAge are around because there are fans of Disneyland and other Theme/Amusement Parks, plus many other related products, such as Disney entertainment offerings. We all appreciate the hard work employees do to try and provide their best, but sometimes, you just have to ask "What were they thinking?" And that is not just for Disney, but for any company.

Selected Photos from Darkbeer.Smugmug.com


Most of the outside facade work for the new Cold Stone Creamery at the Park Vue Inn on Harbor is finished.


Current progress on the Grand Californian Hotel/DVC expansion


The new Grand Californian Hotel Emergency Egress next to Whitewater Snacks, alas, guests have already used the doors improperly multiple times since it has opened.



That should do it, hope everyone has a great week, and be sure and checkout the Smugmug site to follow the progress of the Quinceanera event setup during the week.