9/18/08 - Monday in the Parks (Special Thursday edition) - "small world" boats & more
NEWS UPDATE - Thursday, Sept. 18th 10 AM PDT
Well, Disney has released the 2009 Marketing Campaign, and confirms the "What will you Celebrate?" slogan.
The 2 big pieces of news, a new parade, called "Celebrate Today!" is coming to Disneyland (and WDW) in spring of 2009.
And everyone can get into the park for free on their actual birthday (alternative gifts for Annual Passholders and guests using a vacation pacakage that comes with multi-day tickets).
Here is the link to the official website where you can get more information and register for your Birthday Gift.
www.disneyparks.com/celebrate
_____________________________________
Well, Disney has made a LOT of changes this week, and has kept me busy. I went to the park today to ride Mark VII Monorail Blue, but the entire Monorail system was closed this afternoon.
But there was a LOT of other new things in the Resort, including some major new stuff...
"it's a small world" new boats get their first photos
As reported by Al Lutz in November of 2007: MiceAge.com - A different look at Disney...
Quite simply, the boats weren't designed to handle multiple adults weighing more than 200 pounds, and they now routinely bottom out in the shallow flume and get stuck. The Imagineers who designed the unique flume ride system for the World's Fair assumed that adult men would average 175 pounds, and adult women would average 135 pounds. Needless to say, those 1960's statistics are hopelessly out of date in today's world. This same issue creates similar problems on the drops at Pirates of the Caribbean, or even on the older dark rides like Pinocchio or Alice In Wonderland as the more heavily loaded cars try to keep up their pace throughout the ride. But at it's a small world, the weight related problems happen more frequently.
There are a few notorious bends and curves inside the ride where the heavier boats usually stop at (the Mountie representing Canada is one), and most of the time the offending boat doesn't get much further than the S curve through the Scandinavian room before they come to a stop and create a traffic jam behind them. Believe it or not, there are absolutely no cameras or detection systems inside it's a small world, which is just another throwback to its 1960's roots. The Cast Members operating the attraction have absolutely no way of knowing what is going on inside the attraction once they dispatch your boat out of the station and you disappear inside the building.
The new "small world" boats were being tested Wednesday at the park.
Halloween Time Preparations.....
Year of a Million Dreams has left the Disneyland Turnstiles. The Halloween Pumpkins should be arriving in the next few days
Looks like the main Floral display will not change for Halloween (but some cosmetic stuff, such as Tink might get some attention.
Haunted Mansion Holiday is getting closer to opening, scheduled for September 26th.
The McDonald's Fry Wagon has disappeared
On my Monday update, I had a photo from Sunday with the entire Wagon behind refurb walls.
Tuesday's update had the wagon partially removed.
Today, the entire Conestoga Fries Wagon has been removed.
Ariel's Grotto new menu and new prices.
As mentioned Monday, the Character Meal at Disney's California Adventure has changed its menu, and its prices.
And while the Breakfast Menu at Ariel's Grotto has not changed, there are major changes for the "Lunch/Dinner" menu. (and there is NO difference between Lunch and Dinner at Ariel's Grotto).
First off, the biggest change is the fact that there are two different "zones", Inside and Outside, with different price points.
Also note, the First and Third course are now "one size fits all" with no option other than what is offered for the entire table.
If you want to sit inside, the Adult price is $31.99, with kids 3 thru 9 at $17.99. If you are willing to sit outside, then you can save $2 on the exact same meal, $29.99 for adults and $15.99 for kids.
Selected Photos at Darkbeer.Smugmug.com
A look at the Grand Californian Hotel Expansion.
Three updates is enough... See you on Monday, and make sure to check out both Dateline Disney on Friday and the Weekend Update on Saturday here at MiceAge!
Thanks again for keeping MiceAge as part of your regular Internet Browsing!
Well, Disney has released the 2009 Marketing Campaign, and confirms the "What will you Celebrate?" slogan.
The 2 big pieces of news, a new parade, called "Celebrate Today!" is coming to Disneyland (and WDW) in spring of 2009.
And everyone can get into the park for free on their actual birthday (alternative gifts for Annual Passholders and guests using a vacation pacakage that comes with multi-day tickets).
Here is the link to the official website where you can get more information and register for your Birthday Gift.
www.disneyparks.com/celebrate
_____________________________________
Well, Disney has made a LOT of changes this week, and has kept me busy. I went to the park today to ride Mark VII Monorail Blue, but the entire Monorail system was closed this afternoon.
But there was a LOT of other new things in the Resort, including some major new stuff...
"it's a small world" new boats get their first photos
As reported by Al Lutz in November of 2007: MiceAge.com - A different look at Disney...
Quote:
Quite simply, the boats weren't designed to handle multiple adults weighing more than 200 pounds, and they now routinely bottom out in the shallow flume and get stuck. The Imagineers who designed the unique flume ride system for the World's Fair assumed that adult men would average 175 pounds, and adult women would average 135 pounds. Needless to say, those 1960's statistics are hopelessly out of date in today's world. This same issue creates similar problems on the drops at Pirates of the Caribbean, or even on the older dark rides like Pinocchio or Alice In Wonderland as the more heavily loaded cars try to keep up their pace throughout the ride. But at it's a small world, the weight related problems happen more frequently.
There are a few notorious bends and curves inside the ride where the heavier boats usually stop at (the Mountie representing Canada is one), and most of the time the offending boat doesn't get much further than the S curve through the Scandinavian room before they come to a stop and create a traffic jam behind them. Believe it or not, there are absolutely no cameras or detection systems inside it's a small world, which is just another throwback to its 1960's roots. The Cast Members operating the attraction have absolutely no way of knowing what is going on inside the attraction once they dispatch your boat out of the station and you disappear inside the building.
Halloween Time Preparations.....
Year of a Million Dreams has left the Disneyland Turnstiles. The Halloween Pumpkins should be arriving in the next few days
Looks like the main Floral display will not change for Halloween (but some cosmetic stuff, such as Tink might get some attention.
Haunted Mansion Holiday is getting closer to opening, scheduled for September 26th.
The McDonald's Fry Wagon has disappeared
On my Monday update, I had a photo from Sunday with the entire Wagon behind refurb walls.
Tuesday's update had the wagon partially removed.
Today, the entire Conestoga Fries Wagon has been removed.
Ariel's Grotto new menu and new prices.
As mentioned Monday, the Character Meal at Disney's California Adventure has changed its menu, and its prices.
And while the Breakfast Menu at Ariel's Grotto has not changed, there are major changes for the "Lunch/Dinner" menu. (and there is NO difference between Lunch and Dinner at Ariel's Grotto).
First off, the biggest change is the fact that there are two different "zones", Inside and Outside, with different price points.
Also note, the First and Third course are now "one size fits all" with no option other than what is offered for the entire table.
If you want to sit inside, the Adult price is $31.99, with kids 3 thru 9 at $17.99. If you are willing to sit outside, then you can save $2 on the exact same meal, $29.99 for adults and $15.99 for kids.
Selected Photos at Darkbeer.Smugmug.com
A look at the Grand Californian Hotel Expansion.
Three updates is enough... See you on Monday, and make sure to check out both Dateline Disney on Friday and the Weekend Update on Saturday here at MiceAge!
Thanks again for keeping MiceAge as part of your regular Internet Browsing!
Total Comments 36
Comments
-
Great update, as always! Thanks for your hard work!
Posted 09-18-2008 at 12:48 AM by dland_lover
-
Thanks for the great update! It is exciting to see the new smallword boats....unfortunately, they look cheap to me....LOLPosted 09-18-2008 at 01:16 AM by disneyland255 -
Thanks dood.Posted 09-18-2008 at 01:46 AM by orbitalpunk -
Small World, Ariel's Grotto
As usual, a great update. It will be interesting to see how the new boats work out in "Small World". Regarding Ariel's Grotto, it's nice to see a change in the menu. However, I don't remember Ariel's serving breakfast, just lunch and dinner. For the listed price, I would rather make a reservation at the Blue Bayou.Posted 09-18-2008 at 06:41 AM by louisehira -
Another terrific update. Thanks for the peek behind the walls. Can't wait for IASW to open back up.Posted 09-18-2008 at 07:32 AM by xalesa -
Great update? Any word if the inside of IASW is also different?Posted 09-18-2008 at 07:53 AM by WheresMickey -
PLEASE tell me they are planning to paint those boats! I agree they look cheap and plastic-y.
Not thrilled with the changes to Ariel's Grotto. On the new menu (which I don't think is enormously more healthy than the other one) there are maybe two things I can see our family actually eating. The different costs for indoor/outdoor seating bug me. What's next? An extra charge for weekend or other uber-popular dining times?
Time for us to check out one of the other places.
I am glad the fry wagon is gone, however - yippee!Posted 09-18-2008 at 08:47 AM by Javamom -
That color scheme is so... weird.Posted 09-18-2008 at 09:09 AM by Zoe Necrosis - I do have to add a positive to the small world boats....the backs look much higher in all the rows which will be more comfortable for us taller people. I know my back always hurt (if I didn't sit in the back row) because of that metal bar that would hit it. The same thing happens to me on Pirates if I don't sit in the back.
Also, the price difference for Ariel's Grotto...is this because the characters don't go outside to greet the people? If not, then why the difference in price? That is odd.
Oh, and one more question....has there been an official realease on the Grand Californian DVC rooms? I've never seen anything official like what they just did with the new DVC Resort at WDW. A link would be great if there is...thanks!
Posted 09-18-2008 at 10:27 AM by disneyland255 -
The Princesses go outside and meet all the guests.
You are just paying for the Air Conditioning.Posted 09-18-2008 at 10:38 AM by Darkbeer -
Thanks again Darkbeer. There's very little more satisfying then a mid-week update!Posted 09-18-2008 at 10:43 AM by ttrocc7007 -
Thanks again for the great updates!Posted 09-18-2008 at 10:45 AM by DonDuck - Thanks for all the extra updates. It's nice to be connected to Disneyland even if I'm in Oregon.
One thing about the Ariel's Grotto menu that is disappointing is the removal of the octa-dog I know it's just a hot-dog but my kids thought it was so neat to have their hot-dog cut like an octopus. They still serve the pasta but without the hot-dog... and for the same price. The octa-dog fit the theme of the restaurant and somehow made a $17.00 bowl of macaroni-and-cheese with a hot-dog seem like it was worth the price. In fact this is the only food item we took a picture of on our trip this past June because it was so cute. I guess I'll just have to cut their dogs like this at home... And think about skipping this restaurant in the future.Posted 09-18-2008 at 11:07 AM by mjmcgillivray -
Yes. Thank you for taking the time and effort to updates us all. You made Thursday!Posted 09-18-2008 at 11:16 AM by basx -
Thanks for the update! I would love to take that cat home in the last photo you have on here, but I am thinking my cat at home would not be happy about it
Posted 09-18-2008 at 11:17 AM by bostoncg
Updated 09-18-2008 at 11:18 AM by bostoncg (posted before I finished my sentence) -
Thanks again for the update David!Posted 09-18-2008 at 12:01 PM by Abominable Snowman -
Thanks again Darkbeer.Posted 09-18-2008 at 12:42 PM by MickeyMousePal -
Free admission on your birthday? Good value when the park is open 8AM to midnight...
It will probably make the parks really busy, though. Also, what about special events similar to Miley's bday? Will it still be valid then?Posted 09-18-2008 at 12:44 PM by BassBone 
- Re the Octodog. You can make these at home with the "Octodog Frankfurter Converter" from Octodog's Frankfurter Converter,The fun, simple and safer way to turn ordinary hotdogs into exciting to cook and super fun to eat... Octodogs. I have one and have given several as gifts and everyone loves it (even my 25 year old daughter).Posted 09-18-2008 at 01:32 PM by rocur
-
great pics. wish I was there @ Disneyland & WDWPosted 09-18-2008 at 01:32 PM by wdwnut4life
