9/22/08 - Monday in the Parks - News, Photos and Tips
Good day, hope everyone is enjoying the first day of fall, and getting ready for the next Theme Park "season", Halloween.
Catching up on last week's news.
In case you missed it, I had two special updates here at MiceAge last week.
The first one focused on Greg Emmer's new window on Main Street.
http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/mon...ew-window.html
Then on Thursday, MiceAge ran photos of the new Small World boats.
http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/mon...oats-more.html
And if you missed the special updates, then you need to make sure and follow the suggestion from Sean Stangland of the Chicago Daily Herald.
It's like they're reading my mind | DailyHerald.com Blogs
"What will you Celebrate?" is the official new 2009 Marketing Theme
Last Thursday, Disney Parks and Resorts and a major Media event in New York to announce the new Marketing Event where Mickey Head Balloons will be a major part of the new theme.
As mentioned last week, the 30 city tour was announced, when Cast Members will hand out balloons and help to promote the parks in local shopping malls and similar locations.
Also, in a tie-in with Miley Cyrus's 16th Birthday Party being held at Disneyland Park on October 5th, Disney will be offering everyone a free admission to one Disney Theme Park in Anaheim or Orlando in 2009 on their actual Birthday (Those who birthday is February 29th can visit the parks on February 28th or March 1st). While not required, Disney is asking folks to pre-register at www.disneyparks.com/celebrate.
For those folks who are travelling on Multi-Day Vacation Packages that come with ParkHoppers, or Annual Passholders, Disney will be offering some "Alternative" Birthday gifts instead of the free admission, including a "Fun Card" that will have the same value as a one day/one park ticket. The "Fun Card" will be good for Merchandise at most stores in the parks.
The Marketing plan will include many new features in 2009, including special Birthday Parties in the parks, customized Birthday Cakes and a new "Celebrate Today!" entertainment event at both Disneyland and WDW.
A lot of the the new features will be "upsells", and most of them will be available to order on the web, including booking the birthday parties and ordering the cakes.
Halloween is coming!
This Friday is the start of Halloween Time at Disneyland, including the opening of Haunted Mansion Holiday.
Mickey's Trick or Treat, the special after-hour event at DCA has now sold out on Friday, October 3rd and 24th, all other days are still available at Disneyland.com
Disneyland is not the only Theme Park that celebrates Halloween, with Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott's Berry Farm all offering special Adult themed Monster Mazes and special events.
Knott's Berry Farm Update
This Thursday is the start of the 36th Annual Knott's Halloween Haunt (aka Knott's Scary Farm). Offered most evenings in October, this special after-hours event was the first Halloween event at a Theme Park, and still the best, based on all the awards it has won.
http://micechat.com/forums/news/1033...formation.html
MiceChat is having a special meet at Haunt this Saturday, September 27th. Check out this thread for more details, http://micechat.com/forums/meets-eve...sept-27th.html
This year's Hanging, a great spoof on what happened in the last year, will be themed to Indiana Jones and his latest movie.
Knott's also has a special kids version of Halloween at Camp Spooky on weekends in October. This event is held during normal park hours, and is part of regular admission price (Just $22.99 for kids 3 through 11).
A new Water Park is planned for Ontario, California
Water Park for Ontario | The Business Press | Inland Southern California's Business Newspaper | Section Title
The water park will be built near Ontario Mills, Ontario Convention Center and Citizens Business Bank Arena, the multipurpose entertainment venue scheduled to open next month.
Construction hasn't started, but Liquid Management Group plans to have the park operating by May. The company has signed a 45-year lease with San Bernardino County on the site.
Yesterday was the last day for Knott's Soak City in Buena Park for 2008, scheduled to reopen around Memorial Day, 2009.
Quote of the week
This quote comes from Michael Fisher, the son of Marla Jo Fisher, a writer for the Orange County Register and was featured in Sunday's Travel section of the paper.
Travel: A family safari in Kenya | kenya, safari, africa, masai, animals - OCRegister.com
Mommy, Africa looks just like the San Diego Zoo!
Selected Photos from Darkbeer.Smugmug.com
Pony Express, the new Knott's Roller Coaster for 2008
The French Market in New Orleans Square has gotten new pavement
Monorail Blue, as mentioned here last week, has started to take guests around the park
Of course, there is no guarantee any specific Monorail will be running at any specific time, but on Sunday both Mark VII Red and Blue were in service
New Halloween Themed Napkins are be offered in the parks
Even the back of the napkin has a design on it
New Soda cups have also been stocked for use
And the new Popcorn container
Rancho del Zocalo has switched to a new brand of Hot Sauce
That will do it for today, and unless something major comes up, will be my only update here at MiceAge.com for the week.
I do have a schedule for this week in case you are curious what you can find at Darkbeer's photos- powered by SmugMug this week.
Wednesday, September 24th - Disneyland and a look at the Halloween decorations going up
Thursday, September 25th - Knott's and a look at the final preparations for Halloween Haunt
Friday, September 26th - Disneyland and the start of Halloween Time
Saturday, September 27th - Knott's Halloween Haunt
And of course, highlights will be here next Monday, September 29th at MiceAge.com
Have a great week! And Go Chargers! tonight
Here is a joke (Oh, I hope it is a joke) taken from Sunday's LA Times Sports Section...
What Bizarre Way will the Chargers lose this week?
(And you had a choice of many options in Columns A, B and C) my favorite....
4 hours after the game, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the Grinch rules the Jets win based on online voting from "American Idol"
And public kudos to Referee Ed Hochuli who admitted he made a mistake last week, and has been a class act this week by apologizing and answering his e-mail personally. Hopefully the NFL will follow up and figure out a way to make sure another team doesn't lose a game due to the rulebook quirks.
Catching up on last week's news.
In case you missed it, I had two special updates here at MiceAge last week.
The first one focused on Greg Emmer's new window on Main Street.
http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/mon...ew-window.html
Then on Thursday, MiceAge ran photos of the new Small World boats.
http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/mon...oats-more.html
And if you missed the special updates, then you need to make sure and follow the suggestion from Sean Stangland of the Chicago Daily Herald.
It's like they're reading my mind | DailyHerald.com Blogs
Quote:
Last Thursday, Disney Parks and Resorts and a major Media event in New York to announce the new Marketing Event where Mickey Head Balloons will be a major part of the new theme.
As mentioned last week, the 30 city tour was announced, when Cast Members will hand out balloons and help to promote the parks in local shopping malls and similar locations.
Also, in a tie-in with Miley Cyrus's 16th Birthday Party being held at Disneyland Park on October 5th, Disney will be offering everyone a free admission to one Disney Theme Park in Anaheim or Orlando in 2009 on their actual Birthday (Those who birthday is February 29th can visit the parks on February 28th or March 1st). While not required, Disney is asking folks to pre-register at www.disneyparks.com/celebrate.
For those folks who are travelling on Multi-Day Vacation Packages that come with ParkHoppers, or Annual Passholders, Disney will be offering some "Alternative" Birthday gifts instead of the free admission, including a "Fun Card" that will have the same value as a one day/one park ticket. The "Fun Card" will be good for Merchandise at most stores in the parks.
The Marketing plan will include many new features in 2009, including special Birthday Parties in the parks, customized Birthday Cakes and a new "Celebrate Today!" entertainment event at both Disneyland and WDW.
A lot of the the new features will be "upsells", and most of them will be available to order on the web, including booking the birthday parties and ordering the cakes.
Halloween is coming!
This Friday is the start of Halloween Time at Disneyland, including the opening of Haunted Mansion Holiday.
Mickey's Trick or Treat, the special after-hour event at DCA has now sold out on Friday, October 3rd and 24th, all other days are still available at Disneyland.com
Disneyland is not the only Theme Park that celebrates Halloween, with Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott's Berry Farm all offering special Adult themed Monster Mazes and special events.
Knott's Berry Farm Update
This Thursday is the start of the 36th Annual Knott's Halloween Haunt (aka Knott's Scary Farm). Offered most evenings in October, this special after-hours event was the first Halloween event at a Theme Park, and still the best, based on all the awards it has won.
http://micechat.com/forums/news/1033...formation.html
MiceChat is having a special meet at Haunt this Saturday, September 27th. Check out this thread for more details, http://micechat.com/forums/meets-eve...sept-27th.html
This year's Hanging, a great spoof on what happened in the last year, will be themed to Indiana Jones and his latest movie.
Knott's also has a special kids version of Halloween at Camp Spooky on weekends in October. This event is held during normal park hours, and is part of regular admission price (Just $22.99 for kids 3 through 11).
A new Water Park is planned for Ontario, California
Water Park for Ontario | The Business Press | Inland Southern California's Business Newspaper | Section Title
Quote:
The water park will be built near Ontario Mills, Ontario Convention Center and Citizens Business Bank Arena, the multipurpose entertainment venue scheduled to open next month.
Construction hasn't started, but Liquid Management Group plans to have the park operating by May. The company has signed a 45-year lease with San Bernardino County on the site.
Yesterday was the last day for Knott's Soak City in Buena Park for 2008, scheduled to reopen around Memorial Day, 2009.
Quote of the week
This quote comes from Michael Fisher, the son of Marla Jo Fisher, a writer for the Orange County Register and was featured in Sunday's Travel section of the paper.
Travel: A family safari in Kenya | kenya, safari, africa, masai, animals - OCRegister.com
Quote:
Mommy, Africa looks just like the San Diego Zoo!
Pony Express, the new Knott's Roller Coaster for 2008
The French Market in New Orleans Square has gotten new pavement
Monorail Blue, as mentioned here last week, has started to take guests around the park
Of course, there is no guarantee any specific Monorail will be running at any specific time, but on Sunday both Mark VII Red and Blue were in service
New Halloween Themed Napkins are be offered in the parks
Even the back of the napkin has a design on it
New Soda cups have also been stocked for use
And the new Popcorn container
Rancho del Zocalo has switched to a new brand of Hot Sauce
That will do it for today, and unless something major comes up, will be my only update here at MiceAge.com for the week.
I do have a schedule for this week in case you are curious what you can find at Darkbeer's photos- powered by SmugMug this week.
Wednesday, September 24th - Disneyland and a look at the Halloween decorations going up
Thursday, September 25th - Knott's and a look at the final preparations for Halloween Haunt
Friday, September 26th - Disneyland and the start of Halloween Time
Saturday, September 27th - Knott's Halloween Haunt
And of course, highlights will be here next Monday, September 29th at MiceAge.com
Have a great week! And Go Chargers! tonight
Here is a joke (Oh, I hope it is a joke) taken from Sunday's LA Times Sports Section...
Quote:
What Bizarre Way will the Chargers lose this week?
(And you had a choice of many options in Columns A, B and C) my favorite....
4 hours after the game, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the Grinch rules the Jets win based on online voting from "American Idol"
Total Comments 25
Comments
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Thanks for the answer, actually I went to a translation site to find out the meaning, and couldn't find one, and Zocalo is Spanish word I never heard before, I thought it was just a made up name that sounded like Zorro. I thought they couldn't use the name Zorro because another studio was releasing Zorro movies. (The ones with Anthony Banderas?) Oh, and there's a stage in the 'zocalo' area? Also thanks for the answer about Knott's Scary Farm, I think it makes it confusing to use both names, they should just use Knott's Scary Farm.Quote:"In 1955, the big Western heroes were Davy Crockett and Zorro, so the circular plaza in the center of Frontierland was named "El Zocalo" to fit with the more Southwestern feel of Zorro. Recently, "El Zocalo" was retrofitted with a new layout and a stage, so the circular plaza is no longer there in its original form. Now you know why "Rancho del Zocalo" goes all the way back to Disneyland's beginnings to find a theme, and its name.]Posted 09-22-2008 at 04:03 PM by Disneykin Kid
Updated 09-22-2008 at 04:06 PM by Disneykin Kid (correction) - Is Disney REALLY now so cheap that the godawful "Disney Parks" name is even on NAPKINS? They can't create napkins specific to each park, or even to each major resort? I remember when each RESTAURANT had its own cups, matchbooks, etc. It's really sad that the penny-pinching has gone this far ... so Jay Rasulo and his exec team can get bigger bonuses, at our expense! Sad indeed.Posted 09-22-2008 at 07:53 PM by Epcot82
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Great update and pics. Cant wait for Friday night. I love Halloween time at DL.Posted 09-22-2008 at 11:17 PM by Craigroy8287 -
DL will probably raise meal prices about $3 each because of those expensive looking napkins...
Thanks for another great update!
Posted 09-23-2008 at 07:59 PM by SouthHrbrBlvd -
I am so happy to have a change of seasons. There's so much more going on at Disneyland these next few months. Summer gave me an overload of A Year of A Million Dreams. I'm excited for the new theme, but not for the perks. They need a marketing campaign that benefits AP holders too.Posted 09-23-2008 at 09:08 PM by Bex <> Nix
