Everyone knows the story of Rudolph and how he helped Santa deliver Christmas through a terrible storm. Unfortunately, the reindeer couldn’t save Santa on Saturday when his sleigh in the Christmas Fantasy parade suddenly malfunctioned, throwing the jolly old Saint Nick right off his mount. We’ve got video and photos for you below.
There are all sorts of things going on at the resort right now for us to share. Another shop has reopened in Downtown Disney, a new themed eatery is just about to debut in Adventureland, pathway expansion continues, and holiday magic has everything merry and bright . . . except for . . .
The Great Santa Sleigh Incident of 2018
The Christmas parade had a shocking twist on Saturday as the sleigh on Santa’s float suddenly collapsed forward sending props tumbling and leaving Santa dangling by his safety harness. Below is how Santa is supposed to look…
But you’ve got to see what happened on Saturday, December 15th.
And a few moments after the tip from Instagrammer elaeuphoria:
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Saw Santa almost die at Disneyland today. His sleigh broke and he was hanging by his harness.
As of yesterday (Sunday, December 16th) Santa has been relocated to the Mail Room unit of the parade, displacing Chip and Dale. That leaves Buzz Lightyear to wrap up the show.
And the parade just ends with Buzz Lightyears Float, removing the Carolers and reindeer section of the parade. I would think having the Carolers at the end of the parade would be preferable to the abrupt end of the Toy Factory Unit.
Of course, the incident has us wondering if it isn’t time for this parade to get a big update in time for next Christmas. These floats have been in use since 1995, most folks don’t even have cars that old. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great parade with many wonderful elements, but it’s long in the tooth and now we are seeing malfunctions which, even if they aren’t truly dangerous, sure don’t bring the magic of Disneyland to life when they happen in front of the park guests. Personally, I would prefer whole units be replaced/upgraded instead of the whole parade getting the ax as this parade still has a lot of heart but parade floats just don’t last forever.
On the lighter side…
Tropical Hideaway
Castmembers are now being scheduled for Tropical Hideaway, which will begin castmember testing this week and then preview to media later in the week, before opening to the public.
Disney has released some detailed photos of the area and it looks like it has been there since the early days of the park. Truly a detailed space and one which expands the backstory and history of the area. Take a look:
Rosita has flown the coop and is waiting for her ship to come in. Meanwhile, she’ll be chatting with guests at river’s edge.
The rest of the lovely ladies of the ensemble have homes nearby as well. There’s Colette, Suzette, Mimi, Gigi, Fifi . . .
Colette seems to be having an identity crisis. One of our contributors, Disney By Steph, noticed that this particular bird spells her name with one “L” inside the attraction and with two in the Tropical Hideaway.
But the details in the new Tropical Hideaway are really fantastic.
…and night it will look amazing under the tiki torches
We’ll have photos and video for you later this week. Please be sure to follow us on Facebook so you don’t miss out.
Wetzel’s Reopening
Hard to imagine, but the tiny Wetzel’s Pretzels in Downtown Disney has reopened after a million dollar restoration. Yes, that’s the official cost. Wow. They must sell a lot of dough to justify a price tag like that.
The reimagined Wetzel’s commissioned two well-known artists as part of the revamp: Trek Thunder Kelly painted a mural inside the store and Dan Medina created custom bronze door handles in the shape of a pretzel. Kelly’s mural wraps around the inside of the store with images of Pasadena (Wetzel’s hometown) and 25 hidden pretzels as a nod to Wetzel’s 25th anniversary.
There will be a Grand Opening Event with a ribbon cutting at 9:30 am on Tuesday, followed by a public event featuring a DJ and a giant pretzel wall game.
Construction Land:
There are quite a few projects going on at the resort right now.
Pathway Widening Project
Disneyland has been systematically freeing up walkways, removing obstacles, reducing gardens, and moving stroller parking for the last year or so in preparation for Star Wars land crowds this Summer. The latest projects are in Tomorrowland and New Orleans Square. They are also completing these projects at a much greater speed than we are accustomed to.
The walls shown in the picture above, across from the Haunted Mansion, are now down, revealing another reduced garden area that now supports outdoor vending carts which were previously located on the Splash Mountain Bridge.
The shot below shows how thinned the garden is, but it really doesn’t impact the look of the area much. Most guests probably won’t notice that anything has changed at all.
One thing I have been wondering about is the Haunted Mansion Holiday kiosk at the exit of the Mansion which partially blocks the Splash Mountain Standby queue. It moved originally as one of the first victims of the walkway project. Unfortunately, while out of the main pathway, it’s still in the way.
In Tomorrowland, a similar garden thinning is happening near the Fastpass entrance of Star Tours. The framing work is already done and we should see these walls come down shortly as well.
Star Wars Land
Meanwhile . . . on the far side of the galaxy . . .
The Star Wars landscape looms in the distance.
As seen from Big Thunder Mountain…
From outside the park…
The remaining service door on the Rise of the Resistance building is now being installed.
Downtown Disney Projects:
Now that Wetezel’s has reopened we are wondering what’s going on with Ballast Point and Black Tap Brewery.
Well, new details are beginning to appear outside of Ballast point
Inside we are able to spot the chandeliers above the entrance.
This is the portion of the building which was previously exposed. They are framing it in now.
And not much can be seen from outside Black Tap, but the construction wall seems further out than the last time I visited.
Sadly, the west end of Downtown Disney is still having an identity crisis. Only Earl of Sandwich and the Starbucks have reopened. Even with the food trucks and stage, the area feels really strange to walk through.
Disney is still bringing in food trucks on a nightly basis to help hide the lack of shops and restaurants.
One of the trucks now parks in front of the empty shell of the Rainforest Cafe on a daily basis.
Table and chairs set up under the dome of the old AMC ticket booths.
The Habit Truck returns each night to help hide the old DVC space.
And in front of the old ESPN Zone building a few Photo walls to help hide the blackout windows. Even with the Jumbotrons left on, this building feels sad.
The sooner Disney figures out what they are going to do with the west side of Downtown Disney, the better.
Smaller Projects:
Over in Frontierland, a painting project is happening to the back side of few of the Adventureland.
Over at the Tomorrowland Terrace, the upper platform was closed for some floor repainting. This actually happens more frequently than you might imagine as the walkways through here see a ton of traffic.
Dance The Holiday Crowds Away
In the evenings at the Tomorrowland Terrace Stage, Disney is recycling one of the summer offerings to help draw crowds in. Goofy’s Holiday Dance Party reuses most of the set pieces from the Pixar Dance Party. Characters come out in 4 sets and rotate to have characters out and ready to dance with guests. This dance party is missing two noteworthy members of the Fab 5, Mickey and Minnie. The character wrangler/MC helping with the party explains that Mickey is over at Fantasmic and is too busy with his Imagination to be at Goofy’s Dance Party.
On Friday the 4 sets of characters were: Goofy, Pluto, & Max (rare to see these days); Donald & Daisy; Alice & the White Rabbit; and Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. The character sets are not guaranteed and I would not be surprised if a few new character sets are added into the mix.
Each set of Characters are out for about 20 minutes, with new characters arriving before the previous ones leave, so there are always characters out on the floor with the guests.
I’m not always a fan of Disney’s dance parties, but I find this one enjoyable as the small space used is not problematic to rest of the land and the nonscripted interactions with the characters is unique and repeatable. In short, I had a great time.
Goofy’s Holiday Dance Party runs daily from now through January 5th from 7pm until 11pm (Except on New Year’s Eve, until 1am) and breaks during Fireworks.
2019 Merchandise Arrives
As 2018 comes to a close, Here comes the 2019 merchandise.
Slide through the photos in the display box below to see all the new items:
This fridge magnet looks like a normal parks magnetic except if you look a little closer at those park posters in the design…
…They are almost all Florida attractions, even though the face says Disneyland Resort on it.
This and That
Some interesting shenanigans are happening at the information kiosk at Disneyland as the wait time board is still behind those folded pannels as Plaids are telling guests to just look at their phones to get wait times…
…but this is where I call shenanigans, as the board over at DCA is still being updated and has not been so easily covered up.
I understand that having a CM constantly update the wait times is inefficient when an app can do it automatically. Why waste the resources at a single board when guests can look up the info wherever they are in the park whenever they want. But to keep the info podium staffed to the right of a shuttered board is just wrong. They should either surrender and use a digital display board as Universal does or reopen the manual board. If a guest is asking for help, don’t tell them to check their phone. Theme parks shouldn’t be that difficult. But that’s just my opinion.
Holiday Crowds are making their pilgrimage to the resort. Many of them are passholders wanting to get that last visit in before they are blocked for the rest of the year. Deluxe can visit through this Thursday, Signature can visit through Friday – but then all the passes except Signature Plus are blocked through the rest of the year.
FYI this is what a 50-minute line at Small World looks like now:
The entire new outdoor queue space is completely full with every switchback being used. If the line gets any longer, CMs would have to use the old extend queue on the Small World Mall parade viewing risers.
Over in Toontown, Characters are out in the Holiday best.
On the other hand, Toontown has problems everywhere with upkeep…
Unpainted hills, paint peeling …
Roof Shingles missing…
Dead plants …
Empty planters in the walls…
Water Damage to Rockwork…
… but enough of Toontown… it depresses me . . .
While waiting for fireworks the other night, Castmembers where setting up this inflatable light. I wonder if it was being tested for New Year’s Eve. Not sure what the point is to it.
And now some firework photos.
A few more things before we wrap up…
Join us for NYE at Universal Studios Hollywood
Join your MiceChat pals for a New Year’s Eve like no other. Ring in 2019 and party until 2 AM at Universal Studios Hollywood’s special park-wide event – EVE – which features multiple party areas with DJ’s, live musical performances, dancing and a traditional New Year’s Eve countdown at midnight with spectacular fireworks displays seen from multiple viewing locations. Our exclusive MiceChat event kicks off at 6 pm and includes admission, Universal Express™ access including one-time express access to each heart-pounding ride and attraction and seated show, as well as a $15 meal voucher (valid at in-park restaurants). All of this for just $129 per person! Tickets are sold directly by Universal. You’ll check in with MiceChat in front of the park (to the right of the front gate near Guest Relations between 5:30 and 6pm) to pick up your meal voucher.
Gumball Rally February 9th, 2019
Save the date! The world-famous Gumball Rally returns with some exciting twists which take the event back to its roots and celebrates the 50th anniversary of an iconic classic Disneyland attraction!!! Add your name to the info list HERE – tickets will be available in the next day or two and we don’t want you to miss out on our ghostly mischief.
MiceChat Anniversary Weekend February 8th through 10th, 2019
In addition to the iconic Gumball Rally, we’ll also have a weekend of events, receptions, panel discussions, celebrity meet and greets and much more. Add your name to the Info List HERE for more information and an exclusive discount on tickets and hotel rooms.
Join the chat:
- MiceChat Events Mailing List
- MiceChat Newsletter Mailing List
- MiceChat Discussion Forums
- MiceChat Facebook Page (for news and information)
- MiceChat Facebook Discussion Group (for fan discussions)
- MiceChat Sunday Fun Days in Southern California
- MiceTube YouTube Channel
- MiceChat Twitter
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MiceShop Returns! Fun fan merchandise . . . such as this attraction vehicle ugly sweater:
Discount tickets! We have discount theme park tickets for you folks. Before you head to the parks, check here for the best deals!
Discount Disneyland and Attractions Tickets HERE
The Anaheim Hotel offers special MiceChat rates. Located just across the street from Disneyland, the Anaheim Hotel has the largest pool in the city and newly remodeled rooms, public spaces, restaurant, and lounge. To save 20% or more, visit The Anaheim Hotel Reservations HERE or Call reservations at 714-772-5900 and ask for the “MiceChat Rate.”
And that’s our update for today folks. What are your thoughts on Santa’s scary ride? Like the new look of Wetzel’s? Ready to give the Tropical Hideaway a try? Let us know in the comments below! We’ll be back later this week with another great update from the Disneyland Resort.
