Lots of news and tons of photos for you this week as Disneyland prepares to return Mickey and Friends parking trams. Meanwhile, a big festival swap is happening at Disney California Adventure, the resort celebrates Black History Month, and we pay tribute to Valentines Day with a look at some things we absolutely love. This has been a big week for MiceAge/MiceChat as well as we celebrated our 20th anniversary and held an epic Gumball Rally. Keep reading below to find out why feet and tummies will be happy, and see what the progress of many projects looks like right now at the Disneyland Resort…
UPDATED: Mask policy will be updated on February 17th to drop the mandate, details in the link below:
Disney Parks in Florida and California Drop Mask Mandates on February 17th
Trams Return to the Disneyland Resort:
News broke on Thursday that the trams for the Mickey and Friends/Pixar Parking Structure will return on February 24th. Our feet give thanks. We have been keeping an eye on this situation since the parks reopened in April of last year. The current 3/4 mile walk from the parking garage to the Esplanade might not feel like too much of an ordeal for most guests in the morning, but when it’s time to leave the parks at the end of a long day, it’s no fun at all. We have been seeing trams testing after hours for the last several weeks and as of Friday the security bag check at the structure has reverted back to the way it was when the trams were running as well.
Re-paving operations have also been completed in the load/unload zone by the esplanade. This will be an especially welcome return with the temperatures wildly fluctuating (Anaheim reached a record high temp over the weekend).
The loading zone at the parking structure had been used for stroller and scooter rentals as well as some umbrella stroller and bubble wand/light merchandise sales for most of the last year, but that will all likely move back to the Esplanade soon.
Celebrate Soulfully: Black History Month at the Disneyland Resort
Marcella Swettart added another beautiful sidewalk mural beside the one she completed last week in Downtown Disney. These chalk murals are part of “Celebrate Soulfully” in Downtown Disney. You can also see art on the construction walls in the old AMC area. During the celebration all month, you can find entertainment in Downtown Disney, as well as some entertainment coming soon to the Fantasyland Theater in Disneyland.
And you’ll find a selection of artwork at Wonderground Gallery:
Super Bowl at Disneyland
Yesterday millions watched the biggest football game of the year, and ESPN had their own media set up at Paradise Gardens Park in California Adventure as well as at the Partners Statue in Disneyland.
Mickey and Minnie were on set showing their football spirit.
Congratulations to our local team, the Rams! Where do you think they’re going next? Keep your eyes open if you’re in the parks today because they’re going to Disneyland!
UPDATED: We have photos of the cavalcade for you!
California Adventure Food & Wine Festival 2022
The wonderful Lunar New Year Festival wrapped up last night. But fret not, the next big festival is already being prepped for March 4th. Food and Wine Festival gets a bit of a refresh this year with 80% new items!
Read all about this year’s event below:
https://www.micechat.com/314139-disney-california-adventure-food-wine-festival-2022/
Soarin’ Over CALIFORNIA Returns Soon
The beloved original version of Soarin’ returns to DCA on March 4th for a limited engagement! This special treat is in conjunction with the upcoming California Adventure Food and Wine Festival. Are you ready to soar over California again?
River Reroute
There is a lot of work going on at the Rivers of America as the park prepares to return Fantasmic! soon. But construction is creating some interesting sights and experiences for guests who wish to visit Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer’s island. Because the normal raft dock on the island is blocked by construction, guests are being taken to an alternate dock and a trip all the way around the river on the way back to shore. Of course we wanted to take a look and share this temporary experience.
The Fantasmic! fountains have been drained multiple times over the last year. It makes the river narrow, but it is interesting to see the mechanisms that operate the show.
Due to the current refurbishment the rafts to Tom Sawyer’s Island are using the Fantasmic support dock further back on the island. For safety, and to follow the direction of other boating traffic on the river, you’ll be treated to a trip all the way around Rivers of America when you leave the island.
Refurbishments and Construction around the Resort
With so much happening at the Disneyland Resort, there’s a lot for us to check up on. This is the time of year that usually sees the most refurbishments, and this year is no different. This would also traditionally be Disneyland’s “off season”, but you couldn’t tell these days, because the parks feel so busy with their long standby lines. But the maintenance on attractions can’t be delayed.
Subs Resurfacing Soon – Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is supposed to reopen this winter according to signs on the construction walls. But with spring almost here, it’s just about time for this one to reopen. Much of the scaffolding in the drained lagoon has been removed over the last week, as have nearly all of the paint buckets and work tents. I can’t wait to see the lagoon filled with water again!
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway – In just a few weeks, Toontown’s gates will be closed as the land is reimagined prior to the opening of the big new ride. The construction of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is moving along at a quick pace and we see more hills installed on the show building, weekly.
Tarzan’s Treehouse – This long, drawn out refurbishment has been going on for months! Every once in a while the scrims come down due to weather conditions and we get a view into the project. We just can’t really tell what is happening in there. Hopefully this refurbishment will be wrapping up soon!
But would you like to see the theme for the treehouse be updated in the future? If so, should it revert back to the Swiss Family, changed to Avatar, perhaps something contemporary like Encanto? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Sailing Ship Columbia – The Columbia has been in dock since January 9th and will return on March 26th. The big ships are used for Fantasmic, and like the fountains, need to get ready for the return of the popular show.
Mark Twain – The river boat has an odd refurbishment schedule, as work is paused to accommodate Sweetheart’s Night events.
Splash Mountain – Standard annual refurbishment is taking place here. And judging from our last ride before the closure, there are a lot of lights and animatronics in need of attention.
Main Street Crystal Palace Arcade – Work continues on the Crystal Arcade facade. Last time we saw it, the scrims had been rolled up due to high winds and we could see paint being scraping off and prepped for fresh colors.
Fantasy Faire Royal Theatre – Wraps are up around the Fantasy Faire Theater. The
The theater has been host to princess meet and greets since the parks reopened. We’d love to see the storytelling shows return soon.
Grizzly River Run – DCA’s raft ride is also down for its normal winter refurbishment.
Disneyland Monorail – The alternate entrance (and most interesting in my opinion) to the Disneyland park will be going out of service on the 14th! This is to accommodate construction on the West end of Downtown Disney, as well as complete scheduled maintenance on the attraction.
Valentines Day
We spend a lot of time shooting news and things that don’t quite work in the parks, so it might appear that we are negative about Disneyland. Nothing could be further from the truth. This Valentine’s Day I’d like to show some things I absolutely love to share with my sweetheart in the parks.
I’ll start with Dole Whip! There is nothing better on a hot day, especially with this unseasonable heatwave we’ve experienced over the past week! There’s even a Valentines version of the treat with watermelon and cherry (with can be swirled with candy heart sprinkles).
The Rides! With so many attractions, it’s difficult to pick just one that I love to share, so I won’t… I love them all (well, most of them at least). But if I had to pick the most romantic, I’d choose the new version of Snow White. What would you pick?
What would you consider the most romantic spot in the resort? For me it’s the little hidden wishing well area next to the castle. Out of the way, generally peaceful, and filled with charm… and here we find Snow White once again…
A restaurant we don’t mention much, but has our hearts, is Carthay Circle. The food is great (but expensive), and the atmosphere is a nostalgic and romantic recreation of the movie theater where Snow White premiered (there she is once again).
While we’re on the subject of things we love, I wanted to share a few more things I loved this week in the parks…
MiceChat 20th Anniversary
It’s almost impossible to imagine than MiceAge/MiceChat is now 20 years old! But we marked the occasion with a full weekend of events. An amazing night of Jungle Cruise history and comedy was held on Friday night. Skippers regaled us with stories about the attraction’s history and then some standup comedy as well!
Attendees were treated to a comprehensive history of the Jungle Cruise, from the original concept of the beloved attraction to the present day… and all the other versions around the world.
After the panel, attendees were treated to some stand-up comedy presented by former Jungle Cruise Skippers.
Saturday brought the World Famous MiceChat Gumball Rally. After two years away, the theme of this year’s event, “The Return to Civilization,” had many meanings. And even with all the current challenges, including difficult to get park reservations, this event was even bigger than our last one in February of 2020.
Skipper Dusty gave rules and instructions to the teams early on Saturday morning before the parks opened. The goal was to see who could ride the most attractions at Disneyland in a single day. There was a points system and in order to verify that an attraction was ridden, teams had to answer questions in two separate booklets.
A custom Jungle Cruise themed gumball machine trophy was the absolutely stunning prize for the winning team.
Here are this year’s top 10 Gumball Rally finishers!
10th place: Princesses? Why’d It Have To Be Princesses
9th Place went to: The Wookie Monsters
8th place went to: Lady and the Champ
7th place went to: Inglorious Blasters
6th place went to: Albert Falls Fan Club
5th Place went to: Whip It Good
4th place went to: Toucans in De-Nile
3rd place went to: JSEA
The 2nd place winners for the MiceChat Gumball Rally are… Coolant Runnings
AND… Our 2022 MiceChat Gumball Rally Champions are…8th Wonder Skippers!
Although it was over 90 degrees on Saturday, once the teams had a chance to cool down and await the awards, they all seemed to have had a great day. We thank all of the teams for joining us and we look forward to the next one! Stay tuned for full results and tons of photos from the event later in the week!
Be sure to check back for our complete comprehensive coverage of the 2022 MiceChat Gumball Rally! It was a jam packed weekend to remember! Thank you to all those who participated with us in the events or sent their support and well wishes.
I want to give a special thank you and congratulations to our CEO, Dusty Sage, who thanked everyone but himself over the weekend. Dusty, you are the heart of MiceChat and a true gentleman and friend. Thank you for 20 awesome years, can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
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Let’s Hear From You
Are you the type of person who stays home to watch the Super Bowl or heads to Disneyland like we did? Do you have a favorite romantic spot at Disneyland that you love? Glad to hear that the parking trams are FINALLY returning? Did you get a chance to visit any of the MiceChat Anniversary events or would like so share your thanks for 20 years of Disney news, events, friendship and fun? I’d love to hear from you below…
