Did you have a hoppy Easter? It was an amazing day at Disneyland. The weather was perfect, and with many APs and the SoCal 3 day ticket deal folks blocked out, the crowds were nonexistent. We have all sorts of news and photos to share today. Let’s take a look.
Be sure to check out the other half of this article where we look at California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and Parking around the resort. Click on the photo below or HERE.
First up, Gumball Rally. We are inviting you to participate in a fun for the whole family event. Compete in teams of 2 to 4 individuals to see which team can ride the most attractions at Disneyland in a single day. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have in the parks and a great way to spend time with your friends and family. Full event info at MiceChat/Rally HERE.
MaxPass |
Wifi Testing Start April 24th.
Starting next Monday, Disneyland will begin “testing” in-park wifi for guests. The network may be spotty at first without access in all locations. The network is being rolled out to support the new MaxPass system (app-based FASTPASS).
Scan Post Update:
Disneyland’s new FASTPASS and MaxPass system requires barcode readers to scan your paper ticket or mobile MaxPass. FASTPASS scan points have been installed around the parks (Disneyland is just missing Indy and Matterhorn, and DCA is complete). The new scan points have finally been installed at Big Thunder.
At the merge of standby and FASTPASS there are two new scan posts.
Over at Haunted Mansion, a third scan post has been installed at the entrance to allow a FASTPASS queue to wrap around the main fence and head down the path towards Critter Country.
Disneyland Updates |
Parade Problems:
I’d like to take a moment to discuss Disneyland’s parades and some of their issues.
Soundsational is Back!
It’s a music Celebration! Disney normally returns the parade after its Christmas counterpart is put in mothballs for the season, but this year Disney decided to wait until Spring Break to return the parade. Main Street Electrical Parade was the star parade on the schedule. I am so glad that this daytime parade is back.
Tomorrowland’s Bottle Neck
In previously updates, we have pointed out the huge bottleneck problems in Tomorrowland during the first of the nighttime parades (both during Paint the Night and the Main Street Electrical Parade).
In the map above you can see the bottleneck that Tomorrowland faced on a nightly basis. Due to Star Wars Land Construction, Tomorrowland is the only access point to and from Fantasyland during Fireworks. With the Castle walkways closed for Fireworks and Big Thunder Trail closed for Star Wars land construction, Fantasyland becomes a trap at night.
Starting last week, Disneyland is now sending guests out of Tomorrowland one of two crosswalks to allow more guest out. Disney is also encouraging guests exiting the park to head down Main Street along a two-way sidewalk path to prevent them from having to wait for the Hub crossing to open.
Pre-Parade Waiting Game
Cast members doing parade control are now asking guests to refrain from lining up 2 to 3 hours before the parade. However, just a few weeks ago, they were preaching that guests shouldn’t line up prior to an hour before the parade. What are your thoughts on this folks? Should guests be able to sit for hours to watch a parade, or does it make the parade route a mess? What are your solutions?
Disney is still making cast members break down all parade ropes after Soundsational at 5pm only to set it all back up again at 6 or 7.
Pixie Trail No More
This one is not new but is still recent enough that I only just noticed the change. Tinker Bell’s Pixie Trail is now gone from the Main Street Electrical Parade. This effect was added to MSEP during the parade’s run at California Adventure when Disney replaced the Blue Fairy float with the Tinker Bell float as the lead unit of the parade. Now, if they can just put the Blue Fairy back at the front of the parade where she belongs.
Let’s take a trip around the park:
Have you ever seen the Disneyland Flag Retreat? It’s a real piece of Americana.
Main Street USA
Dusty took our Facebook followers on a one hour tour of Main Street USA this week . . . until his cell coverage gave out. It’s a fun romp in the park if you’ve got some time to spare.
Easter Bunny is hare and gone
The Easter Bunny visited over the weekend, and although he was only out for short periods, he proved to be very popular.
Ducklings are everywhere. These little fellows ran right up to Dusty.
Over at Tour Gardens, once the last of the Plaids has been sent out for the night, Ticket Sales moves inside the little hut to up-sell Annual Passes to guests at the end of the day.
Fantasyland
Work continues on Snow White’s Grotto.
Over in front of Mr. Toad, this two-sided sign is missing its back half. It sticks out when you are walking from the castle.
Matterhorn Refurb
Matterhorn is just finishing its refurbishment. Bobsleds can be seen running throughout the Mountain as testing is conducted.
The only thing left with this refurbishment will be the location of the Fastpass Terminals. Disney is most likely to install the machines under the Monorail track alongside the Autopia railing. Perhaps where the 60th anniversary photo-op was installed.
Toontown
Over at the Toontown Train Station, the free-standing light poles have been returned to the station. The station is now ready to return to service whenever the trains are ready. Perhaps not until July or August.
Back in Toontown, the mountain wall at the back of the land is starting to peel and fade again. This is a very difficult area to maintain for some reason.
Adventureland
The newly expanded restrooms in Adventureland are nice (I love the deep sinks), all but this little patch of construction walls have disappeared.
New Orleans Square
Work at pirates finished up a few weeks ago, but Disney missed a very important detail on the attraction. A new ventilation system was installed on the attraction, but Disney reopened the historic ride without fully painting or hiding the new air vents.
This issue was initially missed by us and sent in by a theme park designer who was disappointed when his 6 year old son suddenly looked up on the ride and said “It isn’t real daddy, the sky has a roof.” Painting the ceiling black, preventing light-leak and reflections on the ceiling and other simple details can make all the difference . . . and not just to the child of a disappointed theme park designer.
Just outside the attraction the newly installed statues in the gardens still are not fully hiding the junction boxes that they sit on.
Along the river, work continues on the Columbia as welding work can be seen nightly on the ship.
Tomorrowland
Up at the Monorail platform, there is a lot of cracking on the upper platform. When the monorail goes down for construction on the Harbor bridgeway project, hopefully Disney will clean up or replace the old monorail station.
Critter Country
Over at Winnie the Pooh, the temporary ramp installed to take you to the restrooms has been pulled out. New fences and rocks have been re-cemented on the garden patch edge.
Along the new walkway, the fences still have their plastic backings and the fence railing on the bridge over the creek still has not been varnished.
The garden area where the old wheelchair ramp once was has yet to be planted.
The train bridge is still covered by tarps.
Now let’s look into Star Wars Land
Star Wars Land Construction
Looking inside the main entrance from Big Thunder Trail.
Now let’s head up to the top of the structure to see into the land:
Work continues the Battle Escape Attraction
The new cast member screening entrance for Westside cast members is now open, allowing them to walk from Pluto Parking into the Park.
Just outside the Berm.
Just beyond the berm of Disneyland, it looks like cast members who are entering the park from Downtown Disney will be getting a new security screening area to match the new roofed area for cast entering from the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure.
DON’T MISS THE 2017 GUMBALL RALLY!!! |
The World Famous Gumball Rally is a contest to see who can ride the most attractions at Disneyland and California Adventure in a single day. Are you the biggest Disney fan? Let’s find out. This year’s event pays tribute to the Pirates of the Caribbean, which turned 50 years old this year and remains beloved by generations of Disney fans. If you be brave enough to face a pirate’s curse, proceed!!! GUMBALL RALLY INFO AND TICKETS HERE
Thank you! | |
All of us on the Disneyland Photo Update crew would like to thank you for joining us today. Each week we’ll feature different photographers and commentators (often more than one). Today’s MiceChat Disneyland Update was shot and assembled by Brian Pinsky with additional photos from Scott Attula and photo and video contributions from Dusty Sage. |
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Join Us Tomorrow For Continuing Coverage of The Rest of the Disneyland Resort
That’s it for this week’s Update. Are you a photographer? Do you love the parks? Would you like to contribute to the Disneyland Update or other MiceChat columns? Contact Dusty Sage: [email protected]
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