Disneyland Resort Update: Absolutely Nothing Scary Edition

Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA

We interrupt our haunted attraction coverage to take a stop at our favorite original Magic Kingdom resort and have a probably incomplete look at what's been happening over there the past few weeks.  Spoilers: It's mostly Star Wars stuff.  But also, there've been some Downtown Disney developments too, and that doesn't even include the newly announced upcoming 4th Disneyland Resort Hotel, which will swallow up ESPN Zone, AMC Theaters, Rainforest Cafe, Starbucks DtD West, and Earl of Sandwich (NOOOOOO!!!!) when it begins construction next summer!

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

We begin this update as we do most updates: in "Star Wars" Land.  The buildings have been progressing at a rapid clip, and the First Order building has been significantly enclosed.  The Millennium Falcon building has been receiving building panels too, and perhaps before year's end, we won't be able to see anything inside anymore.

We've got a TON of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge photos to zoom through, so captions might be minimal this week.

So, as REX would say, LIGHTSPEED ahead!

As usual, we take our overview panorama.

Plenty of cranes still around, and plenty of buildings too!

The First Order building has gotten pretty closed up along its northwest side.

But the southwest side is still pretty open.

Not a ton of progress visible outside this adjacent building, which might be the souvenir shop or a neighboring store/restaurant (that's a large mechanical air handling unit for a store, though).

It's relatively obstructed, but they're doing land clearing work and some planting over by the Critter Country entrance into "Star Wars" Land.

This side seem like it will likely have a more rustic and green feel transitioning inward.

From the opposite end of the site...

Scaffolding is all around the rock spires.

And here, you get a bit of a sense of how massive the First Order Building is with its blank facade.

Still more wall panels to go...

There are some openings for outriggers poking through the walls, perhaps for some sort of signage or decorative elements to break up the monotony of the wall?

And the opening I pointed out in the last update is definitely an opening.  There are two pedestrian scale doorways too, possibly for service or emergency access.

Nothing happening here.

From this angle, you can see how much the roof slopes.

The mechanical penthouses are getting closed up too.

Check out all that huge ductwork on the roof.  Such a huge building needs a lot of air conditioning!

Some additional structure for more rocky spires can be seen for the First Order Building.

HVAC porn.

My first reaction is that this is a large service loading opening, but it's also off the ground, so I'm really not sure what it's actually for (since I intentionally avoid keeping a pulse on internal workings, preferring to follow this along more as a fan).

Further north, the Millennium Falcon building looks much farther along than last time.

I think the towering peaks look pretty cool and exciting in these partially finished states.

Disneyland will soon have more peaks.

The skyline will be changing again within a couple of years.

interior wall framing is going up inside the Millennium Falcon building too.

That means we can't rely upon the state of the exterior to judge how far along everything is.  Work is moving along both outside and in!

I don't know about you, but I find this pretty exciting.  About a year and a half before this new land is scheduled to open!

Ducking down to a ground level view, we see the monumental scale of these buildings.  We can also see how high the rockwork spires will really tower and get a sense of the dominating scale of this land.  There's a lot of building for a land with two attractions, which means there are going to be a lot more features than just two rides.  Restaurants and shops for sure, but likely some entertainment areas as well--perhaps of the groundbreaking type?  Disney has mentioned that Galaxy's Edge will feature cutting edge immersion and interactive elements that vary as guests perform different actions on rides or just in the lands...

I walk by Disneyland Drive every once in a while to snap a view from here to see how things progress.

It also helps get a better sense of scale, since looking down from the parking structure from afar can be sometimes deceiving.

The z-girts that help hold the wall panels have been installed across the entire building perimeter.

They've been strapped, too, for rigidity, and just await wall panel installation.

Looking south along Disneyland Drive, the building definitely looms.  The effect is even more dramatic when passing over the bypass bridge directly into the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure access.

The First Order building turning the corner.

The Millennium Falcon building is starting to get enclosed too.

But it's cool to glimpse the rock spires from a backstage perspective right now, while structure is still see-through.

I've always liked the look of half-constructed buildings. It's like seeing their bones.

Nothing too exciting here, to be honest, unless you love looking at building materials.

I'm an architect, so I sort of do, because I'm a nerd like that.

You can see the secondary steel structure for theatrical rigging and sets too.  There are so many layers to this attraction!

The view of "Star Wars" Land from inside the park varies depending on the angle and location.  From ground level, there are less of the spires visible than I expected, especially near the entrances into the land.  The best view seems to be over by the Hungry Bear Restaurant, where the geology of this new, "never before discovered" planet in the Star Wars galaxy will loom beyond the Rivers of America.  Other than that, rockwork will be visible from Tarzan's Treehouse, but only if you look closely.

Bits of "Star Wars" Land can be seen over the Rivers of America berm--but only from Tarzan's Treehouse.

Here's the look toward Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

The rocky spires seem more dramatic here.

And they kind of call to the buttes of Big Thunder too!

Other parts of steel structure poke up above the trees too.  These will also be covered with plaster to make fake mountains in the future.

From ground level, you can see the steel that will go in front of the actual show buildings to conceal them.

Hopefully, the effect will provide a nice forced perspective to show moutains looming beyond the Rivers of America, keeping the Old West feel.

Towering rocks above the trees.

They kind of look hoodoo-ish.

All that steel that looks like a jumbled mess is just structure for more rockwork.

This will be a more complete vista by this time next year.

Here's the view over by the Frontierland entrances into Galaxy's Edge.

Less visible than I thought!

The rock towers are mainly visible when coming from Fantasyland.

The trees filter the view and make them less prominent.

River Belle Terrace

Meanwhile, the River Belle Terrace renovations continue.  New paint, new pavers, new interior kitchen and serving area, new mechanical equipment.  I'm not sure when it's due to reopen, but hopefully before the winter holidays to help supplement the Christmas and New Year's crush.

Looks like some new paint on the River Belle.

Screens up on the roof shield the mechanical equipment replacement.

Still working on the pavers for the outdoor dining.

And a little aerial overview of the restaurant.

A Downtown Disney Halloween

Downtown Disney has become laden with autumn squash, and it's almost absurd.  Pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins everywhere.  Some are in towers, but most are just littered about.  I'm not sure if I find this sloppy or charming--perhaps a bit of both--but it's kind of amusing.  You wouldn't even find this density in a real pumpkin patch, so it kind of just looks like the result of a mysterious hoarder!

So.

Much.

Squash.

It's kind of ridiculous.

Splitsville

Construction is proceeding very quickly on the future bowling alley of Downtown Disney, with walls and curtain wall glass going up.  Soon, this building will also be fully enclosed.  The looks of the architecture seem to indicate a pretty sleek look with a bit of a retro feel.  I think Splitsville will turn out pretty slick when it opens, though whether that will still make the end of year deadline remains to be seen.  It's a little more realistic now than it appeared a few months ago, though!

Splitsville's moving along nicely.

Hey, will you look at that?

I like the horizontal orientation of the curtain wall framing.

and how it turns the corner as glass.

The view from the balcony of Tortilla Jo's.

Wall sheathing has gone up.

The second floor will be pretty transparent.

They've been working a ton of hours on this building the past few months.

Making up for delayed start and lost time.

Looks like it will turn out pretty well!

A glimpse into the entrance lobby area.

You'll be rolling strikes here soon enough!

Other Downtown Disney Construction

In other Downtown Disney news, construction for the upcoming Star Wars "hyper reality" experience, Secrets of the Empire, by famed themed augmented and virtual reality designers ILMxLAB and The VOID, has begun (or began sometime between now and the last time we stopped by).  This attraction will open at Downtown Disney on January 5, 2018, but tickets have already gone on sale and have been selling very quickly.  If you've heard about what The Void has done in other locations, you'll be very eager to try this out, since it promises to be an incredible experience.

Also, the Sephora store is getting a bit of a facade facelift.  See what I did there?

Coming soon: MORE STAR WARS!

But seriously, this is going to be pretty rad.

And Sephora still requests all your money for makeup.

Disney Dress Store

Finally, the Chapel Hats store--one of three tenants announced to be going away a couple of months ago--has already shut down and reopened as the Disney Dress Shop.  This boutique features a lot of cute Disney-inspired fashion, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the products here worn on Dapper Day or other dress-up days.

Build-A-Bear Workshop and Ridemakerz remain open, but it seems their days may be quickly numbered if their mutual neighbor has already transformed into a different store.

This is new.

Lets walk inside.

Lots of cut dresses and accessories!

Styles for all sorts of Disney fans.

And purses too!

Guess someone needed to get rid of old Beauty and the Beast merchandise...

I can see this being a successful operation, since Disney fans love cute things.

And that is it from the Resort for this week.  And perhaps month.  Obviously, our Halloween coverage takes precedence, and our busy schedule running through so many haunts across Southern California means Disney takes a bit of a backseat.  Good news for haunters, but maybe less useful for Disney fans.  Don't worry, we'll return to more regularly scheduled updates after the Halloween season. 

But if you're enjoying the Halloween updates and want to make sure you haven't missed anything, check out our Southern California Haunted Attraction Guide for this year, which also has an index of all of our haunt reviews this season!  There's one more weekend of haunts left for most places, so you still have time to check out some spoopy hits!

Boo bah!!