Disneyland Resort Update: More River Guardians of the Star Wars Galaxy

Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA

Welcome to April... that time of the year when Spring Break really kicks into gear, and you can pretty much say goodbye to quiet time at the Disneyland Resort until after Labor Day and before the Halloween season goes up.  Today, we have yet another update of the main happenings-on at the parks, so lets jump right into it!

Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!

Last weekend saw the reveal of even more of the former Tower of Terror, and much to the apparent dismay of most people who saw it, this wasn't an April Fools prank.  Yes, The Collector's Fortress is looking every bit as utterly outrageous (using that word literally) as the concept art, and the reveal has attracted its fair share of commentary.

On Friday, I posted a picture of the tower on my Disney Photoblography Instagram.  Little did I know that before the weekend was through, this would be come one of my highest activity photos ever, racking up over 1800 likes and nearly 100 comments!  For the sake of science, and in the interest of tracking perception versus reality in today's social media / immediate [over]reaction world, I decided to track the responses, since by scrolling, a majority of them were grossly negative.  By my tally, out of 96 comments (Instagram counts the original caption as a "comment" too), 8 were overtly positive, 42 were neutral/not applicable (people tagging other people, people asking questions, people posting replies that could be interpreted either way), and 46 were flat out negative.  That's a pretty significant percentage out of a relatively large cross section compared to usual! 

On the other hand, it's worth noting that my photo also received over 1800 likes--presumably from people who did not actually hate what they saw.  That "like" rate is twice the amount of likes I average normally, when I post pretty pictures that don't look like a giant Freddy Krueger disemboweled a tower and turns its guts inside out and hung it out in the sun for all to behold.  So there's something to be said about the noise we hear versus what the majority of people might actually think.  And if you think I'm also making an allegory on our current times, congratulations!  You're perceptive!  Anyway, lets take a look at the building.  And if you feel strongly enough, make your voice heard in the comments to this post!

Peeking over a sound stage in Hollywood Land, the Guardians of the Galaxy show building stands out in stark contrast to pretty much everything around it.

In the golden, setting sun, it certainly looks even gaudier than usual. 

It certainly starts to take on the characteristics of the artist's rendering released last year.

Many people have certainly been less than thrilled with this evolution.  This is evidenced by online comments, such as...

"So basically it looks like a trippy psychedelic oil refinery???"

"this is making my eyes hurt"

"😭😭😭 I want tower of terror back!"

"Abomination."

"I understand it will all make sense after they build marvel land behind it. But for now it's sad to see tower like this. Rip California tower of Terror."

"Derp"

"bleh 😭 I do not like it"

"NOOOO. So sad."

"so much no."

"wtf I hate this"

"NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

"What a shame. Never forget."

"😢 the most biggest mistake of @disney"

"Sad I miss the tower of terror 💔"

"Every time I look at Disneyland photos I feel happy like Disney happy, but when I look at this I'm not feeling it at all. 😔"

And an especially scathing, "What a lazy excuse for a "new" ride... They turned The Tower Of Terror into a heap of Garbage... it looks like hell all over the resort., 👎🏻"

Now, in all honesty, in person, it doesn't look quite as bad as it does in isolated photos.  Now, don't get me wrong--I do think it looks rather horrid, especially in context.  But there's a quality to the building that is bizarrely cool in and of itself, isolated, because it's incredibly different... and because it has a spiffy, fresh paint of coat right now.  To put it another way, I expected it to be very, very, very, very, very, very, very bad.  Live, I thought it merely looked very, very, very, very bad.  So, you know... baby steps!

Regardless of the sentiments about the exterior of the ride, I have pretty good faith that the actual ride itself will be a lot of fun and grow to become a large fan favorite.  And much like the Pompidou Center, to which I have alluded multiple times in the past, it will open to universal shaming as everyone lambasts the building for its completely shocking appearance, then become a beloved favorite of the locals after a few years, once people have gotten used to it, to a point where one day, most people won't be able to imagine a DCA without this. 

Such is the circle of public opinion.  The DisneyWebz will be fun come Memorial Day weekend, when Guardians of the Galaxy - Missiong: Breakout! opens.

Rivers of America

Perhaps because this first major overhaul of a section of Disneyland will be coming later this summer, I'm actually more excited about the progress on the Rivers of America than I am "Star Wars" Land, which won't open for another two years.  But the Rivers, its attractions, the Disneyland Railroad, and Tom Sawyer Island are all slated to reopen this summer, and while there's still plenty of work to do, the progress coming along looks pretty exciting.  Rockwork along the backside of the river onto Big Thunder Trail continues, and added vegetation continues to densify to build back that rustic ambiance that bordered Frontierland and the Rivers of America.  The new theming along the re-routed Disneyland Railroad is sure to provide some wonderful photographic opportunities, and the transition from the rest of the park to "Star Wars" Land promises to be very seamless and naturalistic.

Tom Sawyer Island looks pretty much done.  As mentioned before, Lafitte's Tavern has gotten a new paint job.  And while it's more colorful than its previous scheme, I actually like it.

The windows kind of look like projections, but that's just the light hitting plastic translucent sheeting taped in front of the glass.

All along the front of the Rivers of America, theming elements have been reassembled and placed back to hide nighttime FANTASMIC! intrastructure.

They blend in nicely to the average guest.  Probably kind of obvious to the more attentive Disneyland regulars.

The back is still dammed up.

It appears that there were some FANTASMIC! barges covered up on the Big Thunder side of the river.  I could be wrong--these could just be regular barges.  But it would make sense to be holding some sort of technical runs for the show, now that we're presumably some three months away from its re-debut.

Just around the riverbend... "Star Wars" Land.  Sorta.

The Columbia is still docked up.

It received some fancy schmancy new rigging, though.

And looking over the work wall at Big Thunder Trail, one can see bits of steel from the "Star Wars" Land side of the border picking up from behind the workwork that will be facing Frontierland.

They're painting some of the wall elements behind the trail.

The rocks are starting to look a bit Bryce Canyon-y... those recognizable red rocks that inspire Big Thunder Mountain.

Slightly different view of "Star Wars" Land steel.

It's going to be pretty cool walking through here eventually.  Or maybe warm--the theming definitely gives off more of a warm feel.

More peeking.  This is pretty much just standing at a higher part of the path to the current dead end and pointing a telephoto over the walls.

A glimpse of that lovely actual railroad trestle that's not an AT-AT at all shows that it's been painted too and looks nicely aged.

Moving over to the Critter Country viewpoint...

The rockwork is much less complete over here, but it's coming along.

Directly behind these walls are the posts marking the dock of the Davy Crockett Canoes.

Screening of the Hungry Bear beyond.  You can't see it because the wall is blocking it, but when facing the Hungry Bear signage and entrance, there will be a pathway just to the right that ramps downward to the river and ambles along before ducking under the Disneyland Railroad and entering "Star Wars" Land

Slowly but surely, it's coming along!

I also uncovered these rare, old color photographs of the Rivers of America under construction!

The condition is not so great, but that's the state of film from those days.

It's amazing to see what they used to do...

Or, of course, I'm just kidding and completely making up a story because these photos were actually just taken through the double tarp at the Hungry Bear and thus defocused from the shooting through fabric.  I thought the effect on picture turned out kind of cool.  And if you were to walk up to the Hungry Bear upper seating terrace and stick your face up against the tarp, you could make out these same scenes. 

...or, you can just peer through a peephole in one of the construction walls that actually provides a bit of a glimpse.  Enough to take several slightly rotating shots in a row to stitch into a "panorama" showing a regular angle view.

But enough being overly nerdy and spy-y.  The Rivers are coming along nicely, and I can't wait to check everything out that opens this summer!

"Star Wars" Land

For a change of pace, I figured I'd throw "Star Wars" Land toward the end of the update. You know... to draw suspense.  Plus, if you're one who detests the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction, this is probably a better palate cleanser than the other way around, which would have seen the update end of ex-Tower.

Work continues in "Star Wars" Land.  With more and more steel going up for the First Order attraction, it's getting tougher to discern detail in other parts of the land obscured by the vertical construction.  But as construction continues, it's beginning to become apparent just how sprawling and massive "Star Wars" Land's main E-Ticket attraction will actually be.  It takes up a vast parcel of real estate here!

It's nice when the day is gorgeous when I get out here to take photos.

It makes for the prettiest pictures of dirt land.

It's kind of hard to imagine that a year ago, this entire land was just getting its groundbreaking.

It's come a pretty good ways in a year, to be honest!

First order of business is the First Order ride.

More progress continues on the main two story portion of the building.  Or at least the constructed part.  At this rate, the two story portion could very well span westward (to the right).

The building is getting a lot more roof towers than I expected...

Including that pretty massive penthouse in the middle.

Also notice that rather monumental roof access ladder.  It seems to go to nowhere at the moment.

Multiple steel posts have been installed on the roof.  At a glance, they look like they could be roof tie-backs to help with OSHA-mandated fall protection.  Total guess, though.  That's just what they stood out as to me.

Those happy little AT-AT's are still standing nicely in their hangar.

Meanwhile, that trench is still there, existing and stuff.  All calm and relaxed. 

More trees and shrubbery have been planted along the berm further back in "Star Wars" Land, past the main entrance into the land.

Meanwhile, what used to be a pit is getting awfully vertically aggressive.

That is... a LOT of dense scaffolding.

And here's the formwork for another concrete wall that looks like it's going to be relatively tall.

And beside that, more foundation work for what might actually just be an extension of the First Order show building.

They're going to need a lot of power to the building, some of which will be provide din that red-capped, gray-tube conduit.

Just for Guy Selga... MORE NOODLES!!!  Those are some weighty rebar cages!

If you're a construction nerd, then this is probably the most interesting phase of the project--the time when everything is still building guts and dirt, and nothing is remotely finished.

Another look at the backstage building. 

More framing.  Those look like z-girts for possible continuous exterior wall insulation.

Closer to Fantasyland Theater, still mostly dirt and shoring.  They'll make it over here eventually.

I haven't really zoomed in here for a couple of weeks, but construction continues on the structures at the ridge of the berm separating "Star Wars" Land from the Rivers of America. 

You can start to get a sense of what things are like by comparing these photos with the views from the opposite side in the Rivers of America section.

Funny observation... those dark green cylindrical guys look an awful lot like exhaust fans.  At this point, the Disneyland Railroad might be inside a tunnel, which would make them fans serving the train tunnel.  Of course, I could be wrong, since I had previously guessed that this looked like an bridged service accessway, which no longer appears to be the case.

Back over to the Hungry Bear, things get moer and more obscured.

But you can kind of make out progress on the Critter Country entrance into "Star Wars" Land.

Right between the two trees near the middle, you can see a pair of concrete walls with rebar sticking out of them.  Looks like the railroad will span over the pedestrian walkway here and help form part of the transition into the land of a galaxy far far away...

Like I said, this is exciting, because this represents some of the most significant change at Disneyland in almost decades.  That still may rub purists the wrong way, but it seems like the quality of execution will be pretty high.

Oh, and Also...

Running through miscellaneous items I bothered to photograph.

That little transportation building is pretty much done, and they even added a little lawn on the south side of the building.

Food & Wine Festival continues.  Last Friday was the first time I encountered some of the food shortage issues that plagued last year's run.  Of course, this was during Friday evening, which has become one of the busiest times of the week.  But going to four stands in a row, only to find out that the item you want in all four stands is currently out is kind of frustrating.

Oh, and here's the  Baked Ham and Swiss Cheese Croque Monsieur Roll from the Nuts About Cheese booth.  It was much tastier than I expected, though 80% of that was from the luscious cheese sauce on top.

The Black Garlic and Soy-braised Pork Belly Bao at the Garlic Kissed booth was also divine.  One of my favorites (and for good reason, since it's returned in one form or another for three food events in a row now.

It's still spring, and the blooms are still out.

But they're definitely past peak, as you can see from these tabebuias already lightening up.

But enjoy, they were nice to enjoy while they lasted.

That is it for today's mentally meandering update.  Food & Wine Festival runs two more weekends, through Easter Sunday the 16th.  And right now is a special double theme park food festival whammy with the concurrent run of Knott's Boysenberry Festival through April 23rd.  So if you enjoy good eats at theme parks, and you live in Southern California, you have no excuse to not get out there and enjoy the offerings!

Grubah!!