Disneyland Resort Update: The Very Belated One
Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA
Oh boy! It’s been a spell! Thank goodness it isn’t a very busy time of the year for theme parks and attractions, but we basically slept through March, and now it’s April. Well, in honor of April Fool’s, our joke is that we’re posting an update that’s a month old, but it’s an update anyway. So buckle up, trust nothing, and lets look back at the Disneyland Resort in March!
Minnie Florals for Women’s History Month
March was Women’s History Month, and in honor of that, Disney changed up its Mickey Mouse floral arrangement that all guests see when entering Disneyland Park. For the first time ever, guests were greeted by a flowery Minnie Mouse! And even though the display is almost the same as Mickey but with a bow and pinker / more purple flowers, I’m sure there were some conservative pundits somewhere that got there panties in a twist at Disney’s latest “leftist radical wokeness.” And to those people we say… deal with it.
Main Street Refurbishments
Over on Main Street, the “off-season” refurbishments continue. Painting of various facades has progressed in a couple of locations. Also, there was a clock on Main Street that has its face knocked off for a few weeks. For a while, it was just a clock post with wires sticking out, but it’s been replaced now. Finally, there was a brief fuss online for a day or two because the half red / half white light bulb at Refreshment Corner had been replaced by a complete red light bulb.
For those who don’t know, when Disneyland originally opened, the alternating red and white lights ringing the soffit above the entrance to Refreshment Corner were mis-spaced, resulting in one lightbulb in a corner that could be neither red nor white, because it would have resulted in two same colors in a row. To solve the dilemma, a white bulb was painted half red, and it’s been that way since. It seemed as though Disney was turning its back on yet another part of its history and ignoring details, but it just turned out that the half and half bulb wasn’t immediately available, so maintenance temporarily replaced the burned out bulb with a red bulb. Disney Twitter freaking out over what turned out to be nothing? What a thought!
Attractions Closure Update
Finding Nemo and Tarzan’s Treehouse continue to be closed over their extended refurbishments. Nemo was supposed to “resurface” “this winter,” but that timeline has passed. No one seems to be exactly sure what’s taking so long, but fortunately, neither are high demand attractions.
The Matterhorn Bobsleds were also closed for regular maintenance earlier this month, but they’ve since reopened.
FANTASMIC! Prep
Over at the Rivers of America, more work continues to get FANTASMIC! ready for its May return. Work continues at the projection screen rigs and around the front of Tom Sawyer Island, getting all the production effects and infrastructure ready and possibly providing enhancements to improve the theatrical media and effects! We’ll see how it all looks when FANTASMIC! returns on May 28th!
Fantasy Faire Renovations
Count the Fantasy Faire Theatre among the places getting some Disney TLC last month. The photos below were from the start of the month. By the end of the month, everything was uncovered, but no shows back there quite yet.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Mickey’s Toontown officially closed for its extended renovations on March 9, and these photos are from the weekend before, taking one last swing through the area before we can no longer cover construction of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (well, at least without riding the Disneyland Railroad). At that time, construction on the structure of the El CaptiTOON Theater was continuing, and the backdrop of rolling hills that will cover the attraction building was starting to take shape, with cladding going on the framing to eventually form the enlarged background of Mickey’s Toontown.
Mickey’s Toontown and Mickey and MInnie’s Runaway Railway will open next year in the spring, with reimagined attractions at places like Goofy’s Bounce House and Donald’s Boat, a new green space park area with interactive elements, and a general freshening up of the themed land ambiance!
Hollywood Land Refurbishments
Hollywood Land has been getting concrete paving and sidewalk replaced in a series as part of general upkeep. This has created pinchpoints, but fortunately, Hollywood Blvd is not a crowded pedestrian artery for DCA.
What’s Happening at Grizzly Peak
Over in Grizzly Peak, Soarin has reverted to its original Soarin’ Over California ride during the Food & Wine Festival. This has become a traditional seasonal “overlay” for this time of the year now, similar to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Grizzly River Run was still under refurbishment. Meanwhile, the Raya meet-and-greet, which was supposed to be just for the Lunar New Year Celebration, has been so popular that it’s extended indefinitely and still available to guests who want to meet Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess. Plus, the part of Redwood Creek Challenge Trail where this photo op is located is beautifully decorated with those lovely and colorful hanging lanterns!
Stan Lee Dedication at Avengers Campus
Late in February, a plaque was installed dedicating Avengers Campus to the legendary Stan Lee. Guests can find it on the left side of the main entrance into Avengers Campus off the parade corridor, not too far from the Spider-Man attraction building. It’s a small but nice tribute to the man synonymous with Marvel!
World of Color Prep
And work on World of Color continues in Paradise Bay, with the new and enlarged projectors still being worked on. While the World of Color fountain and fire rigs have been completed, crews continue to calibrate and set the projectors that will hopefully make World of Color even more radiant than ever!
More Spring
Lastly, just a few more photos of the Tabebuia trees in blue around a couple parts of Disneyland, since it’s now officially spring!
That takes care of today’s update. Everything we reported here was true… or was it? Who knows. It’s April 1st, so that means all news is fake news, just the way the media overlords don’t want you to know! Fortunately, you can always count on Westcoaster to be the absolute pinnacle of journalistic integrity.
Or fart jokes. One or the other.
Anyway, have a great weekend… and goo bah (as Jeem would say)!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
