Disneyland Resort Update for March 25, 2024

Disneyland Resort Update for March 25, 2024

News and Views

Author's Note

Long-time readers of MousePlanet may recognize the name of Lani Teshima, MousePlanet's first and eternally patient copy editor. Yes, she's just fine, but after more than two decades of working largely behind the scenes, Lani has decided to hang up her red pencil and retire from editing.

I could go on for pages about Lani, not only because she is one of my closest friends, but because MousePlanet wouldn't be the site you know without her. Her thoughtful questions and careful editing made all of us better writers, and her professionalism made MousePlanet a better and more trusted resource. When MousePlanet was nominated for an online journalism award, that was all Lani. She set the bar high, and whenever I questioned how to handle a subject, or whether something worth pursuing, she was always there to hash it out with me.

It is so hard to believe how much has changed in this little niche since we founded MousePlanet, and I don't know that we would have made it to today without Lani quietly working in the background to encourage us, steer us straight, and remind us that the comma always goes inside the quotation mark. It's been very odd these past few weeks publishing this update without first running it through her. While I miss her behind the scenes, I'm grateful to always have her on speed dial.

Thank you Lani. From here on out, all errors are mine alone.

Fire of the Rising Moons

Star Wars fans have an incentive to visit Disneyland several times during the Season of the Force promotion, as the resort last week announced details about a new Star Wars-themed fireworks presentation to debut in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

“Fire of the Rising Moons” will be performed select nights starting April 5, offering a alternative version of Disneyland's fireworks shows. Instead of the standard score, viewers who catch the fireworks from inside Galaxy's Edge will instead hear a soundtrack featuring John Williams’ classic music for the Star Wars films.

Disneyland visitors will have the chance to hear a new version of the fireworks during Season of the Force. Photo © Disney.

Brady McDonald at The Orange County Register noted that Disneyland will present three different fireworks shows scheduled to perform during Season of the Force, and writes that visitors will get to hear three different “Fire of the Rising Moons” soundtracks, depending on which fireworks show Disneyland is presenting that week.

“Wondrous Journeys,” the nighttime spectacular created for the Disney100 anniversary, returned to Disneyland last week and is the show scheduled when Season of the Force begins on April 5.

“Mickey's Mix Magic” returns to Disneyland on April 15, and will perform until April 26, when Disney debuts the new “Together Forever” nighttime spectacular as part of Pixar Fest.

Season of the Force runs through June 2, 2024. “Fire of the Rising Moons” will only take place on nights when Disneyland is running the nightly spectacular “with fireworks,” usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. “Fire of the Rising Moons” will not run on nights when the Disneyland entertainment calendar lists the nighttime spectacular “with projections.” The entertainment calendar is usually updated about 30 days in advance.

Between the March to May the Fourth countdown kickoff event which took place in New York this weekend, and the two-month long Season of the Force promotion, Disney is clearly aiming to keep all things Star Wars front of mind for consumers this spring. After all, why settle for a single Star Wars Day, when you can get fans to spend their credits on merchandise and events for an entire season?

Critter Country to temporarily close May 1

Winnie the Pooh and friends will be going on holiday starting May 1, when Disneyland temporarily closes Critter Country for the next phase of the transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure. The closure includes The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction, as well as Pooh Corner and The Briar Patch shops, and the Critter Country popcorn cart.

Disney says The Hungry Bear restaurant will remain open. It was not mentioned, but we assume the Critter Country character spot will also close, and it's unclear how or if that area will be transformed during the refurbishment.

The Briar Patch will reopen as Ray's Berets. Photo © Disney.

The land's two retail shops will get a makeover during the closure. The Briar Patch, near the entrance to Critter Country, will reopen as Ray’s Berets, still offering hats and accessories. The east side of Pooh Corner, closest to the exit of Tiana's new ride, will reopen as Louis’ Critter Club, offering merchandise featuring “some of your favorite critters and Princess Tiana.”

The west side of the store, closest to the exit of the Winnie the Pooh attraction, will remain Pooh Corner, and will still feature a fresh candy kitchen.

The east side of Pooh Corner will reopen as Louis’ Critter Club. Photo © Disney.

Tickets on sale this week for D23 The Ultimate Disney Fan Event

Tickets go on sale this week for D23 The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, the re-branded D23 Expo scheduled to take place August 9-11 in Anaheim. Disney announced long-awaited details of the ticket sale last week, and I'm going to cover this in three parts – event overview, the various ticket options, and when you can buy them.

Event overview

As we've previously shared, Disney is making a major departure from their “everything under one roof” format of past D23 Expos, and is expanding the main event to include both the Anaheim Convention Center and the Honda Center, with side events taking place all around Anaheim.

Day 0 is a “kickoff celebration” at the Disneyland Resort on Thursday, August 8. This appears to be an all-day mix-in event, and theme park admission is required. Disney says, “Both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park will welcome ticketed D23 fans from rope drop to late night, featuring unique offerings for fans, including a custom cavalcade, an energetic dance party, special photo opportunities, and more.” Tickets are already on sale for August 8, which is a Tier 3 day.

The real event begins on Friday, August 9, when the D23 Show Floor opens at the Anaheim Convention Center. This three-day exhibition includes *almost* everything that the D23 Expo is known for, including pavilions from major divisions of the Walt Disney Company; a Walt Disney Archives exhibit called “A Great Big Beautiful Car Show;” feature presentations and panel discussions; live entertainment including the D23 Mousequerade costume contest; and, of course, shopping. So much shopping, at everything from independent dealers and official licensees, to Disney-owned shops including a brand-new Walt Disney Company Store.

The biggest change this year is the move of three marquee presentations to the Honda Center, a decision that I feel could make or break this event for the future. The three presentations and dates are:

• Friday, August 9 –  Disney Entertainment Showcase. This looks like all of the studios panels in one giant session, including film, feature animation, streaming, television, live theater and more.
• Saturday, August 10 –  Disney Experiences Showcase. Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro presents the 2024 edition of “What's New, What's Next,” and hopefully answers a lot of questions about projects teased since the last Expo.
• Sunday, August 11 –  Disney Legends Ceremony, hosted by Ryan Seacrest. 2024 Honorees include Colleen Atwood, Angela Bassett, Martha Blanding, James L. Brooks, James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Miley Cyrus, Steve Ditko, Harrison Ford, Mark Henn, Frank Oz, Kelly Ripa, Joe Rohde, and John Williams.

I'm just going to go back to what I wrote when these changes were previewed last year,

“Moving the biggest panels to the Honda Center offers some compelling benefits to Disney. Depending on the configuration, the Honda Center can hold more than 17,000 people, far more than either the 7,500-seat arena at the Anaheim Convention Center, or the 6,900-person “Hall D23” auditorium created for the last few expos. Disney could offer stand-alone tickets just to the panels in addition to full expo passes, for those who only want to be there for the major announcements.

Honda Center seating is stadium-style, a vast improvement over the large flat venue of recent years. The arena also features a lovely newish scoreboard, which can bring the action closer to those in the cheap seats.

With seat-specific ticketing, people who want to sit closer to the stage will likely have the option to pay for that option, eliminating the endless queues and jockeying for the best position in the venue. Honda Center is better equipped to screen and get large numbers of guests to their seats, and offers more in the way of amenities to visitors, from parking capacity to food service options.

Another bonus is that attendees may have more time on the show floor itself if they aren't having to wait in hours-long lines to get seats for a panel presentation, and may be able to attend the smaller panels they might have sacrificed at past events.

There are also some down sides to this approach. The Honda Center is three miles away from the Anaheim Convention Center, more than most people will want to walk—especially after an evening event. Those who are staying at a hotel near the Convention Center have a few options: walk, ride the city bus, take a taxi or ride share, or drive to the Honda Center and pay to park. Those who drive in to the expo will potentially have to pay for parking twice: once at the Convention Center, and again at the Honda Center. Those $20 and $30 fees add up quickly over the course of a three-day event.

It's also possible that Disney will offer some sort of shuttle service between the venues, but the logistics of transporting 8,000 people across town make it unlikely.

There's no way to know how moving the major panels to an off-site venue will impact traffic in the Convention Center, and exhibitors may not be happy with the change. If visitors really are able to spend more time (and money) on the show floor, that's great news for vendors. However, if attendees opt to skip the convention center entirely in favor of the bigger panels, that could make for some disappointed exhibitors.”

Last week's announcement addresses a few of these issues. We now know that Disney will not sell stand-alone tickets to the evening events. We know that there will be assigned seating at Honda Center, and that attendees will have the option to purchase an upgraded package offering floor seats for the shows. And we know that Disney plans to offer “complimentary round-trip shuttle service” between the Honda Center and Anaheim Convention Center for the evening events.

However, I still have some concerns about this Honda Center plan. The arena has just kicked off a massive multi-year expansion project, which is already impacting traffic around and parking at the venue. Even with a free shuttle, it's not going to be especially fast or easy to move that many people across Anaheim twice a day. I'm also concerned for transportation and access for guests with disabilities, especially those who use wheelchairs or scooters, and I'm curious to see how that will be addressed during the ticketing process.

Another potentially major issue is that Honda Center has an extremely strict “no bags” policy, which D23 has confirmed will be in effect for their presentations. Visitors are limited to a single personal item, no larger than 5″ x 9″ x 2″. There is no bag check at the Honda Center, so anyone leaving the Anaheim Convention Center and going straight to Honda Center is going to have to find a place to stash all of those gadgets and gizmos they've just purchased at the Expo.

In addition to the main Expo and the kickoff event at Disneyland, there are three more event around Anaheim in the week leading up to

• D23 Day at Angel Stadium –  Sunday, August 4. Catch the Angels vs. the New York Mets at Angel Stadium, and receive a Mickey Mouse bobblehead. Tickets are available through this link.
• D23 Night at the Anaheim Packing District –  Tuesday, August 6. This one is for the foodies, and the game lovers. Purchase a specially-priced tasting pass for participating Packing District eateries, or come check out the latest games from Ravensburger. Tickets are available now.
• The Incredibles 20th Anniversary outdoor screening –  Monday, August 5 at Pearson Park in Anaheim. Tickets go on sale in early May.

Ticket options:

You really have three ticketing options for this event, though one comes at a range of prices.

• D23 Ultimate Fan Pass 3-Day Ticket includes a 3-day assigned seat for evening shows at the Honda Center and 3-day access to all experiences at the Anaheim Convention Center—starting at $297/ticket. You can upgrade this to the D23 Preferred Ultimate Fan Pass 3-Day Ticket, starting at $999 per ticket, which guarantees you the same floor seat for all three Honda Center events.
• D23 Ultimate Fan Pass 1-Day Ticket – If you can only attend one day and want to catch the Marquee show that night, this is the ticket for you. Starting at $99 per ticket.
• D23 Fan Pass, available in 1- or 3-day options. This ticket gives you admission to the Anaheim Convention Center only – the Honda Center events are not included. The 1-day pass is $79 for D23 Gold members, or $89 for General members; the 3-day version is $209 / $259.

When to buy:

• Tuesday, March 26 – D23 Gold (paid) members can purchase tickets starting at Noon (Pacific). A limited number of passes will be available during this pre-sale.
• Wednesday, March 27 –  D23 Gold members AND General (free) members who pay with a Visa card can purchase tickets starting at Noon (Pacific). A limited number of passes will be available during this pre-sale.
• Thursday, March 28 –  Sales begin to D23 Gold members and all general members starting at Noon (Pacific), while supplies last.

Let's keep it social

It looks like the Walt Disney Company has resumed posting to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at least for some of its official accounts. For others, including the official @Disneyland and @WaltDisneyWorld accounts, it appears Instagram and Facebook are still the preferred social media platforms. If you're used to getting your official Disney news from X, you'll want to check other channels as well.

“Fire of the Rising Moons” takes place select nights starting April 5. @Disneyland visitors can watch the fireworks from Galaxy’s Edge, but with a Star Wars soundtrack. pic.twitter.com/0B4JmIyKnQ

— MousePlanet (@MousePlanet) March 20, 2024

The Spring Break of All Spring Breaks with Get Away Today

Spring Break will be here before we know it, and now is the perfect time to book your Spring Break vacation.

And this Spring Break is going to be the Spring Break of all Spring Breaks at Disneyland! From March 22 – April 14, 2024 you can experience ALL of the following at the Disneyland Resort:

• Wondrous Journeys (back for a SUPER limited time)
• Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival (now – April 22)
• Season of the Force (April 5 – June 2)
• “Magic Happens” parade
• World of Color – ONE

Take advantage of Extra Day Free Disneyland Resort tickets from Get Away Today, extra night free Anaheim-area hotel offers and more! With so much to see and do, there’s never been a better time to visit.

The best package deals can be found online at Get Away Today or call 1-855-GET-AWAY, and be sure to mention you saw them on MousePlanet.

This and That

…The Astro Orbitor refurbishment was extended through March 29.

…It's been three weeks since Disneyland resumed sales of new Magic Key passes, and at press time all but the lowest-tier Magic Key type is still available for purchase.

…Tickets are still on sale for all but one of the Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Nite events. Details at the event website.

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Refurbishments and Attraction Closures

Attraction, restaurants, and stores that are closed for refurbishment are noted below.

All information was current as of this article's publication date. MousePlanet does not edit past Resort Updates; for the most up-to-date refurbishment calendar, check the most recent Disneyland Resort Update, visit Disneyland.com or use the Disneyland smartphone application on your iOS or Android device.

View the different areas of the Resort by scrolling horizontally and selecting the one you want to read about.

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Resort Events

Check here to see if a large convention, competition, or park event might fall during your next trip to the Disneyland Resort. If you know of any in-park events, official or unofficial, that should be listed here, please send us an e-mail.

2024

We also recommend checking the convention calendar at the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau website. When looking at that site, remember to note both the number of people and the number of rooms resulting from each convention. A gathering of 25,000 people booking few room nights (indicating most will be driving in to the area for their meeting) can impact traffic around the resort much more than a crowd of 25,000 staying in area hotels. Of course, that second group is going to make finding a hotel room more difficult (and possibly more expensive), so it's best to book your own room as early as possible if you see that a big convention is in town during your trip.

Non-Disney Resort Events

Notable events at parks and attractions around Southern California. If you know of an event that should be listed here, please send us an e-mail.

Current Discounts and Promotions

Disneyland prices as of October 11, 2023.

Note: MousePlanet does not edit past Updates to reflect price increases; for up-to-date prices, check the most recent Disneyland Resort Update. Several current promotions offer discounted admission to the Disneyland Resort. For your convenience, we have grouped the discount offers based on the number of days the tickets are valid. Check out the category that best matches the amount of time you plan to spend at the resort, and pick the offer that works best for you. And keep those tips coming—let us know if you find a better or different offer, so we can share it with other readers!

This first section is a list of discounts on ticket-only purchases. Though it has become more common in recent years, Disneyland tickets are rarely offered at deep discounts unless you are a resident of Southern California or Northern Mexico. For residents outside that area, the best discounts available tend to be simple advance purchase discounts. If you know of any additional discounts, offers, promotions, or contests that should be listed in this section, drop us a line. Note, we are no longer listing offers from the Anaheim-Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau, as their convenience fee negates any savings.

Don't get scammed! Never buy tickets from an unofficial or secondary outlet, such as through eBay or Craigslist. Never rent or purchase tickets from people approaching you outside the gates stating they have remaining days or leftover tickets. This practice is against the terms of use for Disneyland admission, and may result in denial of entry. It is also common for criminals to shoplift inactivated Disney theme park tickets from supermarkets to resell them. There is no way to determine if these tickets are valid until you try to use them to enter the parks. Only purchase Disney theme park tickets directly from Disney, an authorized seller, or travel agency like MousePlanet travel partner Get Away Today.

Ticket Prices and Promotions

Just click the number of days or ticket type you want to view.

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Additional Discounts

Did we miss an offer? If you know of an authorized discount on Disneyland Resort tickets, standing offers for Annual Passholders from non-Disney vendors, or other promotions which might interest our readers, please drop us a note!

Just click the category you want to expand (or close).

Everyone

Magic Key Holders

Disney Rewards VISA Cardmember Perks

Southern California Residents

Disney Vacation Club Members

Service Members

Hotel & Travel Packages

If you can't see the categories, please let us know!

Park Schedule/Blockout Dates

• DL – Disneyland
• DCA – Disney California Adventure
• DCA – Downtown Disney

Early Admission – full description available on the Disneyland website:

• EE –Early Entry for Disneyland Resort Hotel guests.

Disneyland Resort Special Events:

• LNY – Lunar New Year – January 23 through February 18, 2024
• F&W – Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival – March 1 through April 22, 2024
• GN – Grad Nites – May 10, 14, 15, 17, 19, 22, 23, 28, and 31; June 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, and 14.
• OBB – Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure.
• DaD – Disneyland After Dark

The Ticket Tier calendar is published on the Disneyland website for the next eight to 11 months.

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