Disneyland Park Update

Update for June 2 – 8, 2008

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News and Views

A new itinerary for Star Tours? | Create Your Own Ear Hat at Disneyland | Summer Fun Pass discount | Do you know the way to DCA? | California bill threatens foil balloon sales at Disneyland | Fire at Universal Studios destroys landmarks, prompts closure | Come out and play with MousePlanet | This and That

A new itinerary for Star Tours?

An offhand comment buried at the end of a CNET article about the special effects created for the new Indiana Jones film has Disneyland fans clamoring for more information. In the article, Industrial Light & Magic computer graphics supervisor Hayden Landis says that his next project will be the Star Tours 2.0 film (link). Rumors have swirled for several years about a potential upgrade to Star Tours, and Anthony Daniels (voice of C3P0) admitted during the Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World last year that he had recorded some dialogue for a new film. Disney has not yet confirmed that any changes are pending for the attraction, but it is possible that such an announcement could be made at the media event for the opening of Toy Story Midway Mania.

Create Your Own Ear Hat at Disneyland

You can now create your own ear hat at the Gag Factory in Toontown. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The Disneyland version of the Create Your Own Ear Hat program launched earlier this year at Walt Disney World has found a home in Toontown’s Gag Factory. The program lets you customize a pair of mouse ears by mixing and matching a base and two snap-on ears, then decorating the finished product with a variety of adhesive fabric decals.

Start with one base and two ears, then add decals and embroidery to create your perfect hat. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The cost is about the same as the WDW version—bases are $5 and $6 each, depending on style, and ears run $2.50 to $3.50 each—but the biggest difference is in the embroidery. Walt Disney World charges $3 to add a name to the hat, but Disneyland wants $7 per line. This is especially puzzling since Disneyland embroiders a name on most regular ear hats at no charge, while WDW tacks on $3 for the service. Some frugal customers have tried to take their Build-an-Ear hat to another Disneyland hat shop to get the name embroidered for free, but cast members have been instructed that they may not embroider the Build-an-Ear bases—you may find a cast member willing to bend the rules, but the official policy is “no.”

If you do spring for the $7 embroidery, you have your choice of six thread colors and two letter styles, “Fun” or “Script.” You can also embroider both the front and the back of the hat if you wish, perhaps adding “Happy Birthday” to the front of a hat and personalizing the back with a name.

Customers can watch as their ear hat is created. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The Gag Factory space allocated to Build-an-Ear is small, and a portion of the already-cramped cash register counter had to be modified to accomodate the embroidery machine and the new heat press machine. Once you complete your creation, you will take the components to the cash register to pay for it. If you have embroidery or decals, the cast member will complete that work while you wait. Unlike the Walt Disney World version, the production area is in full view of customers. You can watch as your hat is made, which may make the wait more interesting.

A cast member prepares to seal a decal onto a custom hat design. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The Disneyland offering appears to have the same component parts as the Walt Disney World version, currently about a dozen each of hat bases and ears, though Disney says there are or will be about 20 of each available. It is interesting to see what creative combinations the cast members have come up with. In response to demand for “Bride” and “Groom” ears, the Gag Factory cast created a white hat and a black hat, then added the Mickey and Minnie wedding decal to the front of each with the inscription “Just Married.”

A few examples of the combinations possible through the new program. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Summer Fun Pass discount

We missed this new discount in last week’s Park Update, but several readers alerted us to the oversight. The Disneyland Resort’s latest discount is the “Summer Fun Pass,” a 3-day park hopper available to Southern California residents for $99 per person ages 3 and older. This represents a savings of up to $70 per ticket over the advance-purchase price of a 3-day Park Hopper. The ticket is valid 45 days after the first use, and first use must take place between June 16 to August 30, 2008. The ticket is not valid on July 4, 2008.

The ticket is available for purchase at some authorized offsite Disneyland Resort ticket outlets, including Vons, Ralphs, Albertsons, Stater Bros., and Gelson’s, Disney Stores, and military base MWR offices.The ticket is not available at the Disneyland Resort, so be sure to purchase your tickets before you arrive. We’ve included the terms and conditions below to hopefully answer any questions about the ticket:

Terms & Condition:

The Summer Fun Pass is valid for three days of admission at both Disneyland® Park and Disney’s California Adventure® Park, including visits to both Parks on the same day. TICKET IS BLOCKED OUT ON 7/4/08. Tickets are valid 45 days from first use. First use must occur between 6/16/08 through 8/30/08. Each day of use constitutes one full day of use. Tickets valid for Southern California residents within ZIP codes 90000-93599 and Northern Baja California residents within ZIP codes 21000-22999. Proof of residency required for admission. Limit 8 tickets per person per day with valid ID. Tickets may not be sold or transferred for commercial use. Offer may not be combined with other discounts or promotions. This ticket may be upgraded to any Annual Passport so long as such upgrade occurs on or before the last valid day of ticket usage. Ticket not valid before 6/16/08. Subject to restrictions and change without notice. All offers, events, tickets, age ranges, services, attractions and entertainment may be seasonal and are subject to change without notice.

Do you know the way to DCA?

Critics warn that confused guests may head to Disneyland to ride the newest DCA attraction. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Some Disney bloggers, including Brady McDonald of The Los Angeles Times, question whether the television spots advertising the new Toy Story Midway Mania attraction is misleading (link). The commercial shows Buzz Lightyear and friends sneaking down Disneyland’s Main Street USA (hiding under orange construction cones, a la Toy Story 2), then sneaking into the attraction to ride. The advertisment ends with a plug for the Park Hopper ticket, and includes the Disneyland Resort logo. Critics complain that the spot intentionally creates the impression that the ride is inside of Disneyland park, and feel that some confused guests will inadvertently purchase a one-day, one-park ticket, expecting to see the new attraction inside Disneyland.

California bill threatens foil balloon sales at Disneyland

Last week the California State Senate passed Senate bill 1499, which would ban the sale of helium-filled foil balloons in the state. The bill is now in the Assembly for consideration, and, if passed, would take effect on January 1, 2010. California already has the toughest regulations on the sale of helium-filled foil balloons, requiring that such balloons are individually tied to weights to prevent accidental release, and prohibiting using food or consumable items as balloon weights.

Fire at Universal Studios destroys landmarks, prompts closure

A major fire that began Sunday morning at Universal Studios Hollywood damaged or destroyed several buildings and sets, including the New York and Main Street sets, the King Kong attraction and the studio’s film vault. Though a Universal Studios spokesperson said Sunday morning that the Universal Studios theme park and adjacent City Walk shopping area would open at Noon, officials later decided not to open the resort. Reuters reported Sunday night that both Universal Studios and City Walk will open on Monday (link).

Come out and play with MousePlanet!

The MousePlanet crew is planning a series of social events for readers this summer and fall, and you’re invited! Our first gathering will be Saturday, June 28th to catch a matinee screening of Wall-E at the AMC theater in Downtown Disney. Stay tuned for more details once the theater releases the schedule for that weekend.

On July 17, you are invited to come celebrate the 8th anniversary of your favorite Disney Web site (and Disneyland’s 53rd birthday). Details are forthcoming, but MouseAdventure fans can look forward to a little treat.

Finally, our second annual MousePlanet night at Mickey’s Trick or Treat Party is Friday, October 3. This is one of the annual passholder discount nights, and tickets are already on sale through the AP Web site.

Stay posted for additional details and events throughout the summer.

This and That

…Due to Grad Night on Wednesday June 11th, the Magic Morning event that would normally take place on Thursday, June 12 has been cancelled. Disneyland will offer an additional Magic Morning event that week the morning of June 11, and guests who hold passes for both Magic Morning and Toontown Morning Madness can attend both.

…A handful of retail shops opened at Garden Walk last week, in advance of the official grand opening later this month. Additional stores will have soft openings over the next two weeks, and the official grand opening is expected to be the weekend of June 15, just in time for the media event surrounding the opening of Toy Story Midway Mania.

…Shoplifters beware—the World of Disney has stepped up security to address a growing “shrink” (theft) problem at the Downtown Disney location. Additional cameras have been installed throughout the building—including directly over doorways—and each exit is now equipped with a handheld scanner that can detect sensor tags inside of packages.

…To promote the new Toy Story Midway Mania attraction at Disney’s California Adventure, a 12-inch-tall Buzz Lightyear action figure joined the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery for Sunday’s launch from the Kennedy Space Center. The promotion is part of NASA’s “Toys in Space” education program. An interactive NASA Web site allows children to follow Buzz’s adventures in space through “transmissions” from the Space Ranger himself (link). The site also offers a series of online games as well as educational worksheets for teachers and parents. The action figure will be transferred to the International Space Station for the summer, and will celebrate its return to earth this fall with a ticker-tape parade at Walt Disney World.

DCA’s sun fountain is back in service. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

…It looks like an earlier comment about the sun fountain being the first casualty of the planned DCA expansion project may have been premature—the construction walls are down, and the fountain is back in service.