Update for November 28 – December 5, 2005
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News and Views
Light week
It has been a light week in the news department, so this week’s update is definitely on the light side.
Happiest Turkeys
It is now a tradition almost 60 years old for the President of the United States to “pardon” a turkey prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. In the past, these pardoned turkeys have gone to a farm to live out their natural lives where they get to taunt other turkeys who don’t have a presidential proclamation rendering them above reproach. This year, that part of the tradition changed, and immediately after the pardoning ceremony in Washington, D.C., the turkey and one lucky friend were spirited to the airport where United Airlines flew them first class (no word on the reaction of the two business class travellers unable to get bumped up to first class because of the birds) to Disneyland. On Thursday, Marshmallow (the turkey in question) served as the honorary grand marshall of the Parade of Dreams and he and his friend, Yam, can now be seen in a new area at Santa’s Reindeer Round-Up behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The turkey of honor at the Thanksgiving Grand Marshall ceremony. Photo by David Michael.
At the top of the float is the pardoned turkey. Was it really necessary to taunt the turkey with the thought that if it could fly even 2 feet off the ground it would be free? Photo by David Michael.
It is still unclear whether this is a permanent home for the turkeys or if they’ll end up elsewhere following the holiday season (and we suspect that if they do move again, they won’t be flying first class). The word from people who have seen them in their current pen is that they aren’t particularly comfortable with the attention and people, so please keep that in mind.
Marshmallow (on the right) and his friend Yam make their current home in Frontierland. Photo by David Michael.
Capacity again
Once again, Disneyland Park surprised everybody by hitting capacity last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and all the other days in the long weekend were crowded as well. For people planning trips, at this point it is probably best to not make any assumptions that there will be any truly slow days between now and the end of the year, though capacity crowds will remain the exception. If you do make the trek and are told that Disneyland is at capacity, the example of David Michael may be of interest. He arrived at the park around 12:30 p.m. last Friday and received a notice at the garage that the park was full. He still went over to check it out and found that he was able to enter and then reenter a couple hours later. So if you do go all the way there, you might want to at least go all the way to the gate to make sure they really are closed at that point in time.
We have received a couple whispers from cast members and others that the park wasn’t at normal capacity last Friday but rather it was a combination of good-sized crowds and staffing issues from some sort of sick-out at the park. So far we have not been able to confirm this at all and it is the most rumorish of rumors with people who were there on Friday telling us that the parks did seem very crowded. However, if anybody has information on this, please drop us a note.
Grad night schedule
For those who might be looking to schedule around the early park closures that go along with Grad Nights in the May and June, the scheduled dates are May 11, May 18, May 25, June 1, June 8, June 14, June 15, and June 22. All dates Thursdays, except for June 14 which is a Wednesday. A pre-party will be held each night (except June 22) at Disney’s California Adventure. On these nights Disneylan will likely close at 9 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.
Hollywood Pictures progress
Construction continues in the Hollywood Studios Backlot area of Disney’s California Adventure. The construction walls came down in front of the Animation Building last week and revealed the new look. We’ll have photos next week, but the exterior has a new digital marquee promoting the four shows inside the building and new neon lighting as well.
Over at Monsters, Inc., Mike and Sully to the Rescue rumors are beginning to swirl about soft openings for the attraction. So far as we know, the powers that be are still targetting the end of January for official opening and it is unlikely that they will start any preview openings during the holiday rush so the first or second week of January seems most likely. As is always the case with soft openings, they are very fluid and will happen with no official announcement and can stop just as quickly (for any reason, from mechanical issue to learning that it has been announced on a Web site).
The walls are also down at Golden Dreams and the exterior mural is sporting a fresh coat of paint.
The exterior of the Golden Dreams theater looks as good as new. Photo by David Michael.
Fireworks again
People continue to be disappointed and email us about it, so it seems a good idea to continue with the reminders. The Remember…Dreams Come True fireworks have strict guidelines regulating the wind conditions in which the show can proceed. Late November through the end of the year is the windy season for the Los Angeles area. Already, the fireworks show has been cancelled at least four times in the last two weeks and more cancellations are likely before the end of the year. If Disneyland management thinks cancellation is likely, they will make several cautionary announcements in the hours up to the show but will not make a final decision until very near showtime since things could change at the last minute.
The cancellations are confusing to many who don’t think it is all that windy when the cancellation is announced, but it is winds at several hundred feet up that matter (if you watch carefully you can see the release of test balloons prior to the show) and there is frequently a big difference in windspeed on the ground compared to several hundred feet up. So if you are on a multi-day trip and seeing the fireworks is important, try to see them as early in the trip as possible so that you have extra chances if they are cancelled.
Also keep in mind that for safety reasons, the snow effect does not happen if it is raining or the ground is wet since this can create very slippery surfaces.
