Disneyland Park Update

Update for May 29-June 4, 2006

Go directly to: News & Views | Current Refurbishment/Attraction Closures | Park Events | Park Schedule/Blockout Dates

News and Views

It has been another quiet week in the world of Disneyland. Just a few odds and ends this week as we move into summer and the last few months of the 50th Anniversary. Details are beginning to solidify around plans for the fall and the post-50th events so hopefully we’ll have something other than the most wispy of rumors to report soon.

A quick administrative note

Many people had noticed that our RSS feed stopped working a while ago. The problem has been fixed and things have been set up in such a way that the problem should not recur. So, those who use the feed (link) to be updated when we publish new articles, it should be working again. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if anything seems off.

Disney Vault 28

New signage at Downtown Disney’s former Hoipoloi storefront finally makes the new store name official. The name is Disney Vault 28 and is expected to open this fall (various more precise target dates, from late August to October, have been shared with us so we’ll just leave it at that).

The name is likely a reference to 1928, the year Mickey Mouse burst onto the world stage and would be a good fit for the vintage and couture lines expected to be sold in the store.

A new sign in the window makes official Disney’s next new store. Photo by George Higby and Marcus Blake.

Short-term closures

Several people wrote in to ask about supposed long-term closures at two Disneyland attractions. According to the emails received, rumors were out there that flooding last Saturday caused Peter Pan to close for the foreseeable future. Another asked for confirmation that a mechanical failure at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had taken it out of commission for several weeks.

Peter Pan did experience a burst pipe on Saturday, requiring the ride to shut down. However, the water to the pipe was turned off and the water mopped up and then the ride was returned to service. It was down for an hour at most and has been operating as normal since.

The lift chain did break on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on Friday causing a closure of the ride but it was back up and running by Saturday afternoon (though the signs outside the park still listed it as closed). It is not particularly uncommon to experience failures in the lift chain and they generally don’t pose any risk to passengers on the ride. This is the second time since March that the chain had to be repaired or replaced and it is simply a time consuming fix and generally takes a day or two.

Happy Birthday! (Repeat ad infinitum)

This last Sunday (May 28) was the 40th anniversary of “it’s a small world” in Disneyland (its world premiere was at the 1964 World’s Fair). This is one of those Disney events that falls into a gray area. It wasn’t significant enough for any type of ceremony but did get an official press release last week with a nice picture of Walt Disney at the opening back in 1966.

Walt Disney with others at the official opening of “it’s a small world” on May 28, 1966. © Disney.

If “it’s a small world” is one of your favorite attractions, you might be able to track down one of the 1,500 40th Anniversary pins that went on sale over the weekend. On the other hand, if you did the ride once and swore never to return, it might be a good chance to give it one more go.

The 40th Anniversary pin has a limited edition of 1,500. © Disney.

Jumping off Mark Twain

This is the kind of thing we hesitate to publicize but it has been making its way around the Disney section of the Internet and best that it be seen with a proper disclaimer. The video you’ll find on this page (link) shows a person jumping into the Rivers of America from the second level of the Mark Twain Riverboat.

Many people have likely considered such stunts (and he likely isn’t the first to actually do it), but it needs to be emphasized just how stupid this is. First of all, the water isn’t particularly deep. There is a reason they dye the water so that you can’t see the river bottom just a few feet down. If that were the only issue it would be only mildly stupid. Worse, there are all sorts of hidden hazards in the water on which a jumper could impale himself, such as pipes, gas lines, tracks, and all kinds of other things.

Also, the next time you find yourself wondering why park management seems to be so easily swayed by company lawyers trying to idiot-proof the parks, remember this video.

The refurbishment of Rivers of America in 2003 shows part of the mess and hazards hiding at the bottom. Photo by Alex Stroup.

40% gone, 40% off

Former MousePlanet writer Dan Steinberg has moved on and currently sells large satellite photos of the Disney theme parks and other landmarks. He is currently having a clearance sale to get rid of his remaining 2006 Disney Theme Park calendars with each month highlighting a different arial view. While supplies last they are 40% off (link).

Sub Lagoon Update

It has been a few weeks since we ran photos of the progress in the submarine lagoon. So here are a series of photographs from the last week showing how things are going.

Scaffolding and a tarp is going up over the docked submarines. Photo by David Michael.

Work continues with heavy equipment preventing construction of the final piece of track. Photo by David Michael.

Part of the tarp over the submarines is up in this photo. Photo by David Michael.

More elaborate set decorations are beginning to appear, mostly what appear to be ruins of some civilization. Photo by David Michael.

In other areas of the lagoon work is still proceeding on general shaping. Photo by David Michael.

More ruins. Photo by David Michael.

On some of the ruins artwork can be seen. Photo by David Michael.

By the end of the week, the beginning of a cover between the old tunnel and the new show building has gone up. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Don’t keep it to yourself! Send us your news tips, rumors, and comments. E–mail us here.

Current Refurbishments and Attraction Closures

Disneyland

• Pirates of the Caribbean closed March 6 – June 26, 2006, for major refurbishment and show updates. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest will premiere at Disneyland on June 24. Ride may be available to public on June 25.

• Blue Bayou Restaurant closed March 6 – June 26, 2006, for the duration of the Pirates of the Caribbean closure.
• Cafe Orleans Restaurant closed March 13 – June 9, 2006, for redesign into full service restaurant.
• Pieces of Eight relocated to former Le Boutique de Noel Christmas store while usual location received Pirates of the Caribbean theming upgrade. Expected to reopen with the ride around June 26.
• Horse-drawn streetcar closed weekdays from May 22 to June 1 for refurbishment of track.
• Main Street Mad Hatter closed most of June for refurbishment.
• Fantasmic! dark June 17 – June 28, 2006, for activities surrounding premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
• Disneyland Park opens and closes early June 24, 2006, for premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Will open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 5:30 p.m. DCA will be open two hours later than usual until 11:00 p.m.
• Parade of Dreams dark June 24, 2006, for red carpet arrivals to premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
• Golden Horseshoe closed May 15 – June 15 for refurbishment and kitchen changes.
  
• River Belle Terrace rumored to close in September or October 2006 for complete redesign into larger two-story restaurant.
• Bengal BBQ rumored to close permanently in September or October 2006 to provide room for expansion of River Belle Terrace.
  
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is currently under construction and will open sometime in 2007.


• Snow White, An Enchanted Musical closed. On hiatus during off season; expected to return for final season in summer 2006.
• Disneyland Monorail goes into shuttle mode (one way trips only) January 2006. Complete closure for station redesign will not happen until later in 2006.

Disney’s California Adventure

Note: Refurbishment schedules are estimates only. All information is subject to change without notice. To get the most recent updates, call Disneyland at (714) 781–7290.

Events

If you know of any events, official or unofficial, that should be listed here, let us know.

June

• Pin Trading Night. June 9, 7:00 p.m. ot 10:00 p.m in Pacific Ballroom at Paradise Pier Hotel. Featured pins not yet announced.
• Olzewski Haunted Mansion release. June 10. Release of new sculpture of Haunted Mansion by Robert Olzewski. Full details not yet released.
• Cars at El Capitan Theater. June 9 – July 4. The accompany show is a demonstration of a real pit stop.
• Jungle Skippers Comedy Night. June 11 at Mavirick Theater in Fullerton, CA. A night of comedy featuring former Jungle Cruise skippers (link).
• Prirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. June 24. Presumptive date of world premiere of this new movie, to be held in New Orleans Square. Park will close early (5 p.m.) with celebrity red carpet arrivals earlier in the day. Has not yet been officially announced.

July

• Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise event. July 6 (link, all package levels now sold out.
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest at El Capitan Theater. July 7 – September 4. Accompany the run of the movie will be props and costumes from the movie.
  
• 3 Christopher Radko ornaments released July 8, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (link).
  

September

• Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. September 15-17. For more information and registration see the official Web site (link, warning: horribly annoying embedded music)
  

October

• Gay Days. October 6 – 8. Unofficial event (link).
  
• Mickey’s Halloween Treat. October 13, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29, 30, and 31 at DCA. (See Disneyland AP page for details)

November

• Lion King returns to Pantages Theater. Beginning November 16 for eight week run. Call 323-463-4367 for details and tickets.

Park Schedule/Blockout Dates

DL: Disneyland
DCA: Disney’s California Adventure
Annual Pass blockout dates:

• SL – Southern California Select Annual Pass
• SC – Southern California Annual Pass
• DX – Deluxe Annual Pass

Visit our Annual Passholders Blockout Dates 2006 page to see more dates. You can see future calendar schedules at Disneyland. As always, specifics are subject to change without notice (or occasionally, without us noticing) so when information conflicts between what is presented here and that presented by Disney, it is best to assume Disney’s information is correct.

Entertainment schedule: Go directly to the Disneyland Resort schedule for this week at Disneyland.com here.