Disneyland Park Update

Go directly to: News & Views

| Current Refurbishment/Attraction Closures | Park

Events | Discounts/Promotions | Park

Hours/Blockout Dates | Events/Entertainment

Schedule

News and Views

Thomas Kinkade at Disneyland

The Disneyland Resort commissioned Thomas Kinkade, known as the “Painter
of Light,” to create a painting of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Kinkade
fans were delighted to discover the artist hard at work on Main Street,
U.S.A. Friday morning as he started his painting.

Thomas Kinkade begins work on his painting of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Although Kinkade was only scheduled to appear for 90 minutes on Friday,
the artist kept working almost nearly noon. He surprised another group
of park visitors by returning to paint again Saturday morning. Kinkade
is scheduled to make one more trip to Disneyland on June 17 to work on
the painting, which is expected to be completed by August. Details about
the eventual sale of the painting have not been released.

Two hours later, Kinkade is still hard at work and the painting looks
almost ready to frame. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Big Thunder Ranch returns

After an eight-year absence, Disneyland’s Big Thunder Ranch has reopened.
Closed in 1996 to make room for the Festival of Fools Arena, the petting-zoo
attraction was once the home to “Mickey Moo,” a cow born with
a near-perfect, Mickey-shaped pattern on her left side.

A sign invites kids to meet animals, “like those staring in Disney’s
Home on the Range.” Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Big Thunder Ranch has been reborn as the “Little Patch of Heaven,”
named for the ranch in Disney’s latest animated feature Home on the
Range. “’Little’ is right,” said one visitor jokingly—the
entire ranch fits inside the area that was once the exit of the Festival
of Fools arena. There have been rumors that the ranch was rushed to capitalize
on the new film, with a larger area to open in about a month.

The pygmy goats hide in their enclosure as the ranch opens to the first
guests. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

A cast member holds Timon steady so a child can scratch its ears. Photo
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The inhabitants of the ranch include a horse, a 6-month-old Jersey cow
named Maggie (for one of the cows in the film), a handful of pygmy goats,
and a few baby sheep. Cast members tell us that many of the animals now
living in the Little Patch of Heaven were rescued from shelters. The horses
are from the park’s Circle D Ranch. The pot-bellied pigs rumored to be
part of the ranch have not yet made an appearance. According to cast members,
the pigs are not yet acclimated to people, and are too skittish to be
put on public display.

Maggie doesn’t sport a Mickey spot, but the Jersey cow seems right at
home. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Rex munches on a tub of hay, completely ignoring the opening-day crowds.
Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The small log cabin inside the ranch has been refitted, and now houses
a crafts area. Younger visitors can color Home on the Range postcards
or make character masks. To keep everyone neat and tidy—and prevent
kids from smelling like goats all day—a large wash area was constructed
just inside the exit, and hand-sanitizing gel is available in dispensers
around the area.

Esmerelda’s Cabin is now a craft area. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Ranch hands are expected to wash up before hitting the trail. Photo by
Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

David Koenig reports…

To ease the nighttime crowding on Main Street and desertion of Disney’s
California Adventure park, the push is on to create a special fireworks
presentation for Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary that can be viewed from
the entire resort. As one insider reported, “I’m not sure how this
will be accomplished with regards to the main fireworks, which are currently
launched behind Toontown. They can already be partially seen from the
Paradise Pier and Sun Court areas of DCA, so maybe some shifting of launch
sites or changing of how high they shoot them might help.”

The former solution is more likely than the latter, since the source
also said Entertainment wants to incorporate more low-level fireworks
into the show. “These are similar to the ones currently launched
off the castle during the Believe shows,” he said. “One proposed
site is the Tower of Terror. They also want to work more fiber optic-like
effects into the show, similar to the Tinker Bell effect at the beginning
of Believe! There’s Magic in the Stars. There will be more of them
and in different shapes, such as stars and moons.”

A new priority for park visitors

Visitors who are planning to join Winnie the Pooh and friends at the
Plaza Inn for breakfast may need to plan ahead—the Disney Dine Line
is now accepting Priority Seating reservations for the Plaza Inn character
breakfast. Unlike other on-property restaurants, the Plaza Inn is only
opening half of its 600 seats to Priority Seating. Although other locations
have gone to 100 percent reservations, managers were concerned that diners
would be confused if the Plaza Inn—which has never before accepted
reservations for breakfast—suddenly switched to a reservations-only
policy. Walk-up diners will be seated on a space-available basis.

City Hall reopens next week, but the new facade is already delighting
park visitors. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Back from Rehabland

Adventureland’s Indiana Jones Adventure attraction returned from a prolonged
rehab last week. Although the ride opened a day earlier than scheduled,
some of the major show effects were still not functioning. Despite the
stationary temple doors and an unmoving snake, the ride looks fantastic.
Special effects that had been inoperable for months—and even years—look
fresh and new again. The bug-filled corridor looks amazing, with new projections
putting the “bugs” into high definition. The temple is filled
with laser, fire and smoke effects, some missing so long that regular
visitors forgot they had ever worked. MousePlanet reader Jennie said,
“It was a totally different ride. The people that let such simple
effects die out for so many years is nearly criminal in my book.”

Dumbo the Flying Elephant in Fantasyland also returned from rehab on
Friday, but was promptly closed midmorning when ride operators discovered
a malfunction in the ride console. According to a Dumbo cast member, engineers
crosswired the “E-stop” (emergency stop) button with an override
button that allows the ride operator to open a gate to admit another cast
member into the attraction during a ride cycle. When a ride operator pressed
the gate override button, the attraction went into emergency stop mode.
The error was corrected, and the ride reopened later that day.

The new face of DCA entertainment

As previously reported, DCA’s a capella group Groove 66 and the Chance
to Shine street show end their two-year run on Sunday, April 18. Both
shows were axed as part of a “sweeping new atmosphere program”
planned for DCA.

The first of these new shows began this past weekend. Mulan’s Chinese
New Year Greetings is a “cavalcade,” (the Disney term for
a little tiny parade), that starts at the gates near the Mission Tortilla
Factory and proceeds to the Golden Dreams Theater. The procession reuses
some of the music and costumes from Disneyland’s fantastic Mulan parade,
which ran in the late ’90s. Mulan and Mushu stop for a meet-and-greet
outside the theater before the parade turns around and heads right back
to the parade gate.

Another skit, this one featuring a bluegrass band, takes place between
Rushin’ River Outfitters and the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. At the
end of the show, Chip and Dale invites kids to follow them into the Challenge
Trail for a meet-and-greet.

Chance to Shine will be replaced by another street show outside the Animation
Building. Rather than hopeful “movie extras,” the stars of this
new production are “Disney animators.” After the show, the animators
will invite the audience to follow them into the Animation Building to
learn more about their work.

Notice a trend here? Most of the new shows are tied to a specific attraction,
with hopes of driving visitors into less-trafficked areas. The exception
here is the Tower of Terror show, where a Bellhop Band will entertain
visitors as they wait in line for the new ride.

Handheld captioning

Several months after the system premiered at Walt Disney World, a new
service for visitors with hearing impairments was introduced at Disneyland
in March. The handheld captioning devices allow users to read along with
recorded narration in attractions such as the Disneyland Railroad, where
reflective or video captioning is impossible or impractical, and provides
written storylines for rides such as the Haunted Mansion where the soundtrack
provides important plot cues.

Handheld captioning units, first introduced at WDW last summer, are now
available in Disneyland. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The Disneyland Resort version includes the Disneyland Railroad, Enchanted
Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, The Many Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The park has announced plans to
expand the system to additional attractions in the next year. The devices
can be checked out at City Hall in Disneyland or the Guest Relations Lobby
at DCA. Rental is free, but a deposit is required for each device. The
units are about the size of an electronic PDA, and can be worn around
the neck.

Final weeks for Resident Salute

As the SoCal Resident Salute promotion enters its final few weeks, locals
are flocking to the Disneyland Resort to use their second admission before
April 30. Since the majority of visitors use their first admission at
Disneyland, these crowds will be heading to DCA for their second day.
To accommodate the extra traffic, DCA park hours have been extended an
extra hour on three weekend dates: April 18, 24 and 25. The park will
be open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., instead of the originally scheduled 9 p.m.
closing.

Got any interesting news or rumors? Contact us here.

Current Refurbishments and Attraction Closures

Disneyland

• Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through closed indefinitely.


• Space Mountain closed through 2005.

Work resumes in New Orleans Square. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Disney’s California Adventure

• Superstar Limo closed indefinitely (rumored to reopen May 19).


• Francis’ Lady Bug Boogie closed indefinitely.

New windows and awnings decorate the side of DCA’s Animation Building.
Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Future Closures

• Adventureland restrooms closed April 19 – May 1.
• Peter Pan’s Flight closed April 19 – May 28.
• Pirates of the Caribbean closed May 3 – 7.
• Alice in Wonderland closed June 1 – July 3.
• Sleeping Beauty Castle closed June 21 – October 2.
• Snow White’s Scary Adventures closed August 23 – September

  11.

• Enchanted Tiki Room closes September 8 – October 30.
• Haunted Mansion closed September 13 – October 1 for installation

  of Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay.

• Matterhorn Bobsleds closed September 13 – November 5.

Disneyland Resort Hotels

• Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel Pool closed May 3 – 8.
• Disneyland Hotel Grand Ballroom closed July 2 – 16.
• Disneyland Hotel Convention Center lobby, upper level &

  lower level closed July 16 – September 1.

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.

Park Events

Ongoing

• Frights, Camera, Action exhibit about the Haunted Mansion attraction

  and movie at the Disney Gallery, extended through April 18.

April

• Tower of Terror event, details available at the Disney Gallery

  Web site (link).

  April 22 & 23.

May

• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Opening at DCA. May 5.
• A Celebration of Walt Disney Art Classics – “A Disney

  Blast to the Past” May 14 – 16.

October

• CHOC Walk – this fun-walk through Disneyland park is a fundraiser

  for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (link).

  October 3.

Current Discounts & Promotions

Car rental discounts

Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders save up to 20 percent on car rentals
from Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental. Restrictions apply—get
full details and the necessary discount codes on the Annual Passholder
Web site (link).

Anaheim Angels tickets

Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders save on Anaheim Angels tickets.

Offer applies to selected dates only. There are three seating areas to

choose from. Visit the Annual Passholder Web site for more details (link).

Disney’s Passport Plus Package for 2004 includes:

• Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Ticket
• $10 ESPN Zone Arena Game Card
• Preferred Seating at select shows in Disney’s California Adventure

  Park

• California Diamond Fun Book (one per package)
• Free parking at Disneyland Resort Theme Parks

Prices are as follows:

• 5-day: $129 (children: $99)
• 6-day: $159 (children: $129)
• 7-day: $184 (children: $149)

An additional handling fee of $10 will be charged per mailing address.

SoCal Salute: two parks, two days at one-day price

The Disneyland Resort is offering a new version of the Southern Californian

resident salute through Friday, April 30. Residents may spend a day at

Disneyland and a day at Disney’s California Adventure for the price of

a one-day ticket.

Eligible residents can purchase up to five “2fer” tickets per

day with proof of Southern California residency (zip codes 90000 through

93599, or Northern Baja California residents within zip codes 21000 through

22999; valid ID required). “2fer” tickets are priced at the

regular one-day ticket prices for the Disneyland Resort theme parks—$49.75

for ages 10 and up, $39.75 for ages 3 through 9—and are available

at Resort ticket booths as well as at the Disneyland Web site (link).

The first day of use must occur on the date of purchase; the second day

of use must occur within 30 days of purchase or before April 30, whichever

occurs first.

New AAA tickets

AAA announced new ticket plans for the Disneyland Resort:

• 2-day adult Flex Passport $98 (children: $78)
• 5-day adult Flex Passport $129 (children: $99)

The new prices took effect December 24, 2003, and all tickets include

free parking.

CityPass

The Southern California CityPass booklet includes admission to five separate

entertainment options:

• 3-day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Ticket

• 1-day ticket to Sea World Adventure park

• 1-day ticket to the World-famous San Diego Zoo -or- the San Diego

  Wild Animal Park

• 1-day ticket to Knott’s Theme Park. (includes a free Knott’s Berry

  Farm T-Shirt with each Child’s City Pass)

CityPass prices increased to $172, $129 for children, effective April
1st.

You can purchase the Southern California CityPass with Walt Disney Travel

Company packages. Instead of the Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Ticket

currently included in California packages from the Walt Disney Travel

Company, guests can select a Southern California city’s for an additional

charge of $47 per pass ($32 per pass for children 3 through 9).

Note: The Southern California CityPass does not include the $10

ESPN Zone Arena Game Card, or the California package’s feature that allows

guests to collect multiple Fastpass tickets at once for free in advance.

AAA-Disney’s Resort Magic Package

This package requires a minimum 2-night hotel stay, and includes:

• Accommodations at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel, the Disneyland Hotel,

  or Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel

• Disneyland Resort Hotel self-parking and Fitness Center access

• Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Ticket – valid for entry into Disneyland

  park and Disney’s California Adventure park with full park-hopping privileges

• Free ESPN Zone Arena Game Card – $10 value (one per person)

• New. Collect Fastpass tickets for multiple attractions at one time.

  Preferred Seating at a choice of select shows in Disney’s California

  Adventure

• Exclusive – Walt Disney Travel Company collectible pin and lanyard

  (one per person)

• Exclusive – Walt Disney Travel Company California Fun Book (one

  per package)

• Exclusive – Disneyland Resort Magical Pocket Guide (one per package)

You can book this package through your local AAA affiliate travel agent.

Park Hours/Blockout Dates

DL: Disneyland

DCA: Disney’s California Adventure

Annual Pass blockout dates: SoCal
– Southern California Annual Pass. Sel
– Southern California Select Annual Pass. DX
– Deluxe Annual Pass.

Visit our Annual

Passholders Blockout Dates 2003-2004 page to see more dates.

Entertainment Schedule