The new FROZEN scene debuted a day early on the Storbookland Canal Boats at Disneyland Park. Disney has shared photos of the scene which includes Elsa’s castle, the kingdom of Arendelle, and Wandering Oaken’s:
As soon as work wrapped up on the new Club 33 at Disneyland earlier this year, work began on a new establishment on the other side of the Club’s kitchen, located at 21 Royal Street in New Orleans Square. The location was originally intended to be part of Walt Disney’s apartment, but was most recently used as an executive dining room before the remodel.
The restaurant is expected to be the first in Disneyland history to serve alcohol to non-Club 33 members. Andrew Sutton will be the executive chef for the restaurant in what will also be the first true upscale restaurant open to regular park guests in Disneyland Park’s 60 year history.
No official announcement has been made by Disney yet.
UPDATE: Disneyland has since responded to this story and has stated the space will be a new private dining space for executives and Club 33 members only.
Hiro and Baymax from the upcoming Disney animated film “Big Hero 6” will soon be greeting guests at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts…
At Walt Disney World, the Magic of Disney Animation will host the new meet and greet where guests are visiting the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology and then see the pair in Hiro’s garage workshop. This meet and greet will replace the Wreck-It Ralph meet and greet that opened in 2012.
At Disneyland, the meet and greet will be near the Starcade in Tomorrowland, inside Hiro’s robotics workshop.
No exact date for the opening of either venue has been provided, but it should be just before the release of the movie in November 2014.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A natural successor to Disneyland News Today, the Disneyland Resort Report will be a re-occurring photo report and news series bringing you the latest from the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. In addition to this, each quarter, we will present a Disneyland Resort-focused episode of the WDWNT Podcast. We here at WDW News Today are happy to continue to cover our California counterpart and bring you the latest news and information regarding the topic.
Welcome to The Disneyland Resort!
In this picture, even the Monorail is the color of a pumpkin
A Festivus For The Rest of Us
In years gone by October was a fairly quiet time at Disneyland. Kids back in school, weather cooling down, maybe some introspection, as Fall takes us to a quieter frame of mind. Not today baby!
If you check your 16-month Advent Calendar, you will see that Halloween is now a gateway season for one long Holiday Time that will end in early 2015. Nowhere is that more true than at The Disneyland Resort.
Anything but a premium pass will soon begin to feel chipped away by holiday block out days. All of the remaining Mickey’s Halloween Party events are now sold out. Part of the second weekend of October was blocked out for many, mainly due to CHOC Walk: A yearly benefit for Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Park attendance during that weekend outpaced all but a few days of this past summer.
Park opening on Columbus Day. Columbus Day!
But, there are a couple of little “troughs” ahead, and they are great times to get your thirst for Disneyland slaked. Between Halloween proper and Thanksgiving weekend is one. The other is after Thanksgiving, for a week or two before the Christmas season shifts into twelfth gear. Your milage may vary.
Once “The Season” is over, we will be into Disneyland’s 50th year and Diamond Celebration. And as we speak, plenty is going on amid the clamor to make the year especially magic.
Is There A Doctor In the House?
As part of the creation of a Guest Access Corridor along the east side of Main Street U.S.A., Central First Aid had to be moved over, ever so slightly. The result is not something everyone may notice, but is a marked improvement over the previous facility, with a touch of Walt Disney’s personal story woven into it.
Two lovely building facades have replaced the nondescript “temporary” building that stood in this spot for decades.
First Aid services now take place in what looks like a small town “Medical Building.”
The inscription on one of the building’s windows reads, “Doc Sherwood M.D. – Family Practice.” Sherwood lived in Disney’s Missouri home town of Marcelene. He once commissioned a crayon drawing of his stallion Rupert from the young artist. He has the distinction of being Walt Disney’s first “customer.”
Next to the First-Aid Station is the Wish Lounge. A refuge for Make A Wish Kids visiting the Park.
Like the buildings on Disneyland’s Center Street, the new structure is tapered down in scale to create a forced perspective as it leads away from Main Street. In some ways the building is reminiscent of the well executed Storybook Circus/Carolwood Park Train Station at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Rationally all of these new buildings are a little too small for their stated function, but they have enough detail to be convincing, reassuring and ultimately believable. This small addition to the center of Disneyland reflects that same sense of scale and quality.
The gate awaits. This “floodgate” will be the north end of the Guest Access Corridor. The access route is expected to be used during pyrotechnics and parades on Main Street.
I Know It When I See It
Downtown Disney’s Wonderground Gallery recently held one of its fairly frequent, always interesting, artist signings. This one featured five (count ’em, five!) artists in attendance. Among this imaginative and talented throng were favorite Florida fantasy artist Jasmine Becket-Griffith and Hipster Mickey mastermind Jerrod Maruyama.
If you haven’t been to this gallery, which specializes in what might be called contemporary or revisionist depictions of familiar Disney characters and tableau, we are really at a loss to explain your inaction.
He’s always been an everyman. Artist: Jerrod Maruyama © Disney
A dis-quieting metamorphosis? Artist: Jasmine Becket-Griffith © Disney
Jasmine Becket-Griffith signing art for a fan.
On your wall, in the mail, or on your person. Images © Disney
For more information on product or upcoming events, the Wonderground Gallery can be found on the internet at http://disneyparksmerchandise.com/parksauthentic/wonderground-gallery/
I’ll Stop The World And Melt With You
News that the characters from Frozen will soon be taking up residence in the Animation Building at Disney California Adventure Park is only… the tip of the Frozen iceberg, so to speak.
For the time being, their little snow covered chalet in Fantasyland is still the hottest place at Disneyland Park.
On a recent morning, the line to get a “return time” stretched past Village Haus, nearly to the edge of Fantasyland.
So who would have guessed that another facet of the Frozen franchise would suddenly appear at the Downtown Disney District? Anyone? Everyone?
Sound the Royal Fanfare (and act surprised), Anna and Elsa’s Boutique has arrived!
Frozen-haters: Walk on by.
This is a place for the little ladies to stock up on Frozen merchandise and, if they wish, get coifed and made up as their favorite Princess from the film. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique’s colder sister.
How slammed will this place be during the holidays?
Restoration Nation
Stylized tarps, with the image of the building they cover have been around for quite awhile in the California and Florida Parks. These covering Coke Corner even have the appropriate seasonal decorations worked into the art.
At any given time now, buildings on Main Street are under tarps as Disneyland readies for next years’ Diamond Celebration. What is interesting this time, compared to a decade ago, is the nonchalant, business as usual, approach to the freshening. The preparation for the 50th anniversary seemed a breathless, hero and goat making marathon with no certainty of completion. Since that time the Resort’s condition has not been let to slip to panic inducing levels of differed maintenance, so preparing the Park “for it’s close-up” seems like no big deal.
The “E” Word?
Last month Hong Kong Disneyland premiered it’s new nighttime parade, “Paint The Night.”
The creative team, led by Disney Entertainment wunderkind Steve Davidson, has, by all indication, a hit on their hands in a park that for the last couple of years has been in ascendancy. Billed as Disney’s first-ever fully LED parade, it is a dazzling, high-tech descendant of The Main Street Electric Parade and SpectroMagic. Sporting more than 740,000 individual lights, “Paint…” features seven units, in a pretty even split of Disney and Pixar show scenes.
Here’s some photos from the new pageant’s premiere:
Image © Disney
Image © Disney
Image © Disney
Image © Disney
What will be interesting from the stateside perspective, is how much influence this show will have on the the still un-named, new Disneyland Park nighttime parade planned for the Diamond Celebration next year.
(By the way, these pictures were taken at Hong Kong Disneyland where Main Street and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle are nearly brick by brick replicas of Disneyland U.S.A. So at least we know this parade would fit on the street.)
Well, what do you think they should call it? Stick with Paint The Night? Come up with something different? Or… use a name with the E-Word in it? Electric?
That’ll do it for now…
See ‘ya real soon!
Beginning August 1, 2014, Adventureland at Disneyland Park will be host (for an undesignated limited time) to the Adventure Trading company, a new interactive game. The game was play tested with guests at the 2013 D23 Expo in Anaheim and is now ready for sa formal debut in the parks. We have the full scoop on how the game will work, what the coveted Juju look like, and how you can obtain them when playing the game today, so let’s jump right in…
Here is some information currently being distributed to cast members about the game:
The Adventure Trading Company is a traveling provisions and publications company that will be in Adventureland at the Indiana Jones Outpost for a limited time! The goods sold by the Adventure Trading Company will send guests on a wild expedition!
THE STORY:
Adventureland has never had such a surplus of unsolved mysteries. Guests are invited to carry the torch of adventure and begin their journey today! By completing expeditions, Guests will discover inner strengths and collect Juju, distinct artifacts that prove they have what it takes to join the pantheon of Disney adventurers.
What is a Juju?
Juju are small, hand-carved artifacts that reflect ancient traditions of storytelling in Adventureland. They have been passed along for generations as symbols of adventurous values. Every Juju has a story attached to it, often the story of how it was obtained.
What’s Your Juju Story?
Adventureland cast members will receive a Juju and are encouraged to create their own adventure stories revolving around it. Make sure to keep the below in mind when creating yours:
- Incorporate the value of the Juju into your story
- Story must be time period appropriate
- Story must be true to the theme of Adventureland
- Story must be family friendly
Along with Guest participants, Cast Members are encouraged to create their own Adventure name. You will receive an Adventure Trading Company name tag from your leader, and it may be placed on the upper right hand side of your costume across from your Disneyland Resort name tag.
It can be as simple as adding a title to your actual name (Professor, etc.) or a nickname before or after your first name.
Here’s how the game works, in short:
There are 3 Juju that are simply acquired through a food or beverage purchase:
Similar to Disney Pin Trading, there will also be Juju trading with cast members offered. These trades will be one for one with a cast member. The difference will be an added step in the process. The Guest needs to ear the Juju, so a short “hook” will take place before trading. These “hooks” may be a question or a request, for example, telling a joke, singing, or telling a story. Don’t be nervous though, the cast member will help you complete the “hook” if you are having trouble and will make sure the trade actually takes place.
Guests will also be wearing the Adventure name tags, similar to the ongoing Frotierland game guests can currently play at the park.
The game begins tomorrow, August 1st at Disneyland Park. Stay tuned to WDW New Today for more information on the Adventure Trading Company.
Today, as the Disneyland Resort celebrated its 59th anniversary, it unveiled the logo for next year’s 60th anniversary event, a Diamond Celebration that will salute 60 years of magic. The dazzling yearlong celebration will launch in the spring of 2015. No further details on the Celebration have been made public yet, but they are expected to be released around September of this year.
Disneyland Resort guests are invited to show their patriotic Disney Side this summer to celebrate America’s birthday.
Guests will celebrate the holiday with a special fireworks show, “Disney’s Celebrate America! A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky.” This stunning pyrotechnic production salutes the pioneering spirit and enduring beauty of America. On July 1-4 at 9:25 p.m., the skies above Sleeping Beauty Castle will light up with a colorful display of fireworks, choreographed to a striking musical score that celebrates the best of America.
In addition to “Celebrate America!” the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band is returning to Disneyland Park and will perform several times throughout the day on Friday, July 4. The band will perform along the parade route at 3:30 p.m., just before the “Frozen” pre-parade and the first performance of Mickey’s Soundsational Parade. The band also will appear in Town Square at 5:30 p.m. during the Disneyland Park flag retreat ceremony, as well as along the parade route back to “it’s a small world” at 5:45 p.m.
Finally, guests can see the full band in concert at Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree on stage, starting at 7:15 p.m.
Also on July 4, the water spectacular “World of Color” features a special, patriotic pre-show, prior to the 9 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. performances. Guests can “Glow with the Show” with special interactive Ear Hats that become part of “World of Color” at Disney California Adventure, and part of the “Celebrate America!” fireworks spectacular at Disneyland.
Guests may also explore their patriotic Disney Side by visiting the inspirational Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction on Main Street, U.S.A., or by attending the flag retreat ceremony, held in the early evening each day at Town Square in Disneyland. Additionally, the patriotic super hero Captain America greets guests daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Innoventions.
As you are probably well aware, the very exclusive Club 33 at Disneyland closed back in January for a massive overhaul that will expand the private club far beyond its original borders. Club 33 will be expanding in size as well as adding a “jazz lounge” area across the street from the original location, having guests attending the venue use a new elevated walkway to cross the street just above guests in New Orleans Square. Members will also no longer enter at 33 Royal Street, but rather through the former Court of Angels area towards the very back of the land. In addition, the original logo for the club is undergoing a drastic overhaul…
As you can see by the new tickets that members of Club 33 will receive, there is an entirely new logo. This is the first time the logo has been altered since the club opened in 1967.
For those who may be unfamiliar, here is a photo of the original logo:
Club 33 at Disneyland is set to re-open on July 18, 2014.
This summer, Olaf will finally find out what its like to enjoy summer in a new pre-parade float coming to Disneyland Park. Debuting in mid-June, guests will be able to enjoy a new ‘Frozen’ themed pre-parade float ahead of Mickey’s Soundsational Parade featuring Olaf, Anna, and Elsa. The float designed by Queen Elsa, will allow her friend Olaf to finally see what its like to be a snowman in summer.
The pre-parade debuts in mid-June at Disneyland Park.
Starting April 10th and running through April 20th, guests at Epcot, Disney California Adventure, and Disneyland Park can once again embark on an Easter egg hunt with the promise of a prize.
Have fun exploring the parks hunting for ‘eggs’ that portray Disney characters! Record your discoveries by placing the corresponding sticker on the specially themed Egg-stravaganza map to represent that location. Maps and stickers can be purchased for $4.95, plus tax at the following parks and locations:
- Disney California Adventure park – Elias & Co., Oswald’s, Radiator Springs Curios, Rushin’ River Outfitters, Studio Store and Treasures in Paradise.
- Disneyland park – Disney Showcase, Fairy Tale Treasures, Gag Factory, Pieces of Eight and Pooh Corner
- Epcot – Heritage Manor (American Adventure Pavilion), Disney Traders, International Gateway, Pin Central and Port of Entry
Opposed to last year, whether you finish finding all of the eggs or not, there will be a chance to obtain a prize made “egg-sclusively” for the event:
You will receive one of these egg prizes when you return your map to a redemption location: Elias & Co. at Disney California Adventure park; Disney Showcase in Disneyland park or Disney Traders in Epcot and participate in an ‘egg-scramble’ to pick up your surprise.
