We have yet another limited release t-shirt for you, and this one will ship just in time for July 4th, 2017…
Click here to purchase
Available for only the next 9 days, “Make America Sing Again” celebrates the classic Disneyland attraction America Sings. This show was created by legendary Disney Imagineer Marc Davis and ran in the Carousel Theater in Tomorrowland from 1974 until 1988. Most of the animatronics from the show were recycled into Star Tours and Splash Mountain at Disneyland Park.
America Sings at Disneyland, 1974-1988
The shirt is available now and is guaranteed to arrive by July 4th, 2017 for all domestic purchases.
The D23 Expo 2017 will have entire pavilion dedicated to the Star Wars-themed lands coming to Disneyland park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Today, the creative minds behind the pavilion unveiled the amazing logo for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts: A Galaxy of Stories, exclusively at D23 Expo 2017.
In just a few short weeks, guests can catch a glimpse of the locations, starships, creatures and droids that will populate this remote village on the Outer Rim, and experience the world premiere of a detailed model showcasing the immersive 14-acre lands coming to Disney Parks in 2019. There will be plenty of artwork and media on display to show guests the creative process bringing the Star Wars, galaxy to life.
On Saturday of the D23 Expo, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman, Bob Chapek, will also take the stage for a special Hall D23 presentation on what’s new and what’s next for resorts around the globe. In addition, guests can sit in on three other unique Disney Parks panel presentations:
Friday, July 14
3:30 p.m. Pirates of the Caribbean: 50 Years of Swashbuckling Adventures in Disney Parks
Saturday, July 15
3:00 p.m. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts – Bob Chapek
Sunday, July 16
12:15 p.m. Inspiring Women of Imagineering
2:30 p.m. Voices of Disney Parks
They’re also bringing back Mickey’s of Glendale, the Imagineer-exclusive merchandise store chock full of limited-edition collectibles and souvenirs. It’s all coming up at D23 Expo 2017 on July 14-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center, across the street from Disneyland Resort. Tickets and more information are available now at D23expo.com.
Our friends over at Fresh Baked Disney have provided us with some photos of the newly reopened Big Thunder Trail at Disneyland Park, the first part of the park which was closed for the construction of Star Wars Land to return into service:
What has been construction walls for the better part of a year and a half is now open again.
While this bridge was here before, it now has some new lanterns on it.
Work continues on the new edge of the Rivers of America, as well as the new train trestle for the Disneyland Railroad.
Thankfully, the old cave from Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland survived.
The trail looks fairly different now, with extensive rock work and props taking the place of the entrance to Big Thunder Ranch.
The new elements are just as well themed as anything around it and look as if they have been here since the early days of Big Thunder Mountain.
These new structures will block the guest view of Star Wars Land from Frontierland.
The Big Thunder Ranch logo can be found on the lamp sitting on the rock in this picture, a nod to the past.
The opposite side of the path is still pretty much as it was before.
If you have ever walked through Adventureland at Disneyland, you no doubt know how crazy and congested the single, narrow pathway that makes up the land can get. Well, after all of these years, Disney is finally doing something about it.
The Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost, opened in 1995, will close on June 12th, 2017.
On June 12, the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost and South Seas Traders stores will close permanently. On June 30, the adjacent Bengal Barbecue will reopen with an indoor seating area using space from these two stores. Merchandise from these two stores will be moved into the existing Adventureland Bazaar shop.
Meanwhile, the Tropical Imports fruit stand adjacent to the Jungle Cruise will be closed to become stroller parking for Adventureland, removing the strollers from the center of the pathway. Tropical Imports will open at a new location next door to Bengal Barbecue.
Tropical Imports will close to become stroller parking in Adventureland at Disneyland Park
While the crowding in the land during the day is a big part of why all of this work is happening, the expected crowds entering and exiting through Adventureland for the upgraded Fantasmic show is the main reason the work is being done right now. This likely means that we still have a few weeks until the show returns to Disneyland.
Thanks to our friends over at Fresh Baked Disney, we have another weekly look at how the construction of Star Wars land is going over at Disneyland Park. Here is a look at the project as of June 10th, 2017:
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
The race is on to complete the new riverbank for the Rivers of America before the 4th of July crowds arrive.
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Trees are being moved into place currently, a good sign as landscaping usually is one of the last phases of a project like this.
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Looking at the Star Wars site, we can see that they are getting close to enclosing the strange circular room which may be part of the pre-show experience for the “Battle Escape” attraction.
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Meanwhile, the show building for Disney’s most advanced attraction ever built continues to grow…
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Another look at this strange circular room which will present some special effect that will transport guests to the battle.
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Back in Disneyland, the train trestle is getting painted.
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
The riverfront looks to be nearing completion.
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
A peek through a knothole reveals a pathway that will go along the shoreline and into Star Wars Land, passing under the train tracks.
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
Star Wars Land construction at Disneyland Park, June 10th, 2017
The YesterEars line of vintage-inspired clothing is now featuring three new limited-release shirts, available through May 25th only, at DisneyStore.com.
Two unisex adult tees, one featuring the Disneyland State Fair logo from 1987-88, and one sporting original Disneyland Space Mountain artwork, are available, as is a third design, a women’s tee in pink featuring a vintage Disneyland Hotel logo.
Disneyland’s Space Mountain first opened to guests on May 27, 1977, so this shirt commemorates the 40th anniversary of that ride’s opening.
These shirts retail for $27.99 and there is also a Buy One, Get One 40% Off promotion available.
Get yours before they’re gone on Thursday May 25, 2017!
According to sources at the Disneyland Resort, the Paint the Night Electrical Parade is all packed up to be shipped off, but where is it going?
Paint the Night debuted at the Disneyland Resort in May 2015 as part of the Diamond Celebration and ran through the end of the event in September 2016, only briefly for the holiday season in 2016 before vanishing again. The Main Street Electrical Parade returned to Disneyland Park in January 2017 and will be running through August 2017 (at least), meanwhile, Fantasmic is slated to return to Disneyland this summer and a brand new Disneyland fireworks show is reportedly coming in early 2018. With all of this nighttime entertainment, apparently it has been decided that they can afford to let Paint the Night go somewhere else.
Where will the parade go? Many expect that it is going to the Magic Kingdom since the Main Street Electrical Parade was taken away from Walt Disney World’s flagship park in the Fall of 2016. However, it is hard to image that it can successfully run a new parade in addition to a brand new (and very popular) fireworks show in Happily Ever After. Other parks at Walt Disney World seem an unlikely home for the parade, and Hollywood Studios can’t currently handle such an offering in its current state.
Simply because I have zero confirmation of where the parade is going, it may be worth mentioning that Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disney are both without a nighttime parade as well. Regardless, the smart money would still be on The Magic Kingdom.
We’ll wait and see what happens, but regardless, the Paint the Night parade is packed up and ready to go, we just need to fill out the recipient’s address…
On May 26th, Disneyland Park launched the much-discussed Tomorrowland Skyline Lounge experience, an event meant to be a fireworks dessert party held on the second floor of the Star Wars Launch bay building. Based on the reaction our breaking of this story received, we decided to send someone out to review the very-first night of the experience on Friday.
Check-in took place at the Tomorrowland fruit cart, located underneath the former Observatron/Rocket Jets. The price for this experience was $45 per person, that was not collected on making the reservation for some reason, so they do collect before giving you your lanyard and wristband.
Guests lining up to enter prior to the event start.
Check-in began at 7:45pm and you are allowed up into the lounge at 8:00. You check-in (again) at the bottom of the ramp of the former-Innoventions building (now Star Wars Launch Bay on the bottom floor) where you are escorted up to the second level.
You then receive a free drink of your choice. Coke products, coffee, tea, etc., and you also receive your dessert box before being seated in one of the lounge areas. There were 4 or 5 different areas in all with several couches and chairs. At the very end of the balcony, there were several high-top tables if you would rather sit there. You were grouped with other parties, so you did have to share the space if you have a smaller group.
Once seated, you could charge your phone at one of the many charging stations, which is nice. Games were available to play such as Jenga, Connect Four and Checkers, because nothing says Tomorrowland like classic board games. You are in Disneyland, where you can play in essentially the world’s greatest playground, but hell, LETS GO FOR IT, CONNECT FOUR!
PhotoPass photographers were available to take pictures with the beautiful Tomorrowland scenery in the background, which is actually really neat. The views from up here are great, incase you have never been up on this patio (which I can’t imagine in many cases as it was open to the public for years).
Mickey and Minnie even made an appearance for a short meet and greet, the pair also available for photos. Blankets were provided by cast members if you were a bit chilly as well.
This being Disneyland, there is a good chance that the nightly fireworks are cancelled due to high winds and such. Needless to say seemingly, fireworks ended-up being cancelled due to high winds for this very first night of the experience.
The lounge itself was nice enough. The couches were nice and there were plenty of places to charge devices.
The dessert tray, while very tasty, was extremely rich. It includes:
Mickey Cloud Cake – Cream-filled Sponge Cake
Chocolate Eclipse – Cream-Filled Chocolate Cake drenched in Chocolate
Coconut Comet – Coconut-Strawberry Iced Sponge Cake filled with Cream
Planetary Pie – Mini Cherry-Filled Pie
Moon Rocks – Boursin Herbed Cheese, Cream Cheese, Shredded Cheddar, and Jack Cheese, Chives Pimento, and Bacon
No one sitting in our group finished any of their desserts. Again, not because they were bad, but just incredibly sweet. The Coconut Comet was basically a Hostess Zinger pumped up to eleven, and if you don’t know what a Zinger is, please head to the grocery store and rectify that. The Moon Rocks were probably the highlight of the offerings; a delicious cheese spread covered in bacon with an assortment of crackers.
The fancy-Zinger
This is a nice offering and is at a low cost in comparison to the World of Color or Fantasmic dessert party packages. However, without fireworks, it’s a giant waste of time. Disneyland Park has the most unreliable nighttime spectacular of all U.S. Disney Parks, making it a gamble each night whether the show will be performed. Even the slightest amount of wind can cancel a show due to the proximity of the park to nearby neighborhoods. Seriously, only half of the Celebrate America Fourth of July fireworks shows ever scheduled at Disneyland, have actually happened.
You could always do this with the Jenga game if the fireworks don’t happen, I guess…
This is probably why event organizers decided to call it Tomorrowland Lounge rather than a fireworks dessert party, to try to ease some of the complaints that are going to come regardless when the fireworks are cancelled. We were even told several times by cast members that the fireworks were only an addition to the experience and that the lounge is the experience by itself. Large disclaimers on the website when booking this alls make it unmistakebly clear.
$45 for dessert and Connect Four? Just come to my place and I’ll host you for $20 a person, buy a box of Zingers, and play a Fireworks video on my TV for you.
In our opinion, you would be better off just spending your $45 on the many other delicious snacks in the park and grabbing a spot on Main Street, even if you do have to be around other people. It will result in less time lost from your day if the fireworks do not actually go off. On a side note, if you are on Main Street, you could have seen the short projection show that takes place on the front of the castle when the fireworks are cancelled. You’re also not going to see the awesome projections on Sleeping Beauty Castle if Remember… Dreams Come True does perform…
In review, unless you have the strong urge for a fancy Zinger and a rousing game of Jenga (which I hoped ironically would have been the Tower of Terror version), you should probably skip the Tomorrowland Skyline Lounge at Disneyland Park.
It’s been a while since we last took a look at the construction for the upcoming land based on everyone’s favorite galaxy far far away, so let’s see how things are shaping up over at Disneyland.
Progress on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is coming along nicely at Disneyland. The general outline of the land is really apparent now.
Here is an aerial view of the land from the east side.
From the north side we get a really great view of the entire land.
Here is a close up of the show buildings for both attractions, Battle Escape to the left and the Millennium Falcon to the right. We also recently got a deeper look at the Falcon attraction, which you can take a look at here.
Below is where guests will stand when they first enter the land through the Big Thunder Ranch entrance.
The show building for the battle escape attraction that will put guests in the middle of the action as the Resistance battles it out against The First Order.
Here are some photos of the land from the south side.
A final aerial view photo of Galaxy’s Edge from the west side perspective.
The stunning aerial photos shown above have been provided by Nearmap.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open at Disneyland in 2019, and shortly afterwards in the same year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Guests visiting Star Wars Launch Bay at Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are now being treated to a new preview of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, opening in 2019 at both parks.
A small section of the model of the entire land that was on display at the D23 Expo this year is on display now at Disneyland’s Launch Bay. Walt Disney Presents at Hollywood Studios has had a different section on display since September.
In addition, the Star Wars Launch Bay film was updated on both coasts to include a new, never-before-seen preview of the 14-acre land coming to Disney Parks:
