On the Spot at Paradise Pier

WDWNT on December 31, 2008

One of our spy reporters was at Disney’s California Adventure yesterday & noticed 2 very interesting developments in Paradise Pier:

It’s kind of to make out, but the eyes & mouth of the sun face have been removed. We’ll have a closer up picture of this for you on Friday.

Secondly, this lenticular panel has been put up on the bridge to Paradise Pier instead of construction walls to let guests know what the construction is all about, which of course for World of Color.

Drain That Lagoon Baby!

WDWNT on October 15, 2008

We now finally have a rough date on when the draining of the Paradise Pier lagoon (due to construction for World of Color) will begin, thanks to the guys over at Screamscape:

As the park prepares to do construction work for the new World of Color show, I’ve been informed that they will begin to drain the lagoon starting on October 31st. This will be a slow process however that is not expected to be finished until mid to late November. The real demolition and new construction work will begin the first week of December.

Amazing New DCA Concept Art

WDWNT on October 14, 2008

Posters with some lovely concept art have sprung up on the back side of the Blue Sky Cellar building, & there are some lovely pictures up on the DCA Project Tracker on MiceChat. There are 3 posters, one for Buena Vista Street, one for Paradise Pier, & one for Cars Land. At least one piece of new concept art is revealed on each poster, like an overall map of Cars Land, an amazing overview map of the park as of 2012 (much like the original map for Disneyland), & much more. There are also descriptions of the lands on the posters. And what may be the new logo for the park is revealed on the overall map, which actually uses Walt Disney’s real handwriting.

Be sure to check it out, you won’t be dissapointed!

MiceAge Disneyland Update

WDWNT on October 8, 2008

A treat I look forward to every other month is a Disneyland Update from MiceAge‘s Al Lutz. Al knows his stuff very well, & the articles always feature interesting information that usually comes to pass. Let’s take a look through some of the things spoken about in today’s update:

  • DCA’s upcoming re-do has been split in to 4 phases of sorts. Here’s how the phases pan out:

    World of Color, Paradise Pier     makeover, completed spring 2010
    Main Entrance     makeover, Red Car trolley, initial Hollywood work, completed mid 2011
    Little Mermaid     pavilion and E-Ticket attraction, completed late 2011
    Cars Land     attractions, shops, restaurants, completed mid 2012

    Al says that the current financial crisis in this country shouldn’t have any affect on DCA’s re-do. The first phase will actually start in just 2 weeks, with the closing of the Sun Wheel. Around Thanksgiving, the Paradise Pier lagoon will be drained in preparation for the World of Color nighttime show.

  • Plans just keep expanding for The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Adventure. This attraction is going to be so extravagant, that Ariel’s hair will actually be a seperate animatronic from Ariel herself, due to her hair flowing, as we are supposed to be “Under the Sea”. The various Ariel animatronics in the attraction are said to be some of the most sosphicated ever produced by WDI.
  • While it’s too much to explain in a short recap, Al does have a complete listing of what you will be able to find in the Blue Sky Cellar once it officially opens on October 20th. Check the second page of the linked article for that.
  • Get ready for the controversy to start. The Disney characters & the American scene (this scene replaces the old Rainforest scene before the Grand Finale scene)have both been installed in It’s a Small World. But don’t expect to see them when the attraction re-opens as It’s a Small World Holiday on November 21st. For they will both be hidden from view until the original version of the attraction debuts sometime in February (yes, there will be a 1 month long refurbishment in January, beginning January 5th).
  • Sometime this winter, all 3 Mark VII Monorails will go under the knife to fix the horrible problems that they are currently faced with. The windows will be completely ripped out, & replaced with windows like those seen on the Mark V’s.
  • An idea being thrown around for next year’s What Will You Celebrate? campaign is to “plus” a couple of attractions in the Resort, with some Celebration themed things. One such idea is for some new elements added to the Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh attraction, with similar decor around Critter Country.

There’s plenty more to be found in this article, including Disney possibly buying both the Anaheim GardenWalk & SeaWorld San Diego (of all places). Be sure to check it out.

Goodbye Golden Dreams! Good Riddance HSM2!

WDWNT on September 9, 2008

Let’s take a look at some of the lovely photos of David “Darkbeer” Michael from yesterday, that include the last showing of both Golden Dreams & High School Musical 2: School’s Out, among other things:

The Hyperion Theater is now listed as closed on the DLR Information Board near at the security check-points (albeit being spelled wrong).

The Information Board at the Downtown Disney Monorail Station has a much more precise listing of the closed attractions in Disneyland Park.

You gotta love pins with purchase.

The area surrounding Fowler’s Harbor, the place where the Sailing Ship Columbia is docked, has walls up.

The latest Backstage Pass, Annual Pasholder newsletter offers you a free pair of sunglasses, which you can pick up at at the exit of Innoventions.

Filming of some sort going on in Paradise Pier.

Yesterday had the last ever performance of High School Musical 2: School’s Out!. There will be no High School Musical show until late October, when High School Musical 3: Right Here! Right Now! debuts.

Goodbye Golden Dreams, We Will Miss You!

Fun Wheel, Silly Swings, & Pixie Hollow All Official!

WDWNT on August 9, 2008

Disney officials have confirmed 3 new “attractions” for the Disneyland Resort, according to the OC Register. Mickey’s Fun Wheel (the re-theme of the Sun Wheel), Silly Symphony Swings (the re-theme of the Orange Stinger), & Pixie Hollow (replacing the Ariel’s Grotto meet ‘n greet) are all now officially coming to the Resort!

MICKEY’S FUN WHEEL: A Disney Imagineering official confirmed tonight that the Sun Wheel will join the attractions being changed in the Paradise Pier area of Disney’s California Adventure. The main change expected will be removing the current sun face in the middle of the wheel and replacing it with a Mickey Mouse face. The Mickey Mouse face is planned to be a classic wide-eyed Mickey Mouse.

SILLY SYMPHONIES: The Orange Stinger will join in planned changes for the pier-area — expected to change from the current Orange Stinger theme to a Silly Symphonies theme. Currently, the attraction is a swing ride inside a giant orange sitting lakeside and plans show that the building’s foundation will remain the same, while the orange and even round building are planned to change. The attraction will be based on the classic “Silly Symphonies” animations done by Walt Disney’s animation studio in the 1930s. The band leader, Mickey Mouse, is expected to be part of the ride.

TINKERBELL: A change is also planned for Disneyland, the Imagineering official said tonight. The current Little Mermaid meet and greet next to the Tomorrowland entrance is planned to be replaced by a fairy and Tinkerbell meet and greet. The area, as currently planned, will make guests feel like they’ve shrunk down to fairy-size and the path will be filled with pixie dust.

Disney did not give any official dates on when these refurbishments/additions are planned to take place. However rumors going around show that the Sun Wheel will close on September 11th, to be re-opened by the end of the year as Mickey’s Fun Wheel. Ariel’s Grotto should also close in September, & be re-opened as Pixie Hollow by mid-October, in time for the Tinker Bell DVD release. No strong rumors have surfaced yet on when the Orange Stinger re-theme will take place, but it should be sometime next year.

Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today for the latest up-to-the-minute information on these & all new refurbishments & attractions!

Monday in the Parks Picture Update

WDWNT on August 4, 2008

Let’s take a look at some of the various things going on through-out the Disneyland Resort from this week’s Monday in the Parks column on MiceAge:


The new ticket prices went into effect yesterday


In addition to the water playground in the Bountiful Valley Farm that we reported was closed last Friday (and it still is closed btw), a couple other water playgrounds in DCA appeared to be closed, at least yesterday…


… Including Princess Dot’s Puddle Park in a Bug’s Land…


… As well as the SS Rustworthy in Paradise Pier


Construction seems to be happening on both sides of Department 56


The stilt chefs in the Ratatouille section of the Pixar Play Parade appeared to be off their stilts once again yesterday… Probably was just for yesterday though

Be sure to check out the Monday in the Parks column (linked at the top of the post) for tips on how to get cheap tickets, & plenty more updates from the around Disneyland Resort this week!

Little Mermaid & World of Color Rumors

WDWNT on July 24, 2008

Here are a few juicy rumors concerning the Little Mermaid attraction & World of Color:

  • The Paradise Pier lagoon will be drained at the end of the year in preparation for World of Color.
  • Some of the fountains that will be used for World of Color reportedly will be able to shoot higher than the Maliboomer! Because of this, is the Cove Bar at Ariel’s Grotto may be have to be enclosed.
  • The control booth for World of Color will be on top level of the Little Mermaid building, which will be 3 stories tall.
  • Underneath the Little Mermaid will be the Parade Guest Control offices, as well as offices for the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.
  • And speaking of Redwood Creek, it will be cut almost in half for an expansion to the building that will become the Little Mermaid attraction.

Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today for updates on these & any rumors involving the DCA Expansion!

Let The Good Times Roll!

WDWNT on July 21, 2008

Construction is about to begin at Disney’s California Adventure, according to Blue Sky Disney. Come this August, construction walls will be up all through-out Paradise Pier & other area of the park will follow.

Also while construction is underway in Paradise Pier, the parade route will be shortened & will only run from Sunshine Plaza to the gate in between the Mission Tortilla Factory & the Bountiful Valley Farmers Market.

Let The Good Times Roll!

Mickey’s Fun Wheel Is On Its Way!

WDWNT on July 2, 2008

We’ve just been informed that the Sun Wheel’s re-theme/refurbishment will start on September 11th, 2008. The re-theme will include the new 1930’s style Mickey Mouse face, re-working of the queue, a re-paint, & the new name, Mickey’s Fun Wheel!

Also planned to take place during this time is the re-theming of the Games of the Boardwalk & California Screamin’s queue, but we don’t have any solid information on that just yet.