Disneyland Update: Party's Over, Here Comes Halloween, DL Hotel signs, and more!
 

Tonight after work I'm going to post a more detailed photo update of Disneyland.

Here's a few highlights for now:

Most of the 50th anniversary bling has been removed from the park




Halloween decor on Main Street USA




New signs on the Disneyland Hotels




Tomorrowland Terrace has officially returned & Club Buzz is dead





News headlines:

Rockin Space Mountain & Rockin California Screamin will run January thru April only, all day and all night.

Castle refurb to remove the crowns will only take about a day or two. No repainting.

"Rockn California Screamin"? What the hell is that? They replaced the rock music with different rock music? Huh?

Pretty much.

The CM Ref. Guide claims that both Space Mountain AND California Screamin will get additional special effects and new rock n roll soundtracks. I don't why they're doing it to California Screamin. I just know they are.

Woot! A Repeat, Second Last Perfect Fireworks sometime in the (near?) future!

Yeah, there was a meeting where Rockin' California Screamin' was announced about six weeks ago and all the managers present were pretty confused (as well as completely surprised). Details weren't given on how Screamin' would be changed for it and everybody is having a hard time imagining anything.

Maybe they'll figure out a way to put some thrills in there?

I'm glad they got the memo about de-blinging Disneyland in time for my arrival.
:D

The Terrace looks amazing! Wow!

Gosh, that Autopia tower is an eyesore!

I'm kind of sad that they put Tomorrowland Terrace back to its pre-Club Buzz look. It just continues the trend of making Tomorrowland into "Tomorrowland if Todayland is 1978 and Tomorrow in 1986").

That said, the Club Buzz stage was so hideous that I'm completely willing to overlook this instance of looking forward to yesterday.

Woohoo! Adios Club Buzz! :D

I know Alex is right about Yesterdayland but anything is better than Club Buzz.

Really? I never would have guessed by your siggy!;)

What are those tall towers flanking the entrance, the speakers dressed up?

Interesting how they can't come up with anything new, so they put things back the way they were. Now if they would only put the rocket rods back on the people mover track, bring the people mover back (or something else in it's place), and rip out the bottle-necking rock formations at the TL entrance, I think we'd be much better off! People might want to go into TL if it didn't look so crowded from Main St.

Great pictures, Zapp! Thanks!

I guess I am in the sad category of being completely in love with the Tomorrowland of 1968, so the old Tomorrowland Terrace just about brings a tear to my eye. Out here in Florida, we have a pretty snazzy (though not quite completed) "Thirties Vision of the Future" style. I like it fine, but I actually have dreams (as in actual sleepytime dreams) of going back in time to the Tomorrowland of Yesterday. I suppose I should move on.

Very interesting observation, tho. Florida's Tomorrowland is nifty looking, but it definately has a Future-from-the-30's feel. Nowadays, you almost have to resort to a Looking Back at Tomorrow design sense to express "futuristic." So, what's wrong with the Future-from-the-60's, even if it was something already done in the 60's?

Nothing wrong with it. I've expressed this sentiment before, whenever possible I prefer Disney try something new, even if it doesn't work. If it doesn't work then try something else but I hate to see them "give up" and just go back to what worked in the past.

I would never advocate for them to remove Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion but if for some reason they did so I would hope they'd never bring them back and keep trying to find something new to fill the void.

So I'm generally unhappy that they are bringing back the subs and really hope that they don't bring back the PeopleMover.

I still love Tomorrowland 1967 and it's retro-contemporary reprise. Disney has done their part in promoting contemporary architechs with their own buildings, but I'm not sure I place any of that post-modern group into really being "future looking". Unfortunately, I think the "future" as a design concept seems to have faded in our post millenial times. Perhaps something other than terrorism will come along and inspire us to look forward again.

A few more tidbits:

• The new Tomorrowland gift shop has been named 'Tomorrowlanding'.
• Construction for Midway Mania (the new Toy Story ride in DCA) will begin Monday October 2nd. The opening is scheduled for 2008.
  
• (Sorry iSm) The REAL date for the final showing of Remember: Dreams Come True is Saturday November 4th.
  
• There's a tentative soft opening for Believe In Holiday Magic on Thursday November 9th.

Alex, I'm not sure how many bites at the apple over how many decades a place called Disneyland should have at trying something new before failure after failure after failure leads them back to what Walt did.



oh, and don't be sorry, zapppop ... I'm glad there'll be a more final last Remember a month from now.

Tomorrow's will be the last bling Remember.

Surely you don't think there is nothing worthy among the many things at Disneyland untouched by Walt. A lot of what Walt did at Disneyland sucked. He just wasn't yet stuck with an antique crusted with decades of nostalgia that made it nearly impossible to change anything without excessive bitching.

But to answer the question I'd prefer that they keep trying in forever if necessary before deciding to just go with the past. Otherwise we might as well have wrap the whole place in Saran wrap in 1966 and shipped it off to the Smithsonian.

On a side note, I'm just going to say this publicly. Quite a few of the things mentioned in this thread will be appearing in the MousePlanet park update on Monday. Lest this generate more emails charging me with plagierizing, I want to point out that almost everything in this thread has previously been mentioned in MP park updates and now that they are actually happening I'll be repeating the information. I know that sounds all dramatic, but maybe it'll save me being called names.

Pshaw - like anyone needs a reason to call you names

As if more by accident than by design, we are seeing the the 1967 Tomorrowland in a new light. The abstract symbolism, the asymmetrical perfection of forms that dream upward with a clean and deliberate enthusiasm all call subconsciously for those who remember (and I imagine those who don't) to a better future - a dream future that is in line with the rest of the park.

Tomorrowland '98 did not improve on the vision of a wondrous future, as much as admit that if you can't plus Walt's idea, at least you can look busy if the budget allocates you liberal use of ugly paint.

I celebrate the return of the one true Tomorrowland Terrace.

my interpretation from the presentation was that the new "Rockin'" score(s) is written to be "choreographed" with the (two)attraction's dips, turns, new effects and finale. (though I thought the current score(s) acomplished this already.)

and welcome back Terrace! My "Dream" would include the return of Tahitian Terrace as well. doubtful, but it sure would please me. the Jedi Training Academy is not of interest to me, but, i think will be very popular with Guests and is a great balance to Princess Fanatasy Faire.


it would be groovy to see the Sunshine Balloon rise again in the evenings.:cheers:

Um, there was loud music and crowds and dancing last night at the re-christened and re-born Tomorrowland Terrace. It was the first time I've seen people having fun in Tomorrowland in a decade.

It was such an odd, but pleasurable sensation.

Suburban Legends were having a great time entertaining the crowd on the stage while Mickie and Minnie in Halloween dress danced on the stage. It was nice to see the place happening.

In other update news, the Halloweenicization of Main Street and the Disneyland entrance is adorable, and a suitably acceptable pale version of the Paris treatment that would never survive a day of ugly American destructive love.

But the decision to advertise "Halloweentime" and proclaim it at the entrance bigger than I've EVER seen them proclaim any other promotion ... and then have ZERO in the Park beyond Main Street and the Hub seems beyond lame to me.

I hear they are planing on rolling out Frontierland next year, but I think that will be too little, too late. Main Street is the part you pass through when arriving and leaving, and people barely spend any time there as a "land." It left me with the impression that Disneyland is NOT decorated for Halloween, and that Halloweentime means the time you get there and the time you leave.



Oh, and the new signs on the Disneyland Hotel are a nice reminder that they aren't the office blocks they seem to be, but they are the most puny reminders of the glorious DISNEYLAND rooftop signs that could possibly be imagined.


Huzzah, the stupid Mark Twain 50th "banner" is gone, but when are they going to remove the un-gold paint?



All-in-all, I give the immediate finally-post-50th stuff a C+.

And in WDW news, all the 50th banners (most of which had gotten ratty and stained) are GONE!

Walt Disney World is now "Where Dreams Come True." The signs that go over the roads at the entrance to WDW property have been redecorated, and they look quite spiffy.

Never mind. The schedule had changed and I forgot I already knew that.

So, I don't know.

There were still 50th banners in the China Closet

There's still a 50th Mickey over the train station clock, or at least it was there yesterday.

I thought there was some sort of Halloween thing at Big Thunder Ranch?

I saw some decorations at the Mansion. Is something going on there?

Yeah, Big Thunder Ranch is currently Woody's Halloween Roundup.

Well, the hoopla started out great. Smelly pumpkin thing given out at the parking booth, tram route decor, amazing front gate decor and wonderfuly whimisical "floral" Mickey and floral pumpkins at the front, big Mickey pumpkin at town square, lots of decor in all of the Main Street windows, character pumpkins at the Hub......then........nothing.

HMH is up, but that doesn't count as Halloween decor as it is really Halloxmas.


Maybe there IS someting going on a BTR, but since I rarely take that route, I woldn't know. I love the first part, but where's the rest?

I haven't been to DCA yet.

You're not going to find much more there. Apparently it is mostly contained to Golden Screams and the area around ToT.

Golden Screams?! lol!
Hysterical.
Vote for your scariest Disney movie scene...

Well, I do count it. It may be both at the same time, but it is still both.

I heard rumored (By Al I think) that they will expand the amount of decorations over the next few years. They will budget and purchase more each year. It may be sparse now, but should get better with time. And it's much better than last year!

Whether it will get better depends on the reaction this time around. Rarely in modern Disney history is the response to an underwhelming response "lets make it better and try again!"

But the current rumor I've heard is that Frontierland is on the slate for next year.

That's just the point, if it is all a big build-up to nothing, I don't think reaction will be all that good.

What they have is charming, but it's all seems designed to lead-up to something ... that ultimately isn't there.


I mean - NEVER has there been decorations featured along the Tram Route. It's all a tease with almost no substance.

So, the first weekend of HalloweenTime at the Disneyland Resort has passed, and the homepage on www.disneyland.com still does not mention HalloweenTime or any of the related decorations and activities. Why? Perhaps an internal business strategy could be to not create too many high expectations about HalloweenTime before arriving at the Disneyland Resort? Or, is the marketing department suppose to hype the start of "Year of a Million Dreams" (which began Oct. 1) instead? However, Mickey's Halloween Treat at Disney's California Adventure has been mentioned for months, and some dates are already sold out.

Sorry for all the speculating. In the end, my observation is that HalloweenTime 2006 is being used as "filler" in between the end of the 50th and before the start of the busy Christmas/holiday season. But, I'm not complaining--I love all the decorations and temporary "pluses" to both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.

Ooooooh, the cute little skippies with tight jeans, hair askew, playing the trombones, hopping around and shaking their thang!

Didn't see 'em!;)

OMG! Do you know the tragic history of the Suburban Legends? I just did a search to learn more about them and found this Wikipedia entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suburban_Legends

I knew about the motorcycle accident when it happened because a co-worker's boyfriend works at Hyundai. The driver who fled never showed up for work, his family up and moved in the middle of the night, and his damaged company vehicle was found parked backwards in a remote stall at their corporate lot (405 & Euclid). I just never knew who the victim was until now. So sad!

Yes, that's the band that absolutely none of us were looking at.

I was wondering about the villans that are supposed to have meet & greets after the Screams thingy. Do you have to sit through the show to get to see them, or are they easily (or semi-easily) accesable to the general public?

Dunno, we never made it to Golden Screams because there are very few showtimes.

But the new lightning effect on the ToT exterior is great. We sat down in the street for a long time while SuPeR K! got a timed exposure shot, and got lots of weird looks from people. But we had the literal last laugh, because when we got off the attraction some half hour later, there were dozens of people sitting in the street watching for the lightning!

Where is SuPeR-K ?
I wanna see the pics he took of Tomorrowlanding when it opened for business Sunday evening.

TomorrowLanding is the lamest excuse for a store I've ever seen in the Park (and that's saying a lot). Lightsabers and mouse-ears. The end.

The sign, however, is really cool at night.



But the whole place is not worth a single glass of Space Mist. Le Sigh.





(In other post-50 news, The Jedi Training Academy is a pretty cute show, and sales of lightsabers at TomorrowLanding should be brisk.)

Holy crap, I had no idea. That is sad.

ACK! New store, Halloween stuff to gripe over, Jedi thingy, and Suburban Legends??? It'll all have to wait. :(
Yeah, that pretty much put it over the top for me. I officially wish I were there. Love them - and I had no idea about the tragedy. Too sad.

Hey Zap, do you know why the Hotel got a new sign? And will Remember: Dreams come true be back in Jan?



Btw- Great pix's!:cheers:

I assume the hotels got new signs because the old ones were removed & they just looked like plain office buildings without them.

I've heard rumors that Remember may come back in January but nothing solid. So far the official last day is Saturday November 4th, the day before MouseAdventure.

But it smells so goooooooooood in there! Like opening a new Barbie doll and sniffing her head as you untwist the ties that strangle her neck, ankles and "waist" to the cardboard backing! Sliding your keys along the taped up seams, flipping the cardboard flaps open, removing the pesky styrofoam protection, and releasing the scent of a shiny new Mac. Ahhhhhhh! Olfactory at its finest.

And, did you check out the psycadellic cracked glass countertop? You, my friend, did not give the store a chance. Go on, go back and smelllll it!! Touch it, feel it , love it!!

Any sign of the return of Abe?

50 Years of Magic will play until 2009, followed by Great Moments with Howard Taft.

There remains a chance that Lincoln will return for summer 2007. Budget has been created for it but no actual plans are in place to do it. It really is on the fence. Personally, I doubt it but it could go either way.

TAFT!

Various Disney villains gather under the Palace of Fine Arts rotunda throughout the day for meet-n-greets, so you do not have to necessarily see the Golden Screams show. However, I found the show pretty entertaining, and a villain appears during the show, too.

No! Tedoepus Rex

I think the Steve Martin movie will be there until they perfect the George W Animatronic.

It will utter some memorable phrases about fooling him once (or twice?), OBGYN's practicing their love with wimmen, and flip off the audience.

Then the Karl Rove Animatronic will come in and blame it on the previous Presidential Animatronic.

TY. We still have not decided if Mom will get a park hopper. The only real reason we have to cross the Esplanade is that I promised Nickolas that if we didn't have take him to the local fair I would let him play the carny games at DCA. I can't justify the extra cost to her to do that, so I was trying to look at it from another angle.

Bling is off the castle now (a few days later than originally expected).

http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/gallery/...00102856/Large

No blingage.
:)

It still looks better than it did befire the blingage was first applied. But, it will be missed by some..............

Well, the crowns and cone-hairnets are gone, but the conspicuous golden railings along the parapets are still there, not to mention all the tapestryesque hanging blingage.

Okay, where did I leave off ? Oh yeah !



New Year Of A Million Whatever banners have been posted in the esplanade:




The castle has been almost completely deblinged:




Gee, I wonder if they were in a hurry ?




The gold railing remains:





No more 'hidden' mickeys on the attractions:




No more gold paint on the facades:



Hell, even the napkins have been deblinged:



While he's being repainted backstage, Jingles has been replaced by Jangles:





The sorcerer hat by the hotels had a new sign installed:







The refubishment of the NOS buildings across the train track is almost complete:




Plants have been planted in the planters over at Tomorrowland Terrace:



In case you didn't get the memo, Club Buzz is once again Tomorrowland Terrace:



.....and there are many new signs around the stage area to remind you:




As I mentioned previously, Tomorrowlanding opened last Sunday in the late afternoon:




Halloween decorations are up:

















Sadly, the Halloween theming doesn't extend beyond Main Street USA and Big Thunder Ranch. Hopefully the celebration will get bigger in the years to come.

And finally, this is for you innerSpaceman:






Quizzno's is now open !

May I first say that the Mark Twain is now quite fugly. As is the TomorrowLanding (what kind of name is that, anyway???)

The napkins and many other items were still 50th on Tuesday. I actually like the new color and design..it's very subtle.

Great pictures!

Which 'hidden' mickey are you referring to?

Yay, Quizno's on Harbor! My Whitewater scrimping days are over!


OMG, Sleeping Beauty Castle looks naked!!!!

(but will they remove the rest of the bling, or will they be lazy? Those gold railings were the only thing that really bugged me .... watch, they'll leave those for eternity. Ugh, castles are supposed to have that, whatdyacallem, ya know for shooting arrows through? classic castletechture ruined by those stupid railings!)



Some nice photos in there, zapp.

Me likes the pics. Mahalo, zap.
:)




btw, iSm, Quizno's sucks.
:D

Quizno's RULES!


I'll never eat at Mimi's again!!! (to paraphrase Scarlett O'Hara)

Here's your guide to castle defenses. Take your pick.

I think he mean the 50th Mickey that was on the clock doors...

Thanks! I forgot those were considered 'hidden'

Thanks for the link. As I suspected, though the individual parts have names I didn't know, the general piece of castletechture I am referring to is The Battlements.

And lest anyone doubt their importance to castletechture, I quote from said link.
Ahem, Disney, the distinguishing feature of a castle.


I demand that you restore them at once!

crenellations - I love that word
:cool:

Yes, but these are crenellations in a world that has OSHA. And we all know that anywhere elevated that a person may walk requires guardrails.

So, I blame Bush. But he only did it because Clinton got kinky with a cigar.

Great Pictures Zappp! Thanks!

YAY !!! I WILL get to see the Subs this trip ! :D :snap:

............with honey mustard !

When I first saw this, I thought I read "a fighting platform and a defense against the espanade."

DL's castle needs crenellations--how else will they be able to defend against the invading armies of DCA?

In other post-50 news .... Julie Andrews' Remember spiels have been edited to remove any indication of Disneyland's 50th Anniversary (and any opportunity to insert a resounding ONE where appropriate).

Instead of "fifty years ago," she now says, "In 1955." And at the show's conclusion, Julie says "Today, Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom..." instead of "Fifty years later..."


Turns out our last "perfect" fireworks was not only the last with bling, it was the last with 50th references by Julie Andrews. I'm really glad we got our ONEs down better than we did on the 51st birthday.


But, hmmm, bothering to edit the spiels leaves me with a sneaking suspicion that Remember will be back in 2007, and perhaps will be the Park's de facto fireworks show for a long, long time to come. Clearly, they've never had anything better (or that registered such levels of guest approval and attendance). And I'm not alone in believing they don't have it in them to top it any time soon.

Well, surely they will find a way to at least match it with a different theme, if not top it eventually. It could be a few years though. It's strange because more and more of the sound bites are a thing of the past, it really does become "Remember" (actually changing it to "Remember?")

I saw the show last night from the Main Street Station. It was great to see it from there, and be able to see all of the fireworks at one time. In front of the castle you only see where your eyes are pointed. And a few weeks ago I saw the first half at IASW before they got cancelled due to high winds aloft. That's also a great and different experience!

The Small World experience, where I saw them last night at the far north end of the park while RStar was watching from the far south, is always a tremendous hit with the crowds there - because the fireworks are so damn awesome from so close-up.

But it was a shocker to hear Julie all different and, in one case, rather sloppily edited. I was sooo glad we had a Last Perfect Fireworks meet last week, because it really was the final 50th Anniversary Edition after all.

yes, Remember, Dreams Come True and Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams will both continue following the holidays.

I'm so happy we got to scream our ONE's one last time :) The last perfect fireworks meet was indeed perfect.

Thanks for posting the de-bling photos!


On a side note, I am so down for some Quizno's!

I thought that was you over there! I waved from the platform, but I guess you didn't see me.;)

RStar, next time shout my name real loud.

My favorite thing about Remember from the station platform is how cool the lasers look during the Tomorrowland segment.


ML: How is Disney clearing it with the SCAQMD to keep running Remember ad infinitum?

Either that, or he was avoiding you/

:evil:

Could be...

Once I was about 10 feet from him as we were passing by on Matterhorn way. I yelled "Steve!" and he kept on trucking. Of course he was also engrossed in companionship in a noisy theme park at the time..........

Or, I could hit you with a laser pointer! ;)

It will not be "nightly", is seasonal (spring break, summer) and two nights a week most of the year... plus they get "credits" every time it is cancelled "due to wind conditions high above the Magic Kingdom", and credits for all the CM's that carpool and use public transportation. it adds up.;)

Does that mean "making out with my boyfriend?"





R u sure it was Matterhorn Way and not Big Thunder Trail??

Matterhorny was closed for reburb.

Big Thunder all day long :D

to clarify, the "credit" is never a motivation or reason to cancel the show.

:blush: No, just conversation......




Yes, it was Matterhorn way, just flush with the castle entrance. This was quite a long time ago, like last summer. I've been out of down and out a lot lately due to my surgery.

Yes, I'm sure they loose money when the don't do it.