Sunday, August 17, 2014

Disneyland News and Rumors August 2014

Not as much "inside information" has been revealed lately as far as the goings-on are concerned at Disneyland, which will make this update short but sweet.

The refurbishment of Alice in Wonderland is complete and it is awesome! I have always loved the Alice in Wonderland ride and the new, updated projections and animatronics greatly enhance it. Next up will be the other dark rides (Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Snow White, and Pinocchio) which currently aren't on the official published refurbishment schedule but are assumed to be closed one at a time in the fall.

Work is also well under way on the pedestrian passage ways off to the side of Main Street. Once completed, these passage ways should really make getting from the entrance of the park to the various lands (and vice-versa) much easier during parades.

The Finding Nemo Submarine Ride will, in fact, reopen on September 27. The original plan was to close it indefinitely and replace it with another Star Wars themed ride. For months the ride was closed with no work being done on it (other than some scaffolding up here and there for appearance sake) while different ideas were being considered as to weather or not to keep the submarine ride for another year or two or to close it permanently. In the last month or so, work has finally started to pick up on the ride with a lot of new underwater plants being painted which will really add a lot of new color to the ride. With all this said, Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, stated in a conference call to reporters on August 5th, 2014 that there will be a "far greater Star Wars presence" in the Disney theme parks in the not too distant future. My gut tells me that they wanted to wait for the new Star Wars movie to come out before creating a new Star Wars ride so they can incorporate some of the new movie into the ride. It wouldn't make financial sense to spend $4 Billion on a movie franchise only to base rides on the older movies. I think it's safe to say that the subs are safe for the 60th Anniversary, but I wouldn't be surprised if they close down permanently shortly after the celebration winds down, when details of the new Star Wars movie are known for construction to start on the new Star Wars ride. Of course, this is all speculation so take it with a grain of salt.

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