Summer 2018 Disney Trip Report and Disneyland News and Rumors

My family of 8 spent 5 days at Disneyland and California Adventure this past July. Here's our trip report in pictures:

We'll start out over in California Adventure where Pixar Pier had just opened two weeks earlier...

Pixar Pier

You can see the World of Color platform here. It was down while we were there. I guess the construction crew that was working on Pixar Pier accidentally destroyed a portion of it. Rumor has it that it won't open again until after Halloween. 

Incerdicoaster

Meanwhile, at the Incredicoaster...

Here's the loading area

Although I never ventured on California Screamin', the new version is exactly the same ride, just with a theme now. I'm glad to see Disney putting some effort into turning CA Adventure into one of their parks, rather just some generic amusement park. While the Incredicoaster still isn't my type of ride, I did enjoy it.

Pal-A-Round

At the Pal-A-Round (I still have a hard time wanting to say that instead of Mickey's Fun Wheel), the gondola's have each received a new paint job featuring a different Pixar character on each one.

Meanwhile, in Pacific Warf, there's some fishing going on...

Disney has also added a small Promenade where the Pixarmonic Orchestra plays, although they were never preforming while we were in the area.

Paint The Night Parade

But hands down, the Paint the Night Parade is the best addition to the Pier area.

This is the new Incredibles float that replaced the Frozen float that was in the Parade while it ran at Disneyland. The Frozen float was too tall to fit under the Red Car Trolley Wires on Buena Vista Street so instead of removing the wires, Disney decided to create a new float which helps with the promotion of their new movie.

Here's a link to the entire Paint the Night Parade:

A Bug's Land

In a bit of sad news, Disney just officially announced the closing date for "A Bug's Land" - September 4th. Although no official closing date had been announced while we were there, I had heard the rumors and seen the writing on the wall so we decided to visit Bug's Land for the last time.

My daughter, Judi, loves Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. I will also be sad to see it go. Hopefully Disney can find room elsewhere in California Adventure to replace it.

I thought it appropriate to take this picture with "Guardians of the Galaxy" looming in the background as it will be a Marvel Land which is taking Bug's Land's place. 

Tuck and Roll was probably the worst of the Bug's Land Attractions, but the lines were always filled with kids wanting to drive!

Flick's Flyers is another attraction i'll miss. I guess a consolation prize is that it's not completely going away...Disney is re-theming Flick's Flyers to Inside Out and moving it over to Pixar Pier. It will open in 2019.

Princess Dot Puddle Part was a great place to go cool off on a hot day...

I'm extremely disappointed to be losing Bug's Land in favor of Marvel. Without the Bug's Land rides, there won't be as many attractions to take Judi, my 4 year old, on while my older kids do Incredicoaster, Guardians, and what ever new Marvel roller coaster Disney puts in.

Cars Land

Off to Cars Land!

Judi decided to try Radiator Springs Racers for the first time! She said it "tickled her tummy" a little bit too much.

Redwood Creek Challenge Trail 

We all had a fun time at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. I think this attraction often gets over looked but it is a fun area for kids of all ages.

Chip and Dale were both out scampering around the area and spent a lot of time interacting with the guests.

The kids loved the zip line but my 12 year old was bummed that she was barely too tall (about 64 inches) to go on it.

Soarin'

Just around the corner from the Challenge Trail is Soarin'...

Judi also decided to try Soarin' for the first time and loved it!

Turtle Talk with Crush

We also tried Turtle Talk with Crush for the first time.

This is the waiting area to get into the theater.

If you've never done Turtle Talk before, it's an interactive show where the turtle, Crush, actually asks the audience questions and responds to the answers. It's a pretty fun experience and, at worst, is a great escape from the heat outside. 

One of the best times to visit Disneyland or California Adventure is at night. The parks both come to life.

California Adventure is starting to feel a little more "Disney" but they still have a ways to go and I'm not sure that infusing the park with Marvel is the way to do it...

Disneyland

Disneyland is currently promoting "Pixar Fest" which, quite frankly, is nothing other than a promotional tool...Other than some signs and...well...more signs, there's nothing else really going on. The Pixar Parade which was at California Adventure is now at Disneyland and their fireworks show is more Pixar themed.

Main Street USA

The Main Street Train Station

My wife and girls have this thing for taking pictures of all of our feet...so, why not...

Here we are in front of the Disneyland Fire Dept.

Above the Fire Dept is Walt Disney's old apartment. The lamp is always left on as a tribute to Walt. 

Exploring the fire engine.

When Disneyland first opened in 1955, this Disneyana store building was a Bank of America.

The Main Street Cinema is one of Disneyland's opening day attractions and I can't recall ever going in, so I thought I better see what it looks like.

Steamboat Willie, the debut of Mickey Mouse, was playing.

There were also a few other screens with vintage Disney cartoons playing.

Disneyland opens at 8:00 in the summer. We make sure to get in line by 7:30. They open the gates at around 7:45 and let people down Main Street. I love this walk down Main Street in the morning when Disneyland isn't completely filled with guests.

You've got to hand it to Disney and their Cast Members - Disneyland is generally spotless which is an amazing feat considering the tens of thousands of guests that visit the parts every day.

It's always fun to ride the Main Street Vehicles...especially when you've been walking all day!

Tomorrowland

Let's head to Tomorrowland...

The congested entrance to Tomorrowland is rumored to be getting a makeover in a few years, after Star Wars: Galaxy's edge opens, a Marvel Land is created, and Fantasyland is expanded. Supposedly the rock work will be removed and the Astro Orbiter will be moved. 

Nice to see the added security Disneyland has added...

We went on Star Tours 3 times and had the same videos each time. It appears that they are locked on the sequences from the new movies. It was fun to see them the first time, but I wish Disney would randomize the sequences again.

Autopia is a favorite of all my kids

Jenna waits in the loading area.

Lizi gets ready to drive me around. She likes me to push the gas pedal for her because it can be tough to hold down the whole ride for a 9 year old.

Trey looks down at the Nemo Submarine Voyage from the Monorail platform.

Seated and ready to go on the Nemo Submarine Voyage.

While the Nemo version of this ride is cute, the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea version was better. 

Next Stop, Monorail! The Monorails were wrapped with Pixar characters during our visit. This blue Monorail was wrapped with Nemo. The Monorail was closed most days we were there in the afternoon due to the heat. Interestingly, in talking with the Captain, I learned that since there is no air conditioning in the Monorail, once the cabin reaches 95 degrees, they shut the Monorail down. 

We rode the Monorail both during the day and at night. It gives great views from a different perspective of the Disneyland Resort and it's surroundings. It also lets you off in Downtown Disney right next to the store where we get our Disney Pins.

Here's a look at a couple of our nighttime Monorail pictures. This is on the platform waiting for the Monorail to arrive.

Here's a look a the inside all lit up. We actually had this Monorail section all to ourselves!

Adventureland

Some of my favorite attractions are found in Adventureland.

One of my favorite attractions in all of Disneyland - if not my favorite (I can never decide) is the Jungle Cruise

I love it when the queue goes up stairs on the Jungle Cruise because it provides for some great photo opportunities.

"Bengal tigers like these can jump up to 30 feet. But don't worry folks, we're 25 feet away so he'll jump right over us."

"Awww...look at that pride of lions protecting that sleeping zeebra. He looks dead tired!"

After a fun trip, we made it back to the dock.

 And now we'll head next door to another of my favorites - the Tiki Room!

It has become a tradition of ours to grab a Dole Whip (pineapple ice cream) while we wait for the show to start.

Due to some construction that is being completed on a part of the Tiki Room, this side of the Tiki Juice Bar was closed while we were there so we had to stand in the outside line. The line was insanely long but Disney had cast members walking the line taking orders and taking Credit Card payments to help speed up the process. 

Here's a look at the construction. 

The inside of the Tiki Room always provides a calm, cool feel.

And here's Jose, the star of the show.

In the Tiki Room, not only do "the birds sing words, and the flowers croon," but the totems talk to you as well!

Right next to the Tiki Room is another construction project...

This is a project that I'm really excited about! The Tropical Hideaway will feature numerous places to purchase refreshments and have a seating area that over looks the Jungle Cruise! Some rumors indicate that the Bengal BBQ and the Tiki Bar will be relocated to this area to help alleviate the choke points that these stands cause in Adventureland but a cast member told me specifically during our visits that those eateries will stay where they are. Either way, what a huge improvement over Aladdin's Oasis that was here previously and never quite fit the Adventureland theme... 

Here's what the space will look like as seen from the Jungle Cruise (don't mind the leaves in the way...)

I even like the vintage concept art prints Disney has on the construction wall.

New Orleans Square

Let's head over to New Orleans Square...

Even though this area is small and can get congested at times, I've always loved the feel here.

Now for my much anticipated visit to Pirates to see for myself the changes Disney has made to this ride in the name of being more politically correct...

Disney left the scene where pirates torture a man in the well the same...

...but curiously felt it wasn't okay to depict pirates auctioning off women.

The new scene itself is fine. What bothers me is Disney feeling the need to cave into a small group of PC police. Walt Disney himself designed this ride and the old auction scene appeared in most of the promotional material before the ride came out as well as just after it's opening. What people at the time understood is that this was a fictional ride, depicting what pirates in the past had done. Unfortunately certain people today apparently feel that the PC the pirates followed in times past wasn't the Pirate Code, but being politically correct...

Next, we'll pass the Haunted Mansion and head for a trip around Disneyland aboard the Disneyland Railroad.

We usually skip this attraction as it is not one of our family's favorites. But the detail on the outside of the show building is great!

I was really looking forward to riding the Disneyland Railroad. For one, it's a nice, relaxing ride that allows you to take in the sights and sounds of Disneyland. But this time, I was especially excited to see the new changes that were made to the Rivers of America. The changes were made about 3 weeks after our visit in summer of 2017 so we weren't able to see them then.

We're heading to the much anticipated new section...

Here are a few picture of the new section taken from the Sailing Ship Columbia.

Hey...what's that little guy doing there under the train tracks???

GULP....

Critter Country

Another great way to see the Rivers of America is by taking a tour of them on the Davey Crocket Explorer Canoes!

The Canoes are another one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland.

Even Judi, my 4 year old, enjoyed it!

A look at New Orleans Square from the Canoes...

...and here's Fowler's Harbor

Returning to the dock.

One of my children's favorite attractions is Splash Mountain!

This is actually Shelby, Lizi, Trey, Jenna, and Liz on their way down the final drop!

Here they are just after the drop...

...and again.

But now onto what happened before the drop...

Brer Rabbit's house. 

The boat on the right of the picture is about to go down the first drop, Slippin' Falls. There are 3 noteworthy drops, the biggest one being at the end.

Here comes the first drop!

Brer Bear gets stuck in the tar baby trap.

Heading toward the final drop.

The vulture you see before being conveyed up to the final drop. 

Here's what the kids looked like after going on Splash Mountain 3 times in a row one morning.

Most of these anamatronic characters used to be found on one of my favorite childhood attractions, America Sings. 

This owl at the end of the attraction used to have your picture displayed by him but due to certain guests inappropriate poses, they removed that feature... 

Frontierland

The bigger boats - The Mark Twain River Boat and the Sailing Ship Columbia are also a fun way to experience the Rivers of America on a busy day.

Here's a look at the Mark Twain. Unfortunately we weren't able to sail on it this time.

We did get to ride on the Sailing Ship Columbia though...

And Judi was ready to walk the plank!

Now on to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Construction

Since we're in the area, lets take a look at how the construction is coming on Star Wars Land - to be called "Galaxy's Edge."

Here's one taken from Critter Country.

It's fun to actually see the construction workers touching up some of the rock areas.

Thunder Mountain also offers some great views of the construction.

And one last look from the Sailing Ship Columbia.

Bands

It was fun to see the bands out playing on the streets around Disneyland!

In front of Pirates of the Caribbean, this band was out playing...

...and these guys were on the streets of Fantasyland.

Fantasyland

I love Fantasyland. It might not have the "thrill rides" that other areas of Disneyland has, but it doesn't need them. Fantsyland is everything that's "right" with Disneyland. Disneyland didn't become popular because of it's roller coasters. No, it became popular because of it's story telling, attention to detail, and immersing guests into the experience. Nowhere is that better experienced than in Fantasyland.

The most iconic part of Disneyland is Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Liz and Judi take advantage of a rare empty bridge.

Tea Cups (or the Mad Tea Party, as it is officially called) is one of Judi's favorites!

Now on to Alice in Wonderland!

Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorites.

Peter Pan

Peter Pan is another one of my favorites! On this occasion, we got on at 11:59pm - one minute before the park closed. It made the normally 45 minute queue, a more bearable 15 minutes. 

Pinocchio

I always considered Pinocchio one of the scarier, darker Fantasyland attractions so I don't frequent it all that often. Surprisingly, Judi asked to go on it a couple of times this year! 

Dumbo!

Dumbo is another of Judi's favorites!

Storybook Land Canal Boats

I have always loved Storybook Land Canal Boats because of the intricate detail. 

If you look closely, on the left of the picture a park bench has been toppled over. Unfortunately for him, the perpetrator left some evidence at the scene of the crime! Ducks can frequently be seen roaming this area. 

I had one of the best experiences on our last night at Disneyland. An extremely friendly cast member gave my kids stickers, buttons, and asked if they would like to be "whale watchers" and sit on the front of the boat. When we got back to the dock, she gave them each official whale watchers certificates signed by Monstro the Whale! 

Casey Jr Circus Train

Casey Jr is another one of my favorites for the same reason I like the Canal Boats - all the detail you can see.

Unfortunately when Disney redesigned the Dumbo Queue to add more shade earlier this year, they apparently didn't think through the ugly side affects this would have on Casey Jr and Storybook Land Canal Boats. The big blue wall is hard to miss and looks extremely out of place.

No trip report would be complete without a little Small World!

The Small World Queue was redesigned earlier this year since the addition of Fast Pass will make the stand by line longer. Adding Fast Pass to It's a Small World is one of the silliest things I have heard of - even worse than adding it to Pirates of the Caribbean later this year. If it wasn't clear before that Disney is adding Fast Passes to more rides to justify charging money for it's new MaxPass scheme, it is perfectly clear now. 

Every quarter hour on the Small World facade, a parade of dolls can be seen coming out the front set of doors and returning into doors on the side. It is a fun parade to watch.

Night time at Disneyland

I remember seeing Fantasmic! with my mom when I was a teenager. Even though it can be a little scary for younger children, I have always enjoyed the story and the creativity that went into making it.

The animation you see is a video projection onto water.

The Sailing Ship Columbia segment of Fantasmic! used to feature Peter Pan but it has been changed to Pirates of the Caribbean. The Peter Pan version was much better.

Though somewhat scary to children, the dragon is amazing!

After Fantasmic! is the Together Forever fireworks show. There are also projections on the Main Street buildings, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Small World, and the Rivers of America. I didn't take any pictures of it but I recorded it here:

Finally, here are a few miscellaneous shots of Disneyland at night. Thanks for reading!

2018 Together Forever Nighttime Spectacular at Disneyland

The Together Forever show is a fireworks and projection mapping show that takes place at the Rivers of America, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Main Street, and It's a Small World. This video was filmed at the Rivers of America, on the Thunder Mountain (North) side. It was filmed on July 10, 2018.

Sometimes with the new shows at the Disney Resorts, I feel that they are just basically watching a cartoon projected on water. There isn't as much creativity as there was with, say, Fantasmic! when it first came out. While Together Forever was fun to watch, it was basically a miniature World of Color - just watching projections on the water. It was entertaining, but I hope that Disney's shows in the future won't just rely on video projections.

2018 Paint the Night Parade

The following video was taken across from Jumpin' Jellyfish in the Paradise Gardens Park area of California Adventure on July 11, 2018.

Where to Watch Paint the Night Parade in California Adventure

When the Paint the Night Parade was held in Disneyland Park, my family and I had a great spot picked out on a cement bench close to the Matterhorn. This allowed us to see the parade coming long before it was right in front of us.

With the Paint the Night Parade being moved over to California Adventure to help lessen the overcrowding Disneyland is experiencing and will be experiencing at an even greater level once Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens in early summer 2019, I had to go back to the drawing board to find a good viewing spot.

Here are a couple of good things to know: (1) Currently, there is only one nightly showing of the Paint the Night Parade at 8:50 pm (in summer 2018). And (2) The Parade starts at Paradise Gardens Park by the end of the Incredicoaster, and ends in Hollywood Land, between Guardians of the Galaxy and the Hyperion Theater.

I like to be able to see the Parade coming for a while, unobstructed, before it reaches me so that was an important factor in determining where to sit. Also, with a family of 8 including a 4 year old, I wanted to find a spot close to restrooms, just in case. We also like to head back over to Disneyland after the parade so an easy escape route is nice.

I decided on a spot across from Jumpin' Jellyfish, next to/in front of a sunglasses stand which provided a great place to see the parade coming. It was also reasonably close to restrooms which are located behind Goofy's Sky School. It also offered as easy of an escape route as you'll find right after the parade. It took us about 10-15 minutes to get out. We followed the parade for a little bit, then took a left past the Ariel attraction to head toward Grizzly Peak, and out that way. The walkways were still plenty full and difficult to navigate, but we were able to get out of California Adventure before the parade was over, meaning we were able to get into Disneyland before quite a few people at the end of the parade route.

Here's a look down the parade route from where we were sitting. I love to be able to see the parade coming before it gets to me. Restrooms are located just under and beyond the Pixar Pals sign on the right side of the picture.

We sat in this spot both nights we viewed the Paint the Night Parade and will do so again next time we go too!

Here's a look at our spot. You can see the sunglasses hut behind us as well as some enthusiastic and very friendly Cast Members! If you notice, there is a place to sit off the ground just behind and to the right of us. While it may be more comfortable to sit there, people are allowed to sit in front of you, up to the crack in the concrete you can see by the wheels of our stroller.

Here's a look at what the Paint the Night Parade looks like:

Sounds of Disneyland: The Enchanted Tiki Room (Audio)

The Tiki Room has become a tradition to attend (with Dole Whip in hand) every year during our family Disneyland trips.



The funny thing is, growing up I detested the Tiki Room. I can remember being at Disneyland with my best friend, Matthew Syphus, and my mom asking us if we would go to the Tiki Room. I threw a fit! My mom would quickly remind me that we had done all the rides that I wanted to do all day and that all she was asking was for me to go with her to this one attraction. So we would go.



Fortunately my kids don't protest visiting the Tiki Room like I did. In fact, they seem to enjoy it - probably due in part to the before mentioned Dole Whip! I'm glad that Disneyland has kept the Tiki Room very similar to how it existed when I went as a child with my mom.



Here's the audio from the Tiki Room as recorded in July of 2017:

Disneyland News and Rumors, January 2018

I thought we better start off the New Year right with a little Disney news! Although I've blogged about a couple of these items in the past, more details have emerged about them and, in some cases, some of the rumors have been confirmed by Disney through the Disney Parks Blog. Lets take a look at some of the news:

Pixar Pier

Paradise Pier will be closing down at the end of day on January 7th, 2018 to be remade into Pixar Pier. The entire area won't be affected, however. The attractions on the north end of Paradise Pier will remain the same and this area will be renamed Paradise Park. This includes Ariel's Undersea Adventure, the Silly Symphony Swings, the Golden Zephyr, Jumpin' Jellyfish and Goofy's Sky School. The affected attractions will be California Screamin', King Triton's Carousel, Games of the Boardwalk, Mickey's Fun Wheel, and the Ariel's Grotto and Cove Bar eateries.

The games in Games of the board walk will now feature characters from such Pixar movies as A Bug's Life, Wall-E and the Pixar short film, "La Luna."

The 24 gondolas on Mickey's Fun Wheel will feature different pairs of Pixar characters on them, although Mickey's face will still appear on the center of the Fun Wheel.

California Screamin' will be re-themed into the Incredicoaster, featuring the characters from the Inclredibles movies. The loading area will be enhanced to include a new mid-century-modern-style building based on the Parr family home that will be seen in the Incredibles 2 which opens in theaters June 14th, 2018. You can view a video on the creation of the new Incredicoaster by clicking this link.

There will be a new spinner ride on the western end of Pixar Pier that will be based on the Inside Out characters. It looks as though this ride might just be Flicks Fliers moved and re-themed. Although the rest of Pixar Pier will be opening Summer 2018, this attraction will be opening later in the year.

Toy Story Midway Mania will remain unchanged.

Parades

Beginning April 13, 2018, the Pixar Play Parade will move to Disneyland and the Paint the Night Parade will return to California Adventure. The Pixar Play Parade will feature three new floats which can be seen in the pictures taken from the Disney Parks Blog below:

This is expected to be the opening float in the parade - the iconic Pixar lamp and ball.

Also newly added will be a float from the movie "UP."

Inside Out will also join the fun!

The Paint the Night Parade is also rumored to be getting a new float to replace the Elsa Ice Castle float which is said to be getting the ax due to it's size and the low hanging cables in California Adventure. I hope this isn't the case, as the Ice Castle is truly an amazing float, and one of my kid's favorites!

New Hotel

Construction on the yet-to-be-named hotel starts in the summer of 2018 and the hotel will open in 2021. The location of the new hotel is an odd one. It will be jammed in between the Disneyland Hotel and the Monorail platform on the west end of Downtown Disney on the current location of the AMC Theater and the ESPN Zone. The four star hotel will add an additional 700 rooms to the Disneyland Resort. The hotel will make use of the existing Monorail platform, which will now be located inside the hotel and will transport guests directly to Tomorrowland.
I found it interesting that the Disney Parks blog also mentions that it will bring in $25 Million in taxes to Anaheim's general fund - a fact that most casual readers interested in Disney news wouldn't care about. In my estimation, this is an obvious play to publish, for the Anaheim City Council, the monetary benefit that Disney brings to Anaheim. As reported in my previous blog posts, Disney needs the council's approval for the Eastern Gateway project which the City Council has refused to give thus far, citing an unneeded hardship on the local businesses on Harbor blvd. So Disney is trying to play a typical political game by posting the monetary benefit in a blog targeting Disney fans that don't know the whole story of the project.

Below is a look at the concept art of the new hotel as published by the Disney Parks Blog:

The new hotel will act as a sort of funnel to funnel guests staying on the West side of the resort into the new security checkpoint. 

A link to the Disney Parks Blog article about the new Hotel can be found by clicking on this link:

Parking Garage

Construction on a new parking garage is set to get underway in February 2018 and should be finished within a year, in time for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The new structure will contain 6500 parking spaces and will be located just south of the Mickey & Friends parking structure on the west side of Disneyland.

That about wraps up the major news from the Disneyland Universe. With Pixar Pier opening in 2018 and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opening in 2019, this is a busy time for Disneyland!