Disneyland Resort Update: Pandemic Catch-Up Edition
Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA
Oh mein goodness! When was the last time we posted a regular update? Like not a theme park or entertainment news bulletin… or a haunt or Halloween post… or another holiday event… just one of those “normal” post about the latest happenings at a local theme park?
Well, given the way time has worked in this pandemic, it was either five months or 27 years ago, but we’re back today with an update from the Disneyland Resort, trying to tally the various changes that have happened across the past year since the parks reopened from their 2020-21 pandemic closure. This is by no means a comprehensive list of changes, but for anyone who hasn’t paid too much attention, here’s what’s been happening at the Happiest Resort on Earth across the past couple of years!
The No-Tram Situation
When Disneyland and Disney California Adventure reopened at the end of last April after over a year closed due to pandemic, one immediately missing item was apparent: the trams. They weren’t there, and guests parking in the Mickey & Friends and the Pixar Pals parking structures had to walk all the way to the Esplanade—a 10 to 15 minute journey. Although that can be faster than waiting for a tram on busy days, this still put a burden on guests who were less mobile (though alternate transportation for the disabled was provided).
To date, this situation has remained unchanged, though Disney did announce that the trams would return this year—after their refurbishment. Guests coming from the Toy Story Parking Lot still have the regular bus trams, so that has been unaffected. But for now, anyone parking at the main structures still has to make the long trudge to and back from the parks—for better or worse.
Magic Key Terrace
We’ll swing by Disney California Adventure first, as there have been less overt updates over there (well, one big one, but we’ll cover Avengers Campus in the future in a more dedicated post). As most people know, when Disneyland and DCA reopened last year, gone were the old Annual Passports that provided potentially unlimited visits for those willing to purchase. Instead, to mitigate crowds while still in a pandemic, Disney capped attendance and only allowed single-day ticket sales (in fact, initially limited to California residents per state guidelines, at least until last June).
But as many expected, the AP program did eventually return, rebranded as the “Magic Key,” and the details were… largely the same as before, except that everyone had to make reservations even if they had a pass, largely eliminating the prospect of spontaneous visits. And while some Magic Key tiers were actually cheaper than their equivalent AP predecessors, many perks were downgraded or removed, such a the free parking included on the second highest tier and the number of days no blocked out on all but the highest tier.
To counter this, Disney has been providing special perks for Magic Key holders to try to increase their illusion of value. This has included photo ops, special gifts here and there, and exclusive amenities like the Magic Key Terrace, which debuted last year over by Wine Country Trattoria for Magic Key members only and offers a unique food and beverage menu for those who want to relax while overlooking Cars Land. Like most things at Disney, though, reservations are needed in advance, and they can be made online or via the Disneyland app.
Over in Hollywood Land
Eternals came out last November. Expectedly, there was a longer running sneak peak available at the Sunset Showcase Theater (originally the Muppetvision Theater) for guests who were interested in watching.
World of Color Maintenance
During the fall, Paradise Bay was drained for maintenance in order to bring the infrastructure for World of Color back up to snuff. World of Color is among a series of entertainment shows that still have not yet returned to the Disney parks, although the fireworks, seasonal special parades, and live entertainment stage shows have. But like the tram, World of Color has been promised to return this year—though an exact date has not yet been set.
Tarzan’s Treehouse Under Refurbishment
Jumping across the Esplanade into Disneyland, Tarzan’s Treehouse has been closed for refurbishment over the past several months, receiving some extra TLC. There’s no word on when it’s due to open. While the area around the base of the attraction is blocked off, the pathways that branch to the bridge over the entrance of the Pirates of the Caribbean and to the passage toward the Rivers of America both remain open, even though the angle of the work walls may appear to be a dead end until one gets close.
FANTASMIC! Maintenance
Just like World of Color across the way, the Rivers of America also saw some maintenance work in front of Tom Sawyer Island in preparation for this year’s return of FANTASMIC! Last fall saw a part of the rivers set up in a cofferdam and drained so that crews could spiffy up the water-based theatrical infrastructure for the fountains and pyro and fire effect. Like World of Color, there is no set date for FANTASMIC! to return, though hopefully, it will happen in time for the summer season.
Pelican’s Landing
Sticking along the Rivers of America, the old smoking section near the Rafts to Tom Sawyer Island has been converted to an outdoor dining deck extending seating capacity for the Harbour Galley quick serve establishment. Christened “Pelican’s Landing,” this area has been imagined as a hangout for those long-billsd birds. Fortunately for diners, the pelicans are very much fake and wooden, but they’re cute and add a touch of charm to the ambiance.
A bonus feature of Pelican Landing is the new signage showcasing history and education for the Mark Twain and S.S. Columbia. There is a line of placards along the waterfront seating that speak to how life was like for sailors in the real life vessels that inspired this pair hundreds of years ago. It all adds up to a wonderful place-making addition to an underserved area, and a great place to just people-watch along the river!
New Orleans Square Updates
In New Orleans Square, the Royal Street Veranda was closed for a time last fall, requiring guests to go to the French Market for their bread bowl fix. It has since reopened.
On the other hand, Le Bat en Rouge never reopened with the park since last spring and still remains closed. There’s no official word on what will replace it—whether it’s another store or a new quick serve establishment. One would think that if it was new shopping, that transformation would have happened already, so we’ll see…
Finding Nemo Under Refurbishment
Hopping across the park to Tomorrowland, we find another attraction that never reopened with the park last spring—Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage. Work walls have been up around this nook of the park for a while, but fortunately, they will soon be taken down. Although no official date has been announced, signage on the construction walls does indicate that the ride will be “resurfacing” winter 2022—we presume the first part of the year, not the end of the year winter.
A New Accessible Ramp by It’s a Small World
As Disney has done from time to time (including via Project Stardust path widening and capacity improvements in advance of the park’s 65th anniversary), there has been non-attraction infrastructure improvements at the parks too. One example has been a new accessible ramp for disabled users wishing to head over to Mickey’s Toontown. While the approach under the Disneyland Railroad is sloped, that slope exceeds ADA parameters, so across the last few months of last year, a new ramp was constructed on the It’s a Small World side to accommodate the less ambulatory. It finally opened during the second half of the holiday season, and it looks pretty nice!
About the Crowds
One aside before we head into our last segment… I know that the Magic Key roll-out has been somewhat controversial in terms of the inconvenience it has caused some people who have long been used to going to the parks whenever they wanted, but Disneyland’s slow ramp-up back to full operations and capacity in the face of the continuing Coronavirus pandemic hasn’t been all bad. Other than the peak holiday periods last year, guests who were able to make reservations and gain access into the parks were often treated to very readable ride wait times and manageable crowds—certainly less packed than prior to the pandemic.
This is something that many had complained about for years—not only was Disneyland overpriced, but even after paying for the very expensive ticket(s), guests would still have to deal with packed crowds, long wait times, and the reduced enjoyment that comes with literally competing with thousands of other people for the same rides and shows. If you’re of the ilk that if people have to pay a premium to visit Disneyland, at least make it worth their while, then the crowd situation inside the parks has been a pretty welcome relief compared to recent history.
Certainly, now that Disney has returned to its former full hours, park capacity is closer to complete than its initial pandemic-era fraction, so gone are the days where large swaths of the parks were literally empty even during the daytime. But for all the hassle of the reservation system, which does seem to have reserved more slots for single day holders and artificially held out Magic Key holders from the most popular dates (new availability opens up all the time though, so just keep an eye out on that reservation calendar), the parks are more manageable than they have in years.
Toontown and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Finally, we come to the part that technically covers the past years at the parks (rather than just the past months in the items above). Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway was already under construction prior to the Coronavirus shutting everything down in March 2020. Though that construction did pause, it resumed several months later, and it’s been going full swing ever since!
Since the last time we checked in here—back when this ride was till a pile of dirt—a giant building has sprung up, been enclosed, and started to envelope part of Mickey’s Toontown with the partial demolition of the facades of several buildings near the center of the land. Next year, this will make way for the entrance of the ride, the “El Capitoon Theater,” which kick off the biggest (and really, only) transformation of Mickey’s Toontown since its inception three decades ago.
Not only will Toontown be receiving a new E-Ticket that mirrors the adorable Disney Hollywood Studios attraction, but the entire land is being refreshed. Later this year (late winter or early spring, it seems), all of Mickey’s Toontown will be closed for a year-long refurbishment that will also reimagine the land with new interactive elements and family-oriented amenities. Included will be a new “CenTOONial Park” area that actually replaces the current underserved Toon Park and will cut into the berm of the Disneyland Railroad to provide a larger relaxation and play area expanse, anchored by the Dreaming Tree.
The area in front of Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin also looks like it will be transformed into a more open plaza space, and the concept art even appears to hint at the removal of the Chip ‘n’ Dale Treehouse. Some have speculated that this will be to provide a link between Mickey’s Toontown and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. But aside from the very disparate themes that would need a fair mount of transition theming, a look at a satellite image shows that such a connection would have to pass through a fair amount of backstage area that was likely specifically planned out during the Galaxy’s Edge design and construction. More likely, the Treehouse is just being removed because it’s long been stripped of its original play area use (not really hygienic in today’s environment) and could be a maintenance headache.
Downtown Disney Update
I’m adding onto this update with a Downtown Disney inclusion. In 2020, the VOID VR experience closed after apparently a breach of their licensing agreement with Disney. In its place, between the Sprinkles Cupcake and the Disney Home stores, a Pele Soccer and Lovepop card store has opened. If you don’t know what Lovepop is, they make some pretty elaborate and neat pop-up cards.
That does it for this lengthy recap of the little projects that have been going on at the Disneyland Resort parks over the past while. This doesn’t even include the significant changes that have occurred at the Jungle Cruise and on Snow White’s Scary Adventures—I mean Enchanted Wish—which we’ll cover in a future update. Nor does it include DCA’s latest expansion, Avengers Campus, which finally opened last July. Again, we’ll devote a spread to that at some point also.
In any case, as nature continues to recover (or something like that), we hope you can all stay healthy and safe, and keep heads up as 2022 hopefully finally turns that corner towards better days and more normal lives and livelihoods!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
