I went to Disneyland on Friday – the first time I’d been there in six weeks. When you don’t visit Disneyland for six weeks, things change!!! There’s too much for me to put in one blog so I’ll split it into two. With lots of photos, since it’s easier to show it to you than describe it!
The updated Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln has re-opened in the Opera House on Main Street. Jeanine Yamanaka took a lot of great photos of the pre-show area which you can see HERE. No photos or video or any kind are permitted inside the theater once the presentation starts, though.
This version is actually very close to the original from the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Much of it is narrated in Lincoln’s own words by actor Royal Dano, including a portion of a letter where Lincoln provided a short autobiography, describing himself as follows: “I am, in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and grey eyes, no other marks or brands recollected.” (From a letter to Jesse Fell, dated December 20, 1859.) The “Two Brothers” Civil War story returns in this new version – I’ve always found that very moving and sad.
The body movements of the new animatronic still look robotic to me, but I thought the face was very lifelike, especially the eyes. Pretty amazing, really. The audio *sounded* recorded, though, and not at all like a real person speaking – I was disappointed in that.
Disneyland’s 55th birthday is on July 17 this year, and new merchandise, with The Happiest Memories on Earth theme, is already on the shelves in the Disney Showcase shop on Main Street. My favorite is the retro ticket book memo pad though I have a feeling that next week they’ll be selling a lot of the mini umbrellas! (Major rain coming to California next week.)
In the Emporium I was surprised to see Disney-themed college t-shirts for sale – Alabama and Texas I understand since they were in the Rose Bowl, but, not being a college football fan, I didn’t get the significance of Ohio and UNC.
The new popcorn buckets and travel mugs feature The Muppets, with the Celebrate Volunteering theme. I love seeing the Muppets in the parks!
There’s a new Disney’s Honorary Volunteers Cavalcade which also features the Muppets, but Alpha will have more on that in an upcoming blog.
I guess I’ll go around the park counter-clockwise…In Tomorrowland, Honey I Shrunk the Audience is shut down to make way for the return of Captain Eo in February.
Over in Fantasyland, holiday “it’s a small world” is still running – that surprised me, though it shouldn’t have, because it usually is up through the end of Martin Luther King weekend.
The new Troubadour Tavern has opened at Princess Fantasy Faire, replacing the former Enchanted Cottage Sweets and Treats. The new menu (HERE) still features bratwurst but also offers baked potatoes and corn on the cob.
The Celebration Roundup and BBQ has a seasonal theme: Big Thunder Winter Roundup.
Even the tablecloths have a wintry design.
I liked this colorful winter vegetable garden that was planted outside of Big Thunder Ranch.
There’s walls all around the Rivers of America while it is being refurbished, though I got a pretty good view of it from the bridge next to Pirates of the Caribbean, and from the stairs near the Hungry Bear restaurant.
Back in Critter Country they are doing some work on Pooh’s Corner, though the shop is still open.
I went in there to see what kind of seasonal treats they might have – there were some chocolate-covered marshmallows on a stick with candy hearts on them and some heart-shaped cookies and crispie treats.
I’m not skipping Adventureland or Toontown – it’s just that nothing there seemed changed to me.
I was able to see parts of two of the Disneyland Band’s shows – when they performed just inside the turnstiles, and then again when they performed in Town Square.
The park really wasn’t crowded, especially first thing in the morning. For the first hour and a half just about everything was a walk-on. By 1:00 the longest posted wait was 35 minutes for Space Mountain. It was a great day to be in the park.
Part 2 will cover DCA, Downtown Disney, and the hotels.
I’ve had the apples several times and they are delicious! Go for it! They make “Minnie” ones also and sometimes they have other flavors/combinations.
where can i purchase the 55 merchandise? see, i too was born in 55 and will be 55 in april :))
thank you,
sue
Laura replies: It’s only available at Disneyland, though if you won’t be coming to Disneyland you should be able to order it from Disneyland’s merchandise service, Disneyland DelivEARS. Their number is 1-800-362-4533. You’ll have to have a good idea of what you want so you can describe it to them – there is a lot of different 55th anniversary merchandise available.
Great post! I’m starting to follow Disneyland closer now because my husband and I will be making our first trip there in September to see the original! So excited! I had no idea that the 55th anniversary was this year so thanks for mentioning that!
Laura replies: Have a great first trip to Disneyland!
UNC is the best, that’s why their merchandise sells so well across the country! 🙂
How can someone from the East Coast purchase one of those UNC shirts?
Laura replies: As I mentioned in the comment above, try calling Disneyland DelivEARS at (800) 362-4533.
Hi Laura,
North Carolina is only mediocre in football, and they weren’t in the running for the National Championship, so it is more likely the fact that they are one of the top selling collegiate teams across the country (that Michael Jordan fella certainly helped).
Interesting that you didn’t see Oregon Ducks product since they have a tie to Donald.
When the teams were at DL before the Rose Bowl Oregon’s coach even joked with Mickey that he was more of a Donald guy.
Laura replies:Maybe with the “Duck” thing they didn’t think they should put Mickey on an Oregon shirt! 🙂
I am only guessing here, but…I have read somewhere that UNC apparel sells more than any other college team apparel…my guess is somewhere someone who makes the decisions about what apparel to sell found out this little tidbit and decided it was a good team to market with Mickey. Just a guess?..?
Laura replies: That makes as much sense as anything! 🙂 As I said in my blog, I don’t follow college football, but I wonder if there was some possibility that those four teams (Ohio, NC, Texas and Alabama) were the last four candidates for the Championship, so they had shirts made up for all four teams in advance so they would have the right ones?
Being a huge UNC fan i don’t understand the purpose either but i love it.My two favorite things in the world. Is there any other way to buy that shirt besides in the actual park?
Laura replies: I would suggest that you call Disneyland DelivEARS, which is Disneyland’s merchandise service. They can usually send to you anything that is for sale in the parks. Their number is (800) 362-4533, and their hours are 8:00-5:00 Monday-Friday and 8:00-4:00 on Saturday.
Hey Laura, great blog! All of the videos and pictures of you and your husband that you posted were rather entertaining. It has me really excited to be going to disneyland for spring break in march! I was wondering if there is a list of the refurbishments happening in disneyland on this site somewhere like there is one for disney world? I couldn’t find one when I looked at the disneyland page. Oh,and I think I know why there are Ohio State t-shirts, we were in the Rose Bowl this year and we won! I do not know why they have UNC however, because we played the washington ducks, so perhaps there is no rhyme or reason to it. Looking forward to your next blog!
Laura replies: Hi Kirsten. Yes, we have a refurbishments page – though I need to update it. If you look on the left side menu of any of the DL or DCA pages you’ll see “Rehabs and Closures”, and that’s where you’ll find it. Have a great trip for your spring break!
Hi Laura!
Wow. Lots of changes. I think it’s about time this family try to get back to Disneyland to catch up.
FYI….this year’s Rose Bowl participants were Ohio State and University of Oregon 🙂 Ohio State won.
Thanks for a great report!
Lori.
Laura replies: Hi Lori. Thanks for the correction on the Rose Bowl participants! And yes, I think you should make another trip to Disneyland. 🙂
I was wondering what are the Mickey shaped things underneath the chocolate covered marshmallows? They look really yummy!
Laura replies: Those are apples – I believe they are dipped in caramel, then they put on marshmallow “ears” and dip the whole thing in chocolate and decorate them – in this case to look like Mickey. Hmm…in the name of research maybe I’ll have to get one and do some in-depth reporting. 🙂