It's the middle of summer, so of course it has been hot at Disneyland. But a week of temperatures in the 90s didn't do much to prepare everybody for a high of 106 degrees this last Saturday. As all of you readers in Arizona start saying "phsaw!" let's add that a humidity of 80 percent makes it feel even worse.
Fortunately, Sunday brought a bit of a break in the weather. Of course, that break came in the form of thunderstorms which cooled things off a bit, but it's debatable whether 93 degrees and wet is all that much much better than 106 degrees and dry. After another day today of temperatures approaching 100 degrees, the rest of the week is looking to be cooler (with high of just 90 degrees).
It's a good time, though, to remind everybody of some simple tips for dealing with the heat. Nothing will cause your vacation to crash and burn for a day or longer than getting dehydrated, severely sunburned, or even something more serious:
Also keep in mind that a under the best of conditions lot of park guests have trouble making it to the end of the day with Disneyland still being the Happiest Place on Earth. Heat only makes it harder to fight off the grumpiness of a long day with kids wanting to go in 45 directions at once and spending the next month's mortgage payment of Mickey ears and pizza slices. Just try to roll with the punches and a dedication to getting what fun you can out of the day, and not necessarily what fun would be your dream day.
There was definitely no bang in the 51st anniversary celebration for Disneyland last Monday. But then, as we reported in last week's update, none was expected. Hopes were momentarily raised when the park opened with monitors and a stage set up in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and word spread that something would be happening at 10:00 a.m. Turns out, though, that it was a brief ceremony to announce a $1 million donation by Disneyland to the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC).
Goofy, Donald, Mickey, Minnie and Pluto wait for the Disneyland Band and the beginning of the ceremoney. Photo by David Michael.
Not that CHOC isn't a very worthy institution and a gift of $1 million isn't worthy a bit of celebration in its own right, but it wasn't what people were hoping for when they saw the stage. The big birthday-related event of the day was a modified version of the daily rededication ceremony that has been running since shortly after the 50th birthday last July. Instead of being held in the morning it was held in the afternoon. Joining the Mayor of Main Street, the Fab Five characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy), resort president Matt Ouimet, and the Disneyland Band was Marty Sklar, former executive at Walt Disney Imagineering and now an ambassador for that division.
Walt Disney Imagineering ambassador Marty Sklar gives a short speech with the Mayor of Main Street in the background. Photo by Andrew Rich.
He gave a little brief speech reminiscing about his early career with Walt Disney and also did a little politicking, assuring the audience that Walt loved change and would have loved the recent changes at Disneyland (specifically, the "enhanced" Pirates of the Caribbean). He then asked the spectators to join him in reciting along with the recording of Walt Disney, the dedication speech. After the ceremony Matt Ouimet and Marty Sklar spent quite a while working the crowd and greeting guests.
Apparently unhappy with the level of recognition for the 51st birthday through official channels a park guest modified the 50th logo outside of Enchanted Tiki Room. The other logo within easy reach, on Tom Sawyer Island, was similarly transformed. Photo by Kenji Luster.
We mentioned the new Cars "pre-parade" in last week's update. Presented here are some photos of it by frequent photographic contributor David Michael. The pre-parade consists entirely of real cars made to look like Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars (apparently Sally Carrera has other things to do). Mater blows his horn a lot (and loudly). People can have their pictures taken with the cars once they've moved down the road from the Paradise Pier parade gate to a spot right in front of the Laod Bhang Pin Cart where Paradise Pier and Golden State meet.
What these pictures also show is that summer attendance at Disney's California Adventure is back down to low expectations. We always get slammed for bringing this up, but it seems the combination of heat and blacked out annual passes are keeping away the locals and keeping the in park crowds to the small side of estimates. Also of interest is that last week the Disneyland.com entertainment schedule showed that the Cars pre-parade would be showing six times a day. The schedule now shows just one appearance every day at 4:45. It is unclear whether this is an actual change or if the site was wrong. With this new listing it is more acturately a "pre-parade" being right before the 5:15 Block Party Bash performance.
Lightning McQueen and Mater enter from the far end of Paradise Pier and head towards Golden State. Photo by David Michael.
Lightning McQueen is fully decked out with all his racing endorsements. Photo by David Michael.
Mater has lived a life of slow decay out in the desert. Photo by David Michael.
Unlike in the movie, Rust-eeze apparently has human salesman. Photo by David Michael.
On a hot Friday afternoon, the apparance by the two cars didn't draw a very large crowd of admirers. Photo by David Michael.
The Marriott family of hotels has made a significant addition to a growing trend in the industry. They announced last week that all 2,300+ of their properties will be removing their entire inventory of smoking rooms. The hotels immediately stopped accepting new reservations for smoking rooms and will only honor existing reservations for stays ending before October 15.
If you currently have a smoking room reservation for one of the affected properties after October 15, you should expect that you will not be allowed to smoke. If this is important to you, you probably want to look into rebooking your accommodations (talk to your hotel first, to make sure they will be in compliance with the general schedule announced last week).
The Marriott family of hotel chains includes Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownPlace Suites, and Marriott ExecuStay. With more than 2,300 properties in the United States, Marriott is by far the largest hotelier to go 100 percent smoke-free. Westin, with fewer than 100 properties, made a similar shift last year and the three Disneyland on-property hotels did so earlier this year.
The trend is clear to see and it seems reasonable to expect more major chains to make the same decision. According to Marriott's numbers they were already down to about 10 percent of their rooms being smoking rooms from a historic high of 50 percent. Frequently hotels find themselves sitting on unbooked inventory when not enough smokers have reserved rooms and often find themselves dealing with irate non-smokers when a smoking room is the only option available.
Properties in the area of Disneyland (within 5 miles) impacted by this change are:
All in all there are more than 70 properties within a half-hour's drive of Disneyland, so don't assume that list is comprehensive by any means. If you have any questions about this change, be sure to contact the hotel at which you are staying. If you are a smoker and wish to learn more about your options about smoking in and around the parks, see our smoking guide (link).
Francis' Ladybug Boogie continues to prove one of the more problematic rides at DCA. Since the Flik's Fun Fair section of the park opened back in 2003 it has seen several significant down periods and there was even a time back in 2004 when it looked like the ride might close permanently. Back on June 17 the ride went down for a month-long refurbishment but never came back online as expected July 13. Cast members have now been told that the ride is not expected to return until January at the soonest. Obviously, in the process of refurbishing the rides mechanics found something they didn't like and is requiring significant effort to fix (either that or management is just softly killing the ride but there would seem to be no reason for that).
Currently, the piece of land occupied by the ride is just an empty shell with all the ride vehicles and the spin-plates removed. There is no word on whether there is a connection to the problems reported back in April 2004 (link).
The way the ride works is that five ladybug ride vehicles twirl around in a figure-eight pattern and when they reach the middle the vehicle is transferred from one spinning plate to the other. Back in 2004 this transfer wasn't going so well and there were reported instances of ride vehicles hitting each other.
...Though there does not seem to yet be an official announcement, all the buzz is that the Cheetah Girls will be doing some type of performance at Disney's California Adventure park this weekend (July 30). The official Cheetah Girls concert page still lists the concert date as "to be announced" but several diverse sources have locked it in for this Sunday. Odds are they will not be doing a full performance but more likely a short set. We also do not know if the performance will be in one of the existing stage locations or whether a larger stage will be put up at the amphitheater between Golden Dreams and Ariel's Grotto as has been done for concert performances in the past. Apparently this will all be filmed for use in some Disney Channel special and there may be random sightings of the Cheetah Girls and other Disney Channel celebrities throughout the week as individual segments are taped.
...We mentioned this last week, but so many emails have come in since that it is worth repeating. Disney's Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular is going dark beginning on September 11. However, at this time there is on indication that it is a permanent closure. Existing crew have been told that the temporary closure will be used to clean and repair sets (including, hopefully, the flying carpet effect) and that new cast is being auditioned. The show is expecting to reopen on October 1. That said, several people mentioned the example of the Eureka parade where new contracts were similarly signed shortly before the parade was axed. Anything is possible, of course, but so far as we know, there is no reason to expect it this time.
...Yes, we've heard the rumor of a new Star Wars-related show being put into the Club Buzz stage. No, we have no information to suggest whether it is true or not.
...It isn't any surprise, but the first official notification of the new Fossil store in Downtown Disney is out in the form of small signs on the construction wall between Illuminations and what will be Disney's Vault 28. You may recall that during the remodelling of Illuminations earlier this summer, that store gave up some space to allow for this new store front. Fossil sells watches and other accessories.
Signs for the new Fossil store have been added to the constructoin wall between Illuminations and the also-under-construction Disney's Vault 28. They're also hiring. Photo by David Michael.
...Most people don't even know it exists but the hotline for the Candy Kitchen on Main Street hasn't been updated for more than a month now. You can call 714-781-0112 and a recorded message will let you know what candies will be made on site at the Main Street shop throughout the week. The recording is still giving information for June 11 through June 17. This information came to our attention late yesterday so rather than waiting and trying to find out if it will be resumed, we figured why not just put it out there and if anybody has additional information, please let us know.
If you know of any events, official or unofficial, that should be listed here, let us know.
Several current promotions offer discounted admission to the Disneyland Resort. For convenience sake, we have grouped the discount offers based on the number of days the tickets are valid. Check out the category that best matches the amount of time you plan to spend at the resort, and pick the offer which works best for you. And keep those tips coming – let us know if you find a better / different offer, so we can share it with other readers!
This first section is a list of discounts on ticket only purchases. Though it has become more common in recent years, Disneyland tickets are still rarely see deep discounts unless you are a resident of Southern California or Northern Mexico. For residents outside that area, the best discounts available tend to be simple advance purchase discounts.
Unless otherwise states, all tickets currently available for purchase must be first used by January 2, 2007. All multi-day tickets expire 13 days after first use.
This information is pulled from many sources but much thanks must go to MousePlanet sponsor MouseSavers.com for providing the bulk of the information. If you know of any additional discounts, offers, promotions, or contests that should be listed in this section, drop us a line (link).
| One Day Park Hoper Regularly $79/$69 |
Southern California 1–Day Park Hopper ($64/$74) – Residents of Southern California (zip codes 90000–93599) and and northern Baja California, Mexico (Zip codes 21000–22999), can buy discounted one-day park hoppers. You can purchase up to eight tickets at a time, one order per day, and two orders in any seven-day period. Valid ID showing Zip code will be required with ticket for admission. Southern California AAA offices and Vons Supermarkets may also sell these tickets, but call ahead to confirm. Proof of residency will be required when redeeming them at Disneyland (Vons will happily sell you the ticket voucher regardless of where you are from but you still need to be an appropriate resident to use it. |
| Two Day Park Hopper Regularly $116/$96 |
AOCVCB 2-Day Bonus Ticket ($115/$95) – The discount (from the Anaheim-Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau) is only $1 and shipping on all orders is at least $10. Therefore you only come ahead on orders made more than 10 days in advance if you are buying more than 10 tickets (link). |
| Three Day Park Hooper Regularly $169/$139 |
Advance Purchase 3-day Park Hopper Bonus Ticket ($149/$119) – A discounted price for advance purchase through the Internet or select dealers. Available at the Disneyland Web site (link) where shipping is included if you order more than 10 days prior to your travel date. Also available from AAA offices in Northern California, Nevada, and Utah (link). Disney Stores (California), Safeway grocery stores (California and Arizona), and certain travel agents may also sell these tickets. It is best to call and confirm before visiting a location, however. "Bonus Tickets" include one early admission day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday). Southern California CityPass($199/$159) – This pass includes a 3-Day Disneyland Resort park ticket (including one early-entry day). It also includes one day admissions to SeaWorld San Diego, Universal Studios Hollywood, and either the San Diego Zoo or San Diego Wild Animal Park. The CityPass expires 14 days after first use at any location. Purchase CityPass through the Disneyland Web site (link) or onsite at the ticket booths of Disneyland Resort or the other theme parks included in the pass. You can also purchase directly from the CityPass Web site (link) though this has a minimum $7.50 shipping charge (no shipping charge from the Disney Web site if purchased more than 10 days in advance). The Southern California City Pass can also be purchased online from Costco at a cost of $174.99/$139.99 (adults/child), 5% surcharge if not a Costco member and shipping fees apply. Booklets may be available for sale in some stores but varies widely. If you want to buy in person it would be best to call ahead and confirm availability. If you do buy at a Costco, you will initially purchase a large plastic container which you must trade for ticket books prior to leaving Costco! AOCVCB 3-Day Bonus Ticket ($146/$117) – The discount (from the Anaheim-Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau) is only $3 (adult) and $2 (child) and shipping on all orders is at least $10. Therefore, compared to the Disneyland Web site price, you only come about ahead on orders made more than 10 days in advance if you are buying more than 3 tickets. "Bonus Tickets" include one early admission day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday) (link). |
Four Day Park Hopper |
Advance Purchase 4–Day Park Hopper Bonus tickets ($169/$139) – A discounted price for advance purchase through the Internet or select dealers. Available at the Disneyland Web site (link) where shipping is included if you order more than 10 days prior to your travel date. Also available from AAA offices in Northern California, Nevada, and Utah (link). Disney Stores (California), Safeway grocery stores (California and Arizona), and certain travel agents may also sell these tickets. It is best to call and confirm before visiting a location, however. "Bonus Tickets" include one early admission day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday). AOCVCB 4-Day Bonus Ticket ($165/$136) – The discount (from the Anaheim-Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau) is $4 (adult) and $3 (child) and shipping on all orders is at least $10. Therefore, compared to the Disneyland Web site price, you only come about ahead on orders made more than 10 days in advance if you are buying more than 2 or 3 tickets. "Bonus Tickets" include one early admission day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday) (link). Play 4 Days Southern California Ticket ($119 all ages 3 and up) – This ticket is only for Southern California residents residing in Zip Codes 90000-93599 and is not available to Northern Mexico residents. It is important to note that while Costco will sell the voucher to anybody who wants to buy one, proof of Southern California residency will be required when exchanging it for the actual ticket at Disneyland. The ticket allows admission to either Disneyland or Disney's California Adventure on four separate days. The dates need not be consecutive and admission is allowed to only one park on any given day. Tickets must be first used by November 15, 2006, and expire on November 18, 2006. Call ahead to your Southern California Costco to confirm availability or order online (link), shipping fees apply as well as a 5% surcharge for non-members. |
Five Day Park Hopper |
Advance Purchase 5–Day Park Hopper Bonus tickets ($179/$149) – A discounted price for advance purchase through the Internet or select dealers. Available at the Disneyland Web site (link) where shipping is included if you order more than 10 days prior to your travel date. Also available from AAA offices in Northern California, Nevada, and Utah (link). Disney Stores (California), Safeway grocery stores (California and Arizona), and certain travel agents may also sell these tickets. It is best to call and confirm before visiting a location, however. "Bonus Tickets" include one early admission day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday). AOCVCB 5-Day Bonus Ticket ($174/$145) – The discount (from the Anaheim-Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau) is $5 (adult) and $4 (child) and shipping on all orders is $10. Therefore, compared to the Disneyland Web site price, you only come about ahead on orders made more than 10 days in advance if you are buying more than 2 tickets. "Bonus Tickets" include one early admission day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday) (link). |
| All Tickets | Disney Visa Application Credit $40 - &150; Currently, if you are not a Disney Visa credit card holder, you can receive an extra $40 discount when purchasing Disneyland tickets through the Disneyland Web site. When making your purchase an opportunity to apply for the credit card (and charge the purchase to the card) will be offered. If approved, the credit card will get a $40 credit when used for its first transaction. |
Annual Passes |
DVC Discount &150; Members of the Disney Vacation Club can get a $20 discount on any Disneyland Annual pass. Good for first purchase only. Early Renewal Discount &150; If you renew your annual pass (either online or in person) before it expires, you will receive a 10% discount. |
2006 Resort Magic Package – This official Disney travel package (link) is $452/per person for two adults per two-nights. The $452 price is for the Paradise Pier Hotel and goes up for Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian Hotel. In addition to the hotel room, the package includes appropriate park hopper tickets, one early admission (early admission days are currently Mondays, Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays), a virtual prize for the Virtual Magic Kingdom online game, admission to Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness (currently available Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, and Saturdays), and Walt Disney Travel Company collectible pin and lanyard, luggage tag, and California Fun Book. Travel using this package must be booked by August 28, 2006, and completed by September 2, 2006.
2006 Good Neighbor Magic Package – This official Disney travel package (link) starts at $277/per person for two adults per two-nights. The $227 price is for the Jolly Roger Hotel and goes up for other Good Neighbor hotels. In addition to the hotel room, the package includes appropriate park hopper tickets, one early admission (early admission days are currently Mondays, Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays), a virtual prize for the Virtual Magic Kingdom online game, admission to Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness (currently available Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, and Saturdays), and Walt Disney Travel Company collectible pin and lanyard, luggage tag, and California Fun Book. Travel using this package must be booked by August 28, 2006, and completed by September 2, 2006.
Costco Travel Packages – Many different travel packages including visits to Disneyland and Disneyland hotels are available through Costco.com. When purchasing a Costco Disneyland travel package extras that will be included are: Mickey's Toontown Madness admission (currently available Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, and Saturdays), a character breakfast per person, a $20 Disneyland Resort gift card, a collectible pin and lanyard, and a Costco luggage tag.
Rainforest Cafe Safari Club – Membership in the Rainforest Cafe gets you a 10% discount on entrees for up to four people. It also gets you priority seating if available. Additionally, after signing up, your membership card will be mailed to you and be accompanied by a $10 award good for your next visit to a Rainforest Cafe. So if you know you will be eating there while at Disneyland and have a Rainforest Cafe local to you, it may make sense to prejoin the Safari Club so that you can use the award during your trip. See the Rainforest Cafe Web site for details (link).
ESPNZone MVP Club – Membership in the MVP Club does not offer any discounts on food. However, once a member you can make an online reservation for your party up to three days in advance and will get a 25% increase in points purchased when playing games in the Sports Arena (and 40 bonus points at activation). You must register online and your membership card will then be mailed to you within 2-weeks. The card must then be activated at any ESPNZone by the person who signed up for the card and ID will be required (link)
AAA Restaurant Discounts – AAA (American Automobile Association) members can receive a 10% discount (excluding alcohol) at Plaza Inn, Wine Country Trattoria Ariel's Grotto, PCH Grill, and Goofy's Kitchen.
DL: Disneyland
DCA: Disney's California Adventure
Annual Pass blockout dates:
| Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/24 | 7/25 | 7/26 | 7/27 | 7/28 | 7/29 | |
| DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–Mid |
DL: 8a–Mid |
|
| 7/30 | 8/1 | 8/2 | 8/3 | 8/4 | 8/5 | 8/6 |
| DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–Mid |
DL: 8a–Mid |
| 8/7 | 8/8 | 8/9 | 8/10 | 8/11 | 8/12 | 8/13 |
| DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a–11p |
DL: 8a-11p |
DL: 8a-11p |
DL: 8a-11p |
DL: 8a–Mid |
DL: 8a–Mid |
Visit our Annual Passholders Blockout Dates 2006 page to see more dates. You can see future calendar schedules at Disneyland. As always, specifics are subject to change without notice (or occasionally, without us noticing) so when information conflicts between what is presented here and that presented by Disney, it is best to assume Disney's information is correct.
Entertainment schedule: Go directly to the Disneyland Resort schedule for this week at Disneyland.com here.
(Send an email to MousePlanet Staff)
