Disneyland Resort Trip Report

Halloween Time is rapidly coming to a close at the Disneyland Resort. Holiday decorations, merchandise, and even a few small hints of the coming seasonal celebration can be found already. Additionally, we noticed several spots where construction and refurbishments are taking place along with a few changes in the Parks that affect the guest experience. The happiest place on earth has gone through a lot of refurbishments and changes over the last year, and it seems they aren’t finished.

Downtown Disney Addition

Coming soon signage for the new addition to Downtown Disney

There appears to be a new semi-permanent food truck/kiosk coming in front of the closed Rainforest Cafe near the Disneyland Hotel side of Downtown Disney. What immediately came to our mind was the previously announced Asian Street Eats by Chef Hung Huynh. If this is indeed the Asian Street Eats kiosk then we are definitely excited to try out the new eats.

It’s a Small World

The merriest ride on earth will reopen on November 8th

It’s a Small World is currently closed as they prepare for the Holiday overlay that has become an annual tradition. As you can see from the picture, the Santa hat is already up on the iconic clock-face, and they have already started putting the Christmas lights on the animal shaped bushes along the river route outside. The overlay is due to open for the Holiday season on November 8th. Are you ready for the merriest ride on earth?

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Sleeping Beauty Castle got an early start on its transformation for the holidays. It’s almost as if The Nightmare Before Christmas is happening – two holidays colliding. It may feel odd to see snow capped castle turrets while the temperatures have routinely been in the 80s and even 90s, but Disney has decided that they needed an early start on this. Earlier this year Disneyland refurbished Sleeping Beauty Castle, and this is our first glimpse of what it will look like for the holidays. What do you think? Was it too early to put up the snow? Did it affect your celebration of Halloween Time in Disneyland?

Fuel Rod Price Change

The Fuel Rod system has been at the Disneyland Resort since November 2016. The premise has been that you purchase the Fuel Rod portable battery (charging stick) for $30. You then were promised unlimited free swaps of the portable batteries while in either Park. The portable batteries don’t hold a particularly high level of charge in them. I’d guess about 1500-2500 mAh based on the fact that I was typically able to charge my phone about halfway before the battery would run out of power. In any case, the Fuel Rod program was beneficial, even if the initial purchase price for the battery was higher than a similar sized portable charging option would cost on Amazon. Recently though, Fuel Rod and Disneyland have changed their minds about the free swaps of the battery chargers while in the Parks. New signage on the Fuel Rod dispensers indicates that on November 1st they will now cost $3 if you want to swap your Fuel Rod for another Fuel Rod. Most of the reaction on social media has been negative to this change, so it will be interesting to see if Fuel Rods are profitable enough to stick around – time will tell.

Fastpass Kiosk Change in Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland appears to be testing out a new centralized hub for fastpasses. Near the entrance to the Tomorrowland Theater there is a centralized location where guests can get fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Star Tours, and Space Mountain. You can use your physical ticket or your phone (if you have it set up and connected with your ticket/annual pass) to scan for the fast pass. There is no physical paper copy of your fastpass return time, so you’ll have to take a picture of your return time with your phone or write down your return time yourself – we use our Disneyland app to keep track of all of our fast pass information, mobile orders, and restaurant reservations. What do you think of this change?

Tomorrowland Construction

It appears that there are stairs or a new escalator that will connect the 2nd floor (Space Mountain) with the area below – time will tell
Scaffolding near Star Tours (similar scaffolding across the path near Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
The walls in front of Tomorrowland’s entrance
The Matterhorn Ride – the Tomorrowland side track has been down for quite some time.

Walls have been up at the entrance to Tomorrowland where it meets Main Street across from the Hub for most of Halloween Time. Additionally, there has been scaffolding on both sides (one near Star Tours and one near Buzz Lightyear). It’s not entirely clear what the plan is or what they are doing. It appears when riding the rockets that they have removed the french fry style rocks in certain places at the entrance of Tomorrowland, but it’s not clear what is happening beyond that. We are excited to see what the changes are, even if they are only minor. Hopefully they conclude before the Holiday season starts on November 8th due to the traffic flow problem that the walls have created for guests during the busy Halloween Time season. The Tomorrowland side of the Matterhorn tracks are still closed. Additionally, the entire Matterhorn ride will be closed from October 28th through November 1st for maintenance. No word on whether both tracks will be open when it reopens. 

Mummy Donut at Jolly Holiday

The Mummy Donut has returned in these last days of Halloween Time. We are assuming that it will be available through October 31st at Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe. This donut is a bar styled donut (like a maple bar). It comes topped with chocolate glaze, graham cracker crumbs, pretzel bits, and a torched meringue fluff.

Mickey and Friends Construction

The new, 2nd set of elevators at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure
Construction above the restrooms for the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure
The area in front of the new elevators at Mickey & Friends
The area in front of the escalator drop-off area at Mickey & Friends. Another angle in the picture below.

It seems as though they are drawing nearer to finishing the second set of elevators being completed. No word on when they will be completed. The stroller lines can get quite long in the morning when arriving at the Disneyland Resort. At night, they get even longer, so this is certainly a welcome change for guests who use wheel chairs, motorized carts, or strollers. They also have a wall around the front area of where the escalators drop guests onto the esplanade. Overall the new esplanade between Pixar Pals and Mickey and Friends is looking fantastic. We are excited for it to be fully completed.

Final Thoughts

If you’re heading to the Parks in the coming days to celebrate Halloween Time before it goes away make sure you check out our articles highlighting the best eats in both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Stay tuned as the Holiday foodie guides will be released soon. We will have all the information as it becomes available. Thanks for reading! As Tigger would say, ta ta for now.