It has been over a month & half since my last trip to Disneyland Resort since I had Spring Break plans for Las Vegas & Palm Desert, along with crowding from spring breakers converging to Disneyland, and the rollercoaster of weather we have been having with many rainy and cooler days. I want to go on a hot day so it can be a warm night and a jacket would not be needed, and my prayers have been answered, on April 21, 2023, it was 88 F/31C, and I went after work since I did not have any plans that day after work, so it worked there. Let’s go to Disneyland!
There has been a fair amount of things that have been opened, changed, scheduled to close, or just closed since I was last there on March 6th.
- Downtown Disney
- Fullerton-based Clyde’s Hot Chicken now has a booth in Downtown Disney.
- With all of the recent renovations of Downtown Disney, the shopping district has become way too kin to a regular shopping center, in comparison to its green color tones since its opening back in 2001, and it looks like the Irvine Spectrum Center by the day. The latest casualty was Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen, one was the New Orleans’ architecture, now is the beige stucco wall of the now-called Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio…
- Tortilla Jo’s is the last building with the original funky architecture of the opening day, will it stay as is, will the building façade look like the Spectrum Center, or will it be entirely different?
- Spring is here with warmer evenings, perfect to go to Uva Bar’s outdoor bar area, wait a minute, what is it closed?
- Catal & Uva Bar are now abruptly closed and to be replaced by high-end Mexican sit-down restaurants Centrico (Spanish for central) and Paseo Louge (Spanish for a walk). Those locations are part of Delaware North’s Patina Group, which also operates Naples & Tortilla Joe’s. Will Tortilla Joe’s stay as a more casual sit-down option or will it be something else entirely as it is cuisine redundancy? We must see when Centrico and Paseo Lounge are open to finding out.
- Sprinkles Cupcakes has closed as well, with a new tenant coming soon, they seem to have found a new location already at the Irvine Spectrum Center and is coming soon.
- Disneyland
- When I got in, the flag retreat with the Dapper Dans was in progress, the clip I got was of them singing America the Beautiful.
- In Mid-March, the fully renovated Mickey’s Toontown was opened to the guests! The whole land is renovated with a more similar aesthetic to Mickey’s Runaway Railway and modern cartoons.
- The artificial grass for guests to have picnics on has been taking a beating a month in. Strollers are being forced to park on the Toontown underpass of the train bridge since many guests like me want to see renovated Toontown. There is not a lot of room to move around if there are strollers.
- Pete makes his walk-around character debut.
- Guests can get picnic kits for $26 at Good Boy! Grocers
- Get a pizza, hot dogs, and doughnuts at Cafe Daisey.
- Goofy’s house gets new addition that’s kin for his original How To shorts as a kid’s play area with a “candy factory” in the house, and outside with a slide & a few interactive elements.
- Donald’s house gets flooded by his nephews: Hewy, Dewie, and Louie. It is no longer accessible to go inside, but his yard has a lot of playable water features and can see the boys swimming in the internally flooded houseboat.
- Gadget from Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers still gets her naming rights for the Gadget Go Coaster, now Chip n’ Dale’s GADGETcoaster, as Gadget is still associated with the rollercoaster naming, just to clarify the main characters that she is associated with.
- Next door, Chip n’ Dale loses their treehouse as a meet & greet location, and it is now a grassy area with a cave of the former treehouse.
- Roger Rabbit and Mickey & Minne’s house features are relatively unchanged.
- Splash Mountain is set to close on May 31st for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, set to open in 2024. You can still get your water ride fun at Grizzly River Run during then.
- The French Market & Mint Julep Bar is being converted to Tiana’s Place.
- The Adventureland Treehouse is getting closer to completion, no opening date is set yet. It is confirmed to be inspired by the Walt Disney 1960 movie adaptation of Swiss Family Robinson.
- There is also a new Disney Vacation Club lounge, Star View Lounge, in the former Star Wars Launch Bay Building. Does a son of a Marriott Vacation Club member work? No…
- April 20th to 23rd is the Half Way to Halloween Celebration with Minnie Witch Apple, Jack Skellington Cake Pop, and Oogie Boogie Crisped Rice Treats. All three are available at all confectionary stores throughout the resort. That is it! In the Mice Chat article, Walt Disney World has so much better food, Jack Skellington Bubble Waffle Sundae, come on! I want that!!!
- At least my video did well on TikTok for a smaller creator.
- Disney California Adventure
- Time to grab dinner & beer on the final days of the Food & Wine Festival, which ends on April 25th.
- For drink, I got Mother Earth Brewing’s Cali Creamin’ Vanilla Cream Ale 5.5% APV, based in Vista, and pretzel bites with beer cheese.
- The beer was really good & smooth, and the next thing I knew, I drank most of it. I needed to get more food in me.
- I also went to I Heart Artichoke with Artichoke Pizzetta: Artichoke & Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Pickled Onions, and Lemon Olive Oil-drizzled Micro Greens, per the menu.
- For drink, I got Mother Earth Brewing’s Cali Creamin’ Vanilla Cream Ale 5.5% APV, based in Vista, and pretzel bites with beer cheese.
- Time to grab dinner & beer on the final days of the Food & Wine Festival, which ends on April 25th.
- Refurbishments from Pacific Wharf to the Big Hero 6-inspired San Fransokyo Square is coming along with expected completion dates for this summer. The Pacific Wharf bridge reopened with a Golden Gate Orange paint, with the suspension tower & cables to come later. I took a picture with it with help from a PhotoPass Cast Member.
- Radiator Springs Curios is finally open! It was of the last retail shops to open since the 2020 closures, it has a lot of Cars movie merchandise, Magic Bands, and pins.
- West High School Jazz Band, from Stevenson Ranch in Santa Clarita, performed for guests as part of the Disney Imagination Campus performance program. Their last piece was an Incredibles movie-inspired piece since the movie’s music score was based on Jazz music.
- Making returns during the Food & Wine Festival, Soarin Over California, the original 2001 makes its limited-time run during the festival. The film will be switched back to Soarin Over the World after the festival. Since I was still feeling the beer, I wanted to wait in the hour-long line for the attraction so I am 100% good to drive home.
- All four of these are in the video toward the end.
AntSol Travel 
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