Introduction
Hello everyone, I was trying to see if I try blog posts again of Disneyland updates and see how it works out.
I finally got a reservation for Disneyland since they were booked up all week. Now to check out what is new at Disneyland with the return of the 70th anniversary of Disneyland and some of the new things for the 25th anniversary of DCA & Downtown Disney! First updates from the SoCal News Group with more recent updates by Theme Park IQ.
Welcome back to Disneyland where the crowds are back to school light! There wasn’t any wait time at security. Let’s check out Downtown Disney and then the monorail!
Downtown Disney
First stop, World of Disney where l bought a limited edition Downtown Disney 25th anniversary pin! Only at the World of Disney store.
On January 8, news stations were reporting on the monorail power issue that stalled two of the monorails. KTLA Sky 5 flew over Disneyland to see tons of Anaheim Fire Department vehicles assisting the guests & monorail cast members off the monorail in front of the Mickey & Friends tram drop off area, which lost power at 3:15 pm. Fire crews were capable of rescuing it via a backstage road past 6 pm. Once the scene was cleared, a gasoline powered monorail maintenance vehicle was able move the monorail backstage.
Time to board the monorail! There seems to be only one train running. Was it due to the slow season or the power issues from last week? Who knows. Off to Disneyland!
Disneyland
It’s A Small World will be down to take out the holiday decorations starting January 26 & take about two weeks to take off the decorations. Enjoy it if you can or if you are not able to do so, check out the POV video above for the ride through.
Disneyland’s Star Wars Galaxy Edge, the Milk Cart is always known for their interesting plant based drinks. Blue milk with coconut & rice milk with fruity flavor, and Green Milk with citrus & tropical flavors. The newest milk added to the line up is the Pink Milk, rice milk with a fruity & sweet flavor that has the flavor of strawberry, banana & bubblegum. It was quite interesting. For all of you Green milk fans, the Pink Milk temporarily replaced the green milk.
Also in Star Wars Galaxy Edge, Rise of the Resistance & Oga’s Cantina will start refurbishment on January 20.
On the Rivers of America, Fantasmic will only run Fridays to Sundays, the Sailing Ship Columbia will run daily until January 26 to 29, and Mark Twain will get some work from January 12 to 15 (of course that is the day of my visit).
The Haunted Mansion Holiday’s decorations will be taken down from January 12 to 22. If you missed it, check out my POV video on the video above.
When you are at a theme park, it is hard to not get the most fried looking food there is. However, I should be good and stick to healthier options. At Disneyland’s Bengal Barbeque with their two new skewers Chicken Teriyaki Skewer and Pork Belly & Vegetable Skewer. Both were delicious!
Disney California Adventure
For California Adventure, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail’s holiday decorations will be taken down starting on January 8.
At the Hyperion Theater Courtyard from February 5 to 15 will be a Magic Key Holder event featuring Walt Disney!
There are construction walls around the former FastPass building for Guardians of the Galaxy. I wonder what’s going to be there?
From Avengers Campus, you can see there is tons of progress with the two upcoming attractions, Stark Flight Lab and Avengers Infinity Defense!
There are plenty of refurbishments happening at DCA. Lamplight Lounge is closed for this week only. From the window facing the host stand, you can see scaffolding inside. 
Incredicoaster went under refurbishment on January 5 and will reopen February 5.
Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind went under refurbishment on January 5 as well until the 22nd.
At the Silly Symphony Swings, Magic Keyholders can get DCA 25th anniversary magnets! It will be from February 5 to 15. Except for the 9th.
A new addition to the refurb list is Jumpin’ Jellyfish starting on February 23.
The food booths are being prepared for the Lunar New Year Celebration at California Adventure which will start on January 23! The Lunar New Year will fully start on February 17, the year of the horse.
Grizzly River Run is undergoing seasonal refurbishment as well, reopening date is not posted. Most of the water is drained to check the river track, which is poured into the Port of San Fransokyo Bay for a higher water level.
Soarin’ is at 50 minute wait but I got to the front of the boarding line with the Single Rider! Single Rider is not heavily advertised on Soarin’ in comparison to other attractions, so the wait can be quick. Single Rider is a queuing system that a single guest fills in gaps in the seating in the ride vehicle from odd amount of guests.
At the popcorn cart at Carthy Circle, there are Magic Keyholder exclusive popcorn bucket designs for $16 for each park! Now until February 24, get refills for $2.25! The DCA bucket has a design for the 25th anniversary, which will be February 8. However, the line is super long, I’ll get it next time.
In Other Disney Parks News
Would refurbishment of Tomorrowland boost attendance? Apparently not.
According to a Wall Street Journal report that many news outlets are citing, darn paywall. Tomorrowland had two major overhauls since it opened a few months after Disneyland Park opened in 1955. Opening in 1955, with overhauls in 1967, and the current version in 1998. The 1955 & 1967 lands would become dated and needed a new version of tomorrow. So the 1998 version would be ambiguously into the future in the vein of Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon.
There were reports of an overhaul in 2019 with the removal of the front rock work, which would bring a full renovation. However, that did not become the case. The rocks front were removed but this rendering of a new entrance still is there to this day & no new construction.
Many Tomorrowlands around the Disney Parks system world get new attractions such as Tron Lightcycle at Magic Kingdom, two Avengers attractions at Hong Kong, and Happy Ride with Baymax in Tokyo. Along with renovations to most Buzz Lightyear Astroblaster, and we only got a high resolution camera.
Meanwhile, a good chunk of space sits idle & has become a huge eyesore, such as the Magic Eye Theater, the Starcade (event activations only), the Innoventions, and the People Mover track that became seismically unsafe due to the Rocket Rods. With all of these empty spaces, ripe for new attractions, it is not enough to overhaul Tomorrowland.
Darth Vader is Coming to Galaxy’s Edge
When Galaxy Edge opened in 2019 at Disneyland, Imagineers wanted to keep the storyline to the seven, eight, and ninth movies to be more consistent with characters walking around the land in a post Darth Vader era. However, the Imaginners are finally integrating characters from the original trilogy such as Darth Vader, younger Han Solo will be away from the First Order to maintain some order at Oga Cantina & the Millennium Falcon. This will also come with area reorganization such as Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities will have merchandise from the original trilogy, First Order Cargo will have merchandise from both sides of the Galactic Civil War. Things should be ready by May 22 for the new additions of the Mandalorian & Gorgu to Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run.
Disneyland Welcomes their 900 Million Guests!
That’s right, Disneyland now has 900 million guests per the new Disneyland Handcrafted documentary that was just released.for the last 70 years with a billion to be projected to be in 2031!
Tokyo Also Hit 900 Million Guests!
Also around the same time, Tokyo Disneyland has hit 900 million guests as well in 42 years & 246 days. They are a huge hit with the local Japanese population and with international visitors as well.
The USD & most other currencies are strong in comparison to the Yen, 1 USD = 154.14 Yen, which drives tons of international tourists. 1000 Yen = $6.28 USD. Peak pricing for a Saturday is 9900 Yen, about $62.21 USD!
Thank you for reading! If you any questions or specific thoughts about Disneyland, please leave them in the comments.
AntSol Travel 
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