The excitement is over. The 60th Celebration is finished, the Tower of Terror has fallen for good, the construction happening at the park now enters its long and grueling phase, and the special events that came with the 60th are gone. So back to the normal Disneyland right? Back to seasonal crowds and reasonable lines. Back to the beloved shows and charms of the theme park of the past. Or at least, that's what we hope. But things are different now...
I have said it before on this blog and I'll say it again. Disneyland is more than a theme park or place to go now. Disneyland is a trend. We have the 60th Celebration to thank for that. The 60th brought it new age wonders and upgraded tech. it made it more "hip" than it was in the past. Now we see that Disneyland is continuously crowded. There is no longer seasons of crowds, or better times to go. There is just luck and the hope that it's not too bad on your trip. But Disneyland is taking steps to "control" the crowds more. Raising prices of Annual passes and daily ticket prices is the biggest way they do this.
But don't for a moment think they have stopped changing the park, and they have entered a boring phase. This is not the case. They have begun to offer new experiences already at the parks. For example, the new Fastpass+ System has made its way to Disneyland, or at least, a few rides at Disneyland. Specifically the Matterhorn Bobsleds and the Toy Story Midway Mania rides. It's an extra service that you pay extra for, per person.
Progress on the Tower of Terror redo is visible now, due to some of the tarps being taken down. We are still a couple months away from the opening date of May 1st, 2017. The Frozen sing along in the Muppet Vision 3D theater, has been replaced (weather it's temporary or not isn't known) with a Beauty and the Beast exhibit and sneak peek. There are props from the movie, as well as a clip of the movie. They have even said that they will temporarily deck out the restaurant by the Casey Jr. Circus Train, the Village Haus to have more of a french theme from the movie. It was also announced that the Mickey Mouse Jr. show in DCA will be replaced soon. It's not known with what yet. The Mark Twain it set to open back up in a few months, and Star Wars Land was given an opening date of 2019. Even the Season of the Force has made a comeback with the new film Rouge One. The new banners and new artifacts in the land have revamped the dying celebration. The Main Street Electrical parade has made a temporary comeback at Disneyland and will move to DCA later. The Diamonds have returned to the castle, and just the tops of the castle. And a darker blue outline has taken the place of the silver and diamonds of the 60th. The castle is basically back to normal, but it has a few diamonds on top, and has darker blues on it. It looks rather good actually. And lastly, the beloved fireworks show "Remember, Dreams come true" has returned to the skies of Disneyland, and has already had a huge welcome back, and is still well liked.
So, there is a lot happening as of late at the Disneyland resort. But I am going to change your mind yet again, and say that this is a low in the Disneyland Resort. Not in crowds, but in experience. Here is an example. Big Thunder Mountain, which is at the edge of the new Star Wars Land construction, is noticeably different. I don't mean the ride has changed, but the surroundings have. The trees that backed up the mountain are gone, which makes it feel a bit more lonely and the construction of Star Wars Land can be seen when you get over the top of the hill while on the ride. And the Rivers of America don't go all the way around, as the construction required that half the river be drained. There is tarps and fences all over that side of the park. And I feel like that can semi ruin the Disneyland experience. People are even saying they want the original Space Mountain back, rather than the Star Wars counterpart, Hyperspace Mountain. People want the original Tomorrowland back.
So we are at a stalemate. We have Disneyland removing and updating and doing construction on one side. And on the other we have the new things the parks offer. I would say that now is actually a good time to go, and see it before 2019, and the Star Wars Land rush. The Disneyland resort has been very noisy ever since the 60th started coming up. Its a dangerous tactic to be formed more to the will of the people, but it seems to work so far, so we will see where it leads the happiest place on earth. We can only hope that the new attention will take it to a better level rather than a lower one. But Disneyland will always have Walt at its core, and so it will always be the happiest place on earth.