Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Coming in 2016!





There are a lot of changes coming to Disneyland with the new year, and this is your place to review them all - the good, the bad, and the ugly!

The Good

Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters 

While we were sad to see Luigi's Flying Tires go, Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters looks like it can be a great new addition when it opens in February. From the sneak peeks we've seen so far, it will be using a trackless system that's already in place in Tokyo Disney Sea that will allow for the cars to move without the riders quite knowing where they're going. As long as it's not too similar to Mater's Junkyard Jamboree right next door, which has been our main concern, it'll be great to have a third exciting ride in Cars Land again.

Paint the Night Dinner and Reserved Seating



With the temporary closure of Fantasmic coming soon (more details below), Disneyland is using its dinner/show fastpass system for the amazing Paint the Night parade starting in January. They're already taking reservations, so if you have a trip coming soon, you can start booking at the Disneyland Dining website. 

Dinner is either a three course meal at the Blue Bayou or a packaged meal from Aladdin's Oasis that can either be eaten at the tables there or taken to-go. 

All that's been announced for the seating is that it's "near It's A Small World," but our best guess is that it'll be in the elevated section on the right hand side of the path (if you're facing Small World). 

Diamond Celebration Continues



Disneyland's 60th Anniversary will be continuing through September 2016 so there's lots of time to still see the gorgeous castle decorations, dazzling diamonds, and special merchandise all over the parks. 

New Menus at the River Belle and Rancho Del Zocalo

With the closure of Big Thunder BBQ (Boo! More details below.), the delicious BBQ menu is being transferred to the River Belle Terrace. The restaurant will become table service and you'll most likely need a reservation to get a seat. 

"Where will the River Belle's famous Mickey shaped pancakes go once there changes take place?" you ask. Great question! Rancho Del Zocalo in Frontierland will start serving breakfast, including the iconic pancakes!

Frozen Musical at the Hyperion Theater



Beginning sometime summer of 2016, the Hyperion Theater in California Adventure will be showing a live Frozen stage show. We know a lot of people are a little burned out on Frozen (Frost bitten? Freezer burned?), if it's even half as good as the Aladdin show its replacing, it'll have audiences cheering. 

The Bad

Temporary Closures 

With the beginning of construction of Star Wars Land, these favorite attractions will be closed for the next year - 18 months:


• The Disneyland Railroad 
• Pirate's Lair/Tom Sawyer's Island (It will be smaller when it reopens, but no one's been allowed on the side of the island they're closing for years, anyway.)
• Rivers of America (They close and drain the Rivers every few years, so we'll just be pretending this is one of those years so that were not too sad.)
• Fantasmic (They haven't announced a date yet when this will return, but rumors are it'll be closer to the 18 month mark.)
• Mark Twain and Sailing Ship Columbia

The Ugly

Permanent Closures

As we mentioned earlier, these two favorites will be closing for good on January 11. 


• Big Thunder Ranch and BBQ (No more seasonal fun at the Ranch! We loved that!)
• Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular




Thursday, December 17, 2015

Disney Holiday Fun in San Francisco




Attention San Francisco Bay Area Disney fans (or anyone considering a trip that way)!! How many of you have been to the amazing Weaver's Winter Wonderland? It's the best Disney you can get during the holidays without going to the parks.


About 45 minutes north of San Francisco in Rohnert Park, you'll find an entire block decked out with huge wooden holiday and Disney characters. There are even 101 Dalmatians for you to find and count!







At the end of the street is the grand finale...the Weaver's house! Featured on The Great Christmas Light Fight in 2014, this house is transformed into a castle filled not only with holiday cheer, but endless Disney fun!







If you find yourself in the area, be sure to check this place out! You'll be so glad you did.