Happy July! Here in California we’ve been experiencing one heat wave after another, but that hasn’t seemed to slow down Disneyland news and happenings in the slightest. We had another month of news, celebrations, and unfortunately, the loss of a Disney legend. Let’s take a look back on this month at the Disneyland Resort.
DISNEYLAND TURNS 62
On July 17, Disneyland reached an amazing milestone – it’s 62nd anniversary! The park celebrated with a show on Main Street, featuring the Dapper Dans, All American College Band, 62 characters, and of course, tons of confetti.
Disney Parks Blog posted a video and photo album of the birthday celebration. Check it out here!
D23 EXPO BRINGS THE DRAMA
If you’ve been paying attention to ANY Disney media, you probably heard about D23, the major convention held in Anaheim this month. The Expo brought major Disneyland news, including details about Star Wars Land, an upcoming Pixar event, and the fate of Marvel heroes in California Adventure.
Check out my posts about Day 1 and Day 2 of D23 for a full recap of all the Disneyland announcements.
RIVERS OF AMERICA REOPEN
We’ve been waiting a long, long time for this happy news – the Rivers of America are finally completely OPEN! Tom Sawyer Island, the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, and the Disneyland Railroad resumed full operation today, bringing a revived sense of energy into the western side of the park.
You’ve been dearly missed!
MAXPASS BEGINS
This month, Disneyland officially debuted the MaxPass system, where you can obtain your fast passes on the Disneyland App for $10 a day. You can still use the normal kiosks for paper fast passes and you can’t book fast passes ahead of time like at Disney World. But with the new systems, guests are consistently reporting being able to use more fast passes per day than ever before, which is awesome!
For more information about how MaxPass works & and how to use it, check out the Disney Parks blog announcement here.
OTHER UPDATES
No more hand stamps! This month, Disneyland rolled out a new check-in/check-out system. Instead of getting a hand stamp, guests will have their photos taken at entry, eliminating the need for a stamp if you want to re-enter the park.
Downtown Disney is about to make some huge changes. Build-A-Bear, RIDEMAKERZ, and Chapel Hats will all close soon to make way for new dining, though details at this point remain vague. No official dates for closures or construction have been announced.
Disneyland announced the full Halloween lineup this month, and opened up Mickey’s Halloween Party tickets to annual pass holders. For the full list of Halloween offerings this year, check out my post here.
Get ready for some new construction on the waterfront. The River Belle Terrace will close for a few months to reorganize its interior layout, including a kitchen overhaul. The restaurant will not change theming as far as we know, and will reopen in early 2018.
Tomorrowland Terrace (currently overlayed as the Galactic Grill) has a new late-night menu! After peak dinner hours, you’ll be able to purchase smaller-portioned comfort food treats like fried chicken bites and sliders.
And finally, some sad news for the Disney community this month. Disney legend Marty Sklar passed away on July 27. Marty worked closely with Walt, starting his Disney journey as early as 1956. In his time with Disney, he was a creative mind behind some of Disney Parks’ most iconic features. His window on Main Street USA serves as a permanent reminder of his importance in making Disneyland into the Happiest Place on Earth.
I too am thrilled to see life on the River of America again. Disneyland is not the same place without the train and boat steam.
I think so too. I can’t wait to hop back on the train!!!