I’m sorry for sounding like a broken record, but this month was kind of crazy at the Disneyland Resort! AP days, fires, concerts…and one new restaurant that’s causing a bit of hysteria. Let’s try to recap February madness at the happiest place on earth.
CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL
California Adventure brought back a popular event this year: Celebration of Gospel. This year’s lineup was even bigger than last year, with fifteen local groups performing in Hollywood Land‘s big sound stage theater.
The full lineup of performers, courtesy of DisKingdom:
- Amazing Grace Choir (Los Angeles)
- Angelic Choir (Los Angeles)
- Connected (Los Angeles)
- Divine Deliverance Ministries Mass Choir (Los Angeles)
- Destiny 24 (Compton)
- Friendship Mass Choir (Yorba Linda)
- Greater LA Cathedral Choir (Los Angeles)
- Jamelle Jones & Freed (Los Angeles)
- LA Inner City Mass Choir (Los Angeles)
- Lawyer Turner and the Lawyerettes (Dallas, Texas)
- Lorenzo Johnson & Praizum (Los Angeles)
- New Birth (Menifee)
- New Generation Choir (Santa Ana)
- TraXX and Christ Side (San Bernardino)
- Ty Snow & Xtreme Purpose (Pasadena)
I love that California Adventure has been celebrating so many different styles of music and dance lately. Let’s hope this trend continues!
NEW AND IMPROVED AP DAYS
In the past, I’ve found AP Days (annual pass holder days) to be a non-event. Normally, there’s a photo station, some weird activity, and an occasional giveaway or meet and greet. But this time around, Disney has definitely stepped it up. This month’s AP event had lots of goodies exclusive to annual pass holders, including special buttons and merchandise (available for purchase), a booklet with background info about the Main Street Electrical Parade, recipe cards, and a private meet and greet with extremely rare characters: the cast of Robin Hood!
This AP event runs through March 9. Stop by the main center in Tomorrowland to make sure you get all the exclusive pass holder giveaways!
RED ROSE MANIA
To promote the new Beauty and the Beast live action film, Belle and friends have a newly expanded presence in the resort. Belle, Beast, and Gaston are working overtime meeting guests, the theater in Hollywood Land has a sneak preview of the movie, and there are rose-themed pastries all over the park. But the most dramatic change is to the Village Haus, which has a temporary overlay as the “Red Rose Taverne”.
The tavern serves BATB themed foods, has exclusive rose souvenir sippers, and the most coveted dessert of all: the grey stuff.
The response to this restaurant has been overwhelming. Lines to order have approached two hours, with the tavern selling out of the grey stuff very quickly on a daily basis. On the 25th, the line for the tavern wrapped around Fantasyland all the way to Snow White’s Scary Adventures.
There’s no official word on how long the tavern will remain open, but it will undoubtedly stay open through March and April to promote the film. So if you’re dying to taste the grey stuff or get your hands on a souvenir sipper (that’s what I’m after!), plan ahead and get in line early.
OTHER UPDATES
On February 13, Anaheim Police responded to a fire in the Mickey & Friends parking structure. Four cars were completely destroyed, and many others seriously damaged. Several people went to the hospital with smoke inhalation issues, but thankfully no one sustained serious injuries. No official cause of the fire has been announced.
Ready for Food & Wine? The menu is finally here! Get ready for all kinds of sweet and savory treats coming to California Adventure next month.
Disneyland has reportedly filed for construction permits to build wheelchair access to the second floor of City Hall. Why? A lot of fans are speculating that Walt’s Apartment will once again become available on private tours (currently, tour groups visit the Dream Suite instead).
This year, Disney World and Disneyland will both be releasing limited edition pins, only available in one location at a time. For more information about the new pins (and where to find them), check out the official announcement here.
We now know the theme for the 2017 Half Marathon! The event will be a celebration of Pixar. For more race details, or to sign up, visit the announcement page here.
And finally, the scaffolding is starting to come down on the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I’ve seen a lot of people on Twitter ripping the new look, but I honestly don’t think it’s that bad…until you realize what it does to Buena Vista Street.
Please, Disney, put up some trees or something so this attraction doesn’t ruin the theming of yet another land. *Sigh*