Blue skies and sunshine! Summertime is in full swing at the Disneyland Resort, but so is construction. With ride overhauls, restaurant overhauls, new hotel towers, new characters, and Halloween info trickling in, there’s a lot going on at the resort. Let’s dive into the recap.
THE FINAL DROP INTO THE BRIAR PATCH
On May 30, Disneyland’s version of Splash Mountain joined its Florida counterpart in retirement, with one final day of operation. Daps Magic shared a great photo of these cards given to cast members to mark the occasion.
Source: Daps Magic
As expected, lines exceeded 3 (periodically even 4) hours for much of the day. One special group that got a final ride were some of the original Imagineering team members, including Tony Baxter and Tom K. Morris.
Source: Tom K. Morris
And now, walls are up and construction is underway to transform the building into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which has a vague opening date of “2024”. Until then, here’s one of my favorite pictures of the mountain in its briar patch form. I’m so curious to see how much the facade changes to transport us to New Orleans.
ARIEL’S NEW MEET AND GREET
Over in Fantasyland, guests now have the chance to meet the live action version of The Little Mermaid, Ariel.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
Ariel has an adorable meet and greet area in the rear of Fantasyland, not far from It’s A Small World. Pay close attention to the decorations on the shelves. I won’t give it away, but there are a few Easter eggs for other famous movies in the Disney canon.
Another angle. #TheLittleMermaid #Disneyland pic.twitter.com/unkhQqjAVa
— LaughingPlace.com (@laughing_place) May 26, 2023
DOWNTOWN DISNEY CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
Downtown Disney remains “wall land” for now. In the central area, Uva Bar has been completely dismantled to make way for the new restaurant coming in. (So long old friend. You were my favorite place to people watch.)
Source: @MacadamionNut
And further down by the hotels, there are finally signs of new buildings going into the massive dirt lot.
Source: MouseInfo
If you need some context to help you orient yourself, this area was where AMC and Earl of Sandwich were, alongside a Starbucks and a few other smaller shops. It seems like they still have a long way to go on this project.
OTHER UPDATES
Disneyland Hotel finally opened its DVC tower, called the “Discovery” tower officially.
From May 1 – June 4, Space Mountain has once again transformed into Hyperspace Mountain to mark Star Wars Day (May the 4th).
Avengers Campus welcomed Mantis to the in-park crew this month. She’s one of the fan favorite members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, roaming the campus either solo or alongside Star Lord. I haven’t seen her with Gamora yet, but I assume she’d greet guests with her on occasion as well.
And finally, Disneyland had a quiet celebration for a very special person in animation history. Margaret Kerry, the original model for Tinker Bell, visited the park May 11th to mark her 94th birthday. Peter Pan guided her through Fantasyland to help celebrate her special day. Happy birthday Margaret!
Source: Rick Law
One final note – due to an increase lately in racist commentary I’ve seen both in blog comments and through DMs, comments on this post will go through stricter moderation than usual. If you have anything venomous or hateful to say about Ariel, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, or anything else, save your key strokes. It won’t appear on this site or serve any purpose whatsoever.
I loved the UVA bar. It was the first place they offered me a burger wrapped in lettuce leaves after I’d been diagnosed as Coeliac. In the evenings it was a great place to sit and chill.
Same! I went there almost every trip. I’m hopeful the new bar going in its place will be equally fun.
I love that picture of Margret Kerry walking with Peter Pan! I hope she took a ride on Peter Pan’s Flight during her visit!
I couldn’t find a photo of it but I hope she did too 🙂