Mousekingdom Blog

As much as the experience of enjoying an attraction at a Disney theme park in perfect conditions is wonderful – well, just as much (if not even more) fans often want to enjoy the same attraction under rarer circumstances … say an indoor roller coaster that is supposed to be in the dark with all lights up… In the case of the original Disneyland, Anaheim (CA), that would be Space Mountain  which normally takes its guests on a trip to the frontiers of space in its rocket ships (unless you are about to visit the resort during the upcoming Halloween Season, when their will be a spooky overlay to be enjoyed on Space Mountain).

Interested and willing to see things you were never supposed to see? Then… (more…)

Disney opened a new and interactive website where fans and guest can explore what is is store for the Disney’s California Adventure park. It takes guest behind the scene with videos, artwork, photo’s, interviews and lots more.

The site will be updated regularly and will include progress of the attractions and the entertainment that is part of the big change and expansion of the park.

Picture copyrights Disney.

The second issue is out and has arrived at my doorstep. (Or should I say under my car porch as that’s where the postman left it). Although not being excited about it, after not liking the first one, I do had to open it immediately. It’s Disney after all and I couldn’t wait to see it, even if I thought it would not be any better then the first issue. But,… I was going to be pleasantly surprised.

Although I am a big fan of the parks and always hope for in dept park stories and secrets and hope to see something of the parks on the cover, I must admit that I was drawn to the nice Donald Duck cover first. “Donald Duck, 75 years of Mischief, mayhem & mirth!” was the appropriate title to the cover. But it was time to look inside and see if the book could change my mind… and somehow it did. It starts straight away with an article about the new Monster Inc. Attraction in Tokyo Disneyland and was followed with a look at the Disneyland Gallery in the next article. A very promising start.

(more…)

2008 has not been the best year for the theme park around the world. Parks have seen their attendance and guest spending drop. The 2008 Attraction Attendance Report from TEA ERA shows a clear picture on 2008 and it’s, mainly losses of guests for some of the big names in the business.

In the 2008 top 20 of highest attendance in Theme Parks of North America you have the Magic Kingdom on top again. It closed the year with 17,063,000 visitors. They should be happy about that, even if that number is no improvement from last year, during these dark times of recession that isn’t the worst result. On the second place we find Disneyland with 14,721,000 visitors, a drop of 1% from the previous year. Epcot, just like the Magic Kingdom, also didn’t loose or gained any more visitors then the previous year, with a count of 10,935,000 visitors. Epcot got third place.

(more…)

I can’t explain why I feel like it was, but it felt that this trip was the best so far… I just loved every minute of it. Could have been the great weather (finally after this terrible and could winter), could have been the company (well, that’s a given as I was their with my family) or was their another reason. I might not know why I felt like that on this trip, all I now is that it was great.

It started out fantastic with a super deal we found on Expedia.com (sounds a bit like an advertisement now) for the Marriott. I never expected to ever stay their but the deal was to sweet to let it pass. Now I am happy we did. The accommodations are great, big spacious rooms, 2 bathrooms, big living room and a kitchen with everything you need (if you wanted to cook for yourself). We loved and if another deal like that would pop up we would go again. However, even if we thought it was a great place, it is advised to visit this only when you have your own form of transportation. There is a shuttle bus but on the low season day it was packed to full capacity and I have heard from people staying their you can sometimes wait for 1 hour before you can catch another one. It is said the shuttle only goes out every 40 minutes, but in high season that might just not be enough.

(more…)

Are you a fan of the Muppets and the genius behind them, Jim Henson? In that case you sure know that you can enjoy Muppet Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (in Walt Disney World) and at Disney’s California Adventure (in Disneyland Resort Anaheim). But for a limited time – to be exact: till May 3, 2009 – there is more from the Muppets and Jim Henson to discover in Florida as the traveling exhibit Jim Henson’s Fantastic World stops at the Orange County Regional History Center just a short drive from Walt Disney World!

What can you expect from the exhibit? Over 100 works of art, photographs, documents, puppets, movie props, and other 3-D objects, as well as original video productions, illustrating Jim Henson the artist, his work from early high school creations to his worldwide loved tv- and movie characters and the creative process behind these. Included are such rare items as one of the Kermit puppets Jim Hensons puppeteered himself and numerous sketches by Jim Henson for such all-time favorite characters as the Big Bird…

(more…)

The preview center for the “updated” Disney’s California Adventure will open its doors as from October 20. Visitors will be able to see concept art, models, sketches and video related to all the planned changes. You can expect to see things from the new nighttime watershow, the little Mermaid dark ride, the Cars Land themed area and the new Los Angeles of the 20s theme that will be used in the park.

Walt Disney Imagineering is poised to open up its Blue Sky Cellar — a special attraction in California Adventure’s Golden Vine Winery. ( OCregister.com)

To see a small collection of pictures follow the link to OCregister.com.

Picture copyrights Disney

There seems to be some new concept artwork regarding the changes in Disney California Adventure. The pictures include information and/or artwork from the Trolley car that will ride from the main entrance up to the Tower of Terror, the new look for the Sun Wheel (including Mickey’s head as main decoration), The Silly Symphony Swing (replacing the Orange Stinger), the Goofy’s Sky School (Mulholland Makeover) and the most anticipated new attraction for DCA; The Little Mermaid Ariel’s Adventure. To see the artwork visit the Original D website.

Disney Californian Adventure has had a lot of heat from the fans, the media and from the pro’s. Disney has been updating the park and has been looking at options to improve it but now it seems that DCA is ready for a big change… a very big change, a One Billion dollars change! (give or take a couple of dollars).

The change is part of a bigger plan to enhance Disney Theme parks where a total of 1,5 billion will also improve other gates, will give Disneyland Hotel a face-lift and will bring Disney Vacation Club to Anaheim.

(more…)

It will be no surprise to anybody that the Disney parks are doing very well and are well present in the top 25 Theme Park Attendance Report. The list is from all parks in the world.

1 Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World – 16,640,000 – up 3.0%
2 Disneyland – 14,730,000 – up 1.2%
3 Tokyo Disneyland – 12,900,000
4 Tokyo DisneySea – 12,100,000
5 Disneyland Paris – 10,600,000
6 Epcot – 10,460,000 – up 5.5%
7 Disney-MGM Studios – 9,100,000 – up 5.0%
8 Disney’s Animal Kingdom – 8,910,000 up 8.6%
13 Disney’s California Adventure – 5,950,000 – up 2.1%
18 Hong Kong Disneyland – 5,200,000

The Walt Disney Studios in Paris didn’t make it on the list with 2,200,000 visitors. I wonder if this will change once the Toon Studios and Tower of Terror will open.

The Disney Water Parks are doing well too. Typhoon Lagoon is on the first place (yeah) with 2,050,000 visitors, up 6.6% and Blizzard beach comes in second with 1,880,000 visitors, up 5.4%

For the full report see the Theme Park Attendance Report (big pdf file)

The new Wonderful World of Color nighttime show that is to take place in Disney’s California Adventure is rumored to have a costly price tag of $20.000 a night. This is said to be twice as much as the Fantasmic Show.

Rumors imply that the lagoon will be drained during the beginning of next year in preparation for this new spectacle. The effects will surpass the lagoon area with special effects attached on other locations around the park.

It looks like they want to impress with this new show.

(Source: Screamscape)

To be able to cut away supports for the new Midway Mania attraction in Disney California Adventure, California Screamin’ has its loop replaced.

More pictures on Mousetimes.com.
 

If you would like to see some of the Happiest Celebration on Earth prizes and what they are word head over to the Orlando Sentinal blog Dream Giveaways entry to see a value list.

Membership in the Disney Vacation Club (time-share condominium lease) – $83,701
Grand Marshal World Tour: 15-day tour of Disney’s 11 theme parks from Hong Kong to Paris – $45,370
Adventure By Disney: Viva Italia vacation with 9 days in Disney-affiliated resorts in Italy – $25,600
…

The combined value of all the prices is worth $17.4 million. Here you can see the previous blog entry with the full list (without Value) off all the prizes.

There is a list on Mousesavers.com of all the prizes that are part of the “Happiest Celebration on Earth” event and even as we already knew some of them (like the world trip) the list is very impressive.

3 Grand Marshal World Tours (15-day/14-night trip for 4 people, visiting Disneyland® Park, Disney’s California Adventure® Park, Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot®, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park, Disneyland® Resort Paris, Walt Disney Studios® Paris, Tokyo Disneyland® Resort, Tokyo Disney Sea® Park, and Hong Kong Disneyland® Resort).

The idea of winning the prize to visit all parks in a world trip sound totally awesome to me. I have been dreaming of doing this myself, but now Disney is making sure 3 parties of 4 people will have the honors of experience this amazing dream prize.

(more…)

If you can’t get enough of the pirates and you’re planning a trip to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim how about staying at the Disneyland Hotel in the all-new “Pirates of the Caribbean Suite” (formerly one of the hotel’s Presidential Suites).

“This is the kind of experience you could only have at a Disney resort,” says Tony Bruno, vice president, Disneyland Resort Hotels. “Along with our other rooms and suites, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean Suite’ enables guests to feel they’re really living the Disney entertainment experience.”

(more…)