If you are a Disneyland annual Passholder who is eagerly awaiting the next installment in Tony Stark’s superhero saga, you’ll want to head to Tomorrowland for tonight’s (Friday, April 12) exclusive preview of a new Innoventions exhibit. In anticipation of the May 3 premiere of Iron Man 3, a Stark Industries interactive display has been temporarily installed inside the circular building. Guests will get the chance to see Stark’s iconic suits of armor up close, and experience a simulation of strapping one one.

Registration for tonight’s event begins at 1pm at Innoventions; a valid AP is required. Participants can preview the new attraction starting at 6pm, and can stay in the park to enjoy select Tommorowland attractions until 1am.

Here are the details direct from Disney:

Celebrate the theatrical release of Iron Man 3 with the opening of the new exhibit, Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries, inside Innoventions. Annual Passholders can get a special preview of the exhibit before it opens to the general public, including the chance to virtually suit up with and test pieces of the Mark 42 armor. Plus, Passholders will have access to select Tomorrowland attractions for an additional 2 hours after regular Disneyland Park closing.

Iron Man 3 in theaters May 3, 2013!

With Limited Time Annual Passholder Magic, Annual Passholders have exciting opportunities, offers and events like this.

Date

April 12, 2013

Locations

Iron Man Exhibit Preview: Innoventions at Disneyland Park

After-Hours Select Attraction Access: Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park

Event Time

Iron Man Exhibit Preview: 6:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.

After-Hours Select Attraction Access: 11:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. (2 hours after regular Disneyland Park closing, which may vary)

The following Tomorrowland attractions, dining and merchandise locations are currently scheduled to be available during the event to Annual Passholders showing their valid event wristband to the Cast Member at participating attractions:

Tomorrowland Attractions

• Space Mountain
• Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
• Autopia
• Astro Orbiter

Tomorrowland Dining and Merchandise

• Tomorrowland Terrace
• The Star Trader
• Space Image

Please note that available attractions and services are subject to change without notice. The remainder of the Park will not be open.

Event and Registration/Wristband Details

Annual Passholders may register in person for the event beginning at 1:00 p.m. on the day of the event near the entrance to Innoventions in Tomorrowland in Disneyland Park. There is no online or phone registration for this event. It is recommended that all members of your party register together.

All participating Guests (ages 3 and older) must be valid Annual Passholders on the day of the event. Children under 3 years of age are permitted to attend the event as long as space is available and wristband is obtained through the registration process.

All participating Annual Passholders must present their active Annual Passport to the event Cast Member, who will check event availability. Photo ID may be required. Event wristbands are required for admission to both the exhibit and the Tomorrowland After-Hours event.

Wristbands will be distributed upon event registration. Registration and distribution of event wristbands will be based on availability. Space is limited.

Admission to the exhibit area will be granted subject to capacity, scheduled park events and other restrictions.

The exhibit experience may include long wait periods, is subject to temporary closures and may be cancelled at any time. The event does not guarantee access to any attraction or location.

Registered Passholders who have received a wristband may enter the Tomorrowland portion of the event up until 30 minutes prior to the end of the event.

Wristbands may not be sold or transferred for commercial purposes and have no cash value.

Additional Information

• Valid theme park admission is required.
• Parking for this event will be at the Toy Story parking area and the Mickey & Friends parking structure.
• Standard parking fees will apply.
• Mickey & Friends parking trams and Toy Story shuttles will continue to run until 1:30 a.m., however, shuttle service to all other Resort parking lots will end at their normally scheduled times following Disneyland Park closing.

Annual Passholder Preview of Disneyland’s Iron Man Exhibit Tonight is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Photo copyright Disney

The brand-new Fantasy Faire at Disneyland Park doesn’t open to the public until tomorrow (March 12), but annual Passholders like our own Guy Selga Jr. have already been inside the princess-centric expansion adjacent to Sleeping Beauty Castle.

If you’re a Passholder who can’t get enough of Fantasy Faire, a free presentation and panel discussion will be held on Thursday, March 14, in Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House. Show Director Christopher Utley and Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Director Michel den Dulk will share “fascinating” details on the new mini-land’s design and construction, and answer audience questions.

Registration for Thursday’s 6pm show begins that morning at 11:30am at the Opera House, and must be done in person by all participating Passholders. Space is limited, so arrive early to register if you’re intent on attending.

“Making of Fantasy Faire” Presentation for Disneyland Passholders on March 14 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

All photos copyright Disney

Construction is nearing completion on Disneyland Park’s new Fantasy Faire, the princess meet & greet complex that is replacing the classic Carnation Plaza Gardens. The new area, which controversially extends Fantasyland’s theming into the central hub for the first time, officially opens to the public on March 12.

If you are an annual Passholder, you can get a sneak peek of this expansion on March 7, 8, 9. The preview events will be held between noon and 6pm on those three days, with Passholders limited to designated two-hour entry windows.

Passholders wishing to attend must register in person on the day of the event, beginning at 10:30am in Fronteirland. For more details, see Disney’s official instructions here.

Annual Passholder Previews for Disneyland’s Fantasy Faire This Week is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

All images copyright Disney

Are you a Disneyland Resort Annual Passholder?

Do you love the Disney animated classic Peter Pan?

Would you like to spend a couple extra hours in Fantasyland this week?

If your answer to the following questions is “all of the above,” head over to Disneyland on Wednesday night (February 27, 2013) for the latest Limited Time Magic event. For one night only, Passholders can see a special screening of Peter Pan at the Main Street Opera House, in honor of the film’s recent Blu-ray release.

As an added bonus, select Fantasyland attractions will be open to participating Passholders for 2 additional hours past the park’s public 8pm closing time. Be warned, however, that my recent experience with extended Passholder hours at Disney California Adventure did not result in light crowds and short queues; in fact, it was exactly the opposite.

Film screening start at 11am on Wednesday. Passholders may register for the event in person at the Opera House beginning at 10am on the day of the event; online and advance registration is not offered. See here for details on the event direct from Disney.

Peter Pan Passholder Event at Disneyland this Wednesday is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Image copyright Disney

In a surprise move, Disneyland Resort has quietly released details of a new limited-time perk for all Disneyland Annual Passholders. On Thursday nights in February 2013, Passholders can stay in Disney California Adventure for an extra 2 hours past the usual closing time. That’s 120 more minutes to enjoy the rides in Cars Land and elsewhere around Anaheim’s hottest attraction.

The program will only be offered on Thursdays, February 7, 14, 21, & 28. Passholders will be allowed to stay until 10pm on the 7th, 14th, and 28th, and until 11pm on the 21st.

In order to participate, you must arrive at DCA between noon and 90 minutes after the regular park closing time, in order to obtain a special wristband near the front turnstiles. A valid annual pass and photo ID are required; regular parking fees still apply.

Note that this temporary “stay late” program is in addition to the ongoing early entry perk, which allows annual Passholders into the parks an hour early on the weekends. That program runs through April 14, but is not available on February 3.

Extended February DCA Park Hours for Disneyland Annual Passholders is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

As mentioned in our latest Disneyland Resort news roundup, a “Salute” to the classic Golden Horseshoe Revue show will make a temporary return to Anaheim's Frontierland starting next Thursday as part of 2013's Limited Time Magic marketing campaign.

Disney has recently released additional info on how you can attend this sure-to-be popular show, which will run Thursdays through Mondays from January 10 until February 4.

All guests may request tickets to the show in person at the Golden Horseshoe. Seating requests are for the day of performance only (no advanced reservations) and are distributed for that day's performance on a first-come/first-served basis, subject to availability. There is no additional charge for tickets, other than standard park admission.

If you want to be guaranteed of a seat before arriving at the park, special dinner packages are now available for purchase by Annual Passholders. Participating guests will receive a cold meal, souvenir gift, and seating at a 6:30 performance, in exchange for $35. You must reserve in advance by calling (714) 781-7277, and have a valid annual pass to participate. If your pass is blocked out on the day of the show you want to attend, you'll need to purchase “Blockout Day” ticket.

See the following information from Disneyland's website for more details on the program. We plan to have Touring Plans representatives on site next week to bring you images from this special presentation — hope to see you there!

Golden Horseshoe Dinner Show for Annual Passholders

Inspired by the world-famous Frontierland show that Walt Disney himself began in 1955, A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue features a variety of songs and dance numbers from past productions and is an homage to fun-filled, family friendly musical entertainment.

This show enjoys a brief run at the Disneyland Park.

Limited Time Annual Passholder Magic

Annual Passholders have additional and exciting Limited Time Magic opportunities. And here's the first: the Golden Horseshoe Dinner Show for Annual Passholders.

Dinner Show Details

The evening performance (on select days) will be exclusively for Annual Passholders — and will feature special dishes inspired by the original show's menu.

Plus, at this event, Annual Passholders will receive a commemorative musical keepsake and souvenir Golden Horseshoe boot mug.

Event Schedule for Annual Passholders

• January 10 through February 4, 2013
• Thursdays through Mondays

Time

6:30 p.m. is the special Passholder performance

Prices

$35 per Passholder (ages 3 and older) per show

Separate Theme Park admission required

Includes tax

Book Dining Package

Please call (714) 781-PASS (7277)

Space is limited!

Once a dining package is purchased, the purchasing Annual Passholder will receive a confirmation email

Please print and bring your confirmation email to the Disneyland Park check-in location as identified in the email; With a valid confirmation email, each Passholder on the reservation will receive an event wristband upon presentation of their valid Passports

Admission

Separate theme park admission required.

For admission to the show, each Annual Passholder must have a valid Disneyland Resort Annual Passport and event wristband. Valid photo ID may be required.

If needed, please also present a Blockout Day Ticket or valid ticket media. Blockout Day Tickets can be purchased at the Disneyland Resort Main Entrance on the day of the event.

The Passholder performance of the Golden Horseshoe Revue will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. Guests will not be allowed entry to the show after 6:30 p.m. and show tickets will be forfeited.

Location

The Golden Horseshoe in Disneyland Park

Menu

Starter: Corn chips in a souvenir Golden Horseshoe boot mug

Entrees: Black forest ham and roast beef sandwiches

Sides: Golden raisin and carrot salad, Yukon golden potato salad, Very Berry fruit salad

Children's Menu (available upon request): 2 PB&J sandwiches with sides

Vegetarian Option (available upon request): Vegetable and cheese sandwiches with sides

Beverages: Mint Julep, water, coffee

Dessert: Walt & Lilly's 30th Anniversary Celebration Cake

Limited Time Magic

Limited Time Magic will bring fanciful experiences, big and small, to Guests at the Disneyland Resort throughout 2013. Each experience will appear briefly and then… disappear.

Additional Information

• Limit eight (8) Annual Passholders per dining package reservation (ages 3 and older), per show.
• Separate dinner and commemorative gift will not be provided to Guests under the age of 3.
• Guests must be at least 18 years old to call and book a dining package.
• Dining package purchases are nonrefundable. Reservations may not be sold or transferred for commercial use and are only valid for admission to the show date and time specified in the associated confirmation email.
• Information and shows are subject to restrictions, change and cancellation without notice.
• Menu items subject to change without notice.

Annual Passholder Dinner Packages For Golden Horseshoe Revue Now Available is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Let’s say you’re visiting Walt Disney World for two weeks. Lucky you!

If you’re a UK resident, there are 14-day Disney World ticket options available to you. You lovely Brits can move along now, nothing to see here. But if you’re a North American visiting Disney for two weeks, you’ll quickly see that there’s no immediately apparent ticket option that makes sense for you. There are 10-day Magic Your Way tickets, but nothing longer than that. What to do?

Annual pass holders have access to discounted WDW hotel room rates.

First lets look at some basic numbers. A ten-day basic, one park per day, adult ticket currently costs $318. But let’s face it, if you’re going to Walt Disney World for an extended period of time, you’ll want a Park Hopper ticket, which runs $375. Given that as a starting point, if you’re staying for 14 days, your ticket options are:

• Stick with a 10-day ticket. Spend your remaining four days at your resort, Downtown Disney, or other Orlando area attractions.
• Add the Water Park Fun & More option to your 10-day Park Hopper. This involves only a slight bump up in price, making your ticket cost $397 instead of the non WPF Hopper at $375. Adding WPF gives you ten admissions to the water parks, DisneyQuest, ESPN Wide World of Sports, a round of 9-hole golf, and some daytime minigolf. This is plenty of additional fun to fill four non-theme-park days.
• Add a four day ticket to your ten day ticket, giving you a full 14 days of theme park admissions. Let’s say that for these four days you don’t need Hopper capabilities. A basic adult four-day, non-Hopper WDW ticket costs $256. Add that to your previously purchased $375 10-day Hopper and you’re looking at a ticket outlay of $631.

Compare this to the current price of a standard Walt Disney World adult annual pass: $611. Clearly, for a 14-day visit, if you’re going into the theme parks every day, then an annual pass makes sense. You’ll save at least $20 getting the pass versus getting 14 days of park tickets in Magic Your Way form.

Annual pass holders have discounted rates for some recreation, including parasailing at the Contemporary.

Consider another scenario: You’re making two separate trips to Walt Disney World in one calendar year. A seven-day visit and a three-day visit. A seven-day Park Hopper costs $345; a three-day non-Hopper costs $242; for a total of $587. Not far off from the $611 annual pass price. And if you tweak your ticket needs just a little by making that three-day ticket a $299 Hopper, then you’re at $644. Again, this is over the price of the annual pass. So, if Hopping is important to you, and you’re taking two trips totaling ten days within one calendar year, then an annual pass likely makes sense for you.

Considering this situation, some guests who have a “visit Disney once per year” mindset, plan to take their year one trip on, say, the first week of April, and then their year two trip on the last week of March. Doing this, you’re effectively taking your two trips a year apart, but getting both covered by the same annual pass. This can potentially save over $300 per person on ticket costs.

Let’s see if the annual pass might make sense for guests staying for an even shorter amount of time.

Annual pass holders have discounted rates for some behind the scenes tours, including Behind the Seeds at Epcot.

Consider a guest making a seven-night, eight-day visit in late February 2013. The guest wants to stay at a moderate level resort. A week at Port Orleans Riverside will cost $1,402 during that time period. However, Disney is running a hotel pricing special for annual pass holders during this time period. Annual pass holders booking a late February stay at Port Orleans prior to the end of 2012 are eligible for a 35% discount off the room rate, making their room cost $911, a savings of $491. This guest might normally have purchased a $289 eight-day basic Magic Your Way ticket. However, by spending an additional $322 to get the annual pass, the guest reaps the $491 in hotel room savings, a net gain of $169. Only one member of a party needs to have an annual pass to get the room rate benefit.

Other typical annual pass benefits include:

• 10%-20% off select Walt Disney World restaurants.
• 10% off most merchandise purchased at Disney owned shops on property, as well as many other merchandise locations.
• 10% off many recreation opportunities including the Richard Petty Driving Experience, golf, mini golf, massages, parasailing, boat rentals and more.
• 15% off many backstage tours.
• 20% off many Alamo car rentals.
• Discounts on special events such as Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
• Access to intangible perks such as invitations to previews of new attractions.

Again, as long as the passholder is the one paying, generally an entire family can be included in the discount.

Annual pass holders can get discounts on some special events, such as select nights of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

So if during a week long vacation, a family of four does the following:

• Spends $250 on merchandise (annual pass savings = $25)
• Takes the Backstage Safari Tour at 4 x $72 (annual pass savings = $43)
• Spends $100 at Yak & Yeti (annual pass savings = $10)
• Spends $220 on two massages at the Saratoga Springs resort spa (annual pass savings = $22)

Then they’ve saved $100 as annual pass holders over non pass holders.

If these folks have also booked their Port Orleans stay with the annual pass discount, they’ve now saved over $250 by having one person in the group buy an annual pass for a simple one week stay. That’s enough to cover their souvenir budget.

Of course there are many other factors to consider, including Florida resident and Disney Vacation Club member passholder discounts which can make annual pass purchases a near no brainer, room rate discounts available to the general public which make the pass discounts superfluous, and required travel dates which don’t overlap with available discount dates.

The moral of the story is that you have to do the math based on your family’s unique circumstances including length of stay, total number of trips per year, preferred resort, travel dates, merchandise and recreation spending, and dining habits including possible purchase of the Tables in Wonderland card.

Passholder benefits are listed on the Walt Disney World website. In general, if you’re staying at Walt Disney World for a week or more during a calendar year, it pays to do some investigating about whether getting at least one annual pass for your family makes financial sense.

So Disney travelers, what have been your annual pass experiences? Have you found the discounts to be worth it? Have you even purchased an annual pass even if you were only making a short Disney visit? Let us know in the comments below.

When Does a Walt Disney World Annual Pass Make Sense? is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

7 a.m., seconds before rope from in Cars Land for Early Entry. (All photos by Seth Kubersky)

The new Cars Land attractions are barely three weeks old, but their popularity has already pushed the Disneyland Resort in general, and the Disney California Adventure park in particular, to record levels of attendance. The old conventional wisdom was that the sparsely-attended second gate didn’t require the same assiduous planning as its older sibling to enjoy in a single day. But at least until the Cars Land hoopla dies down — which we don’t expect to happen any time this summer — you’ll need an efficient itinerary to absorb all the relaunched park has to offer.

The 2013 edition of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland will soon be winging its way to the presses, packed with our brand-new optimized touring plans for tackling Disney California Adventure’s latest additions. Unfortunately, it will arrive on store shelves too late to help those of you planning to visit within the next few months. Therefore, in honor of the recently-passed Independence Day holdiay, we wave the flag of freedom from frustration, and offer you this “survival guide” to liberating yourself from the long lines in Cars Land.

As always, our number one advice is “Arrive early, arrive early, arrive early!” For the foreseeable future, as far as Cars Land is concerned, you’ll want to add at least two more “arrive earlies” to that mantra. Much of your touring strategy depends on whether you are eligible for one of the park’s Early Entry programs.

Extra Magic Hour is the new name for Disneyland Resort’s bonus to guests staying at one of the three on-site hotels. Anyone with valid admission and an active room key from Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier, or the Grand Californian, is eligible to enter DCA one hour before the general public on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Purchasers of 3-day or longer tickets with Magic Morning are only eligible to enter Disneyland Park early, not DCA.

Hotel guests may enter through the main gate or the private entrance in the Grand Californian. An old “trick” that allowed non-hotel guests to enter early if they had a same-day receipt from a hotel shop or restaurant is no longer valid. Note that on the other four days of the week, hotel guests may enter the park 30 minutes early through the Grand Californian entrance, but are only permitted to retrieve World of Color FASTPASS tickets; Cars Land rides will remain off-limits until the official opening time.

For this summer, Disneyland is running a separate early entry program exclusively for Annual Passholders, who can register to attend DCA and Disneyland on one morning each between now and mid-September. The program is held on the opposite days of Extra Magic Hour, meaning that DCA is available on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Passholders must register online in advance, and will have to show their passes to receive wristbands before entering the park.

If you are able to participate in either early entry option, we highly recommend you do so, since it is easily the least crowded way to experience the park. Here is our early entry touring strategy:

• Arrive at the park entrance, ticket in hand, at least 90 minutes before the official opening time. For this summer, that means 6:30 a.m. Allow for extra time if you need to purchase admission, or receive a wristband for Annual Passholder early entry.
• Guests may be allowed into the park 30 minutes or more before the early entry period begins. Proceed to Carthay Circle at the end of Buena Vista Street, where you will be held until 7 a.m. If you are early and sleepy, you can grab a Starbucks eye-opener from Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe.
• Once permitted to progress forward, move straight to Cars Land, walking with the restraining rope to the end of Route 66. The majority of the crowd will head directly to Radiator Springs Racers. However, that ride frequently opens a few miniutes (or more) late due to morning safety testing. Instead, get in line for Luigi’s Flying Tires (inside the Casa del Tires shop facade, with the tire tower out front). If you are among the first in the queue, you should be on and off the ride in about 10 minutes.
• After riding Luigi’s, look at the posted wait time for the single rider line at Radiator Springs Racers. If the wait is 30 minutes or less, the time is before 7:15 a.m., and your group doesn’t mind being separated, get in the singles queue. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
• Ride Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. Your wait time should be under 20 minutes.
• If the time is 7:30 a.m. or earlier, consider grabbing some breakfast from the Cozy Cone Motel (beware the overcooked scrambled eggs) or Flo’s V8 Cafe.
• Send a member of your party with all of the group’s admission passes to get in line for Radiator Springs FASTPASS tickets no later than 7:45 a.m. The distribution location is outside Cars Land near the entrance to It’s Tough to be a Bug! Make sure you get in the FASTPASS line with other early entry participants several minutes before the official park opening, at which time the queue will be merged with the general public.
• FASTPASS distribution begins at official park opening time. If you’ve followed these steps, you should get your passes within 20 minutes of opening, with a return time around mid-morning. Pay close attention to your return window; Radiator Springs Racers is the first attraction at the resort to enforce the printed one-hour time frame, though exceptions are made if the ride breaks down.
• At this point you’ve experienced the slowest-loading rides and secured a coveted FASTPASS to the park’s top attraction. Grab some food if you need to, pick up a FASTPASS to World of Color if you want to see the first performance, and start touring the park. If you’re not following one of our time-tested touring plans, at least prioritize Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin’ Over California, and Tower of Terror. You’ll find that Cars Land sucks up so much of the arriving crowd that lines at the other former top draws should be pleasantly short.

This is what your wait will look like if you are among the first people in line for Luigi's.

Can’t take advantage of early entry? Check back later for part 2 of this series, featuring our survival advice for general admission.

Cars Land Survival Guide: Early Entry is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Welcome to the first weekly installment of Last Week at Disneyland, TouringPlans.com‘s regular round-up of recent events and operations in and around the Anaheim resort. This column will be your weekly refresher of what’s new at the Happiest Place on Earth.

In addition to Disneyland.com and the Official Disney Parks Blog, much of the following news and photography comes courtesy of our friends at MousePlanet and MiceAge. Visit those sites for more images and up-to-the-minute updates.

Crowd Calendar

Attendance was seasonably slow at the resort this week, but look for crowds to build as Memorial Day approaches.

• Quietest Days: Resort attendance was lowest on May 3 (Predicted 1 out of 10, Actual 2).
• Busiest Days: Resort attendance was highest on April 29 (Predicted 6 out of 10, Actual 5).

Subscribe to the Touring Plans Disneyland Crowd Calendar for full details on predicted attendance for the next 30 days.

Special Events

• Disneyland celebrated Cinco de Mayo on May 5 with a special menu at Tortilla Joe’s in Downtown Disney.
• Reservations are now being accepted for special after-hours Annual Passholder parties being held on May 14, 15, 21, and 22 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Fantasmic!
• A sweepstakes was announced for Annual Passholders to win a preview visit to Cars Land and Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure on June 11.
• ABC Television announced that the episode of Modern Family that was shot at Disneyland on Leap Day will be broadcast on May 9.
• New membership spots in the ultra-exclusive Club 33 are available, in case you have a stack of spare $10,000 bills lying around. New members will be able to visit 1901, the new private lounge being built inside the Carthay Circle Theatre at DCA.

Opening, Closures, and Refurbishments

Disneyland

• The candy store, Penny Arcade, and Gibson Girl ice cream parlor on Main Street, USA, reopened on May 2 following a major refurbishment. The makeover is getting high marks from early visitors, excepting the removal of the glass elephant and several vintage arcade machines. Carnation Cafe remains closed until June 2.
• The Carnation Plaza Gardens closed forever on April 30, to be transformed into the Princess Fantasy Faire in 2013. Saturday swing dancing will be relocated to Downtown Disney in the interim.
• Frontierland Festival Arena stage is now home to the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree, with characters and crafts Friday-Sunday. This is also where school musical groups perform now that Plaza Gardens is gone.
• Matterhorn Bobsleds remained closed for a major overhaul until June 15.
• Indiana Jones Adventure was closed for a quick refurb on May 1-2.
• Frontierland Shootin’ Exposition is closed now through May 25.

Disney California Adventure

• Ariel’s Grotto restaurant is closed through May 3, and the attached Cove Bar is closed through June 1.
• Ariel’s Undersea Adventure was closed April 30 to May 4 to install new hair on the “Under the Sea” Ariel animatronic and replace CGI projections with new hand-drawn animation. The changes will also appear in the WDW version of the ride, opening this winter.
• Soarin’ Over California closed unexpectedly on May 3 after guests at Epcot’s version of the ride managed to slip out of their restraints. The ride reopened on May 4, and safety procedures are being reevaluated.
• Buena Vista Street and Cars Land remain under construction until June 15, though some soft-openings are possible later in the month.
• Preparations are underway for the Mad T Party, this summer’s replacement for the ElecTRONica weekend dance parties. The new Alice in Wonderland-inspired event will feature themed midway arcade games.

Downtown Disney

• The large LEGO Imagination store reopened on May 1 after a major refurbishment. The temporary LEGO store in the former home of Island Charter is now transforming into the WonderGround art gallery which will open on June 9.

Last Week at Disneyland Resort (4/29/2012 – 5/5/2012) is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.