Photo copyright Disney

With heavy lifting recently completed on the reconstruction of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad‘s track, the construction crane near Disneyland’s Big Thunder Trail has been removed, reopening the pathway between Fantasyland and Frontierland full-time and returning the Big Thunder Ranch to daily operation. That’s good news, because that area can expect to see much higher attendance next month when the Toy Story team arrives.

Similar to the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree held last summer at Big Thunder’s festival arena, Woody’s All-American Roundup will include character meet & greets, carnival games, kids crafts, and specialty snacks. New this year is “Talent Roundup” stage show, featuring Jessie the Cowgirl’s slingshot skills, Woody’s lasso tricks, and the musical stylings of Buckaroo Bob.

Between character shows, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies will perform their “Red, White and Bluegrass!” show on the outdoor stage. Billy was also moved here from their Golden Horseshoe home last summer, with mixed results (read here for more on the controversy). Hopefully the Hillbillies will get a better reception this time.

The Roundup begins on June 14 and runs through the summer season. No ending date is announced yet.

Woody’s All-American Roundup Arriving at Disneyland This Summer is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Photo copyright Disney

As we shared back in March, Disneyland Resort is planning to celebrate Greek culture with an Opa! festival later this month. The event be held at both Disneyland Resort parks over the weekend of May 25 to 27.

This week Disneyland released details on the food and entertainment that will feature at this event. Activities will take place daily from 10am to 6pm in the small world mall area of Disneyland Park and Paradise Gardens at Disney California Adventure. You’ll find line dancing, wine seminars, and food tastings at Disney California Adventure; Hercules will conduct “Olympic training” games at Disneyland Park.

The above events (excluding food and drinks) are included in regular park admission. In addition, Executive Chef Christine Weissman, Greek celebrity Chef Argiro Barbarigou, and Greek winemaker Christina Boutari will present “Celebrate Greece: A Culinary Experience,” a 4-course dinner at DCA’s Golden Valley Winery on May 26 at 8pm. Tickets are $150, including tax, gratuity, and reserved World of Color viewing (park admission separate); click here for reservations and tickets.

Disneyland Reveals Details of Opa! A Celebration of Greek Culture is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

As we reported late last month, the Disneyland Resort recent shuttered some major E-Ticket attractions following inspections from California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA). Most of the rides, including Soarin’ Over California and California Screamin’, swiftly returned to service, but the iconic Space Mountain remained off-limits to guests for the past 3 weeks.

Happily, Space Mountian returned to service on Friday night (May 3) and resumed normal operating hours as of Saturday, May 4. To clarify earlier coverage, Disney was fined $234,850 after a contract employee was injured in a fall last November while cleaning the exterior of Space Mountain, but the current closure was a voluntary action (not mandated by Cal/OSHA) intended to ameliorate related safety issues that had previously been “grandfathered” approval. Disneyland has not yet announced whether it will appeal the fines, or if further safety modifications to Disneyland attractions (or similar rides at Walt Disney World) will be made.

In a related note, similar employee fall protection issues have led Disneyland to change watering procedures for the Disneyland Railroad. The steam-powered locomotives are currently receiving water on every trip using a firehose, instead of the overhead watering systems used for the past six decades. Guest rides in the tender car have also been suspended for the time being. The impact on most visitors who aren’t steam-engine authenticity experts should be minimal.

Space Mountain Reopens but Disneyland Still Faces OSHA Issues is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

In recent weeks, I’ve shared some my favorite ways to begin my day at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, as well as top picks for finishing a DCA visit, and even places to pause at mid-day around the Resort.

Today, I’m concluding this series with a look at the best options for ending your evening at Disneyland Park. While Disneyland is magical at any time of day, there is something particularly special about those final hours before closing at the original Magic Kingdom. Any one of the following activities (or combination thereof) should guarantee a fitting finale to your day at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Fireworks and Fantasmic!

No one does explosive spectaculars better than Disney, and there is no better one-two punch among theme park pageants than Disneyland’s fireworks and Fantasmic! Whether the show is Remeber…Dreams Come True, Magical, or one of the special seasonal displays, Disneyland’s pyrotechnics are not-to-be-missed. And Disneyland’s Fantasmic! is the ultimate assemblage of animated characters, action stunts, and enormous animatronics. On nights when both shows are performed,first watch the fireworks from the hub near Frontierland, the head immediately towards the river for a seat. Alternatively, stake out a spot early for Fantasmic and you’ll still have a fine view of the overhead sky bursts (though not effects on the castle or Tinker Bell’s flight).

Ride One Last Roller Coaster

Unofficial Guide readers know that the first and last hours of operation are the best time to experience a theme park’s top attractions with minimal waiting. At Disneyland, the end of the day is a great time to get a in a few re-rides on your favorite E-Ticket. A great choice to finish your night is one of the parks outdoor roller coasters. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is currently under an extensive refurbishment, is a different (and scarier) experience after sunset. So are the Matterhorn Bobsleds, which offer a single rider line that may let you walk on without waiting (provided you can fold your legs into the redesigned cars), making them my personal top pick for a late-night lap.

Window Shop along Main Street, U.S.A.

The shops along Disneyland’s entrance corridor stay open an hour past the park’s official closing time for your “shopping convenience.” But even if you don’t want to drop a dime, you can stretch out your day with a stroll past their entertaining wares. I alway make a point of perusing the collectibles in the Disney Gallery (currently being augmented with items from the shuttered Disneyana store) and staring into the spinning optical illusion outside the magic shop (try it!). The candy shop (also home to the remnants of the penny arcade), music shop, and Emporium are also ideal for browsing before you say bye-bye.

Take a Load Off

At the end of a full day at Disneyland, you’ve probably walked five miles or more. Wouldn’t it feel good to just sit down and put your feet up? The are a number of areas around the park where you can find a seat to rest and people-watch, including the Fantasyland motorboat dock and Tommorrowland Terrace. My favorite place to pause while the park is emptying is the “Wizard of Bras” porch on Main Street, U.S.A. You’ll recognize it as the elevated facade with several wooden chairs, located on the left side of the street as you exit. From this vantage point you can reminisce about your day while watching guests from around the world walk towards the front gates. Just be warned, this is a popular spot and you are likely to find all seats occupied — perhaps by me!

Party On at Trader Sam’s

If too much is never enough for you, don’t let your Disneyland adventure end just because the park is closing. Head to Tomorrowland as the clock counts down and hop the last Monorail of the night to Downtown Disney, then take a short stroll to the Disneyland Hotel. Near the recently reimagined pool complex you’ll find a little slice of Adventureland that stays open long past its in-park cousin. Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Room combines the lore of several fabled Disney attractions, including the Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones Adventure, and WDW’s Adventurers Club with a kooky-kitschy tiki bar and restaurant. The drinks are potent, the Polynesian-inspired food is tasty, and there are surprise effects in store for the unwary (to be explored in an upcoming blog posting). Best of all, at the end of your exhausting evening, you are only steps away from your bed (if staying on-site) or the taxi stand (if not).

What is your ideal way to end a day at Disneyland Park? Let us know in the comments below!

Top Five Ways to End Your Day at Disneyland Park is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Photo by Seth Kubersky

As you may have heard, the Disneyland Resort has been having serious issues with some of its headlining E-Tickets lately. On April 12, inspectors from California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (following up on an incident from earlier this year in which a Space Mountain maintenance worker fell and was injured) issued a citation to Disneyland for safety violations in the Anaheim parks, with proposed penalties totaling nearly a quarter million dollars.

At one point earlier this week, Space Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Soarin’ Over California were all simultaneously shuttered, in addition to Big Thunder Mountain which is closed for an extensive refurb. Then, on Friday (April 19) California Screamin’ was added to the list of forbidden rides, following a review of emergency evacuation procedures. Note that these closures are not related to guest safety, but to fall protection and other safety measures for employees cleaning and servicing the attractions after hours.

At press time, the Matterhorn and Soarin’ Over California have both been reinspected and returned to service. California Screamin’ was also reopened late on Friday, and is expected to operate on Saturday. However, according to reports on MiceAge, Space Mountain may be out of service for the rest of April.

If you are visiting Disneyland in the immediate future and using our Lines app to optimize, your touring plan should automatically adjust to accommodate any closed attractions. Check back on our Refurbishment page for updates on what is operating at the resort on any given day.

Disneyland Alert: Space Mountain Closed by Cal/OSHA is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Photos by Seth Kubersky

It's no secret that legendary film director Steven Spielberg is a life-long theme park afficiando. As a long-time consultant to Universal Studios, rides based on movies he has created or produced (including classics like ET, Back to the Future, Jaws, Men in Black, and Jurassic Park) have been hits in Orlando, California, and Japan. Spielberg is also known to be a fan of classic Disney films; he had composer John Williams include the melody “When You Wish Upon a Star” in his Close Encounters of the Third Kind score, and his film A.I. is essentially an explicit update of Pinnoccio.

But few fans realize how far back Spielberg's fascination with theme park rides — specifically Disneyland dark rides and E-tickets — goes. Thanks to a fascinating 35-year-old story conference transcript, we have a first-hand account of the lauded filmmaker's pro-Disney fanaticism.

The minutes of this momentous meeting, recorded over a week in late January 1978, document the moment when Spielberg, together with pal George Lucas and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, brainstormed the basic backstory of Indiana Jones, and solidified the script outline that would eventually become 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark. Originally leaked on an Internet film site in 2009 as scan of a grainy photocopy, the document has recently resurfaced as a searchable PDF. These newly accessible transcripts reveal the creative energy that birthed this iconic screen hero, and give insight into these award-winning artists' working methods.

Lucas demonstrates the unparalleled storytelling instincts of his early years, absorbing suggestions from others and then spitting back fully fleshed-out scene descriptions, many described almost shot-for-shot as they appear in the finished film. Spielberg is adorably enthusiastic, spilling forth a flood of incidental ideas — some brilliant (the evil monkey saluting “Heil Hitler”, filling the Well of Souls with snakes), some awful (Indy as a gambling addict?), and some so absurd they worked (at Steven's suggestion that Jones jump out of an airplane without a parachute, later recycled in Temple of Doom, Lucas retorts “That's sort of unbelievable.”). Finally, Lawrence Kasdan (who co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and is working on the new Star Wars sequels) is largely silent but occasionally offers an excellent idea, like Indy's mentor being Marion's father, and the Nazi monkey giving away Marion's basket hiding place.

But the real goldmine in these transcripts for theme park fans are Spielberg's repeated direct references to Disneyland. The discussion comes in two parts; first, as the team is inventing the famous opening sequence in which Indy navigates a trap-filled native temple, Spielberg says the following:

When the spikes come out and go like that, there should be remains, skeletal remains skewered on some of them, of victims that have been there before. It's kind of like one of those rides at Disneyland.

I would just love to see the guys walking in and there's a whole pile of skeletons, but they're like cardboard, completely flattened, really completely flat. They know that something around here is going to squish them. They don't know what's causing it, but something if they walk the wrong way is going to come out and make them pancakes. The piece should be like a real, horror ride, like a Disneyland ride. Once you're committed to going into that cave, there's seismic rumblings all the time and there's stalagmites and things going drip, drip. It's going to really be a sound experience going through that cave. There's nothing more terrifying than skeletons.

What we're just doing here, really, is designing a ride at Disneyland.

Ironically, that exact sequence later served as inspiration for an actual Disneyland ride, but Spielberg didn't get to help design it. Since Spielberg has been a paid consultant to Universal since the 1980s, it was left to Lucas to help create 1995's Indiana Jones Adventure.

Finally, near the end of the story sessions, the team spitballs a mine train escape planned for the film's finale. The idea was later used for the sequel, but Spielberg's initial idea to film the high-speed sequence inside a classic Disneyland attraction is certainly amusing:

This mine cart thing, we should shoot it at the Disneyland Matterhorn. They go on it at the end, so the final run is an up and a huge down, and the out is over the ocean… Just the last part of the run. It's tracks and a very small closure. It's like where they have the cable to pull the thing up, except this time it's coming down. It's weightless.It's not being run by a machine. The wheels are locked on the track, but there's no machine grinding it forward. It has no brakes. They've gotten onto the tail end. It drops down to the loading zone.

These tidbits barely scratch the surface of the gems to be mined from this treasure trove of a transcript. Read it for yourself, and I guarantee you'll never look at the world's greatest archeologist, or the happiest place on Earth, in quite the same way again!

Rediscovered Transcript Reveals Original Spielberg/Disneyland Connection is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

They say that April showers bring May flowers, but this month a different kind of precipitation may be misting up Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A. I’m certain that I’m not the only Disney devotee who is shedding a tear over the loss of two favorite front-of-park attractions. One, a legendary retail outlet that had remained largely untouched for decades; the other, a relatively recent entertainment import from Epcot.

First and foremost, Disneyland’s Market House will close on April 15 for its transformation into a franchised Starbucks Coffee outlet, similar to the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe that opened in DCA last summer. The rehabbed location, like the one across the Esplanade, is expected to be hugely popular with guests seeking their familiar Starbucks fix. But we would be remiss not to mark the passing of one of Main Street’s best-loved locations.

The Market House, a 1955 opening day original that was originally sponsored by Swift Premium Meats, had several elements that made it unique in the Disneyland retail universe. For starters, the interior decor had an number of unusual antique or interactive elements, including checker boards you could play, an authentic cast iron stove, and (best of all) old-fashioned party line telephones you could pick up and listen in on comical pre-recorded conversations. Second, as a merchandise (not foods) outlet, the Market House offered not only a variety of coffee-themed souvenirs (including some lovely mugs I’ve collected over the years) but a more substantial Annual Passholder discount on all purchases than restaurants offer.

Most importantly, the Market House brewed its own house blend of flavored coffee grounds (much tastier than the terrible Nescafé normally served in park restaurants) and offered it in unlimited quantities. Simply save your same-day receipt, and the Market House’s gregarious cast members would happily offer bottomless free refills until park closing.

This combination of charm, taste, and generosity had long made the Market House a favorite among Disneyland regulars, who will now have to find another java joint until it reopens at an unannounced date later this year. When it does, we’ve received assurances from Disney that classic elements of the shop — including the telephones — will be retained; on my last visit, I overheard some Imagineers discussing the history and future of the iconic stove.

Less comforting is news that the Disneyana shop adjacent to the Market House will be subsumed into the new Starbucks, and all its collectible merchandise merged into the Disney Gallery down the street. The already-intimate Gallery is one of my favorite oases in Anaheim, and while Disney promises the rotating art displays will remain, I fear the placid museum-like atmosphere may be destroyed in the process.

Finally, while they didn’t have the longevity of the Market House, the Voices of Liberty have made a nice addition to Disneyland’s live entertainment lineup for the past year. Imported from a similar group that has been a long-running hit at Epcot’s American Adventure pavilion, the Voices were intended to be a short-term addition to absorb last summer’s extreme attendance.

Their a cappella Americana performances in and around the Main Street Opera House proved popular enough to repeatedly extend their limited engagement, but now the curtain has finally fallen. As of April 7, the Voices have sung their last secular psalm in Anaheim, and their west coast incarnation is done (the show continues as normal at Walt Disney World). Enjoy this video I shot last year of one of the Voices of Liberty’s first Disneyland performances.

Farewell to Main Street Favorites: Disneyland’s Market House and Voices of Liberty Say Goodbye is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Are you a devoted fan of Disneyland’s original Audio-Animatronics attraction, home to dozens of frolicking feathered friends (and the delectable Dole Whip)? Then you’re going to want to dig deep any pony up for passes to the Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room 50th Anniversary Event, scheduled for June 28-29 at the Disneyland Hotel exhibit hall.

Event admission starts at $85 per person for the “Jose package,” which includes admission to the event store, silent auctions and trading opportunities, and a presentation featuring Disney Legends Rolly Crump and Bob Gurr. For an additional $185, you can meet popular retro artist SHAG at an evening cocktail reception.

The real reason people pay big bucks to attend these merchandise events is the opportunity to spend even more on exclusive and limited-edition souvenirs. A “random selection process” is used to distribute purchase opportunities among registrants for rare items, while other “open edition” artwork may be available online and in resort stores after the event.

Tickets are limited and can be purchased now online. If similar past events for the Haunted Mansion are any indication, you’ll want to order your tickets now if you plan on attending. Here is the complete event itinerary:

June 28, 2013 (5pm – 9pm)

• Early Registration (including pick-up of Random Selection Process Merchandise)
• Event Store
• Trading Area

June 29, 2013 (8am – 5pm)

• Event Store & Random Selection Process Merchandise Pick-up
• Memories of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room with Disney Legends Rolly Crump and Bob Gurr
• Merchandise Artists Signing Opportunity
• Silent Auction – featuring pre-production pins, artist proof pins and more
• Product Showcase – meet Disney Pin Merchandiser and view upcoming pin releases
• Trading Area and Trading Boards
• Photo location
• Commemorative Gifts

June 29, 2013 (7pm – 10pm)

• SHAG Cocktail Reception
• Lite Hors d’oeuvres
• Meet and Greet with SHAG
• Commemorative Photo
• Commemorative Gifts

Enchanted Tiki Room 50th Anniversary Event Tickets Now On Sale is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

photos by Seth Kubersky

As every experienced theme park commando knows, the Unofficial Guide’s number one tip for visiting Disneyland on a busy day (like during 2013′s spring break season) is “arrive early, arrive early, arrive early.” But the flip side is our paradoxical suggestion to stay late during extended operating hours, in order to take advantage of evening entertainment and shorter attraction lines.

Following both recommendations can result in spending a solid 16+ hours inside the park, if you enter at 8am and depart at midnight (a standard peak-season operating schedule). If that sounds more like a death march than a vacation to you, you’re not alone. That leads us to our most frequently overlooked essential epigram of touring intelligence: take a nap! A few minutes (or hours) of shut-eye in the middle of the afternoon will not only re-energize you for the evening, but also offer an escape from the worst wait times of the day. By the way, this advice is just as crucial for adults as it is for children. Even if you never take a nap at home, take the time for a lie-down any day you spend over 8 hours touring. Trust me, you’ll thank us!

Unlike the sprawling Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort is compact and easily accessible from numerous off-site hotels, making it easy for many guests to walk from the park gates to their rooms in less time than it take to retrieve a vehicle from the parking garage. If you are staying on property or within a short stroll of Disneyland, there’s absolutely no excuse not to take a mid-day rest in your room.

However, there are still plenty of visitors who can’t or won’t leave the Disneyland Resort and return again later that day. When you need to recharge, but don’t want to walk off property, where do you go? If you can’t retreat to your room, there are still some quiet corners amid the resort’s chaos where you can catnap. For starters, here are four of my favorite spots to sneak forty winks around the Disneyland Resort.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

In the now-extinct “Under New Management” edition of WDW’s Enchanted Tiki Room, Iago used to quip that he was going to “head over to the Hall of Presidents and take a nap.” In Anaheim, the show in the Main Street Opera House fills a similar role. Don’t get me wrong; the patriotic presentation is stirring, and the Abraham Lincoln animatronic stunning. But between the padded seats, dim lighting, and somber subdued tone, its all to easy to slide into the back row and slip into slumberland for twenty minutes. Just be prepared for the mid-show surround sound cannon fire to briefly rouse you.

Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular

Even better for napping than Old Abe’s theatre is Aladdin’s auditorium over in DCA’s Hollywood Land. You’ll have to do a little advance planning to pass out here, since there are only a handful of scheduled daily performance, as opposed to Lincoln’s back-to-back shows. But once inside, you’ll find equally accommodating furniture and — more importantly — a generous 45 minute running time. This show boasts the longest attraction length anywhere in the resort, making the back row of the Hyperion’s top balcony a top pick for serious zzzz’s.

Innoventions

Heading back across the Esplanade, you’ll find another fine hibernation spot in Tomorrowland — at least for the next couple weeks. The large rotating structure between Space Mountain and Autopia, which once housed the legendary nap-facilitators Carousel of Progress and America Sings, is now home to the underwhelming Innoventions exhibits, which have the charm of a neon-lit Best Buy blended with a tech trade show. The good news, for now, is that this is usually one of the least crowded spots in the resort, with many lightly-trafficked corners to crash in, especially on the outer ring of the first floor. You might even be tempted to stretch out in one of the model bedrooms inside the Dream House, though cast members discourage that. However, this venue’s placidity will be shattered on April 13th, when a Stark Industries Expo exhibit will open in conjunction with the big-screen release of Iron Man 3. As the first Disneyland experience associated with the mega-blockbuster Marvel Comics franchise, this interactive advertraction is certain to increase Innovention’s attendance numbers, likely spoiling this as a sleeping spot until it exits after September.

Grand Californian Lobby Fireplace

As nice as some in-park napping places are, it’s really best to escape the overstimulating environment, even if you don’t want to wander far. Many guests don’t realize that anyone can exit Disney California Adventure into the Grand Californian Hotel through the “exclusive” entrance near Grizzly Rver Run, regardless of whether they are renting a room there. Grab a comforting beverage from the Hearthstone Lounge, then pull up a comfy chair to the roaring fireplace in the majestic lobby. If you can keep your eyes open longer than 15 minutes in that situation, you’re a stronger man than I! When you awake, you can show your admission ticket to re-enter the park through the same side door, or perk up with a walk through Downtown Disney back to the front gate.

Those a are a few of my favorites; now I turn it over to you, our readers. Where do you sneak away to when you need to sack out at the Happiest Place on Earth? Please help out your fellow snoozers by suggesting your own siesta spots in the comments below!

Where Do You Nap at the Disneyland Resort? is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

All photos by Seth Kubersky

Right now at Walt Disney World, the 20th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is in full swing, attracting tourists from far and wide to admire the park’s painstakingly pruned foliage. But while this Orlando attraction may get the lion’s share of agricultural attention, Disney’s left coast parks don’t need a special occasion to shine in the shrubbery department.

With the spring season officially started (as of the vernal equinox on March 20), it’s appropriate for us to take a moment to stop smell the roses… along with the irises, violets, sunflowers, and other assorted horticultural spectacles seeded around the Disneyland Resort. For today’s photo gallery, I’ve selected a variety of snaps that I took last month during an Anaheim research expedition, highlighting the vibrant colors and rich textures you can currently find in flowerbeds around the Happiest Place on Earth.

While visiting Disneyland this Easter season, we know it’s tempting to sprint past the crowds on your way to your next E-Ticket adventure. But after you’ve conquered a Mountain or two, try slowing down and paying attending to the natural wonders that Disney’s genius gardeners have crammed into the parks’ nooks and corners. If this gallery whets your appetite, you may want to take the new Cultivating the Magic guided tour of the resort’s gardens next time you visit Disneyland. You’ll be glad you did…just beware of the bees!

Photo Gallery: Disneyland Resort In Spring Bloom is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.