All photos copyright Disney

Massive summer crowds are making their final seasonal assault on the Disneyland Resort, but there was still plenty of news coming out of the Anaheim area last week.

Crowd Calendar

Quietest Day: Friday 8/10 was a 9 out of 10 at the resort, with DCA crowds at 9.1 and Disneyland Park at 7.7.

Busiest Day: Saturday 8/11 was a 9 out of 10 at the resort, with DCA crowds at 9.3 and Disneyland Park at 8.5.

Subscribe to the TouringPlans.com Disneyland Crowd Calendar for details on predicted crowds for the next 30 days.

Special Events

• Disney released a quarterly earnings report, confirming a massive increase in attendance at Disney California Adventure since the relaunch in June.
• The Destination D fan event celebrating 75 years of Disney feature animation was held August 11-12 at the Disneyland Hotel.
• A temporary exhibit of sets and props from the upcoming Tim Burton stop-motion film Frankenwenie was announced for DCA's Hollywood Land, opening in September.
• Reservations are now being taken for the temporary Pirates League makeover boutique being set up in Disneyland's Court of Angels for the Halloween season.

• Disneyland announced that the Glow With The Show ears sold for DCA's World of Color show will soon also interact with Fantasmic at Disneyland Park.
• A video released by the Disney Parks Blog depicts how “Owen,” one of the resort's newest horses, was trained to work on Main Street USA.
• Special discounted tickets and hotel rates are available to active and retired military personnel and their families from August 17 through September 2013.
• Tickets for the August 2013 D23 Expo in Anaheim went on sale on August 9.

• Bookings are now open for the new “Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps” VIP tour. Begining September 9, the new tour (which replaces the popular “Walk in Walt's Footsteps” tour) includes visits to the Club 33 lobby and Walt's private Main Street apartment. The tour price will increase to $108.
• The Disney Parks Blog announced an opportunity to meet Imagineer Tony Baxter and the authors of the new book “Poster Art of the Disney Parks” at Disneyland's Disney Gallery on August 18.
• Another blog post highlighted Chef Jean-Marc Viallet, creator of the “ugly” pies served at Flo's V8 Cafe in Cars Land.
• Newly released videos feature the Goofy “Instant Concert…Just Add Water!” and “Dancin' with Disney” shows at DCA.

Openings, Closings, and Refurbishments

• Additional concept art was released of the under-construction Princess Fantasy Faire, due to be completed in spring 2013. The current Princess Royal Walk closed August 12 to transform the Fantasyland Theatre back into an entertainment venue; the princess meet & greets have been temporarily relocated to the Small World mall.
• Al Lutz shared rumors that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will close soon for a major refurbishment, to last through most of 2013.
• Many of the beach balls have been removed from Luigi's Flying Tires in Cars Land, in an apparent effort to improve the slow-loading ride's throughput.
• Construction of the Earl of Sandwhich restaurant in Downtown Disney is slowly progressing.
• No other scheduled attraction closures were reported last week.

Last Week at Disneyland Resort (8/5/2012 – 8/11/2012) 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

August arrived last week, and with it the last wave of summer tourists before the Disneyland Resort gets to catch its breath at the end of this month.

Crowd Calendar

Quietest Day: Monday 7/30 was a 9 out of 10 at the resort, with DCA crowds at 7.6 and Disneyland Park at 8.9.

Busiest Day: Sunday 7/29 was a 9 out of 10 at the resort, with DCA crowds at 8.5 and Disneyland Park at 9.2.

Subscribe to the TouringPlans.com Disneyland Crowd Calendar for details on predicted crowds for the next 30 days.

Special Events

• On July 30, lucky readers of the Disney Parks blog were invited to a showing of World of Color at DCA, and received free Glow with the Show ear hats. Later in the week, Disney released a video explaining the technology behind the interactive light-up hats.
• Images were released of the new Princess Fantasy Faire model, which will replace the Princess Royal Walk that closes August 12. A new show will open in the Fantasyland Theatre next year.
• New images by Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, one featuring actor Russell Brand as Captain Hook, we're released online with behind-the-scenes videos of the photo shoots.
• A new collectible pin set inspired by the Cars Land artwork of designer Chip Foose went on sale in the resort on August 2.

Openings, Closings, and Refurbishments

• The Jungle Cruise returned from a brief unscheduled refurbishment with new safety features on the boat dock.
• An outpost of Walt Disney World's Pirate League makeover experience is temporarily coming to Disneyland's Court of Angels for Halloween (September 2 through October 31).
• Construction continues on the Princess Fantasy Faire in Disneyland, and Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney.
• Al Lutz reports on MiceAge.com that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will close for a major refurbishment in fall 2012 through 2013.

Last Week at Disneyland Resort (7/29/2012 – 8/4/2012) is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.