Monday, April 16, 2012

What's New in Disney News - Vol 4

A couple of things of note from Disney Parks Blog this past week. It has been confirmed that June 15 will mark the resumption of the Pixar Play Parade at Disney California Adventure. I gotta tell you that June 15 is shaping up to be one very memorable day in Disney parks history. Almost makes me wish that somehow, Disney finds a way to broadcast the events around DCA's grand re-opening (like Walt did when Disneyland first opened). Maybe with the internet, they will. I could guarantee that they would have an audience. Anyway, the parade has been on hiatus for quite awhile because of various DCA construction projects blocking the parade route. Speaking of parade routes, DCA may now have the longest parade route of any theme park anywhere as the new route runs all the way from the Hollywood Tower of Terror to Silly Symphony Swings. It would probably take me 20 minutes to walk that far myself.... Anyway, as I've said before, the Pixar Play Parade is a good one for young and old. It's, as they say, "a crowd pleaser" with classic Pixar characters and a catchy musical soundtrack that I still get stuck in my head from time to time. Some modifications have needed to be made on a couple of the floats to reduce their height. The phony street car cables for the Red Car Trolley got in the way.

It has also been announced that on April 30, the Plaza Gardens will be closed down to make way for the new Princess meet and greet. The Plaza Gardens stage played host to big band performances from a bygone era from the likes of Count Bassie and Benny Goodman. A lot of history went on in there. Today, there are weekly swing dances and organized events for schools and groups but basically, the area is very much under-utilized. Disneyland real estate is valuable so something really had to done with the space. The stage will remain with new Princess Fantasy Faire constructed around it. The plan is to use the space for the elaborate meet and greet during the day while allowing organized events and dancing to return at night. We shall see.

Also announced this week is that June 14 will be the last day for Ariel's Grotto to offer World of Color Dinner Dining Packages. The restaurant is currently used for Princess character dining for breakfast and lunch with the WOC dining packages for dinner. Apparently, the demand for princesses has now exceeded the demand for premium WOC dining which is kind of too bad. On our trips to DCA, Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I have laid down the big buck for WOC dining packages including a very nice dinner at Ariel's Grotto (after several bad experiences there in the pre-WOC days). We will pay for dining packages from time to time. We just don't pay equally high dollars for character meals unless it to celebrate an occasion with a family member. Right now, I no longer see us making it to back to Ariel's Grotto, at least not in the foreseeable future. Now the new and improved Cove Bar upstairs and adjacent to Ariel's Grotto, that's a different story. Some final memories of our dining experience at AG.