Disneyland Construction Update: January 2016

This week was our first time visiting Disneyland before Christmas, and to be honest, I was bracing myself for the worst. I figured the park would be an ugly, with a sea of construction walls killing the ambiance in some of my favorite lands.

My fears were totally unjustified, and that was not even remotely the case. Aside from the closure of Big Thunder Trail and the wall at the Adventureland bridge, the walls were almost unnoticeable. The views from the New Orleans Square and Frontierland sides of the Rivers of America are unimpeded, and it’s still pleasant to be in these lands.

There is a loss of kinetic energy by virtue of the boats not operating, but this is not significant enough to get worked up over. If you’re visiting months from now, don’t get too excited just yet. At some point, the Rivers of America will need to be drained, and when that happens, history tells us that walls will go up around the length of the River, as they did in 2010.

The question then becomes whether the River is dammed off on the backside where the bulk of construction is to occur, and then quickly cleaned and refilled on the front, or if it remains drained for the duration of the re-routing of the Disneyland Railroad and redesign of the north bank of the Rivers of America. In the former scenario, walls running the length of the River could be up for as little time as a few weeks. In the latter scenario, walls could be up for over a year.

Still, a lot is closed right now in both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, and some readers have asked whether it’s a good time to visit. I’ll cover that on Page 3.

Now let’s take a look at what else is going on in Disneyland during the start of the construction process…

We will start with the New Orleans Square Station, where trains are parked so that guests can have a “sit-in” to air their many grievances about this or that.

Nothing excites Disney geeks more than “access,” so it should be no surprise that fans are flipping out over the opportunity to visit the Frontierland Station. (It’s the correct name–it was relocated to its current spot.)

It’s pretty cool to be able to walk over there, and there are many Cast Members around to talk with guests about the history of the Disneyland Railroad.

Dateline Disneyland reported that there’s the possibility of reopening the interior for guests to walk through–that would be really awesome.

In my Disneyland Secrets & Hidden Details post, I reported that the morse code playing here is Walt Disney’s opening day dedication. Then a commenter who is a HAM radio operator disputed that, claiming it’s totally random. Then another commenter claimed that it’s “Railroad Morse” (per Imagineer Glenn Barker), which is why some meager HAM radio operator (;)) wouldn’t understand it. What’s a good Disneyland story without a bit of drama?!

This is a really nice making lemonade out of lemons thing.

It would have been easy for Disney to just wall-off each of the train stations for the next year and call it a day, so I think management deserves some applause for electing to instead have somewhat of an interactive display for guests to enjoy.

One of the photo ops for Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary near Haunted Mansion.

Permanent FastPass has returned at Haunted Mansion.

It was nice to have the regular Haunted Mansion back.

I enjoy Haunted Mansion Holiday, but enjoy the regular flavor even more. The Mansion was looking pretty good post-refurbishment.

Last year’s addition of Hatbox Ghost is great, and something unique to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. This Audio Animatronics figure really pops, making him surprisingly easy to photograph.

On the other end of the difficulty spectrum is the caretaker. I’ve never photographed him from this angle, as we were heading backwards, approaching the graveyard, but I really liked the perspective. I’m going to try this shot a few more times until I really get something I like.

For more tips on dark ride photography, check out my Tips for Photographing Disney Rides post.

I love all of the little details around Haunted Mansion.

There’s so much to see and notice if you slow down and look around.

The FastPass area looks nice, but I could do without FastPass on such a high-capacity attraction.

Elsewhere in New Orleans Square, the streets are decorated for Mardi Gras.

I’ve said it before, but I prefer Disney’s take on the French Quarter to the real thing.

This idealized version of New Orleans showcases some of the stunning architecture and vibrant culture that make actual New Orleans a great place, but cuts out the unsavory parts that damper the net experience.

There’s no denying that (actual) New Orleans has a richness and uniquity that make it special, though.

Moving on from that random aside, over at Jungle Cruise, Cast Members are inviting guests to participate in “Skipper School.”

This cute little interactive show allows guests to play a role in the Jungle Cruise experience, and features classic Jungle Cruise humor. It’s another example of Disney making lemonade out of lemons by offering something in addition to construction walls during the refurbishment.

Same situation with the Mark Twain Riverboat, where guests can board the docked boat. Yesterday, Princess Tiana and Louis were meeting guests with virtually no line (we waited less than 2 minutes).

It’s also a great spot to sit and unwind, looking out onto the Rivers of America and into New Orleans Square and Frontierland.

Over at Star Wars Launch Bay, Kylo Ren is now meeting guests. His engagements were a bit stilted, but it was a neat photo op. I was surprised that his wait was only 5 minutes, whereas the wait for Chewbacca was 25.

Autopia is behind walls for the new Honda sponsorship. It looks like all of the structures are going to be refreshed, hopefully with a new color scheme matching the rest of Tomorrowland. The fleet of cars remains on the tracks, so I assume the rumors about converting the vehicles to electric aren’t going to come to fruition.

Tomorrowland is supposed to depict the “Agrifuture” something that isn’t usually obvious, but the citrus trees by the entrance are very visibly in full bloom right now.

The hub will look even nicer than it does now when its trees are in full bloom in about a month or so!

Alice in Wonderland continues to draw some of the longer waits in the park. It remains hugely popular despite its refurbishment being, what, like 2 years ago at this point?

With the band and plenty of vehicles out, the ambiance on Main Street was spectacular.

Before heading over to Disney California Adventure, we stopped by the Main Street Train Station.

As with the New Orleans Square Station, there are tons of Cast Members offering detailed information about the railroad.

While you can’t board the Lilly Belle, it is parked and you can peak inside and take photos.

Conductors were giving out “Engineer of the Day” certificates to guests, which was a nice touch. One told us that these are normally for kids, but we looked like we might like them. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.

We continue with more updates and refurbishments occurring in Disney California; click here for Page 3.

There, we’ll start with whether now is a good time to visit Disneyland. So if you’re considering a trip, be sure to read that…