Disneyland Resort

[Jerroddragon]

Went to Disneyland for the 70th on Saturday
Rope Drop until Midnight

Saw The New MickeyMouse Club house show (its fine, cute enough but prefer the Halloween show over this...ot has a Keyblade and Big Thunder Mountain reference in the show)
Watch the Pixar Parade, the second show was pretty easy to get a good spot
WOC is good but....I know I'm in the minority but I prefer the last show. The muppers Pre show is great but not that big of a fan of the "story" of this WOC and feels like it takes away time for more segments in the show, Powerline and Wish were highlights for me
Paint the Night, I was not that hyped this was coming back but man this is a pretty great parade, got lucky and only had to wait an hourish for a good spot but it was pure luck and wont happen again.
Wondrous Journeys didnt have the best spot for the projections but the show was fine, its cool it has hunchback and two characters flying around but need to see it again to see if its a show I care for or not

The small world porjection show is super cute and fun, Id say its worth going over to see once
The Carthy circle projection show is fine but too short and I would only see it, if your near it. I will say I hope they keep trying for this show since its the first time of them doing projections in this area
Toy Story has a few physical props added for the 70th and would say its a fun addition to have the stickers
Met Red Guardian he's a super fun character, I know he wont but would love him to stay in the land
Also met Agent P who I guess is only there on Saturdays. It was cool getting to see him and the photo op area is cute and he had a line everytime he came out.

Lines for rides were fair, because so many were doing other things...so Disney please keep parades and bring back live shows to help with ride lines

Overall while there isn't enough new the event overall is fun and there is a lot to do but just wish we had more "new" but we do have the Walt show coming, and the Pixar dance party is coming back and Rex is coming so once again there are things to do just wish we had more new and hope the 75th will have more new.

Also only Matterhorn and Tiki Room are down right now which isn't too bad for the summer crowds

 

[saint.piss]

 

[TheUniC6]

 

[UNIrd]

To make way for this new experience, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! will close in early 2026.

Nooooo... I love this classic dark ride. Sucks to lose one of the only ones in DCA. And it still gets decent waits too!

 

[belloq87]

The Disneyland entry experience: now with more walking.

 

[Viator]

The Disneyland entry experience: now with more walking.

The Eastern Gateway was always going to happen, it’s just been a question to when.

With LA2028 approaching in 3 years, odds are Disney wants this to soften up the stress that’ll come with capacity for tourism.

 

[Ron101]

Nooooo... I love this classic dark ride. Sucks to lose one of the only ones in DCA. And it still gets decent waits too!

Ride only has a waittime becuase of lightning lane. Pre lightning lane it was always 10mins or less. Won’t be too sad to this ride go. Was always a quick overlay of the original Super Star Limo.

 

[Rideguy70]

I like how they say "Construction will begin 2026" and casually leave off when they expect it to be finished

That's because we'll all be dead by then

 

[Tobias]

The Eastern Gateway was always going to happen, it’s just been a question to when.

With LA2028 approaching in 3 years, odds are Disney wants this to soften up the stress that’ll come with capacity for tourism.

Isn't the new gateway/esplanade also needed due to Avatar? Since there's no way the Mike and Sully ride is big enough for whatever they want to put in for Avatar, however if they also expand into the bus loop right above...that provides the space and gives a legitimate reason for the new gateway/esplanade.

 

[TheUniC6]

Isn't the new gateway/esplanade also needed due to Avatar? Since there's no way the Mike and Sully ride is big enough for whatever they want to put in for Avatar, however if they also expand into the bus loop right above...that provides the space and gives a legitimate reason for the new gateway/esplanade.

Yes. The EGW was always needed for HL to go away. It will also replace the parking spaces the Simba lot provides when that eventually goes for DCA's DLForward expansion.

 

[DrStarlander]

Yes. The EGW was always needed for HL to go away. It will also replace the parking spaces the Simba lot provides when that eventually goes for DCA's DLForward expansion.

The thing I'm stumped by is that if they put Coco where that parade gate is next to the coaster...that's where the bridge to the Simba lot was speculate to be located. So...now, not sure where the bridge would be located instead. It could be where Paradise Gardens is but ideally they put Santa Cecilia village there along with Coco. Maybe the bridge goes out the backside of PG area some way, some day?

 

[TheUniC6]

The thing I'm stumped by is that if they put Coco where that parade gate is next to the coaster...that's where the bridge to the Simba lot was speculate to be located. So...now, not sure where the bridge would be located instead. It could be where Paradise Gardens is but ideally they put Santa Cecilia village there along with Coco. Maybe the bridge goes out the backside of PG area some way, some day?
View attachment 26780
View attachment 26781

Some other posters on WDWMagic think the bridge to the Simba lot will somehow have to coexist in the Coco entrance. Very interested to see how the imagineers will work that in.

 

[Evan]

Some other posters on WDWMagic think the bridge to the Simba lot will somehow have to coexist in the Coco entrance. Very interested to see how the imagineers will work that in.

Also important to remember, it was only ever an example of what they could do. We don’t actually know if that’s how they’d expand, or if they’d connect DCA to an expansion plot in that way. It was strictly to illustrate and get approval for zoning.

 

[TheUniC6]

Also important to remember, it was only ever an example of what they could do. We don’t actually know if that’s how they’d expand, or if they’d connect DCA to an expansion plot in that way. It was strictly to illustrate and get approval for zoning.

Someone on Twitter did point that out. Considering how DLR needs all the space they can get, my fingers are crossed the Simba lot will somehow get used for DCA expansion.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Regarding timeline... it's all starting to shape up (assumming these are all staggered)

• Avengers Infinity Defense construction started earlier this year, a 2 year build would put it somewhere Summer-Fall 2027
• Coco Dark Ride starting later this year, 2.5 year timeline puts it in early 2028
• Pandora starts late next year, the exact same construction timeline as SWGE puts it late 2029.
• New Eastern Gateway starting late 2026, puts it around late 2028-early 2029, before Pandora

 

[DrStarlander]

I see in the Harbor Blvd. concept rendering that the ramp from the bridge to the esplanade is long but that's a significant elevation drop (the bridge clears the Monorail). Even as long as it is, I think that ramp could be a killer for tired legs at the end of the day. I'm surprised not to see escalators in the art. Yes, there's an elevator but the line for that would seem long.

As far as Avatar, so... I'm getting the impression this is nothing like Pandora at DAK (a land) but is just a single attraction taking up some of Hollywood Backlot. On one hand I'm disappointed to see attractions dropped in randomly without immersive area development. But on he other hand, I'm not that excited about the Avatar IP so I'm glad it's not going to be over-sized like SWGE was.

Some other posters on WDWMagic think the bridge to the Simba lot will somehow have to coexist in the Coco entrance. Very interested to see how the imagineers will work that in.

Locating the bridge near what promises to be a very popular attraction at DCA (a family dark ride, indoor boat ride) seems like a recipe for congestion. I hope they've thought it all out. That's a core issue with DCA since Day 1, it's never felt like they had a strong master plan for the park, it has always felt like successive waves of tinkering/fixing (including dropping attractions in randomly).

Also important to remember, it was only ever an example of what they could do. We don’t actually know if that’s how they’d expand, or if they’d connect DCA to an expansion plot in that way. It was strictly to illustrate and get approval for zoning.

I agree we can't take that Disneyland Forward concept art literally, but interesting that they are putting six times the parking on that eastern lot than it has now, which raises the question: what other parking is going away? Hard to see Disney spending money they don't have to so, so there may be a plan for either Simba or Toy Story. I guess Simba could become more hotels but DCA has less than 60% of the attendance as Disneyland, so as challenging as incorporating a bridge is into the park, I'm more bullish on DCA using expansion west of Disneyland Dr. than Disneyland Park.

Someone on Twitter did point that out. Considering how DLR needs all the space they can get, my fingers are crossed the Simba lot will somehow get used for DCA expansion.

Agreed, it is indeed a small park, about 25% smaller than DLP I think acreage-wise.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I see in the Harbor Blvd. concept rendering that the ramp from the bridge to the esplanade is long but that's a significant elevation drop (the bridge clears the Monorail). Even as long as it is, I think that ramp could be a killer for tired legs at the end of the day. I'm surprised not to see escalators in the art. Yes, there's an elevator but the line for that would seem long.

I don't think it'll be too much of an issue, the proposed path to the esplanade is very long. Similar to walking down main street, don't think it'll be too big of an issue... but more shade would be fine.

As far as Avatar, so... I'm getting the impression this is nothing like Pandora at DAK (a land) but is just a single attraction taking up some of Hollywood Backlot. On one hand I'm disappointed to see attractions dropped in randomly without immersive area development. But on he other hand, I'm not that excited about the Avatar IP so I'm glad it's not going to be over-sized like SWGE was.

Yeah, it seems like it'll be a very tiny land in terms of walkable areas. If concept art is true, and the monorail isn't being touched, the land will be "locked" into the existing backlot area... which is not a significant size. Unless they go multi-level, I'm shocked they're not demoing the entire Hollywood area.

 

[DrStarlander]

Yeah, it seems like it'll be a very tiny land in terms of walkable areas. If concept art is true, and the monorail isn't being touched, the land will be "locked" into the existing backlot area... which is not a significant size. Unless they go multi-level, I'm shocked they're not demoing the entire Hollywood area.

Last night Hey Brickey theorized all of DCA's Avatar would be outside the monorail track, and guests would go through a tunnel under the Monorail tracks before entering that lush area revealing Pandora. I didn't think that would be enough room. But indeed it probably is what they're doing, and the scope may not be what was depicted in previous concept art. They can fit a 140k sq. ft. show building, the outdoor lagoon/queue area shown in the concept art, something like this:


Here's Shanghai Pirates for comparison: