News & Rumor Round-up
I have been informed of some very interesting news & rumors of what could be happening (or is going to happen) at the Disneyland Resort in the very near future:
- Construction should be beginning on World of Color sometime during the upcoming week, weather permitting of course. The first signs of work will be near the California Screamin’ launch area. Along with that, the change-over from the Orange Stinger to Silly Symphony Swings should start in January 2009, & construction on the The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Adventure will finally begin in April 2009. Also, the Maliboomer will now be removed next year, with nothing replacing it at the moment, except for a nicely designed seating area on the current tower platforms. The “refurbishment” of Burger Invasion seems to be of been pushed along a whole another year, with it supposedly lasting through May 26th, 2011. The building will sit dormant for a while, until work begins on the Beer Garden.
- Originally the plans for a new parade route in DCA called for it to go through Cars Land, & then up onto the parade route as it is today. Well now the plan is for parades to start at the gate right by the Tower of Terror, go through the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, through Buena Vista Street, & up along the rest of the regular parade route, which would make it the longest parade route in Disney history! This would prompt the removal of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot arch, however the two giant elephants would stay.
- New restrooms will be installed opposite the current ones next to Golden Dreams in the San Francisco style buildings, with work beginning on January 5th 2009, to allow for the current ones to be removed for extra space needed for The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Adventure. The supposed completion day is March 30th 2009, which makes sense if Little Mermaid construction is expected to begin in April.
- It’s rumored that a fruit cart will be installed in the former home of the Conestoga Wagon McDonalds fry cart in Frontierland. The only concrete details we have is that it should be opened by late May 2009.
- In a rather interesting turn of events, it seems the Royal Coronation Ceremony & Disney Princess Storytelling Shows at the Princess Fantasy Faire will no longer be performed after January 4th 2009. This is yet another sign of how bad the New Year could end up being for Disney. Of course, the Princess Meet ‘n Greets, Princess merchandise area, & Enchanted Cottage food stand will remain open.
- Finally, rumors keep persisting that Disney’s Electrical Parade will be returning to Disneyland. But now it seems that a return would cause for quite a few changes. The parade is going to have to get an entirely new name for it to be able to move back to Disneyland, due to the marketing campaign they had in 1996, legally saying that the Main Street Electrical Parade would never return to Disneyland. We however have no idea on what the new name could be just yet. A new version of the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: Dreamlights soundtrack could be replacing the classic Electrical Parade soundtrack we know & love. And as we’ve said before, the Pinocchio & Snow White Dwarf Mine floats will be returning to the parade. In fact, we have proof…
The black sort of curtain like structure is the Snow White Dwarf Mine. The Pinocchio Cigar Factory is in the blue draped crate next to the parade storage warehouse. The Pleasure Island float has reportedly already been pieced together.
Well that wraps up this interesting news & rumor report. Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today for the latest developments on these, & all other news & rumors.
PS) Posts may be a little sporadic over the week week, as I’ll be in England from tomorrow through the 29th. I will try to get some stuff to you guys though. Definitely don’t forget to tune into the Christmas Podcast Parade, being released Christmas Day on all WDWNT Podcast feeds!