We all know that Walt Disney World is a pretty awesome place with four parks, two water parks and over 25 Disney resort options. There is lots to do and see and experience!
With that being said, Disneyland is pretty awesome right now as well! We even have a few new experiences that Walt Disney World doesn’t have! So I decided that I would write a little bit about what I know from experience at Disneyland and what I’m looking forward to for the remainder of 2017!
Max Pass is a GO!
The Disneyland resort launched MaxPass in July (much to the dismay of many California residents) and I LOVE IT!
MaxPass is an electronic fast pass system based in the Disneyland mobile app. Visitors can pay a $10 per person per day fee and have access to fast pass availability on their smart phones. Disneyland still offers the kiosk fast pass option with the cards as they have done in the past, but now fast passes are linked to your park ticket and the kiosk cards are just a reminder of the time. Unlike Walt Disney World, where you can choose up to three in advance, MaxPass only allows one choice every 90 minutes.
If you’re a Disneyland Annual Passholder with a signature pass level or higher, the best news is that it’s all free for you! Have you experienced MaxPass? What do you think of it?
I helped free the Guardians of The Galaxy from the Collector’s museum!
You say Tower of Terror and I say Tower of what? Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout opened in May of this year and IT’S AWESOME! The plot behind the attraction is you helping Rocket rescue the Guardians of the Galaxy from the collector’s collection. While the ride experience is the same as Tower of Terror, the queue is all new and there is a ton of production behind the story line. There are 6 different production which you can experience if you’re willing to wait in multiple lines. Get ready to rock out with Rocket and help him out because his hands don’t scan! Check out the video of the pre-show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c32Mt6oEB8
Want more awesomeness? They have added a whole new production for the Halloween season called Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark! Find out what happens when the other “collections” go loose in Tivan’s gallery! I’ve done it but I’ve promised Rocket I’ll keep it quiet until all of the guardians are safely out of the building.
RunDisney came back in a BIG way!
If you have read some of our previous articles, then you might know that the Neverland Press team are big fans of RunDisney. With the disappointing Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend race experience and the lack of information regarding the 2018 Star Wars – Light Side race weekend, it had appeared that Run Disney west coast was about to crash and burn. So I was a little skeptical of what was going to happen during the Disneyland half weekend. While there is no official word on Light Side yet (as of 10/13/17), the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
This year, RunDisney decided to celebrate Pixar with an Incredibles themed 5k, a Monsters University 10k and a Toy Story themed half marathon. As big fan of the Toy Story franchise, I was in heaven.
During the Tinkerbell half weekend, RunDisney decided to cut the character stops or turn them into “selfie stops”. Naturally this caused an uproar with the runners, so they added a few as the weekend went on during each race. During the Disneyland half weekend, the character interactions were everywhere! From Pixar Play parade floats and dancers to Mike, Sully, Roz photo stops and Toy Story characters, great courses and even a run through Angel’s Stadium, the spirit of Pixar was everywhere!
The weather left a lot to be desired with extremely hot temperatures all weekend and even moving to “red flag” status during the half marathon (which is one step shy of cancelling the race) as the morning got hotter. But from the expo to the medals to the awesome announcing team (with amazing costumes this year I might add), we all had an amazing time and this will go down as probably my second favorite RunDisney event.
This is Halloween, this is Disneyland Halloween!
Twas the nightmare before Christmas and all throughout the house, not a creature was peaceful… not even a mouse!
Sorry Florida! Haunted Mansion Holiday belongs to California (and Tokyo) and it’s BEAUTIFUL!! Since 2001, each year as we approach Halloween, Disneyland dramatically transforms the Haunted Mansion into a Christmas wonderland for Jack Skellington and tells the tale of Sandy Claws!
From a distance, it’s difficult to tell that there has been an overlay added to the regular Haunted Mansion attraction. But when you get close to the mansion and see the exterior décor and interior sets that have been replaced, it’s like an entirely new attraction! There is even an entirely different queue which sets the tone for Jack’s adventure.
Every aspect of the Nightmare Before Christmas story line is included in some form on the attraction. Sally, Zero and even Oogie Boogie make a few appearances. One of my favorite parts of the ride is the ballroom scene. They add a gingerbread scent as your doom buggy passes over the joyous holiday chaos happening below and the one of a kind gingerbread house on the center table.
The Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction will be open in Disneyland until very early January 2018!
Well that’s all folks! Stay tuned to part 2 of my Disneyland update to see what’s happening over at Space Mountain and how Cars land and California Adventure celebrates Halloween! Oh yeah.. Christmas season is coming too!! I’m so excited!
