Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com sends us these photos from his trip to the parks on Friday, January 23, 2015.
Since this is the off season once again I focus on the refurbishments going on around the parks in this post, the full picture set includes my usual assortment of pictures as I roamed the parks. You can definitely tell it is off season by the list of closures, and more are on the way.
No scaffolding yet, but the castle walkway is blocked and moat is drained. Soon this will be covered.
A couple signs with some info about the Castle on them.
The current state of the moat. A little water still in it.
The West side of the moat.
The back side of the Castle is walled off and the east/Tomorrowland walkway is closed too.
Peter Pan closes soon for some renovation work. Here is a video from Friday (as always the dark ride videos really do not do them justice)
Next up a trip aboard the Monorail to check out Condor Flats. All the concrete near Taste Pilot’s Grill has been removed.
And a lot of the concrete in front of Soarin’ is gone too.
The trees behind the billboard are gone. But as of now looks like the billboard is staying.
The Apricot Lane Boutique in Downtown Disney is closed…forgot to mention that last week when I walked by.
The white tarps now have a photo of the “small world” Facade on them and the clock tower is covered. The attraction is open this weekend but closes Monday for the holiday removal.
Jumping over to New Orleans Square, the La Masquerade store is currently closed for some work.
The Haunted Mansion opened a day early.
My pictures of the new window at the exit to the attic in the Haunted Mansion came out poorly. This is the best of the bunch with some Photoshop enhancement. You can see what looks like a bat matching the queue design in the window. It appears to be very temporary to me.
Went for a cruise aboard the Mark Twain. A look into Critter Country, which is closed, the barriers mark a walkway for cast members to go through the construction areas.
Work on the Briar Patch facade
The Hungry Bear has scaffolding and work going on.
The Big Hero 6 Meet and Greet is gone and some arcade games are back in the Starcade. (I think this happened several weeks ago but I had not walked down this way).
Stopped by the Market House, there are now Disney Parks/Starbucks tumblers and mugs available.
A look at the two sides of the tumbler
The You Are Here Collection mug. They are specific to each park. (No Downtown Disney – that has the generic California mug as of last check).
Over at DCA here is the Starbucks mug available on Buena Vista Street at the Cafe
The rockwork at the entrance to Condor Flats has been marked…demolition is coming soon it looks like.
Looking into Condor Flats.
The Bugs Theater is closed for refurbishment too. So right now there are no 3D films with all three theaters closed or re-purposed. No word yet on what is going on with Bugs or Magic Eye but best bet is more film previews are coming. I would like to see something for the 60th.
The walls are down and new signs, awnings, and a car at the Bakery Tour.
Can anyone tell the year of the old Ford parked out front?
The old entrance (I say that because unclear if this is an entrance/exit or both now).
The same Bakery Tour sign over this doorway.
Grizzly River Run is closed for annual refurbishment
Most of the water is now gone from Paradise Bay and they are cleaning it and working on the World of Color fountains.
The bakery sign lit up this evening.
The entrance/exit
The car headlights are on at night.
The audio on the Disneyland Railroad has been upgraded. Here is a video clip passing through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World dioramas.
Hope you enjoyed this highlight tour of the Disneyland Resort. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full Disneyland Update I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.
How long is the castle supposed to be walled off, do you know? Also how long will the scaffolding last? Heading to Disneyland on the 7th and will be terribly disappointed if the castle is behind scaffolds.
********** Jason Reply ***********
I have not seen an official date when the renovations and diamond installation will be complete but I would guess into April maybe even May it could be covered. The celebration kicks off May 22 so it will all be done by then.