issue one: january 2010
HEY EVERYONE! So, I come bearing apologies for kind of disappearing off the earth for a while. I promise I was taking pictures for y’all but wasn’t able to get them all up. SO, I figured I’d start the year off right and earn my staff orange. By the way, this is the home of the Visions Fantastic Disneyland Resort Photo Updates (whew!) for now, until the new software gets going. So feel free to bookmark it if you like it, or add it to Google Reader or any other preferred RSS feed that you have. 
Alright, here we go! Let’s see what’s going on around the Disneyland Resort this January, shall we?
First things first – the important stuff! Like CHURRO PRICES! :O
The horror! The insanity! Will you now pay $3.50 for one ‘wonderful stick of cinnamony goodness’ (as a guest told someone I knew who used to work the churro carts)? … I have to admit, I did. But I had to wonder, how long would it take me to stop paying for churros if the prices kept going up? $6? o_O
The good news, however, is that the ODV carts now take credit cards!
However, the AP discount still doesn’t apply there, only to established restaurants. Sigh.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way… moving on to DCA, only because there’s a lot going on there.
World of Color
From the VF forums, it looks like we’re all suuuuper excited about WoC, so here’s some Paradise Bay construction pics for you.
Wonder what the lights are for. oOoOoOoOo.
Look, a raft!
This will be the viewing area… the little fountain circly thing looks like it’s coming along well.
LOOK, the lighthouse is out! Very pretty
Wonder what the camera is for… hmmm…
Looks to me that the bay is pretty much filled up to where it was before, with the exception of all the electrical stuff that is going on. Sweet!
Here’s some pictures of what’s going on behind those construction walls in regards to The Little Mermaid and Cars Land (yes, I went on Mickey’s Fun Wheel to get these pics, and I usually can’t stand that ride… so feel special! 
):
CARS LAND! YES.
Alright! Now that we’ve finished with that side of the park, let’s go down the main parade route and hang a right at A Bug’s Land. But wait… what’s this?
Buena Vista Street
A SECRET TUNNEL?! Like that secret warp at the end of that one Mario level? Shortcut to another level!
Wow, that seriously made my day. Haha. We ended up right next to Tower of Terror. But look, this is why:
They’re starting construction on the railroad tracks for the trolley cars that will take you straight from the main entrance to Tower of Terror. Well, that’ll be nice, I think.
The construction goes all the way down the main thoroughfare of Hollywood Pictures Backlot.
Okay! That’s enough of DCA right now… let’s go to Disneyland!
By the way, if you need a stroller or a wheelchair, instead of going right after you enter into either Disneyland or DCA, the new rental area is located here, next to the kennel. (It’s hard to see in my picture, but if you look to the right of the picture with that brick wall? That’s where you go!) Hopefully that will help decrease the number of abandoned strollers I always find at the end of the night when I leave Disneyland, but we’ll see.
Yep, definitely off season. These attractions are closed because of the Rivers of America draining and refurb, so let’s go investigate, shall we?
Rivers of America re-furb
Walls are everywhere.
Totally what I should have done. 
I apologize for not getting any better close-up pics, but we’ll do that next time!
it’s a small world: holiday
Still up and running! This past weekend was the last weekend to see it, so I’m glad I did.
Christmas in America! Whoo… or not?
Wow, way to be blatant with the sponsorship here. Just saying.
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
I know one of our other VF’ers already did an extensive photo update on this attraction’s opening, so I spared a lot of the picture taking and went with the basics. BTW, the attraction was awesome – check it out! I vaguely remember seeing it a long time ago, but it seems that the film has been remastered and restored wonderfully. And Abe looks so very realistic.
It’s really nice to see this back again.
After four years, the very last visible photo collage from the 50th anniversary has finally gone. 
Oh well.
The view immediately to your left as you step into the Opera House… and if I recall correctly, the way it was before the 50th anniversary, showing you the exit of the Opera House and connecting into the Mad Hatter.
By the way, if you missed it, the film Disneyland: The First Fifty Magical Years is still playing in the lobby of the Opera House, just to the right of where this picture was taken.
Which one of these is not like the others? *facepalm*
Random new shiny things
And here is a conglomeration of things I deemed noteworthy:
At DCA – have these always been here? Were they new for the refurb? Or am I just easily distracted?
Likewise, at the Village Haus – those automatic doors? Are those new too, or am I going crazy?
Mickey and Minnie were doing meet and greets in front of the Star Trader. Kind of an odd place to do character meet and greets, at least in my opinion.
Oh, look, the celebratory vomit paraphanelia is back. Guess we have to wait a few more months until we get something new and exciting and fresh. Alas. (But the colors are pretty. I’m kind of proud of this shot.)
I MET PRINCE NAVEEN AND PRINCESS TIANA! I’m kind of a fangirl for The Princess and the Frog, as I imagine many of you are as well, so I was super excited. They gave us Mardi Gras beads! BTW – I waited about 20 minutes to meet them. They’ve got a pretty good crowd going for meet and greets.
And one last bonus before I head out for this time:
This was going to be included in one of my earlier updates, but I never got around to it. Remember that area by Fantasia Gardens (the old motorboat duck pond area) that had that random conglomeration of the most ODV carts known to mankind? Well, Disneyland decided to consolidate a bit, which is good. This has been open for a few months now, so sorry if it’s ‘old news’.
This is the result:
Alright, that brings us to the end of this edition of the Disneyland Resort Photo Update. I hope you enjoyed it! I will attempt to be back again sometime next month, but until then, if you have any ideas of photo requests or something, let me know!
Also, before I go… I’ve already posted this on the VF forums, so if you haven’t seen it, please go here to find ways you can help the disaster relief fund in Haiti. There is so much to be done and they will need help months and years from now. Every little bit helps, so please do what you can!
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in front of the castle! ‘Til next time!
-Denise (lovesdisney)
