Also in Disneyland news, the park confirmed again today that its Alice in Wonderland ride will be getting its long-awaited exterior makeover, closing March 9 for an extended refurbishment that will last through summer. Alice in Wonderland joins Big Thunder Mountain, It's a Small World, and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage on this year's extended refurb calendar, though Thunder's in testing and could be returning any day now.
Wrapping up on the West coast, Disneyland also welcomed the semi-annual "Dapper Day" this past weekend, when thousands of park guests go old-school by dressing up in what a previous generation called "their Sunday best" for their trip to the parks. (Way back when, many people dressed up to visit Disneyland. Or, at least, they dressed up relative to today's, uh, rather casual apparel standards.) Dapper Day is coming to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom on March 9. If you're interested, you can get convention-rate discounted tickets to the MK that day via the Dapper Day website.
Looking for another Orlando-area ticket deal? SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa are offering $50 weekday tickets, now through May 5. You must use the ticket by that date, and U.S. residents must purchase them in advance via the parks' websites or by calling 888-800-5447.
Of course, the best discount is getting something for free. U.S. rail service Amtrak grabbed some attention this week for okay'ing a couple of writers' pitch to give them free tickets to write while traveling on Amtrak. That inspired Gawker to come up with some alternate travel-related "writer's fellowships," including the "The Six Flags Over Georgia Ninja Roller Coaster Distinguished Writer Fellowship" for seeking a "creative jolt" to "write provocative reflections on the illusory distinctions between up and down, left, and right." (And thanks for the link, guys!)
Finally, work's getting underway for some changes to the hub at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The plans apparently call for filling in the section of the old Swan Boat waterway between the Crystal Palace and the Tomorrowland Terrace, creating space to help lay down a second pavement ring, with a wider circumference, surrounding the existing hub roadway. That will create more paved space for people standing (or sitting) to watch the nightly fireworks, and provide some crowd control relief after those shows. On busy nights in the MK, audience control cast members have created makeshift pathways through the grass on the hub to hep exit the large crowds. This refurbishment will create additional permanent pathways around and exiting the hub, including two pathways leading from the new outer hub ring to the alternate exits on either side of Main Street USA.
Update: Disney's just posted a video:
(Chuckle x 2)
The in-fill of the Swan Boat canal is very telling and may well be linked the recent ticket price increase. Magic Kingdom attendance may be trending to a point of intolerable. The arrival of the Dwarf Mine Train and the new parade will either (at a minimum) sustain or (at a maximum) exacerbate the situation.
From an anecdotal perspective, my CM friends tell me that MK has been very crowded virtually every day this year.
Adding some cred to that report are the current, planned the closing time set for these WEEK DAYS (!!!) coming in March:
Thursday, March 6 (11 PM)
Tuesday, March 11 (1 AM)
Wednesday, March 19th (12 AM)
Monday, March 24 (12 AM)
When the park was originally conceptualized (almost 50 years ago) I wonder what the designers assumed its annual attendance would be?
@TH. I think it was a WDWMagic member, not something official.
The elimination of the old pathway to the former Swan Boat dock is the first step in clearing the area for the new path construction.
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