The Hatbox Ghost Returns!

On Saturday, May 9, the mysterious Hatbox Ghost made a triumphant return to the Haunted Mansion.  Rumor has it that the ghost originally occupied a space in the attic of the mansion, but that the disappearing head effect had not been perfected.  The ghost was removed very early on and was not seen again until now!  

Look for him as you exit the attic into the graveyard.  His head vanishes and reappears inside the hatbox as you pass by.  

Wait times on Saturday were up to 60 minutes, which is not typical for this time of year.  I'm sure the ghost is taking up permanent residence here, so you might want to wait for the lines to die down a bit unless you are big fans of the mansion.  

Sleeping Beauty Diamond Anniversary Castle

With the Diamond anniversary rapidly approaching, Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle has been festooned with sparkling "diamonds" and royal blue banners.  I've only managed to see it a few times since the transformation and when the sun hits the finials just right, it is dazzling!  Can't wait to see what else they have in store!

For the First Time in Forever

Finally getting back to Disneyland after almost 2 months away.  Jobs get in the way!  Got to check out the For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration at Frozen Fun.  Now that the crowds have died down a bit, you can actually get fast passes for the next show...on a Saturday!  They also have some fancy new fast pass machines.  

The show is housed in the former Muppets 3D theatre and, unlike with previous engagements, it has been completely rethemed.  A little birdy tells us the show is set to run for 2 years, despite other Frozen Fun entertainment being removed to make room for the return of Mad T Party.  

So the pretense here is that the Royal Historian, Aria, is training her apprentice (at our show his name was Eric, not sure if that changes) and Princess Anna has a surprise planned for him.  They recount the events from the movie, playing clips of 5 songs, "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman," "For the First Time in Forever," "Love is an Open Door," "In Summer," and "Let it Go."  Anna, Kristoff and Elsa all make appearances, but they are brief and they only sing in the big finale, where "snow" flurries and icy blasts are conjured up by the Queen.  

There are several shows a day and it runs about a half hour, not including the time spent waiting in the holding pen, I mean, foyer.  You should be fine if you show up 20 minutes before show time.  They will close the doors about 10 minutes prior.  

I enjoyed it, but not being a huge Frozen fanatic, I probably wouldn't see it every time I make it out there.  The kids love it, though, so you may not have a choice!  Hahaha!

Frozen Fun: Olaf's Snow Fest

So it's been a while since I last posted.  I blame the holidays!  I didn't get to visit the parks nearly as often as I would like in the last couple of months.  

Anyway, I have gotten to visit DCA's new Frozen Fun area a couple of times and thought it would be good to share a few things I've learned.  

The first time we went, it was a very early preview and when we saw Olaf, we made a beeline for the queue.  Outside.  Yep, Olaf's first meet and greet appearance was in front of what was to be Olaf's Snow Fest.  Sorry for the blurry nighttime picture...

Later, Olaf moved into his new home in Arendelle.  The snow play area recreates a town square with a frozen fountain, wooden pieces for building a snowman, and the occasional flurry.  The snow can get a bit icy, but they have people break up the ice with shovels and rakes.  

If you are so inclined, you can sled down a snowy hill!  This is of course another line inside the play area.  Go straight there if you want to try it!  

If that's not your cup of tea, there is also a small merchandise shop and snack bar.  The snack bar serves up meatballs, corndog bites and hot chocolate as well as other grab and go snacks and treats.  They also sell a build your own snowman kit, which we got to try for FREE yesterday!  It's a $5.95 value.  My friends and I were sitting at a table when approached by a cast member who made a full presentation, lol!  

If you want to meet Olaf, you will have to queue up outside, get a pager, then you can do whatever you like until paged to enter the queue inside.  The wait was about 90 minutes altogether that day, but the kids got to go on a ride in the meantime.  Sometimes they have a second queue up to enter the area, so be sure to check with a cast member.  

Frozen has also taken over the dance party, which is now called Freeze the Night.  I only ventured into it looking for Marshmallow, lol!  We found him over by the former arcade.  There is also an odd Jenga type game off to one side.  Not sure why that's there or what the purpose of having it next to Marshmallow is.  There is also an ice carving show where Laserman used to perform.  

The Muppet Theater is now the Frozen Sing Along, but I have yet to experience it due to it's popularity.  Wandering Oaken's is an outdoor merchandise area outside the theater.  I have also not been over to see Elsa and Anna or to draw Frozen characters in the Animation Building.  I'm experiencing a little Frozen fatigue, but eventually I will try and get to that.  This experience is supposed to be for a limited time while the parks transition to the 60th celebrations, but we'll see!