While not as massive as what’s going on at Hong Kong Disneyland, the original Sleeping Beauty Castle is set to undergo a refurbishment of its own.
A recent permit issued by the City of Anaheim shows that Disney is looking to re-roof the castle, replacing the material with fibre-reinforced plastic on the turrets. The permit, issued on December 27th, is valid for one year.
The refurbishment on the castle exterior is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 7th and last until Spring 2019. Internal refurbishments will take place as well. The Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough attraction will be closed starting Thursday, January 17th, where refurbishment will also last until Spring.
The Diamond Celebration decorations on the castle from May of 2015 through the fall of 2016 did quite a bit of damage to the roof of the castle, damage that was for some reason never repaired. Over two years later, Disney is finally getting around to it.
At least they’re doing some refurbishment. There are a lot of things that need fixing.When I went there last, the horse hitching posts on Main Street, and the carousel horses in Fantasyland, were badly in need of painting.
In addition, there were empty water bottles floating in many of the water features. The gardeners, who used to work after hours (Disneyland had 23 gardeners) was working during operating hours, which slowed them down, as they had to stay out of people’s way to get to the places they had to work, and be careful not to leave things where people could trip.
Many of the attractions were awaiting clearance from the engineers and were closed for a couple of hours (they are required to test daily and clear the rides for operation). They used to do this before opening, and have all rides ready to go.
I encountered Mike Miller, who is Walt Disney’s great nephew, and who works in Disney Corporation, and mentioned this. He said that the family has little say in the running of the park now.
I can well believe that–they’re still giving employees low wages (it’s still, even with the “pay raise” not enough to live on, and some still live in their cars); the overpriced clothing and trinkets are for sale in every single shop in the park (you used to find things that were in keeping with whatever land you were in, but now it’s all Disney branded stuff you can get on the internet less expensively); They no longer offer postcards or a Disneyland Guide–in fact, you’re hard pressed to find any books in the park; and I’ve overheard “cast members” (which is what they call workers) complaining about conditions.
With the increase in prices, I would hope that they’d address some of these issues, but I fear they’ll just pocket it and call it profit. The more they skimp, the worse the park becomes. I talked to several cast members when I was there last, and some, long timers particularly, were going to “retire” before Star Wars Land opens.
Star Wars land is glaringly out of place in Disneyland. It could have fit in Cali Adventure, or been its own park, or in tandem with the other superhero franchises they’ve purchased in a park devoted to them.
I will go to Disneyland before Star Wars land opens, camera in hand, as this will be my LAST visit to Disneyland.
Walt would spin in his grave if he saw what the bean counters have done with his vision for the park, in the re-hashes of his classic films in the film division, and in the absolute shameless commercialism that has come to represent the Disney brand.
If they wanted to, they could do visits by lottery, and keep the numbers to a manageable level, instead of hiking prices. But, bean counters being bean counters…….greed is the word of the day.