Imagineers were spotted riding Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Cast Member pin trading lanyards are returning — all this and more in today’s daily recap for Friday, March 22, 2024.

Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom

• Crews installed new signs at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom overnight.
• Nine months after the Tom Sawyer Island barrel bridge was removed, it has returned to Magic Kingdom, although is not yet open to guests.
• After testing the ride with water dummies, Imagineers were the first to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom this Friday.
• References to various Disney classics have returned to the luggage props around the Fantasyland train station in Storybook Circus. 

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• The DynoGlide plane prop that was removed from Toy Story Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios over two years ago has returned — but is still behind construction walls.

Walt Disney World Resort Hotels

• After seeking culinary leaders in December of last year, The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers is now looking to hire for several positions at the new Disney’s BoardWalk location.

New Merchandise

• A new tote bag inspired by Disney’s BoardWalk Resort is available at Thimbles & Threads.

Other Walt Disney World News

• After four years, Walt Disney World Cast Members are finally getting their pin trading lanyards back next month.
• An old Carousel of Progress reference has begun to appear on Walt Disney World buses.
• Walt Disney World has extended theme park hours for Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom from April 7 through 13, 2024.

Disneyland Resort

• Work continues on the reimagining of The Haunted Mansion queue and the construction of a new gift shop at Disneyland Park. 
• The Donald’s Duck Pond splash pad next to Donald’s boat in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland finally opened to guests on Friday, March 22 — a year after the rest of Mickey’s Toontown reopened after a reimagining. 

Disneyland Paris

• Arribas France will begin offering silhouette artwork at Disneyland Paris next week.

Entertainment and Media

• Star Wars Celebration Japan has released new artwork, a teaser, and ticket information for the 2025 event.

The Walt Disney Company

• In a statement to DealBook, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner expressed his support for current CEO Bob Iger and Disney executives amid proxy fights with Trian Partners and Blackwells Capital for Board of Directors seats.

That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

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References to various Disney classics have returned to the luggage props around the Fantasyland train station in Storybook Circus. These references have been gone for several years but have returned with an apparent refurbishment of the props.

Disney References in Storybook Circus

Stacks of luggage are against the walls on the north side of the train station/bathrooms facing Pete’s Silly Sideshow. The posters and mural on this brick wall have not changed.

The first stack of luggage is on this cart, next to the stroller parking. There are two references on two pieces of luggage.

The red case with gold trim has a reference to “Red’s Dream,” Pixar’s second computer-animated short following “Luxo Jr.” “Red’s Dream,” released in 1987, features a unicycle dreaming of joining the circus.

The white design on the suitcase is a logo for a fictional unicycle manufacturing company. “Red’s ‘Amazing Juggling’ Unicycles” is printed across a wheel. The pedals of a unicycle appear to be juggling three balls. Around the logo are “Circus grade & performance ready” and “Manufactured by Eben’s Bikes.” Eben’s Bikes is the name of the bike shop where Red lives in “Red’s Dream.”

Another stamp is on one of the nearby hatboxes.

This black and brown label reads, “Ten Schillings and Sixpence, LTD.” A picture of a top hat is at the top of the label. The bottom reads, “Hats for all occasions… Birthdays, unbirthdays, and all days between.” This is a reference to the Mad Hatter of “Alice in Wonderland,” whose hat features a 10/6 label for ten shillings and sixpence.

Down the stairs, more stacks of luggage are by a set of doors marked “Walt Disney World R.R. Receiving.”

There are two references on suitcases to the right of the door.

The second suitcase in this stack reads “The Big Bad Wolf Balloonologist Extraordinaire.” This is, of course, a reference to Disney’s 1934 “The Big Bad Wolf” short, part of the “Silly Symphony” series.

The Wolf is a balloonologist because, as the case states, “He’ll huff & he’ll puff… & create the animal of your choice!”

The lettering of the latter quote is white in a yellow ribbon below the luggage’s latch. The Big Bad Wolf’s name is in yellow above.

Below The Big Bad Wolf’s case is luggage belonging to Hyacinth Hippo from the “Dance of the Hours” section of “Fantasia.”

A quote beneath Hyacinth Hippo’s name reads, “The most exquisite aerial sensation of the Big Top.” The lettering is yellow.

Beyond some blue and red barrels is the last reference to Disney animation. A purple suitcase with blue trim sits atop a wood crate.

The barrel next to the crate reads “Peanuts.”

The purple suitcase has a logo for “Melody Time Brand Brass Horns” and the tagline “Always in Toon.” “Melody Time” is a 1948 Disney anthology film. The music stanza behind the film’s name is reminiscent of the “Silly Symphony” logo. And “toon” is intentionally spelled like “cartoon” instead of “tune.”

The luggage in this stack is the most obviously repainted with gold detailing around the green and red cases.

A purse on top of the stack is painted with red flowers and green leaves. It’s reminiscent of Mary Poppins’ carpet bag but isn’t identical.

Meanwhile, a Dumbo poster in the Walt Disney World Railroad queue has been updated to include “Presented by Scentsy” at the bottom. Scentsy is the new sponsor of Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Branding for the company was added to the attraction last year.

Scentsy will also sponsor the upcoming “Smellephants on Parade” experience featuring elephant figures inspired by the “Pink Elephants on Parade” sequence. The experience will be a “family-friendly ‘search and sniff’ adventure.” A permit for set installation was recently filed.

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The Donald’s Duck Pond splash pad next to Donald’s boat in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland finally opened to guests on Friday, March 22 — a year after the rest of Mickey’s Toontown reopened after a reimagining. The splash pad area was only briefly open during Mickey’s Toontown media previews in early 2023. The splash pad then closed due to water issues. Only the dry side of Donald’s Duck Pond has been open since.

Donald’s Duck Pond Splash Pad

The splash pad is on the right side of Donald’s boat. The left side is a dry play area. A rope fence down the middle separates the two sections.

A sign informs guests the play area is for children ages 2 – 12 years old. They should be supervised at all times. Accessories like helmets, drawstrings, or anything around the child’s neck should be removed for safety. It also warns surfaces may be hot.

The sign resembles a plank of wood decorated with painted images of flowers, butterflies, and bees.

Donald has a yellow mailbox in this flowerbed next to his boat. There’s a sculpture of his head poking through a “Donald’s Duck Pond” life preserver.

Unfortunately, it’s mostly blocked by a fence.

The walkway leading to Donald’s Duck Pond is a sandy color. White specks in the pavement near the edge of the water make it look like waves have lapped on it like a beach.

Another sign lists rules for the splash pad:

• No food, beverages or glass in water feature or on water feature wet deck.
• Children should not use water feature without adult supervision.
• For safety, diaper-age children must wear swim diapers.

The sign resembles a wet piece of paper.

The backstory of Donald’s Duck Pond is that Donald has crashed his boat into the duck pond next to Goofy’s house. The boat was formerly in a pool of water with a waterfall but this feature was filled in to become the play area. Originally, guests were able to enter Donald’s boat, but it closed many years ago and was permanently sealed from guest access during the recent reimagining.

There are 20 computer-controlled sunken fountains in the splash pad. They shoot streams of water in arcs across the blue ground. There’s also a misting effect and lights, which we’ll return to see at night.

The fountains loop through a 7-minute sequence of water dancing.

It looks like Donald has had some leaking issues and bolted white panels to the hull of his boat. Water squirts out of some holes where bolts have gone missing.

While the leaking boat is a purposeful part of the splash pad design, it looks like there are accidental drainage issues in the area.

Water from the splash pad seeps through this space between the rope fence into the “dry” side of the play area.

On the dry side, we could see water staining the ground.

Towards the back of the boat is a flowerbed full of mulch but no flowers.

Other flowerbeds and planters in the area are filled with ferns but nothing has been planted here yet. It’s along the walkway to the splash pad’s shower.

The shower is a tall brown pole next to the fake cliff.

It’s ostensibly to rinse off before or after playing on the splash pad (to get clean, not to get dry). But it’s located at the back of the play area, so you have to walk in and out of the splash pad to reach it.

Cameras in birdhouses overlook the play area. They reminded us of the camera technology at Journey of Water Inspired by “Moana” in EPCOT, which senses guest movement for interactive elements. ButDisneyland Cast Members stated that these cameras are just for surveillance.

A wooden sign on the fence reads “Caution: Water is recirculated, do not drink!”

Watch our video tour of Donald’s Duck Pond below.

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Star Wars Celebration Japan has released new artwork, a teaser, and ticket information for the 2025 event.

Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025

The new key art features Darth Vader set against a red circle featuring Mount Fuji in the center. X-wings, TIE Fighters, and an AT-AT are around the circle with purple flowers.

Star Wars Celebration will be at Makuhari Messe from April 18 through 20, 2025. Japan previously hosted Star Wars Celebration in 2008.

Ticket sales will open in May. VIP ticket purchasers from Star Wars Celebration 2023 will have access to a presale on Wednesday, May 1 at 12 p.m. EST. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, May 2 at 7 p.m. EST / Friday, May 3 at 8 a.m. JST.

The VIP ticket tier is Jedi Master for $993.25. It grants entry for one person on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and includes:

• 15-minute early entry to the Exhibit Hall and VIP Lounge
• Thursday Night Official Celebration Store Shopping Experience
• Guaranteed admission to all panels on the Celebration Stage (Must arrive 30 minutes prior to start of panel or seat may be forfeited)
• Designated VIP line for autographing and photo ops
• Designated VIP line for Celebration Store
• VIP Lounge – Complimentary coat check and charging stations
• Preshow and onsite Concierge
• VIP-only exclusive holo badge 
• VIP-only exclusive special enamel pin
• VIP-only exclusive show lanyard
• VIP-only exclusive water bottle
• Official show poster with tube
• Complimentary Star Wars Celebration branded chopsticks

The standard ticket tiers are:

• 3-Day Adult – $168.85
• 3-Day Kids (ages 6-12) — $42.35
• 1-Day Adult – $58.85
• 1-Day Kids – $20.35

Purchase of an adult ticket is required with a kid’s ticket. All Star Wars Celebration tickets are non-refundable. Guests may purchase up to 20 tickets total per order with a limit of four Jedi Master tickets per order.

Watch the teaser for Star Wars Celebration Japan below.

Visit the Star Wars Celebration website for more information.

Can’t make it to Star Wars Celebration Japan? Read about how you can celebrate Star Wars at Disneyland Resort this spring or marathon the Skywalker Saga in theaters on May the 4th.

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