Disneyland is adding a whole new land — a Star Wars area. No announcement has been made as to what it will contain nor is anyone saying when it will be completed but "at least a year" seems to be the assumption.
But we do know what will be closing. My favorite place to eat in the whole park — the Big Thunder Barbecue — is closing as is the Big Thunder Ranch, the Big Thunder Ranch petting zoo and the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree. Going away temporarily are the Fantasmic show, the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, the Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, the Disneyland Railroad and the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes, plus a whole bunch of attractions are closing simultaneously for unrelated maintenance reasons.
I'm glad they're doing all this. When you come right down to it, Disneyland is a boring place with nothing to do, plus it isn't nearly crowded enough. Oh, yeah — and they haven't raised prices, as they will doubtlessly do when the new Star Wars attractions open, for several months now. Attendance this past quarter is only up a measly 15% and there are unconfirmed reports that it takes less time to get into the Indiana Jones ride than to get into a men's room.
I actually haven't been to Disneyland for quite a while. I often think I should go but then I need to get a script finished or a knee replaced and I put it off. I think I'll try to get there before the Star Wars area opens. After that, it should be kind of overpopulated for a while. And the end of the line to get into the Star Wars Cantina — or whatever they have there — should be somewhere near my house.