Please enjoy our latest item, a photo report from June 11th, 2012:

Looks like a new color scheme for the Fantasia Shop at the Disneyland Hotel

Still no visible exterior changes at the upcoming Earl of Sandwich

Brave banners by the AMC Theaters

This was my first time checking out the refurbished LEGO Store

The Disney character LEGO sculptures are really cool, especially the grand centerpiece of Maleficant and Prince Phillip

Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie can be found inside

The store seems a lot more wide open than before

Some Avengers playsets you can buy

Love the dragon peeking behind the wall

Some computers to play LEGO games if real LEGOs are too 20th century for you

Was this upstairs play area there before?

This outdoor play area is definitely new

So cool!

Also back from a refurbishment is the Uva Bar, with some new furniture

The menu has also been updated

What? Yet another refurbished Downtown Disney establishment!?

That's right, the La Brea Bakery is back, bigger and better than before

It now features an expanded Express side and a new display kitchen

These new Disney California Adventure banners were installed in the Esplanade the morning I visited

They advertise many of the additions to Disney California Adventure over the last 5 years through the new attraction poster artwork

California Screamin'

The Red Car Trolley

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Goofy's Sky School and more...

A sign notifying guests that DCA would be closed to the general public on Thursday June 14th

A couple of new painted signs on the Condor Flats restroom building

Obvious corporate promotion, but it's well themed!

The rocket has been removed from the Taste Pilot's Grill building and the pattern has simply been continued

Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe completely ready to go behind those walls

The day I visited was an Annual Passholder preview day for both Buena Vista Street and Cars Land. Sadly I didn't get in, so it was terrible to see all those people going in there when I couldn't

But I did get to see the beautiful Carthay Circle area for the first time!

You can't not try to get artsy photos of this fountain!

Over to the Carthay Circle Theatre for a quick walk around the exterior

Where new meets old. It flows quite well!

And where Buena Vista Street meets Hollywood Land on the other side

Have I mentioned how much I love this sign?

A new color scheme for these towers at the entrance to Hollywood Land

All of the outdoor vending (ODV) carts in DCA have been themed to there specific area. This is the one for Buena Vista Street, although for some reason it was in Hollywood Land. Hopefully Hollywood Land gets its own themed ODV carts

My first time checking out the Mad T Party during the day (or at all)

It actually doesn't look too bad during the day, but it's definitely noticeable

The giant main stage over by Monsters Inc.

Almost the whole area has been dressed up in Mad T Party style

The House of Cards is one of the drink locations

The secondary performance stage

Right behind it is the Mad Arcade, which looks like a lot of fun!

You can get your face painted

And we leave Hollywood Studios and the Mad T Party

I like that it is all contained to this little area, so you don't have to go through it unless you decide you want to

A Red Car Trolley marker in the pavement by the Tower of Terror

A line set up at the Hollywood Tower Hotel stop for the Red Car Trolley

Each stop has a sign like this

I love the continuity of it all!

Another shot of jealously, as people enter and leave Cars Land through the entrance from A Bug's Land

A Bug's Land's new themed ODV cart

I love the bite marks on the sign

The new It's Tough to Be a Bug mural had yet to be unveiled

This is where guests now get their Radiator Springs Racers FastPass' in the wee hours of the morning

The Cars Land exhibit in the Blue Sky Cellar has been updated to feature The Museum of the History of Radiator Springs. We'll head inside in a bit

First we've gotta navigate our way through the set-up for the grand opening of Cars Land

Bleachers for all the media

Guest in Cars Land! So close!!!

Now let's head inside

The new museum takes over the Screening Room

This exhibit is a great little way to give a backstory to the new land across the way

It's treated like a real museum, with real, yet still fictional items

Starting June 15th, the newest Mater's Tall Tale is shown in the Blue Sky Cellar; Time Travel Mater

Love the light fixtures

Now for the part I was really excited for; my first visit to Ghirardelli!

The inside is beautiful and very reminiscent of the original location in San Francisco

Plenty of chocolate and souvenirs to purchase

You can see them prepare the sundaes and such

The wonderful animated mural

At points, the buildings in the mural actually shake to recreate an earthquake. An interesting choice...

Some awesome vintage posters and photos around the shop

Kyle got the Gold Rush sundae, loaded with peanut butter (ewwww....)

I went with a simple option, just a nice vanilla milkshake. And it was lovely!

They were giving away Sea Salt Escape chocolate samples, and sad to say, it was pretty disgusting. Guess that's why they're giving them away for free...

A look at the menu they hand out to guests

And the back side

Cars Land! I was thinking of ways to sneak in all day, never did though...

Dulce Aventura next to Cocina Cucamonga has closed. Rumor is Rita's Baja Blenders might be moving to this location

Let's take a quick look at the refurbished Cove Bar

I love all the new signs!

No more dolphin statue in the center of the bar, but I think it looks a lot classier now

The new Paradise Pier billboards

Fixed!

This new border frame later spread to all four billboards

I had yet to see the refurbished Boardwalk Bazaar facades in person. The wood detailing really helps, it's a lot nicer now!

Better than a giant clown!

Ariel's new hair inside her attraction

I don't really like it any more or less than the old dole whip hair. Both are fine to me :-)

Now over to Disneyland, where the new Carnation Cafe sign was up

Inside the refurbished Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. Man is it different in here now!

The menu

A mini display kitchen off to the side. Those seem to be all the rage lately

Taking a glance through the Candy Palace

The expanded display kitchen at the Candy Palace. I'm sure the cast members love guests staring at them all day... :P

Coolest exit sign ever!

The Candy Palace has taken over what used to be an indoor seating area for Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner

The Matterhorn Bobsleds were testing with cast members as I walked by

Looking around the Brave meet 'n greet in Small World Mall

Merida meets guest with the three bear brothers (who by the way are extremely cute in the movie)

Afterwards, guests can practice their archery skills

Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree wasn't running when I visited, but signs of it are all around Big Thunder Ranch

An ad for it in front of Big Thunder Mountain

It's Mona Monorail

But I took a ride aboard Mandy Monorail

Here's a video of my ride from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney

Back over at DCA, I came across Chip and Dale in their new Buena Vista Street outfits

Following right behind them was one of the new Buena Vista Street streetmosphere characters!

A look at some new Vinylmation I spotted in Off the Page

An ad for Wreck-It Ralph inside the Disney Animation building

This screen didn't see the light...

The Hollywood Blvd. Red Car Trolley stop

Walking past the Carthay Circle Theatre. I would love to check out the view from those balconies!

Covered up sign for the Radiator Springs Racers FastPass distribution

Even Sunglass Icon in Downtown Disney has got a refurbishment!

And new to Downtown Disney is WonderGround Gallery

There are a few posters like this hanging inside. Nice to see Brave represented so soon

To be honest, I found the store a little dull. There was some cool artwork, but the design of the store itself is just white walls

That Brave poster is available to purchase. And after seeing the movie, I might do just that

An abstract version of Merida's dress

A look at even more new Vinylmation in D Street. There's a Phineas and Ferb series!

Phineas

Perry the Platypus

Ferb

Dr. Doofenshmirtz (and the boy's sister Candace is available to)

A set themed to the extinct Epcot show Kitchen Kabaret

A really cool Brave set with the three brothers done at a really tiny size

Not sure how I feel about the new Monorail shaped Vinylmation series...

We're already up to Park #8!

Alice in Wonderland 9 inch figures

And an Alice in Wonderland set

A Main Street Electrical Parade 9 inch figure from Park #7

Two figures inspired by costumes from Disneyland Paris!

Thanks for viewing this photo report!