Sherry E
Currently tag-less...
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
Kirsten and jlearn --
Prior to 2013, the Easter/Springtime activities and events at DLR have been scattered, minimal and not heavily publicized. In the past there was an Easter buffet at the Disneyland Hotel, but I think that it was discontinued. However, a few of the table service restaurants (Storytellers Café, PCH Grill, etc.) might have a special Easter brunch-ish menu on April 5th. It's not a holiday that is totally ignored at Disneyland, but they don't do very much for it. Given the whimsical, colorful, fun aspect of Easter, it is surprising that DLR doesn't do much, much more. The Holidays are huge. Halloween Time is huge. People love holiday-related fun!
I've always thought that there should be a giant Easter egg in the same spot in Town Square where whey put the Mickey pumpkin and the Christmas tree every year, but so far... no giant egg.
In 2013, Disney ran its Limited Time Magic promotion. As part of the LTM events, for 7 days in March (or whenever Easter took place that year) they held an Easter egg hunt in California Adventure and brought out some famous Disney rabbits.
The 2013 Easter event was popular, so in 2014 they extended the Easter egg hunt (called the "Egg-stravaganza") to 11 days in April (4/10-4/20), and they expanded it to cover both parks, with a hunt in each park!
Also in 2014, at the Big Thunder Ranch (which takes on different seasonal overlays for Halloween Time, the Holidays and even Independence Day) turned into the "Springtime Roundup." That's where all of the Disney rabbits, Pluto in bunny ears, Mickey and Minnie in Spring-ish attire and the Easter Bunny greeted guests. There were also Spring-ish games, crafts and decorations (lots of beautiful wreaths with carrots and bunnies and other seasonal accents).
My favorite part of the Springtime Roundup -- which opened in March last year -- was the "character egg art." The eggs were not real, of course (in the heat, it would have been a disaster!), but the artists decorated eggs of various sizes as characters. Sometimes the egg became part of a character's body, and sometimes the art was simply painted on the egg (like Olaf in my signature below) -- but it was all amazing. One of the egg artists was also part of the team that decorates the pumpkins at the Halloween Carnival for Halloween Time.
The Springtime Roundup was scheduled to close after Easter last year, but I recall seeing photos that someone took and it was still open beyond Easter, even though the egg artists had stopped working.
Anyway, I cannot imagine that the Springtime Roundup and the Egg-stravaganza Egg Hunts would not return this year, because they were fun and popular. Unless they would somehow interfere with the various refurbs and projects going on in the parks in preparation for the 60th anniversary, I think they are guaranteed to be back in some capacity.
Here are links to several Parks Blogs from 2014 about the Springtime Roundup (some of them are just videos, or are very short) --
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...nds-at-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
Here is a Parks Blog about the Egg-stravaganza egg hunt from 2014 --
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/03/eggs-istencial-event-returns-to-disney-parks/
Even though this blog only covered the Egg-stravaganza in 2013 (when it was solely in California Adventure), it gives you an idea of where the eggs were hidden and the kinds of places to look:
"Easter Egg Hunting in Disney California Adventure" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on March 31st, 2013, by Heather Sievers
How the "Egg-stravaganza" worked last year was that there was a map made for DL and a map made for DCA. Each map came with a sheet of stickers with characters on them. The maps were inexpensive -- around $5 each. You could only buy them at certain locations in the parks -- they were not available at every shop.
Once you get your first map, you look at the clues or markers on the map and go about finding your character eggs around the park(s). There was usually at least one egg in each land, and sometimes more than one. The eggs might be hidden up on balconies, or nestled in a bed of flowers, or inside shops, etc. They were in all sorts of clever places.
The character eggs were very easy to find for the most part, as they were quite large and, in some cases, in very obvious/visible locations. I found the eggs in DCA to be much easier to find than the ones in DL (there was an egg hidden in a tree in DL, and I thought that was a good hiding spot!).
The maps essentially tell/show you where the eggs will be -- it is a hunt designed for small kids to be able to spot them easily so the challenge is not tremendous, but I actually kind of hope that Disney expands on the hunt in the future and creates another, more challenging, level as well. In other words, keep the easy hunt for the little ones, but then add in a harder level (with smaller eggs) for those who want more of a challenge.
When you find a character egg, you put the corresponding character sticker (which came with your map) onto the designated spot on the map. So, for example, if you found a White Rabbit egg in Fantasyland, you'd apply the White Rabbit sticker onto the Fantasyland area of the map.
After you have applied all of the stickers to your map, you go to the location that is giving away the prizes. It will be designated by signs and maybe even on the map itself. You show the CM your map with all the stickers, and they let you pick your prize or they hand you a prize. When they did the egg hunt for a Limited Time Magic thing in 2013, they were giving out miniature Vinylmation keychains as the prize, I believe. Last year, during the 11-day hunt, they gave out little, cheap, colored plastic character eggs as the prize. (Some people were returning maps without all of the stickers applied, though, so they will still give you the prize anyway, as long as you bought a map.) You keep your map as a souvenir!
The whole endeavor -- not counting any stops you make for rides or food or whatever -- took me a few hours, but that included hunting in both parks. You are literally walking all around the parks, from land to land, looking for the eggs, so it takes up time. If you choose to skip the map and the prize, you will still encounter the really visible eggs in random places as you go through the parks! If you choose to just do the hunt in one park, it will obviously take much less time.
I think that Disney underestimated how popular the egg hunting would be and they ran out of maps before Easter. It was a good, low-cost way to do a fun, seasonal activity in both parks, and a lot of people ended up getting maps for each park. Disney probably assumed that people would stick to one park and not do the hunt in both parks. I was all in -- if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it in both parks!! I suspect they will probably order more maps this year, assuming that the egg hunts are returning.
And in this post and this post, you will see that DIS'er Vintage Mousketeer shared some great photos of her Easter findings in 2014 -- treats, decorations, and a couple of merchandise items.
Finally, here are some of the Easter-ish goodies to look for while you're at Disneyland Resort (most of them will be back in some way, but maybe with slightly different designs):
(The first blog features photos of more Easter goodies than just the chocolate egg)
"Dining in Disneyland: The Patented Chocolate Easter Egg" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on Mar 30th, 2011, by Heather Sievers
"Dining in Disneyland Review: Lavender Vanilla Bean Easter Cupcake" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on March 30th, 2013, by Heather Sievers
"News and Review: Handmade Chocolate Fudge Easter Eggs Back in Disneyland!" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on April 17th, 2014, by AJ.
"Dining in Disneyland: Easter Treats from Marceline’s in Downtown Disney" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on April 19th, 2014, by Heather Sievers
Prior to 2013, the Easter/Springtime activities and events at DLR have been scattered, minimal and not heavily publicized. In the past there was an Easter buffet at the Disneyland Hotel, but I think that it was discontinued. However, a few of the table service restaurants (Storytellers Café, PCH Grill, etc.) might have a special Easter brunch-ish menu on April 5th. It's not a holiday that is totally ignored at Disneyland, but they don't do very much for it. Given the whimsical, colorful, fun aspect of Easter, it is surprising that DLR doesn't do much, much more. The Holidays are huge. Halloween Time is huge. People love holiday-related fun!
I've always thought that there should be a giant Easter egg in the same spot in Town Square where whey put the Mickey pumpkin and the Christmas tree every year, but so far... no giant egg.
In 2013, Disney ran its Limited Time Magic promotion. As part of the LTM events, for 7 days in March (or whenever Easter took place that year) they held an Easter egg hunt in California Adventure and brought out some famous Disney rabbits.
The 2013 Easter event was popular, so in 2014 they extended the Easter egg hunt (called the "Egg-stravaganza") to 11 days in April (4/10-4/20), and they expanded it to cover both parks, with a hunt in each park!
Also in 2014, at the Big Thunder Ranch (which takes on different seasonal overlays for Halloween Time, the Holidays and even Independence Day) turned into the "Springtime Roundup." That's where all of the Disney rabbits, Pluto in bunny ears, Mickey and Minnie in Spring-ish attire and the Easter Bunny greeted guests. There were also Spring-ish games, crafts and decorations (lots of beautiful wreaths with carrots and bunnies and other seasonal accents).
My favorite part of the Springtime Roundup -- which opened in March last year -- was the "character egg art." The eggs were not real, of course (in the heat, it would have been a disaster!), but the artists decorated eggs of various sizes as characters. Sometimes the egg became part of a character's body, and sometimes the art was simply painted on the egg (like Olaf in my signature below) -- but it was all amazing. One of the egg artists was also part of the team that decorates the pumpkins at the Halloween Carnival for Halloween Time.
The Springtime Roundup was scheduled to close after Easter last year, but I recall seeing photos that someone took and it was still open beyond Easter, even though the egg artists had stopped working.
Anyway, I cannot imagine that the Springtime Roundup and the Egg-stravaganza Egg Hunts would not return this year, because they were fun and popular. Unless they would somehow interfere with the various refurbs and projects going on in the parks in preparation for the 60th anniversary, I think they are guaranteed to be back in some capacity.
Here are links to several Parks Blogs from 2014 about the Springtime Roundup (some of them are just videos, or are very short) --
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...nds-at-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/
Here is a Parks Blog about the Egg-stravaganza egg hunt from 2014 --
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/03/eggs-istencial-event-returns-to-disney-parks/
Even though this blog only covered the Egg-stravaganza in 2013 (when it was solely in California Adventure), it gives you an idea of where the eggs were hidden and the kinds of places to look:
"Easter Egg Hunting in Disney California Adventure" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on March 31st, 2013, by Heather Sievers
How the "Egg-stravaganza" worked last year was that there was a map made for DL and a map made for DCA. Each map came with a sheet of stickers with characters on them. The maps were inexpensive -- around $5 each. You could only buy them at certain locations in the parks -- they were not available at every shop.
Once you get your first map, you look at the clues or markers on the map and go about finding your character eggs around the park(s). There was usually at least one egg in each land, and sometimes more than one. The eggs might be hidden up on balconies, or nestled in a bed of flowers, or inside shops, etc. They were in all sorts of clever places.
The character eggs were very easy to find for the most part, as they were quite large and, in some cases, in very obvious/visible locations. I found the eggs in DCA to be much easier to find than the ones in DL (there was an egg hidden in a tree in DL, and I thought that was a good hiding spot!).
The maps essentially tell/show you where the eggs will be -- it is a hunt designed for small kids to be able to spot them easily so the challenge is not tremendous, but I actually kind of hope that Disney expands on the hunt in the future and creates another, more challenging, level as well. In other words, keep the easy hunt for the little ones, but then add in a harder level (with smaller eggs) for those who want more of a challenge.
When you find a character egg, you put the corresponding character sticker (which came with your map) onto the designated spot on the map. So, for example, if you found a White Rabbit egg in Fantasyland, you'd apply the White Rabbit sticker onto the Fantasyland area of the map.
After you have applied all of the stickers to your map, you go to the location that is giving away the prizes. It will be designated by signs and maybe even on the map itself. You show the CM your map with all the stickers, and they let you pick your prize or they hand you a prize. When they did the egg hunt for a Limited Time Magic thing in 2013, they were giving out miniature Vinylmation keychains as the prize, I believe. Last year, during the 11-day hunt, they gave out little, cheap, colored plastic character eggs as the prize. (Some people were returning maps without all of the stickers applied, though, so they will still give you the prize anyway, as long as you bought a map.) You keep your map as a souvenir!
The whole endeavor -- not counting any stops you make for rides or food or whatever -- took me a few hours, but that included hunting in both parks. You are literally walking all around the parks, from land to land, looking for the eggs, so it takes up time. If you choose to skip the map and the prize, you will still encounter the really visible eggs in random places as you go through the parks! If you choose to just do the hunt in one park, it will obviously take much less time.
I think that Disney underestimated how popular the egg hunting would be and they ran out of maps before Easter. It was a good, low-cost way to do a fun, seasonal activity in both parks, and a lot of people ended up getting maps for each park. Disney probably assumed that people would stick to one park and not do the hunt in both parks. I was all in -- if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it in both parks!! I suspect they will probably order more maps this year, assuming that the egg hunts are returning.
And in this post and this post, you will see that DIS'er Vintage Mousketeer shared some great photos of her Easter findings in 2014 -- treats, decorations, and a couple of merchandise items.
Finally, here are some of the Easter-ish goodies to look for while you're at Disneyland Resort (most of them will be back in some way, but maybe with slightly different designs):
(The first blog features photos of more Easter goodies than just the chocolate egg)
"Dining in Disneyland: The Patented Chocolate Easter Egg" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on Mar 30th, 2011, by Heather Sievers
"Dining in Disneyland Review: Lavender Vanilla Bean Easter Cupcake" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on March 30th, 2013, by Heather Sievers
"News and Review: Handmade Chocolate Fudge Easter Eggs Back in Disneyland!" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on April 17th, 2014, by AJ.
"Dining in Disneyland: Easter Treats from Marceline’s in Downtown Disney" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on April 19th, 2014, by Heather Sievers
