Credit: Drew Tarvin, FlickrA fan-favorite Downtown Disney District location is closing indefinitely, the latest in a string of updates happening to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
Downtown Disney is a key part of the Disneyland Resort. With a variety of stores, including the huge World of Disney, restaurants, and beverage locations, Downtown Disney is generally a busy area thanks to its adjacency to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. The three resort hotels, Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Resort & Spa, and Disney’s Pixar Place Hotel are also nearby.
In recent months, Disney revealed that several updates would be happening in Downtown Disney, and perhaps the biggest is the arrival of three new Mexican restaurants: Paseo, Céntrico, and Tiendita, from the Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytán. These offerings replace the fan-favorite Tortilla Jo’s, which closed on April 7, 2024–yes, no more tableside guacamole.
Disney’s latest Downtown update also shared that Dai Tai Fung will open this summer and that new steakhouse and BBQ concepts are coming in the near future. Surprisingly, though, Disney Parks Blog also revealed that the beloved Marceline’s Confectionery would be closing indefinitely.
“We’re designing an all-new, expanded, and completely reimagined confection experience featuring your favorite treats and fun new tasty offerings!” Disney Parks Blog wrote. “While work on this location will soon be in progress, you can visit Marceline’s cart coming soon to the district to pick up your caramel apples, churro toffee and other handcrafted goodies.”
Interestingly, there is no start or end date for this transformation, meaning the length of the closure is anyone’s guess. The closure of Marceline’s Confectionery also causes The Disney Dress Shop to move into the WonderGround Gallery location, with WonderGround Gallery items being sold in Disney Home.
With offerings like chocolate-covered marshmallows, classic crisped rice treats, and candy apples, Marceline’s Confectionery is a frequented destination in the Downtown Disney District, and its closure will mean guests will have to find their sweet treats elsewhere. There is no word on when the Marceline’s cart will be arriving.
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The Downtown Disney District is not the only part of the Disneyland Resort that is undergoing transformation. In fact, the Disney Parks brand as a whole is evolving constantly with big things on the horizon at both the domestic and international theme park resorts.
At Disneyland, concept art of the recently announced Avatar expansion was shared, and while no start date has been confirmed, the end result looks to be something like Pandora — The World of Avatar at Walt Disney World Resort. On an even larger scale, the DisneylandForward initiative sees The Walt Disney Company looking to expand its footprint in Anaheim significantly.
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“Disneyland is to invest $1.9 billion over the next decade in new lands, attractions, hotels, and retail and dining outlets,” writes Blooloop. “The plans include potential experiences based on Frozen, Tangled, Peter Pan, Zootopia, Toy Story and Tron.”
Across the country on the East Coast, Disney has set the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom history in motion as they begin work on the “Beyond Big Thunder” project. At Animal Kingdom, Imagineers recently shared the progress on reimagining the DinoLand, U.S.A. area to the Tropical Americas.
Will you miss this Downtown Disney offering at Disneyland? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!