November gas prices are down, but they are still the highest since AAA started recording the data 20 years ago and are about 51 cents more expensive than last year.

That means those 6.3 million Californians who plan to travel by car this week will be paying the price, just at a slight discount since the peak of $6,438 per gallon this summer.

AAA tracks fuel prices as a public service and spokesperson Julian Paredes said the increase in travelers is 2% more than in 2021.

“And that’s a record, that’s more travelers than before the pandemic,” Paredes said.

For travelers who plan to fly this holiday season, Doug Yakel, public information officer for San Francisco International Airport, said the airport forecasts 5 million travelers from this past week until New Year’s Day. Yakel said the expected travelers from this year are about 85% from 2019.

For those who will be driving rather than flying this week, AAA advises travelers to check their fluids, tire pressure, vehicle repair kit and battery charger while making sure there are extra snacks and water. Another piece of advice is to leave early as traffic delays are expected.

“There are going to be a lot of people out there and pretty much every highway is going to be packed, it’s definitely smart to give yourself more time to travel than any other time of the year,” Paredes said.

AAA anticipates over 400,000 roadside assistance calls nationwide this week, he added.

The peak of travel will be on Wednesday from 8 am to 8 pm and for the remainder of the week, 4-8 pm is going to be the rush hours.

While traffic this week might slow drivers down, the prices at the pump are better than the past few months, Paredes said, as gas prices in California have dropped about 58 cents in the last month.

Officer Judith Bryant directs traffic at San Francisco International Airport.

Nick Rose/Daily Journal

“Gas prices in San Mateo County are $5.33 a gallon for regular gas,” Paredes said. “That’s about 13 cents above the average for California right now and California has the highest prices in the country.”

The national average is $3.63 per gallon in comparison, he added.

The price for a barrel of crude oil is $81.51 and has ranged from $80 to $90 a barrel for the last month.

Anyone who is planning to drive to the airport, the parking garage is at capacity so for travelers who plan to drive and park their car there. Yakel suggests reserving parking passes on FlySFO.com to ensure there is parking.

“We recommend getting to the airport two hours prior to the flight for domestic and three hours for international,” Yakel said.

Yakel recommends downloading the app from the airline to check bags online and use TSA Precheck to save time and waiting in lines.

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MILPITAS (CBS SF) – The Milpitas Unified School District said Sunday school students can return to virtual learning for at least the coming week as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to hamper the districts in the Bay Area that try to reopen to get the latest updates after the holidays.

The superintendent’s office released a statement stating: “During the week of January 10-14, MUSD school sites will be open for personal learning to meet the needs of our community. For parents / carers who care about the health and safety of their students, you can choose our independent study program, short or long term. “

The statement encouraged families to contact their school principal for more information on self-study.

The statement also states: “After consulting the Santa Clara County Office of Education, we learned that we cannot offer a ‘district-wide quarantine’ as stated in our Friday notice. Community quarantines can be declared by the district health authority.

“In order for us to contain the rise in COVID cases among students and staff, everyone must follow safety protocols for masking, vaccination, or refresher when authorized and available.”

“We have to find ways to live together and live with COVID. We are two years under our belt and have learned a lot, ”said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer. “We have learned that in-person learning is what they need and distance learning does not benefit their mental health, emotional health and academic well-being.”

Other school districts in the Bay Area were motivated to avoid returning to distance learning.

The San Francisco Unified School District says it has distributed more than 50,000 COVID-19 tests in one week and will distribute more in the coming weeks.

“We are committed to keeping schools open as long as it is safe to do, and the Department of Health said that with our safety protocols, schools continue to remain low-risk environments,” said SFUSD spokeswoman Laura Dudnick.

The West Contra Costa Unified School District was able to close the school for two days from Friday by moving the non-teaching days in the academic calendar and will remain closed on Monday.

Tests at the district’s locations will be available again on Monday before schools reopen on Tuesday. WCCUSD hopes this long weekend will not only give them time to thoroughly clean their schools, but also allow students and staff to recover from COVID infections.

Milpitas Unified said families still concerned about sending students to school in their district can now conduct independent study for their children now that there will be no quarantine.

© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report

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We start with the bad news.

We’re not going to end homelessness.

The scale is too daunting. There are now over 550,000 homeless in America, including over 150,000 in California.

People without shelter have been a persistent problem for decades. And now, with COVID and the dubious economy, people who never dreamed of being homeless are living in cars or tents on the street.

There’s even a report stating that if the pandemic recession is as severe as feared, homelessness could increase 49% in the US and 68% in California.

It is terrible.

Luckily we got a lot of advice here in the Bay Area. John Oliver took up homelessness on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight”. His solution? Give them a home.

He advocates permanent supportive living (PSH). Just place every homeless person in PSH.

Problem solved.

All that remains for San Francisco to do is upgrade its permanent support accommodations and we’ll have that under control in no time.

Apart from the fact that San Francisco has more PSHs than any major city in the United States.

To be honest, I didn’t believe that. So I went to the San Francisco Controller’s Office to find the 2017 report.

In fact, when compared to PSH beds per 100,000, San Francisco is slightly ahead of Washington DC and well ahead of cities like Philadelphia and Boston.

“And,” said a city official, who did not want to be named, “our streets still look like shit.”

So it’s not as easy to solve as it sounds.

It is unsustainable to place every unprotected person, especially with a growing population, in permanent supportive housing. Last month, The City announced it had hosted 1,200 people in hotels. But with a homeless population of over 8,000, that hardly throws a spanner in the works.

In addition, the National Academy of Science conducted a study on PSH and “Improving Health Outcomes in People with Chronic Homelessness.”

At first it was said that permanent living was not a panacea. It states: “There is a lack of evidence” to show “improved results”.

But it also called into question the economic viability of inpatient living. The “high capital costs” are “a major obstacle”. It names regulatory problems, permits and neighborhood resistance.

As we know, this is not just a San Francisco problem. It’s the Bay Area too. And it would be a wonderful day if all of the surrounding areas could put together a single, workable homelessness program.

I am not holding my breath.

But when they did, consider some overwhelming numbers. A report by bayareaeconomy.com in 2019 estimated it would cost $ 12.7 billion to provide permanent shelter for the 28,200 that needed it.

San Francisco has an impressive $ 1.1 billion homeless budget this year. But even with a conservative estimate of $ 450,000 per unit for Bay Area construction costs by the Bay Area Council’s Economic Institute, it would have to be tripled (8,000 x $ 450,000 = $ 3.6 billion) to accommodate everyone .

That’s a big chunk for a city trying to avoid a COVID recession. And by the way, where is the money for low-income housing and teachers?

Alright you say what’s your plan

Well, it’s not perfect, but I’d come back to Supervisor Rafael Mandelman’s idea of ​​safe sleeping places. These are organized places where tents can be set up safely and The City can provide services such as toilets and even showers.

There is one in the Civic Center now, and although the public reacted with horror when it was founded, it has been around for over a year and the problems are minimal.

There are several advantages. First, people who live in tents like the idea. In fact, two people who work with the homeless told me that up to 10% of tent residents actually have a place to stay. They prefer to live in a tent community. (In some cases, honestly, to be around your dealer.)

They also live with a partner, have a pet, and have their own space. Granted, it’s not a hotel room, but maybe the locations could be a way to transition into living when the rooms open up. At this point you are either accommodated or you are on the street.

Mandelman’s attempt to expand the program failed at the meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee in April 2021.

But it’s still a popular idea, and Mandelman is said to be considering putting it up for election across an entire city.

The politically intimidating Coalition on Homelessness initially backed the idea but has since hit a 180 and is against it. Instead, they say, they want permanent supportive housing. And so it goes.

There were some concerns about the cost of the campsites originally. A budget analyst report estimated it would cost $ 190 per tent per night, which would run into millions of dollars.

Supporters say these numbers have been skewed by the pandemic and that the cost would be much lower. If that’s true, we’d like to see receipts.

Still, websites could be up and running in a short amount of time. Almost no construction is required. It would be a matter of finding open areas and having a group, probably a nonprofit, oversee them.

Of course, that kind of crazy, pie-in-the-sky idea will probably never happen. What big American city would be crazy enough to try something like this?

Well, Los Angeles, for example. In September LA passed a two-pronged homeless camp law.

First, it restricted tent camps in several residential and commercial areas in the city. Tents must not be placed in doors, next to schools, or on sidewalks. Orders are enforced by the police.

But the city has also set up a prototype for a safe place to sleep. It offers space for 95 tent sites, toilets, showers, restaurants and social services. There is even a basketball court.

It is a beginning.

It also seems like the most honest approach to homelessness. We cannot accommodate everyone. There is no possibility.

But instead of ending homelessness, we may need to think about coexistence. Nobody wants a tent to block their door. But letting someone live in a safe space doesn’t sound like a bad idea, even if it’s a tent.

There is also a glimmer of hope. It was worse than that and we made it through.

After the Great Depression, there were over 2 million homeless in the United States. And homeless campsites have sprung up across the country.

And they stayed there until President Franklin Roosevelt worked out a nationwide relief plan called the New Deal.

A Comprehensive National Plan to Reduce Homelessness?

Now there is a concept.

Contact CW Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. Twitter: @cwnevius

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – San Francisco is trying to contain a scourge of car break-ins by partnering with private companies to offer cash rewards for information about the fence operations that carry the stolen goods.

Mayor of London Breed joined Police Chief Bill Scott at a press conference Tuesday morning to announce the monetary reward system, funded by private donors in the hotel and tourism industries. The reward of up to $ 100,000 is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of leaders of organized auto break-in fences.

ALSO READ: The residents of the San Francisco Marina District are fed up with the audacious crime hiring private security

Raw Video: San Francisco Announces Cash Rewards To Stop Automatic Break-in Fences

“The frequent car break-ins in San Francisco are not victimless crimes, they have real financial and emotional consequences for the victims and we continue to work to hold people who commit these crimes accountable,” Breed said in a prepared statement. “These break-ins hurt our residents, especially working families who don’t have the time or money to deal with the effects, as well as visitors to our city whose experiences are too often tarnished after an otherwise positive experience.”

One of the most recent victims of a car break-in in the city was Australian singer Clinton Kane, who was held at gunpoint on Friday when his vehicle was broken into in the Cow Hollow neighborhood.

ALSO READ: Massive fencing operation in San Francisco failed; More than $ 2.5 million in stolen loot recovered

Police say organized criminal fencing operations are fueling frequent car break-ins in San Francisco.

“Organized crime has caused a lot of thefts in this city. The people at the top have raised huge sums of money by paying criminals on the street to steal anything that makes working families unhappy. This initiative will help us tear these rings apart, ”Sharky Laguana, President of the Small Business Commission, said in a press release.

Police said it is estimated that fewer than a dozen regular car break-ins are responsible for the vast majority of the car break-ins that have struck San Francisco and other Bay Area cities in recent years.

ALSO READ: Phish fan injured after falling at the SF Chase Center concert

According to police, the peak of car break-ins this year came two weeks after California emerged from COVID lockdowns. For the week ending July 4, 2021, 566 car break-ins were reported across the city.Community-based patrols have resulted in a sustained decline in car break-ins.

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PROVIDENCE, RI (WPRI) – Rhode Island has signed a contract with Salesforce.com to develop a mobile app that connects COVID-19 patients to services and helps public health officials track their contacts, locations and symptoms, according to a target 12 review of the deal.

The agreement with the San Francisco-based software company – entered into through a reseller company called Carahsoft Technology Corp. – Provides insight into how the state is trying to automate its current system of delivering services, scheduling tests, and finding people who may be contracting the disease from the infected, a response tactic known as “contact tracing” is.

“We’re taking a paper-based system and replacing it with a more efficient one,” wrote Health Ministry spokesman Joseph Wendelken in an email. “We have to do that because the response has become so great.”

Rhode Island began contact tracing for COVID-19 when the first positive case was announced on March 1st. As of Saturday, positive cases had grown to 2,349 and the number has been trending upward faster as testing became more widely available.

When someone tests positive for the disease, Ministry of Health officials collect information about those people’s travel history and who they’ve interacted with. After collecting the personal information, health authorities try to contact these contacts to determine if testing or quarantine is required.

The Salesforce agreement marks a major shift from the state’s personal strategy to an application-based program managed by a third-party vendor.

The app-based program is designed to make the process more efficient, but the idea of ​​automating contact tracing using cell phones – a strategy already being used in other countries – has won over advocates of civil liberty, including Jennifer Sista Granick and Jay Stanley of the American Union for Civil Liberties.

“Policymakers need to have a realistic understanding of what the data generated by cell phones can and cannot do,” write Granick and Stanley in a white paper entitled “The Limits of Tracking in an Epidemic.”

“As always, there is a risk that a simplified understanding of how technology works can result in investments that are of little use or even counterproductive and invade privacy for no real benefit,” they added.

Salesforce has signed a six-month contract to set up and provide free support for the program and app. The estimated value of the work according to the contract is $ 280,486. And while Salesforce, the Department of Health, and the state IT team continue to sort out the details, the overall goal is relatively simple.

“The state of Rhode Island has hired Salesforce to support its COVID-19 response management activities and enable a nationwide system for ubiquitous testing, contact tracing and effective quarantine,” Salesforce representatives wrote in the contract. “The aim is to reduce infections by preventing exposed people from spreading COVID-19.”

Based on the contract, the app will provide public health officials with digital tools to monitor patient symptoms and track down contacts. The effort is made possible through interviews, gathering of contact information, and gathering of “related organizational and location information” as per the deal.

On the support side, the app will help people schedule tests and give people in quarantine and isolation access to services such as food delivery and telemedicine, Governor Gina Raimondo explained in one of her daily news stories last week.

The platform could also help public health officials predict the future spread of the disease and offer other analytical tools that could help better inform the state’s response efforts and future containment strategy. Based on current state-based modeling – which has not been publicly shared – the pandemic is unlikely to peak in Rhode Island until the end of the month at the earliest, according to Raimondo.

That means leaders are still very focused on responding to the disease, but the Salesforce deal shows Raimondo is starting to focus more on developing a containment strategy for the future. With no vaccination or approved treatment currently in place, leaders across the country are struggling to find a way to both protect the health of citizens and get them out of their homes and back to work.

“If I want to reopen this economy, it has to be more automated and scalable, so we’ve worked hard to build a system,” Raimondo said on Wednesday of contact tracing.

Rhode Island’s economy is on the brink, with COVID-19-related unemployment claims exceeding 135,000 since early March.

Harvard University economist Nicholas Mankiw, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, suggested that if the pandemic is somehow contained, employment could be restored. However, he cautioned that month-long closings would likely mean companies would close for good, which would result in fewer jobs for people looking to return to work.

“That decline could have a quick recovery,” Mankiw said last week during a discussion with Brown University President Christina Paxson. “That depends on how quickly the pandemic continues.”

Emerging strategies for opening up the economy without a vaccine or properly screened treatment include ubiquitous testing and retesting – along with some level of surveillance to help with contact tracing, quarantine, and isolation.

Harvard researchers suggest that an effective testing strategy would require retesting the entire population about every three to four days to control the disease, while another group said targeted contact tracing using technologies like Bluetooth might prove more efficient .

“There are strong arguments for using digital contact tracing in combination with other technological interventions to fight COVID-19, and there are reasons to believe that it does not require major privacy sacrifices for this technology to work,” the researchers wrote .

Other countries – including China, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand – have all implemented a mandatory and voluntary type of location tracking that has apparently worked with varying degrees of success.

Whether something similar could happen in Rhode Island in the future is not entirely clear, but leaders assure that any information that is ultimately collected will be protected by federal health care privacy laws that would also apply to Salesforce.

“The Salesforce platform is the channel,” said Wendelken. “There are confidentiality rules and requirements associated with this technology, just as there are when third parties process sensitive information or health information for the state.”

Bluetooth technology is currently not mentioned in the contract with Salesforce. And “GPS upload and automation” is outside the scope of duties that the company has taken on for the state. However, the contract makes it clear that such work can be carried out on request.

Chirag Patel, director of enterprise applications and IT for the state’s information technology division, leads development work for Rhode Island. He told The Providence Journal last week that GPS tracking is not currently part of the mission. Raimondo previously told reporters it was too early to tell. When asked for clarification, Raimondo spokesman Josh Block said both statements were true.

“Current planning does not include the use of GPS tracking technology,” Block wrote in an email. “But it is too early to say if we could look into this as this situation evolves.”

Eli Sherman (esherman@wpri.com) is an investigative reporter for WPRI 12. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.

Stay informed | Coronavirus updates

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Over the weekend, Bexar County launched the second phase of a program designed to help residents in need of plumbing repairs after last month’s disastrous winter storms.

As part of the initiative, the county will dispatch a plumber and pay up to $ 1,500 in parts and labor for repairs caused by the frost.

Those in the suburbs and outskirts of the county are more likely to have difficulty finding plumbers due to their remote location, according to Bexar County officials. In the past two weeks, the county has distributed more than 40,000 boxes of water to people in the affected areas.

“With 46 water service providers in Bexar County, many do not qualify for the SAWS / City of San Antonio utility program and still lack running water,” said Rebeca Clay-Flores, district chairperson for District 1, in the press release.

Details on how to apply for the program are available online. Residents can also call (210) 631-5000 for the reimbursement program or (210) 631-6000 for the plumbing program.

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Bye Bye Birdie Tony winner Dick Van Dyke, recently featured in Mary Poppins Returns, returns to Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood in January with An Evening with Dick Van Dyke.

The stage and screen star will play on January 5, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. in the intimate club on West Sunset Boulevard. All tickets are $ 100.

Van Dyke was nominated for a Golden Globe for creating the role of chimney sweep Bert alongside Oscar winner Julie Andrews in the 1964 film Mary Poppins. The veteran actor has appeared on several television series including The Dick Van Dyke Show, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Van Dyke and Company and Diagnosis Murder. He has also appeared on screen in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Dick Tracy, and his movies include The Girls Against the Boys; Bye, bye Birdie; and the music man.

Read: You’ll Never Believe How Dick Van Dyke started out in show business

Click here for tickets to the January performance.

See how Mary Poppins duo Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dick Van Dyke are honored at the Geffen Playhouse Fundraiser

See how Mary Poppins duo Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dick Van Dyke are honored at the Geffen Playhouse Fundraiser

Backstage at Geffen took place on May 19th at the Gil Cates Theater.

6 PHOTOS

Matt Shakman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dick Van Dyke, and Gil Cates Jr.

Jordan Strauss / Invision for Geffen Playhouse / AP Images

Kristen Bell

Jordan Strauss / Invision for Geffen Playhouse / AP Images

Billy crystal

Jordan Strauss / Invision for Geffen Playhouse / AP Images

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Jordan Strauss / Invision for Geffen Playhouse / AP Images

Jim Carrey

Jordan Strauss / Invision for Geffen Playhouse / AP Images

Dick Van Dyke with The Vantastix

Jordan Strauss / Invision for Geffen Playhouse / AP Images

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Individuals detained in San Francisco prisons are provided with basic toiletries, but can also use funds sent by family members to purchase additional items from the commissioner. About a third of the prison population receives no outside assistance, according to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department.

A $ 10 monthly allowance doesn’t seem like much, but those funds can actually make a world of difference, said Paul Briley, a policy officer with the Legal Department for Prisoners with Children.

“While I was imprisoned, I had no one to put money in my books,” he said. “From what I’ve heard from people, this would mean the world to them. They have no support, they are lonely. You could buy good deodorant. I heard a person say they could buy slippers in the shower. “

The program was funded by the Financial Justice Project, an organization the city launched in 2016 to help reduce the impact of fees and fines on low-income residents and color communities. It builds on previous efforts in San Francisco to ease the financial burden on people in custody.

In July 2020, San Francisco regulators passed the People Over Profits Ordinance, which banned city jails from charging excessive charges for phone calls, police articles, and other services. The legislation made phone calls in prisons free and cut the price of commissioner’s articles by an average of 43%.

And while this was an important change, Briley said, buying things from the commissioner didn’t help people who still lacked the money. This inequality was particularly evident during the pandemic when many detainees were unable to purchase essential toiletries, leading proponents to push for the allowance.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – By now, most people know that they need to keep their faucets running to prevent the pipes from freezing. But what if they do? Plumbers say there are a few things you can try to correct the problem, but even they find the freeze difficult to locate and fix.

“Brushed my teeth, turned off the tap, and didn’t even think about it,” said Christiaan Patterson.

It was a mistake the homeowner realized she had made too late.

“I’m like please, please, please,” she said, trying when she woke up, “and I turned the tap and nothing.”

The Oklahomans pushed for power to be retained as it is restricted across the region

It is dismay that people face across the state.

I’ve got the most frozen pipe calls I’ve ever had and I’ve been in the plumbing business for 27 years,” said Jason Walmsley of Trinity Plumbing. “I’ve never seen it like this before.”

Depending on where your pipes are, Walmsley said you might be able to thaw them yourself.

“If it’s just the hot side, the water pipes in the water heater’s cabinet are usually frozen, especially in the garage,” he said. “If it’s the whole house, I’ve seen some underground water pipes that are frozen, and if that’s the case then unfortunately you have to wait for it to warm up.”

Extreme winter weather is raising infrastructure concerns across Oklahoma

He said as long as you don’t leave them unattended, you can try space heaters or even blow dryers, although the latter are less effective. Simply open the cabinets and turn on the faucet to allow water to flow through when thawing.

“Unfortunately, in my experience, the little electric heaters and the like mostly don’t work, especially when it’s cold now,” he said.

Even with his tools, the puzzle is difficult to solve.

“You look at an area, when it’s nothing, move around and just go on and on,” Walmsley said.

After the first round of rolling power outages, OG&E warns that more could be on the way with the second winter storm

And while insulation can work, even heavy-duty, construction-quality insulation is unlikely to be of much use at these temperatures. If your tubes are already frozen, wait for them to thaw before wrapping them.

The best prevention is to let your faucets run more than a drop.

“I would go way beyond dripping water,” said Walmsley. “I wouldn’t turn the tap on all the way, but almost halfway. I know it sounds crazy and wastes a lot of water, but in my eyes this is cheaper than freezing and popping your pipe, especially in a bad place like under the house or in a wall. I would run every tap in your house. “

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When parents with tired toddlers pushed through the turnstiles at Disneyland after sunset on February 7th, an equally enthusiastic crowd of eager guests lined up to board.

That chilly Thursday night, Disneyland hosted Sweethearts Nite, the newest of its late-night parties on Disneyland After Dark. At these regular events, a limited number of ticket buyers willing to pay $ 95-109 can enjoy exclusive use of the park and most of its rides for four hours.

But the rides aren’t the only attraction. Each of the themed events – Sweethearts Nite was the third in the series since January 2018 – features up-close Disney character encounters, special photo opportunities, live concerts, unique food and gift items for sale, and custom lighting and other features that most parking visitors will never see it.

Diana Griffith was one of the well-heeled ticket buyers who met friends in the park for Sweethearts Nite. The retired CPA, who grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in Arizona, visits Disneyland and its sister park Disney California Adventure three to ten days a month with her annual pass. She doesn’t mind paying for the after dark parties as they offer an experience that is unique from a day visit.

“I love the surprises they put into these events,” said Griffith, who is also a longtime member of Club 33 for Disneyland members only. There is always something new to see and do. “

Since their inception, the after-hours parties have consistently sold out within weeks of being announced. The next event on March 7th, “90s Night”, sold out in January. This spring there is also “Heroes Assemble”, a two-day superhero event on April 30th and May 1st at the adjoining Disney California Adventure Park. Tickets will go on sale on February 19th for annual pass holders and on February 21st for the general public.

Disneyland After Dark was created last year as a throwback to a program the Anaheim theme park launched in the late 1950s called “Date Night.” Adults could arrive after the park’s opening hours, purchase a special pair ticket book, and enjoy rides and special entertainment, said Andrae Gill, spokeswoman for the Disneyland Resort.

The name “Disneyland After Dark” was borrowed from the name of an episode of the TV episode “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Colors” from April 15, 1962, in which the former mousepad Annette Funicello took the audience on a tour through the park after work .

Most Disney visitors are content with visiting the theme parks for day visits. But the real Disney fans buy annual tickets, join the official Disney fan club D23, collect limited goods and grab tickets for special occasions.

“It’s an expensive hobby, but there’s no place like it,” said Laura Posey, who flew out of the Bay Area with her husband Aaron Goldsmid and 3-year-old son on the morning of February 7 on Whirlwind Date Night at Disneyland After Dark .

Silicon Valley employees Posey and Goldsmid had booked an overnight stay at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and booked a babysitter for their son so they could dress in glitzy retro clothes for their date night in the park.

“We work in the tech industry and we work very hard and long hours. So this is our escape,” she said. “My husband is not a relaxer, but he loves the rides.”

A couple poses for a photo titled “Aladdin” during Sweethearts Nite on January 7th, one of the After Dark special ticket parties at Disneyland Resort.

(Pam Collar / San Diego Union-Tribune)

After Dark ticket holders can enter the park at 6 p.m. and mingle with the crowd of the day until the park is closed for the day. Only then do the specialty foods, custom lighting, and costumed Disney characters appear.

Gill declined to say how many tickets it is selling for the After Dark events, but it is meant to ensure that guests don’t wait long in line and can get to any special events of the evening during the four-hour window.

Upon entering the park, After Dark guests will receive a printed brochure listing all open attractions, evening entertainment and special photo locations, as well as unique foods and gifts for sale.

Hundreds of guests lined up at Sweethearts Nite to be the first to buy a $ 18 plastic popcorn bucket from Minnie Mouse. Hundreds more were seen waiting for the opportunity to pose like scattered toys in front of a one-night-only backdrop for “Toy Story”.

A couple at the Disneyland After Dark Sweethearts Nite party on February 7th posed for a photo against the backdrop of a “toy story”.

(Pam Collar / San Diego Union-Tribune)

In Fantasyland, guests could go straight to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, a ride usually known for its slow line. And in New Orleans Square, the guests tried the evening specialties: Burning Love Valentine churros and chocolate-coated strawberry fritters.

One of the highlights of the event was the Royal Princess Ball in the courtyard near It’s a Small World. A live band played while Cinderella, Tiana, and other princesses whirled around in the courtyard, first with their princes and then with park goers who were quickly invited to join in.

Many ticket buyers, like Posey and Goldsmid, like to dress in costumes for the events. Ticket holders strolling through the park on Sweethearts Nite included Mary Poppins and her chimney sweep Bert, Woody and Jessie from Toy Story, Princess Leia and Chewbacca, and Belle and her prince “Beast”.

Park goers dance at the Royal Princess Ball with costumed Disney Princesses and Princes, right, during the Disneyland After Dark Sweethearts Nite party on February 7th.

(Pam Collar / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mark and Maria Petrello from Long Beach came dressed as Star Wars siblings Luke and Leia. They wore the same costumes for the two-day Disneyland After Dark Star Wars events last spring and enjoyed the evening so much that they plan to host at least two of the parties this year.

“It’s fun to dress up and it’s great to walk around without the crowds,” Maria said. “Everyone is in a good mood. It’s something special. “

Griffith doesn’t dress up for the After Dark parties, but she said she never gets tired of going back to Disneyland again and again as it’s the only park where Walt Disney himself walked the sidewalks and in the apartment above the fire station Main Street stayed.

It’s such a wonderful place, ”she said. “I don’t think there is anyone, past or present, who brought more smiles into the world than Walt Disney.”

This spring’s two-day Heroes Assemble Party is the first after dark party to be hosted at Disney California Adventure. There will be encounters with Marvel superheroes including Black Panther and Captain Marvel, a scavenger hunt, comic art show, and Marvel-themed foods like the kebab that the heroes consumed in the post-credits scene on The Avengers . Tickets are $ 109.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com. Twitter: @pamkragen

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