Walt Disney said on July 17, 1995:
To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past…and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America…with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.
After a year in a pandemic, who couldn't use a bit of joy and inspiration?
In March 2020 we were making plans to visit Disneyland to celebrate their 65th anniversary on July 17, 2020. "As soon as the gala is over" in late March, "I'll book the trip." Well, the gala switched to virtual in November and Disneyland remained closed until Spring 2021.
Even after Walt Disney World reopened to everyone, and Disneyland opened to Californians, Disneyland remained closed to the rest of the world until June 15, 2021.
A number of people have asked me to blog about our Disneyland experiences on July 5-7, 2021. For as often as we have visited Disneyland, it is rare for me to blog about it. What more is there to say about one of the biggest travel destinations in the world? I did write about it in 2016 (until this year, our last trip), in 2014, and in 2013. There may be some other stray posts out there.
For us a trip to Disneyland is about visiting friends and family. This trip was different because our visits took place out of the park instead of in the park due to the elimination of the annual pass system (we were not about to ask friends to spend $100 a day to visit with us). We treasured our visits, but those are different stories.
We opted to only spend three days at Disneyland. Yes, only. Fifteen years ago we would spend 10 days in the park and still not do everything. Fifteen years ago our princess was playing hide and seek on Main Street with the characters (you had to be there to appreciate that statement). Also an annual pass cost $209 ($199 if you were a AAA member).
I asked Don and Ashley if three days was the right amount of time and they both said yes. We got park hoppers and dashed across the esplanade between parks several times a day (take that WDW!). I could have used more time to sit and enjoy, which may have given me enough time to figure out the system for ordering food online!
After our first night, I made some notes so I wouldn't forget. They are in no particular order.
1) The Cast Members were very nice. The ones we spoke with seemed genuinely thrilled to be back to work, even if they were not doing what they normally do.
2) During the closure Disneyland removed a bunch of curbs so strollers, ECVs, and wheelchairs can move more effortlessly. As one cast member pointed out, people are not that used to curbs any more. They also took out the planters along Main Street. On an earlier trip I had noted they were above my head, but there are people taller than me. Safety is always a priority at Disney.
3) Or rather, safety is always a priority EXCEPT when it comes to a pandemic. To us, Disneyland is affectionally referred to as Germ Fest USA. We have brought home chicken pox (Don), pink eye, and numerous colds. Since obsessively washing our hands at Disneyland we have come home without a disease, but COVID? So far so good (yes, we are fully vaccinated). The week we were there, the rule was no one needed a mask outdoors, and if you are fully vaccinated, you do not need one indoors. Tell that to the children under 12 who I know are not fully vaccinated, yet were standing nearby on lines.
4) Disneyland has two new rides, one each in Disneyland and California Adventure. You must use the ap to get on the virtual queue. The virtual queue opens as 7 am and noon. It is full at 7:00:05 and 12:00:05. I kid you not! I suspect the ride at California Adventure (WEB SLINGER: A Spiderman Adventure) will just become a regular line. That and the entire Avengers Campus were not worth the hype. Star Wise: Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland is completely worth of all superlatives and will likely be on the ap for virtual queue for a long time. That is worthy of a different post. I likened the attempt to get a ticket to trying to get a vaccine appointment in February through March -- much envy amongst those with fast fingers who were successful.
5) The lines were long. There was very little entertainment (more on that in a bit) and restaurants were mostly offering online service (via the ap), so people rode rides and milled about. The wait times were not a typical summer at Disneyland length, but I felt as if we were tripping over people the whole day.
6) We saw lots of groups wearing matching shirts celebrating someone's birthday or family reunion. While this is typical at WDW, I don't think we noticed it at DL until 2016, and not to the extent we saw this time. I also saw less kids wearing costumes and less adults Disneybounding. The lack of the Annual Pass changed the dynamics of who was at Disney. Another change, while we were there they introduced a three-day park pass for California residents that was much cheaper than our pass. That seemed to attract more people.
7) Characters were separated from fans by a thin fence. I get it. On one of our trips the princesses all came down with a stomach bug and were out for a few days (long story short, we heard this through a grapevine). As a mom without a little kid, I enjoyed this because I could still see the interaction without being involved, but it made me sad for the kids not getting the interactions we used to enjoy.
9) Cast members cannot touch your camera or cell phone, so I took a lot of selfies, especially with the characters. In some cases we asked random strangers to take our picture, in exchange for us doing the same for them. Awkward, but I get it.
10) The pandemic does not exist at Disneyland. Or so it seems. (see #3)
11) You must decide in advance which days you are visiting Disneyland, and make a reservation for which park you want to enter first. If you have a park hopper, you can't switch parks until 1 pm. This might not seem like a big deal, but an early part of our typical day is seeing the schedule for what to draw at Animation Studios.
12) Speaking of Animation Studios, a big change was they no longer hand out drawing paper (I assume so there is less contact with guests). Also, the exit was blocked so we had to exit where we entered. Felt like a potential fire hazard, but as I was glad it was still available, I didn't complain.
We noticed a couple of changes since our last visit:
A) The bobsleds have new cars (I think that was in the works on our last visit).
B) "Red" is now a pirate (I saw this first at Disneyland Paris) instead of a Bride for Sale.
3) Avengers and Star Wars Lands.
Disney is using this opportunity to figure out what works and what doesn't work. Fast Passes and Annual Passes are two programs that have not returned. There are rumors Fast Pass might switch to a supplemental paid program (which is what is happening in Paris). Disney is offering "Legacy Passes" for discounts, but not for park admission. I respect it is easier to make a change now.
Would I recommend a trip now?
Yes, if you have been before and want to see how they are handing COVID.
No, if this will be your only visit.
I am really glad we went. I met a few new cast members I would enjoy seeing again. I look forward to seeing the new entertainment. One day we saw people in management studying the theater and wondered what was coming to the Fantasyland Theater. Also wondered if Frozen will come back to the Hyperion Theater, or if something new will take place.
PS: Three weeks after our visit masks are not required indoors for everyone because clearly the honor method (i.e., wear a mask if you are unvaccinated) does not work, and because the Delta strain is that much stronger.
Leave it to Disney to always have a reason we should come back.
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