My Thoughts & Tips on Visting Disneyland after their Re-Opening

California Adventure Disney Vibes Disneyland Family Trips Getaway Making Memories Southern California

family at Disneyland Castle

My thoughts on visitng the Happiest Place on Earth after their long awaited re-opening. We love Disneyland; we have been Annual Passholders off and on for several years, it's the one place we could take a vacation to and the kids actually got along. It's magical, it's clean, the food is good, you can ride rides or you can relax. 

We went to Disneyland on June 3rd  (Thursday) and California Adventure on June 4th  (Friday). In case you haven’t seen, you have to secure the dates you want to visit ahead of time on their website. After June 15th they will be increasing capacity, during our visit it was at 35% and it was only open to California residents. While yes that sounds amazing and is why we planned this trip, it’s just not the same. I realized that we have been absolutely spoiled with max passes and walk-up food ordering. Planning out what you want to eat for the whole day or even 1-2 hours in advance is not fun, getting hangry is real! Ride times were pretty average with what they are on a regular pre-closure day, except you can’t bypass any of the lines with a fast pass. Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates all range from 40-60 minutes. Fantasyland is crowded! It’s a small space, and lines are socially distanced which means many lines carry outside the queues. The shortest line we found in there was for Mr. Toads and it was a 15–20-minute wait. The carousel & dumbo were around 40 minutes. The wait times in the app are definitely skewed because they are not giving out the red cards to guests in line to help gauge the accurate waits.

 Avengers Campus Maps California Adventure

Our day at California Adventure was exhausting because we choose to go on opening day for Avengers Campus. We arrived at 6:30am to wait in line, attempted to get Web Slinger boarding passes while in line but unfortunately, we did not secure them. We had no idea what it would be like once entering the park. The line wrapped all the way down to jumping jelly fish after weaving through the Paradise Gardens Pier After 4 hours of waiting in the standby line for Avengers Campus we left the line because we were told that we could get in later with a food reservation (they've since changed this rule). Now the only way to into the Avengers Campus is with a Boarding Time for Web Slingers or wait in the standby line. We eventually made it into Avengers Campus later that afternoon (2:45pm). It was very crowded, food was all sold out, and you couldn’t really look around and soak it all in because of all the poeple. Please remember this was our experience on opening day. I know it’s improved since then after reading what others are posting. If you aren’t able to secure Web Slinger boarding passes I would probably wait to do Avengers Campus until the evening. I've read the lines go much faster and I think it looks much prettier all lit up! Plus, if they make it through all their boarding groups for Web Slingers, they will open a standby line. Also, one other little note, you can only ride Guardians once you’re inside Avengers Campus. Which kinda stinks for me, that’s one of our favorite rides.

 

Tips & Recommendations:

  • Look for tutorials online for securing your Boarding Group. They helped us, we secured Rise of the Resistance passes while still in our hotel at 7am when they are released. We tested the speed of the hotel wifi vs phone data and the hotel wifi won. We also had a world clock up on our ipad that showed down the second so you can click right at 7:00:00. Seriously you have to! The passes go so fast!
  • They have been letting guests in early. We got in line at 8:00am on Thursday (Disneyland day) and were in the parks by 8:30am. The lines look long, but they move pretty quickly.
  • Plan out your meals, and do your mobile orders in the am before the time slots get taken. Sadly, if you get an urge for a corndog, you’re most likely not going to fulfill it for over an hour. ☹ There are a few carts open, where you can get churros & popcorn. Dole whips are on mobile order too!
  • Masks; yes, you have to wear them ALL THE TIME. The only exception is when you’re eating in a designated dining area which they have all over. They have added a ton of tables and benches throughout Disneyland. Not so much at California Adventure.
  • There is no eating while you’re eating in line.
  • You cannot take your mask off at the castle, they have plaids up there to make sure your masks stay on.
  • There are no lockers available inside the park, they are available in the esplanade (area between the parks). There is a set on the Disneyland side & California Adventure side.
  • Dining reservations are available 60 days in advance. Many restaurants are running on limited menus, so all of your favorites might not be available. If you’d like to eat a sit-down restaurant definitely hop online and make your reservations.
  • The train is running, the omni bus & firetruck are running down main street. They are socially distanced so not many people can fit at one time.
  • You can still bring in your own water, food, snacks. Which is helpful when you can’t get a food pickup time for an hour or more later.
  • Characters are out but distanced. It seems like there are more of them out at once though. You can see the Fab 5 out by the train station, Stitch was in Tomororwland, Incredibles on Pixar Pier.
  • There are no shows, fireworks or parades. 
  • Don't forget a portable battery charger & cord, you use your phone for everything!
  • Check out Five Fires You Tube for more tips
  • Casey at Disneyland Daily also has great tips
  • I'll post more highlights in my Insta stories @nickelanddyme

I’m glad we went, any time at Disneyland is a good time. However it’s just not what we’re used to and really hope that soon it will be back to what it once was. I need my fast passes and I need to be able to walk up and order food whenever I want 😊.


Leave a comment