GETAWAY SERIES // Back to Disneyland!
The time has finally come! My return to Disneyland!
In March 2020, Disneyland closed down due to coronavirus with the safety of cast members and visitors in mind. For over a year, the theme park had its gates closed and like many people, Andrew and I had to postpone a trip we had hoped to take later that year.
We drove up Wednesday evening and checked into our hotel before heading over to Downtown Disney for dinner. It felt unbelievable being back in that space and seeing the entrances to Disneyland and California Adventure after being away for so long. The lights, the music, the ambiance, it all felt so special.
Driving up from San Diego to Anaheim the night before our park reservations ended up being a good choice. Not only did we not have to worry about waking up early and dealing with the parking garage, but we were also able to get a good nights sleep and have a bit of an easier morning for our first full day.
Disney Day One
Our first official Disney day started with a line, of course. Even though some restrictions had recently been lifted, not everything was back to “normal”. We waited in line to get to security for roughly 20 minutes, then were redirected to Downtown Disney where we had to line up to get to the park gate for probably 30-40 minutes. Eventually we were able to get into Disneyland around 8:30am, then had to wait for the 9:00am rope drop to get to any rides.
Our first ride of the trip was a favorite of ours, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Because of the limited capacity as well as our strategic ride choices, we were able to bust out four rides before 10:00am. We continued the morning and afternoon with more favorites - Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Mad Tea Party (just me, not Andrew), Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and more! It was also great to enjoy some of the treats that we’ve been missing out on, especially churros!
It felt so nice, yet still surreal to be back at Disneyland. We could tell there were less people there, but that was definitely the most amount of people we had been around in over a year. Andrew and I made the decision that even though masks weren’t required for full vaccinated guests, which we both are, we still continued to wear our masks for our own peace of mind and because social distancing wasn’t always feasible. We wore our masks 90-95% of our entire time there and I’m confident that that was the right choice for us. Plus, I bought a bunch of cute Disney masks a month ago and I didn’t want them to go to waste!
One of my favorite parts of Day One was being able to get boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance, one of the rides in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. Since it is one of the newer rides, Disneyland implemented a virtual queue system. At 7:00am, Andrew and I were able to procure boarding passes (not an easy feat because it is so popular and everybody is trying to get tickets) and had to wait throughout the day till it was time for our group to go on the ride. The whole ride was so well done on a production level and felt incredibly immersive.
We went back to our hotel around 3:00pm for a little rest and went back around 6:00pm for more rides. Right now, both parks are open till 9:00pm, so we were able to spend the last three hours doing so much more. And ending the night with a Dole Whip and the Tiki Room, just absolutely magical.
Disney Day Two
Day Two started with my first experience with Disney’s parking garages. In all previous trips, I have flown into California and didn’t have to deal with having a car. But this time, we had to take into consideration how long we were able to park at our hotel, and that meant that the day we were checking out, we would have to park our car at the parking garage. It opened at 7:45am and we were able to park, walk to California Adventure, and be in line for Radiator Springs Racers just before 9:00am.
We were able to bust through all of the California Adventure rides that we wanted to enjoy and experience. Andrew toughed it out and went on Goofy’s Sky School for me, and I toughed it out and went on Grizzly River Run for him. We did pop over at one point to Disneyland, since we had Park Hopper Passes, and snuck in a few extra rides on some favorites before returning to California Adventure.
The biggest news at California Adventure is the opening of Avengers Campus. The new Marvel-themed land opened this month and there have been plenty of videos on the internet of hour-long lines just to get in there. Andrew and I were actually able to get in and check out Avengers Campus and at 12:00pm, got boarding passes for the land’s ride, Web Slingers. Overall, I think the new space has a lot of potential. There are limited stores and just the one ride right now (not including Guardians of the Galaxy). The real draw at the moment is Pym Test Kitchen, which did have good food and we enjoyed for dinner, and Web Slingers, which was interactive much like Midway Mania. I’m hoping that in the next couple of years there will be at least another ride coming in and the whole space will be a little more fleshed out.
We ended our night with Midway Mania in California Adventure and went back to Disneyland for a ride on the Disneyland Railroad just before closing. We did a full grand circle tour and it was really the best way to end our trip. It was peaceful and magical, and just what we needed.
I will say, 12 straight hours for day two was a lot. By the end of the night, our feet were tired, our backs hurt, and we were feeling exhausted. But we were happy. We had the chance to come back to Disneyland and revel in the magic of the Happiest Place on Earth.
Till next time Disney!
