By Tink's Agent, Kathy F. After being closed for over a year, the Disneyland® Resort opened its gates for California residents at limited capacity once again on April 30,2021. My family and I were lucky enough to get park tickets for the opening weekend and return to the magic. The two theme parks were scheduled to be open 9 AM-7 PM during our stay. We arrived at the front entrance on the Harbor Boulevard side on Saturday at 7 AM and were directed to stand in a physically distanced queue line. Once the line started moving we went through a temperature and security check and then were directed to stand in another queue line with the guests arriving from the parking lot. We were in Disneyland® Park at 8:45 AM and walked down Main Street U.S.A. to be greeted by cast members lined up on both sides welcoming us back. We immediately headed for some rides and were able to get on many of them without any wait at all. We found that the queue lines had markers to keep guests six feet apart and they were spacing guests out on rides in every other row or just one family per ride vehicle on some rides. We enjoyed rides such as Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run with just our family. We had a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance in the morning and were able to walk straight on to the ride with no wait, but they did not have us go through the first two pre-show rooms. Luckily we had already been on the ride previously so didn’t mind missing some of it but this might be disappointing for someone who has not been on it before. We had park hopper passes which meant we could visit Disney California Adventure® Park starting at 1 PM. When we headed over to the California Adventure® Park in the afternoon we found that the queue lines for the rides were very short there as well. Disney characters were plentiful at both theme parks and we enjoyed the meet and greets. These were set up so guests could interact and take photos with the characters at a distance. There was never a wait to see the characters and oftentimes my family hung out with a character for a good five or more minutes before other guests showed up. At Disneyland® Park, we met princesses at the Royal Hall, Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh characters in front of It’s a Small World, Chewbacca at Galaxy’s Edge, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip and Dale at the train station on Main Street, U.S.A. At Disney California Adventure® Park we met Marvel characters in Hollywood Land, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto on Buena Vista Street, Pixar characters at Pixar Pier and Judy Hopps and the Country Bears by the Little Mermaid ride. Dining was mostly done by mobile order and the menus were limited to only a few options at each restaurant. Most of the snack carts were open as well. We quickly learned that all food and drinks must be consumed while sitting in a designated dining area. These areas were benches and tables that were clearly labeled. There were a few table service restaurants open as well and reservations needed to be made ahead of time. My family and I had a reservation for River Belle Terrace for lunch. The seating was all outdoors and the service was excellent. We are vegetarians and had a barbecue tofu dish with a side of mushrooms and vegetables. We enjoyed taking a break from the day and relaxing as we ate our lunch. The servers were very happy to welcome guests back and were very attentive to our needs. Face coverings needed to be worn at all times by all guests 2 years old and up except for when eating or drinking in a designated dining area. Unlike at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida, at the Disneyland® Resort theme parks, face masks had to stay on for outdoor photos. There were no fireworks or parades with the initial reopening of the Disneyland® Resort but I did not feel like we missed out on any of the magic. FastPass and MaxPass were also not available yet. Rider Switch service was available and I did utilize this on the rides my daughter could not ride. With Rider Switch one adult can wait with a child as the other adult rides then they simply switch and the 2nd adult can go through the FastPass queue to get straight on the ride. I enjoyed every part of my weekend at the Disneyland® Resort for the reopening weekend and the only thing I wished for was longer hours but it looks like that will be coming in the near future. I am looking forward to experiencing it again as they continue to reopen restaurants, attractions and special experiences such as Avengers Campus, an all new land at California Adventure® Park. This new land will be opening on June 4, 2021 and feature a new Spider-Man ride, Pym Test Kitchen- a Ant-Man and Wasp themed restaurant and many more exciting surprises! By Tink's Planner, Michelle R. As temperatures in Florida start to fall, now is a great time to take the family to the Walt Disney World® Resort! If you have spent any time in the media (social or otherwise), you know that we have a global pandemic going on right now. While there are many differing opinions as to if theme parks should be open, Disney in particular has gone to great lengths to ensure the health and safety of their guests. Specific rules regarding masks and social distancing is being strictly enforced while you are on your Walt Disney World® Resort vacation. Masks are required at all times, unless you are eating or drinking while stationary. Disney has even gone so far as to mandate, and enforce, that you can no longer walk and eat (some guests were using eating and drinking as an “excuse” to not wear a mask while walking). Having just visited the Walt Disney World® Resort with my family in early October, we came away feeling safer than visiting our local grocery store. Why? Because the actions that we personally witnessed and experienced for cleanliness were at the strictest levels! Cast Members were consistently enforcing the mask wearing guidelines and social distancing was the norm. We had VERY few instances of other guest not respecting that “spacing”. But I digress. Why go now? Well, for starters crowds are low, which is great if you are hoping to take in all four parks. While the most popular rides still had wait times of 45 minutes to an hour – we found most lines to move VERY quickly and were, on average, 15 minutes less than the posted wait times.
Christmas in Disney. Need I say more? The parks were transformed this past weekend and they are – SPECTACULAR! Looking for characters? The cavalcades that occur throughout the day give you that dose of your favorite Disney characters in the random “parades” through the parks on floats, trolley trains, horse drawn carriages & more! Can’t visit now (November 2020)? Disney is offering up some great special offers for early 2021 vacation packages – during the best weather time of the year to visit Florida – particularly with a mask mandate – making your time wearing it much more comfortable over the course of the day. (Mask Note: We chose to use disposable surgical masks. When they got wet in the rain, or from sweat, we simply trashed them and put on a new clean one throughout the day). But what about the downside of heading the parts right now: the restrictions in place have made park-hopping all but impossible (purchase a VIP Tour to regain the ability to hop). That means if your goal is to visit each park – you will need to plan four days of travel. Additionally, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been very popular for the Park Reservation system. As the smallest park by size and with reduced capacity limits, the popularity of Rise of the Resistance and other Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge attractions has made it more challenging to secure last minute park reservations. Overall, this is a good time to go. The crowds are smaller, the wait times are down, and Disney is making the magic – every day – for their guests! By Tink's Agent, Scott. My family and I recently visited the Walt Disney World® Resort at the end of June shortly after its reopening. We knew that the theme parks were not open yet and were interested to see how things were different. We were looking forward to enjoying the resort and Disney Springs. Here were my observations and takeaways. |
Our vacation planners their children and yes, even some of our Tink’s clients, have written about their experiences in the Neverland Blog. The magic of Disney comes alive in an immediate way when our children visit the Land of Mickey and Minnie.
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