By Tink's Agent, Kristen. WEB SLINGERS - WOW!!! This Adrenaline pumping ride inside Disney's California Adventure Park is one not to miss! This ride experience has recently changed from a virtual queue to a standby line. When I was there, the Lightening Lane signs were up for WEB SLINGERS. Could this mean Genie+ is coming to Disneyland soon? I first walked into WEB SLINGERS and was greeted by Peter Parker and his Spider-Bots. The Spider-Bots go haywire and replicate EVERYWHERE! Spiderman is called in and we are sent on a mission with Spiderman to stop the wild robots from creating chaos across Avengers Campus. Each WEB SLINGER vehicle seats four guests and you wear 3-D glasses for this ride experience. The best part about this ride is that there are no height restrictions. Once seated inside the vehicle you are transported inside a virtual Avengers Campus and instructed to reach your arms out in front of you to swing webs onto these crazy Spider-Bots. As you catch the Bots with your webs you are racking up points inside your WEB vehicle. This ride really gets your adrenaline pumping and it’s also a bit of an arm workout. Families with little kids would love this ride. I can just picture my kids as babies trying to mimic my arm motions to throw webs onto the Spider-Bots. Be sure to SWING by this action packed experience. Contact Tink's Magical Vacations if you would like us to book a vacation to Disneyland! By Tink's Agent, Kristen S. I had the incredible opportunity to stay at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at the Disneyland® Resort. This resort allows you to escape from reality and enjoy convenience, impressive dining experiences and to recharge at their spa. As soon as you walk into this hotel you are welcomed by a beautiful lobby. This lobby reminds me of the lobby at the Wilderness Lodge at the Walt Disney World® Resort, and I learned that the architect for both of these resorts was the same person. During the day there is a gentleman who plays a grand piano and sings Disney songs to welcome guests. There is a cozy area with rocking chairs in front of a fireplace to relax before or after a day in the parks. The cast members were so friendly and welcoming to all of my needs during my stay. I stayed in a Standard View room that included two queen beds as well as one twin sleeper bed. I enjoyed the attention to detail in my room that displayed Chip and Dale, orange blossom trees as well as other woodland creatures. In addition to standard rooms with a variety of views, this hotel also offers Club Level service as well as Suites. While staying at this hotel you can experience three luxurious pools. One of the pools, the Mariposa Pool, includes private cabanas that you can rent for an additional fee. Due to my jet lag coming from the East Coast, I was up bright and early one morning checking out all of the hotel sites and I was able to visit the Eureka fitness center. It is a very modern fitness center with a variety of machines and free weights. I was surprised to see the number of people up early at the fitness center before their theme park day. The Tenaya Stone Spa has recently been refurbished and includes an array of treatments as well as salon services. I personally did not have any services while I was visiting. I did pop in for a quick peek and it is so welcoming and would be a perfect place to relax and de-stress. The Grand Californian Hotel & Spa offers award-winning dining experiences such as Napa Rose, Storyteller's Cafe, Hearthstone Lounge and Craftsman’s Bar & Grill. I enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner at Storyteller’s Cafe one evening. As a vegetarian I found a variety of delicious dining options that I was able to indulge in. Of course the desserts were my favorite part of the meal! My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE part of staying at the Grand Californian is the easy access to Disney’s California Adventure® Park. One evening I timed my walk back from the park to my room and it took less than four minutes. This hotel is also in close proximity to Disneyland® Park as well as the Downtown Disney District®. Before my flight back home, I was able to take a quick walk over to Disneyland® and hit the park for two hours. I quickly walked back to my hotel in less than seven minutes and grabbed my bags for the airport. I am embarrassed to share this story but one day during my stay, I sat in the front row of Splash Mountain in my cute work dress and was completely soaked. I was grateful to be able to walk back to my resort and quickly change within five minutes and re-join my group. In addition to being close to both parks this hotel also has a private back entrance into Disney’s California Adventure® Park. It was so lovely to just walk out of our hotel in the morning and right into the park and not have to wait in line with other guests heading into the parks for the day. I was able to go through security and have my tickets scanned very quickly in minutes. Contact Tink's if you'd like our assistance booking a vacation where you can walk in Walt's footsteps -- Disneyland! 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 Vacation Planner, Kathy F. Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park are set to reopen on April 30, 2021 after being closed for over a year! Things will be a little different once they reopen such as enhanced health and safety measures like requiring face coverings for all guests ages two and over and temperature screenings to enter some locations. Disneyland will be limiting reservations to California residents only and no groups larger than three households until further notice. Capacity to the theme parks will be significantly limited to comply with governmental requirements and promote physical distancing so attendance will be managed by a reservation system. To enter one of the parks, each guest age three and over will be required to have a theme park reservation and a valid ticket for the same park on the same date. A reservation availability calendar is available to view online before guests purchase tickets HERE. There is a separate calendar for 1 day park tickets and park hopper tickets. Theme park reservations can be made up to 60 days in advance. It is recommended that guests check the availability calendar prior to purchasing tickets to make sure their desired dates are available. After purchasing tickets a reservation must be made HERE. Guests with park hopper tickets must reserve the first theme park they will visit each day and must enter that first park before visiting the other park. They can visit the other theme park after 1 PM however the ability to visit the other park is subject to that park’s capacity limitations. Once a theme park reservation has successfully been made, an email with a QR code will be sent to the guest which will be scanned when entering the park. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa will be scheduled to reopen on April 29, 2021 and will be the only Disneyland hotel available for guests in the first phase of reopening. The Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel will open at a later date. Booking a stay at a Disney hotel will not guarantee entrance to the theme parks and a reservation will still need to be made. Downloading the official Disneyland app is highly recommended. Guests will be able to use many features such as: mobile order service for dining, food and merchandise guide, making dining reservations, checking in for dining reservations, joining a mobile walk up dining list, details about operating hours, schedules, maps and checking in at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. Upon reopening many dining experiences may be modified or unavailable. Dining reservations for table service restaurants can be made starting on April 22, 2022. A mobile dining walk up list will be available on the Disneyland app for those guests who were not able to get a dining reservation ahead of time. Mobile order service will also be available on the Disneyland app to order food at quick service restaurants. Character dining and dining packages will not be offered upon reopening. Some popular experiences will not be available upon reopening such as Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, parades, fireworks and character meet and greets. The following experiences will be available: Savi’s workshop hand-built lightsabers (reservations will be needed and availability will open on April 22, 2022), Droid Depot (no reservation needed) and VIP tours (reservations will be needed). Most of the rides are expected to be reopened on April 30, 2022 however FastPass and MaxPass service will not be available. With all the changes coming to the reopening of Disneyland it is now more important than ever to use a travel agency to help plan your magical vacation. Tink’s Magical Vacations travel planners are ready to help you plan all the details to make your trip as seamless as possible. We will work with you to custom tailor a vacation to meet your family’s unique needs and budget. Contact us today for details! |
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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