After over a year of closed gates and uncertainty, the Disneyland Resort is back! At the very end of April, the parks once again welcomed visitors, though things do look a little different. For now, visitors still need to wear masks, you won’t see any shows or parades, and the parks close earlier than they normally do this time of year. Let’s take a look back at this month at the resort.
CHARACTERS MAKE MAGIC FROM AFAR
Character interactions can’t currently happen they way they used to. That means no hugs, no autographs, no Fantasy Faire meetups. But it doesn’t mean no characters! You’ll see all kinds of clever interactions popping up across the parks. My favorite that I’ve seen so far is this peek at Snow White and the Evil Queen, greeting guests while going about their days.
Source: Laughing Place
Another funny interaction I saw came from Paradise Gardens Park. Lilo was cleaning her surfboards, waving to passers by as she worked.
Source: Laughing Place
AVENGERS CAMPUS DEDICATION CEREMONY
As you may have heard, Avengers Campus finally opens in California Adventure on June 4. Ahead of the land’s official opening, Disney Parks Blog will host a dedication ceremony, streaming live tomorrow night at 8:15 pm pacific time.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
We also got a glimpse of the merchandise available in the new land. The most exciting announcement was the WEB Tech add-on, enhancing the WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure attraction experience. This wrist band, which will be available for purchase near the attraction, will allow you to shoot webs from your wrists as you ride.
Note: you won’t need one to ride – it’s just an added feature.
You’ll also be able to purchase a Spider-Bot, the creatures you’ll be battling during the attraction.
Source: Disneyland AP
UPCOMING REOPENINGS
Source: Blog Mickey
As park capacity increases and refurbishments finish this summer, several of the closed hotels and restaurants are slowly releasing reopening dates. Here are the upcoming dates we know so far:
- Paradise Pier Hotel – June 15
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters – June 26
- Disneyland Hotel – July 2
- Matterhorn Bobsleds – July 2
- Jungle Cruise – July 16
Starting June 15, Disneyland will also start allowing out-of-state visitors. We still don’t have any information about mask policies changing like they did in Disney World. So for now, assume: mask on.
OTHER UPDATES
Two fan favorite attractions reopened with new enhancements! In the Haunted Mansion, you’ll see the return of Miss April – December by the doom buggies, among other little details scattered throughout the attraction. And Snow White has now been partially reimagined to be less scary, with more woodland creatures and a new ending that doesn’t skip the final act of the story.
Eagle-eyed park visitors may have noticed the Mission: Breakout fast pass kiosks have been removed. This fast pass distribution area was never re-themed to fit the Guardians of the Galaxy, so it may be for that purpose. But some are wondering if Disneyland will do away with fast pass as we know it (it’s not being offered right now with limited capacity). Only time will tell!
And finally – there’s been a lot of chatter on social media about the difficulty of getting into the parking lots. The structures aren’t opening as early as they did before, and traffic can seriously back up on Disneyland Drive and cause frustration. Just remember that we’re all trying our best, especially overworked cast members pulling longer shifts due to staffing shortages. Disneyland will iron out the kinks – for now, just make a pump up playlist and plan your ride strategy while you wait in line.
Now that the parks are back open, I’ll be upping my posting schedule from 1 day a week to 2 days. Look for new posts every Tuesday and Friday!