The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! Beginning June 15, Disneyland will finally be open to out-of-state visitors. After more than a year and a half of being closed, Disneyland is finally back in action. But A LOT has changed. Before you begin planning your epic pilgrimage to the golden state, check out these tips and tricks for how to successfully re-visit this iconic park.

 

Making Park Reservations

Before confirming any other elements of your trip, you’ll want to make sure park reservations are available for either Disneyland or Disney California Adventure on the days you plan to visit. This is the biggest change post-pandemic and according to Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, a change most likely to stay long into the future. With parks currently capping capacity at 35%, this means that two already pretty small parks are filling up fast. So basically, gone are the days of showing up to Disneyland and purchasing a ticket on-site.

Ok, so, what do you need to do to make a park reservation? First, you’ll need to check the Disneyland website to make sure the days you want to go are still open. Next, you’ll need to purchase your theme park tickets and link them to your “My Disneyland” account. Once the tickets are linked, you’ll be able to then make your park reservation.

 

Purchasing Tickets

Purchasing your tickets to Disneyland has hardly changed, with the exception of price. If you’re looking at a single day ticket, there are different pricing tiers depending on which dates you’re looking at. In my opinion, the way to go on Disneyland tickets is to purchase at least a 2-day multi-day ticket vs a single day ticket. Not only can you go to a Disneyland park twice within a 14-day window, but you’ll get a lot more bang for buck. (Plus each Disneyland park can totally be a full day park). The more days you add to your multi-day ticket, the more the price drops.

 

Hotel Accommodations

The Disneyland Resorts are slowly starting to open back up again. At the date of this article, both the Grand Californian and the Paradise Pier Hotel are open for reservations, and beginning July 2, so will the Disneyland Hotel. (The Disneyland Hotel has undergone a full refurbishment throughout the pandemic so this would be our top choice if staying on property).

All of the surrounding “Good Neighbor” hotels are also all available to stay at. If you’re looking at a more affordable option, these are going to be your best bet. There are lots of hotels that are within walking distance of the parks.

 

Dining

Next up is what you need to know about Disneyland dining. Dining reservations can be made up to 60 days in advance of your park visit. Not all table service dining has returned but is anticipated to return shortly. As long as your tickets are linked to your account, as well as your park reservation, you will be able to make your dining reservations either via the Disneyland mobile app or online at Disneyland.com.

All quick service dining options now have mobile ordering. In some cases (such as the Mint Julep Bar) you won’t be able to walk up to the windows to order anymore, so definitely check out the Disneyland app for mobile ordering windows when visiting the parks. Mobile ordering has made dining around Disneyland SO much easier (as long as you know how to do it). During lunch and dinner hours, expect the wait times to be a little long, so it’s best to pull up the app and pick your meals about an hour before you want to eat. When you pull up mobile ordering on your Disneyland app, you’ll see a window of return for your food. You can then choose which windows you want to pick it up during. When you’re ready to eat, you’ll want to open the app and confirm you are on the premises to pick up your food. The restaurant won’t start preparing your meal until you confirm that you are there.

 

FastPasses & Virtual Queues

The next nuanced change is that relating to queues. As of the time of this post, FastPasses and Disneyland’s MaxPass are permanently on pause. There are rumors that they may not be returning either. For new rides such as Rise of the Resistance and the upcoming Web Slingers (A Spider-Man Adventure) there are virtual queues you must join if you want to ride the rides. Unfortunately there is an art to joining these virtual queues and there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to get into the virtual queues when you do try. That said, I’ve had pretty good success over the past year and half and will share my best tips for getting those coveted spots.

There are two times each day to join the queues – 7am and 12pm. It’s always best to try for the 7am queue (especially as the parks slowly begin to increase capacity beyond the 35%). In order to join the queues, you’ll need to follow these steps:
1. Make sure you have an active park reservation for the day you’re trying to join the virtual queue.
2. Make sure all people in your group are linked on your Disneyland mobile app. You’ll need to actually add their park tickets to your account to do this. If you do not have everyone’s ticket linked to your account when the queue opens you will not be able to secure a spot for everyone.
3. Make sure your Disneyland app has the latest update before arriving to Disneyland that day.
4. If you can do this with another person, have the second person in your party countdown 5 seconds to 7am. 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1. On 1, click on “Join Boarding Group” on the homepage of the Disneyland mobile app. Select everyone in your party and continue. If you get into the virtual queue, you’ll receive a mobile boarding group # and you’ll be good to go! (Note: you do not have to be on Disneyland property to join the virtual queue at 7am… you just need to have an active park reservation for that day.)
5. If you don’t get into the virtual queue after doing these steps, try again at noon.

 

Additional Changes

In addition to these main categories, there are a couple of additional nuanced changes to be aware of. The first is that the Disneyland tram is not currently in operation. If you plan to park at Mickey and Friends, expect to walk the half mile to Downtown Disney. The only way to get closer is to park at one of the hotels across the street on the Harbor side of Disneyland. These usually have day rates of around $25/day. Strollers, wheelchairs, and ECV rentals have moved to the Mickey and Friends area so if you are in need of one of these, you can now purchase yours there instead of having to walk from Mickey and Friends to the park entrances.

The Disneyland Monorail is also not currently running. This may or may not be important to know when booking any of the Disneyland Resorts. (It remains to be seen if this will open by July 2 when the Disneyland Hotel reopens).

In-park lockers are not available at this time. If you need a locker, you can rent one outside of the park entrance. Plan accordingly.

I think it’s widely known at this point, but there are still no entertainment options (meaning no parades, fireworks, nighttime entertainment, in-theater shows, etc). A difference from WDW in that there are not even smaller cavalcades at Disneyland. What Disneyland HAS done an incredible job with, are all of the socially distanced character encounters. There are TONS. Way more than WDW.

And last but not least, with all of the use your phone will be getting pulling up the Disneyland app a million times per day, you’ll definitely want to bring a portable charger and charging cord with you! You don’t want to find yourself without access to your mobile phone towards the end of the day.

I hope you found this article helpful. As always, if you have more specific questions as you plan your upcoming trip, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always more than willing to help with that.