I enjoyed the magic at Disneyland reopening (and California Adventures)! Here is everything you need to know about COVID regulations, crowds, changes, what’s open, what’s not, and common questions and myths! Follow along on TikTok for more answers to FAQs and video footage.
As someone who grew up in Anaheim, and as a many year annual pass holder, I had a very different experience than usual. But it was honestly one of my BEST Disneyland experiences. I felt safer than I do in my local mall and rides were far easier to get on and enjoy. We hit all of our favorite rides in both parks between the parks’ operating hours of 9am to 7pm (some even twice!).
Is it Crowded?
Yes, and No. Going to Disneyland is by far the most amount of people I have seen since quarantine. Even at a limited capacity, you can expect to see thousands of people. It is, after all, Disneyland.
However, currently Dinseyland reopening has comparatively SIGNIFICANTLY LESS PEOPLE. Pre-covid I used my annual pass to go on Wednesdays, one of the least busiest days of the week. There are far less people than my typical off-peak Wednesday, let alone a peak weekend. On average, Disneyland alone is at about 60% capacity, roughly 51,000 people. At 25%, which would be a sold out Disney Day, the maximum would be 21,000 people, less than half! So NO there are not the typical Disney crowds.
It is hard to feel this is true while waiting in line paths longer than the usual, but becomes very apparent when once you get onto the rides.
What are the COVID protocals?
- SOCIALLY DISTANCED LINES
The lines are LONG. Physically, incredibly long. To put it into perspective, Indiana Jones took over the Jungle Cruise line (currently down for maintenance) and the Pirates of the Caribbean and Cars’ lines wind through main pathways.
There are a few reasons for this. First, obviously, you have to be socially distanced by 6 feet in every direction. They even make the spaces longer to account for larger parties. In my experience, guests were self regulating this social distance better than I have seen in any of my local stores or malls which I was grateful for.
Second, a current Disneyland reopening regulation is that a guest can only be inside (including ride time) for 15 minutes. So Disneyland does not want to have you waiting in line inside. Once you do get inside Disney workers encourage you to move quickly and you’ll often be the only people you see as you run through the indoor line until you reach the ride. A good example is the side door entrance to get into the Haunted Mansion ride instead of the main entrance. Some people do still get the typical elevator entrance, and we did. Your odds of either are 50/50 and random. When we were in the elevator only 5 groups were allowed and we stood on little bubbles.
The lines feel long because of the distance but they also feel faster because you move quickly, you’re mostly walking through a line with a few stops.
- SOCIALLY DISTANCED RIDES
The majority of rides are single party! So if you’re on Cars then you are the only group in it even if there are only 1 or 2 of you. Indiana Jones had one party in the front row, plexiglass in the second, then another party in the third row. Rides with larger seating such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, and Incredicoaster, will have one party in the very front row, a whole lot of empty space, then one party in the very back. For rides with even more seating, such as Gaurdians of the Galaxy, you are separated to the edges by group.
Another thing worth mentioning in Disneyland reopening is that most (if not all, maybe I got lucky) rides don’t show your photo afterwards. This was a bummer but I can only assume it is so crowds don’t gather or linger in one spot.
- STRICT MASK POLICIES
There are designated “Dining” areas. Basically, this is where you go every time you need to take off your mask. You CANNOT DRINK/EAT AND WALK/WAIT. This includes water. You can’t walk and drink water or wait in line and drink water. You have to stop at the designated dining areas. I went on opening day, but they were very on top of this rule in all areas of the park, which I appreciated. However, this does affect your experience a little bit. I like to grab a snack and hop in line, but you can’t do that. On the bright side wait times are not long so it doesn’t detract from how many rides you enjoy. The day I went was also very hot, so it was annoying to find a place to stop just to drink water. Also, it could be very hard to find a place to stop, they filled up quickly.
YOU CANNOT TAKE IT OFF FOR PHOTOS. Another Disneyland reopening experience detraction, my photos definitely cannot display my excitement! This was something I did naturally until Disney workers urgently asked me to put it back on, *oops*. On the bright side, one day we will look back and laugh at our COVID mask photos and how that couldn’t stop us from going to Disneyland.
Is Everything Open?
Aside from the regular maintenance ALL RIDES ARE OPEN!!! Including indoor rides. There was originally some confusion about this Disney reopening regulation but on opening day, everything was open to enjoy.
NOT ALL RESTAURANTS ARE OPEN. In fact, on opening day most were closed including our favorite restaurants, the Blue Bayou and Wine Country Trattoria. At first, I assumed this was due to indoor dining but Wine Country Trattoria has a lot of unused outdoor dining and California currently is allowing indoor dining at 50% capacity. So I am not sure why SO MANY restaurants were closed. There have been rumors going around that the Disneyland reopening issue is actually staffing and that Disneyland has prioritized the staff that did come back for rides and not food, but this has not been confirmed.
SOME EXPERIENCES CLOSED. Tom Sawyer’s Island was closed, along with a variety of indoor experiences such as the museums and animation studio class.
Myths – True or False?
- YOU CAN’T SCREAM ON RIDES
False! I can confirm I was allowed to scream on all of the rides and was never told otherwise. - RIDE WAIT TIMES ARE SHORT
True! The average line was 20 minutes. The longest we waited was 35 for Indiana Jones in the peak of the day. - THERE IS STILL A VIRTUAL QUEUE FOR RISE OF THE RESISTANCE
True, but now there are two times available 7am and 12pm. I got on exactly at 12pm and we got out reservation for 130pm. - TRAMS ARE CLOSED
True! The trams are closed so you have to walk from the parking structures to the parks. This was fairly easy to find in the mornings as you just followed the crowd. It was more difficult to find at night since we had stayed a few hours after the park closed to dine in Downtown Disney. - CHARACTERS DON’T WEAR MASKS
True. Some characters, such as Disney Princesses did not have masks on but the only ones I saw were typically on second or third levels of buildings, very socially distanced! - PARK HOPPER LIMITATIONS, BOTH NOT GUARANTEED
True? Again, technically this is true and Disney can deny you or make you wait if they reach capacity. BUT when I had bought my pass, Disneyland was already sold out so we bought park hoppers and had no choice but to put California Adventures as our starting park. We went to hop parks early around 1230pm, they did make us wait until 1pm, but other than that we had no issues getting into both. - RESIDENCY IS CHECKED
True? In my experience, they did not check our proof of residency, but they do have the right to at any time so make sure to bring one!
Is it worth the extra money?
YES, ABSOLUTELY.
I know you’d expect that answer from a Disney fanatic like me, but my husband, who is not a super Disney fanatic, AGREED because he felt like he “was able to do 3 days worth of Disney in 1 day.”
I had to get the most expensive pass, Tier 5 park hopper, to go on opening day. But with how easy it was to get on rides, and the enjoyment of single party rides, I’d like to go again before capacity increases and would recommend to others to go sooner rather than later. I expect that my experience on opening day will be very different from someone else’s experience in just a few months!
Follow along on TikTok for more answers to FAQ and video footage. Comment any additional questions you’d like answered, I’ll update soon under the “myths” section.
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