We went yesterday 5/14, a few thoughts:
- the parking garage and walk to/from is NOT magical. It's not crazy far or anything, but it just takes up a big chunk of time. We were in Anaheim at 8:30 (tried the Anaheim hotel for parking but it was full), were parked at 9, and were in DCA at 10. We got held in a big glob of people righ before the esplanade, in full sun, and then the lines in the esplanade took forever for some reason. The walk back was hard on tired feet, too. I've always preferred the toy story lot, so I'm also a little biased here.
- My feet have gone soft and I'm not used to walking 10+ miles anymore
and I am paying for it today. Oops.
- mobile order worked great for us. We ordered a couple of hours ahead of time for meals, and also got a couple of snacks with immediate picks up windows. For the meals, I would hit “I'm here” as we were walking over, and by the time we got to the restaurant, the food was ready.
- food options are limited, look over the menus ahead of time if you have picky-ish eaters so no one is surprised. The allergy friendly options are REALLY limited, and kind of a problem, especially in DCA. The kid's Mac and cheese (at least in DCA) has breadcrumbs on it... I liked it, my kid hated it (because he is a picky kid!) The toddler Mac and cheese is plain, but I didn't realize that until later (and I don’t think that restaurant had it, anyway).
We got food from Paradise Gardens, Tropical Hideaway, Red Wagon, French Market, Cozy Cone, and Ghirardelli's.
- there are tons of designated eating areas. The only place that was a little weird was Paradise Gardens in DCA where a good 3/4 of the tables were blocked off, leaving 10-15 feet between available tables. Everywhere else was great and easy to find a spot. Ranch del Zocalo in DL is open for seating (restaurant closed) and that was lovely and shaded.
- it was oddly not crowded but also crowded. It didn’t feel crowded walking around, and I was never all that close to anyone, but the long extended lines made it look crowded. It felt like about a 4/10 day.
- we rode 12 rides, from 10am to 8pm, with several food stops, many rest stops, some shopping, and we park hopped twice (DCA to DL to DCA). We rode (not in this order) Mater's Jamboree x2, Luigi, Racers, Midway Mania, Silly Swings, Emotional Whirlwind, Sky School, Autopia, Big Thunder, Rise of the Resistance, and Smuggler's Run. The only thing we wanted to do but didn’t was Space Mountain. I definitely missed max pass and single rider, we're big on rides and would usually get in 15-20+ rides in one day before. This was fine though and not a big deal, though my youngest got tired standing still in line.
- distancing in lines was well done, everyone really seemed to try hard. Some of the line markers are spread out weird in the switchbacks, to make it 6 feet in all directions, and that was sometimes challenging, you wouldn’t realize there wasn’t another marker until you had already overshot the last one.
- many smaller stores are closed. Wasn't a big deal for us for one day, but I realized later that we really didn't look at “stuff” as much as usual. The main store in DCA was well stocked, I think they had all “the magic is back“ merch except for the tumbler, and most of the pride collection. I wanted to go to World of Disney, but by the time we left there was a long line so we passed.
- Overall, it was FANTASTIC. Totally magical to be back, and I got a little teary entering DL and walking up Main Street. It was 100% worth it, and we had so much fun. It was different, and a little weird, but at the same time it felt so NORMAL to be there again. It was honestly probably the closest to normal I've felt in the last 14 months, and that feeling was absolutely magical and worth everything.
