The Magic is Back - Share your Experience! Superthread

[jacandjan]

Here is a parking special from the micechat site,

 

[KimberMama]

Aw, your photos are so sweet and I'm glad your daughter enjoyed her interactions!

We didn't wait in lines to interact with characters -- for us it was more missing the spontaneous interactions between guests and characters. Our boys were young at a time when we might encounter Pluto in Toon Town and he'd spend 10 minutes interacting with just them because it was slow. Or spend 5 minutes with Goofy stealing their caps. I'm sure people are enjoying the current interactions, which are certainly better than none. But they are planned, and you have to wait in line. I suppose it has gotten more and more the way with the lines and specific locations for characters anyway. Pre C19 I loved walking around the parks and watching a little one's eyes get big when he spotted Peter Pan, and then hearing the chatter between them. Or seeing a child duck behind a parent when Maleficient strode past, only to change her mind and run up to M anyway. Or hearing Mary Poppins talking to a child as she knelt down to their level. These unplanned interactions help everyone believe these characters live in the park.

I’m sorry your family had a less-than-magical day. It sounds like you encountered several unfortunate situations, and I’m so sorry that you didn’t enjoy your time.

I do just want to address one thing you mentioned, about characters, for other people reading along on this thread. I happened to pop onto this post moments after sharing a bunch of character interactions on Instagram - this was my caption there, referencing the way my 8-year-old interacted with a bunch of characters in some videos and photos:

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While that was from opening day, I’ve had friends there most days this week, and they’re sharing similar experiences. So, if you’re reading and worried that there aren’t character interactions, fear not! There are some great ones available. ☺

ETA to add a few pictures - we experienced 18 character interactions and saw several more from a distance or waved as they passed by.

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The face characters were SO CHATTY.

 

[KimberMama]

We definitely encountered some very short shorts (are they shorts when they cover less than bikini underwear would?) and a lot of low cuts tops showing cleavage that would impress in the French courts of old. But we didn't have cussing or screaming.

My son was buying a bag of cherry sours at the Candy Palace and asked the CM how his day was going, to which the CM replied, "Not fast enough." I can hardly believe these words came out of a CM's mouth! DS said the guy was really grumpy.

We went Fri, Sat, Sunday and it was wonderful. The only downer was some of the other guests! Parents screaming at their toddlers, college kids loudly cussing in line, and oh my, the booties hanging out of shorts and too small of tops. It was less family friendly than what we were looking forward to. Luckily, it was a minority and almost everyone else was like us, just happy to be there. Otherwise, it was a really fantastic 3 days. On Sunday, at 8am we drove by the crazy long line to get into Mickey & Friends parking and opted for parking at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott on Harbor. It was $25 (cash only) and a much shorter walk to the park. We wish we would have parked there all 3 days. Longest wait was 25 minutes for HM!

 

[chewyd]

I’m sorry your family had a less-than-magical day. It sounds like you encountered several unfortunate situations, and I’m so sorry that you didn’t enjoy your time.

I do just want to address one thing you mentioned, about characters, for other people reading along on this thread. I happened to pop onto this post moments after sharing a bunch of character interactions on Instagram - this was my caption there, referencing the way my 8-year-old interacted with a bunch of characters in some videos and photos:

View attachment 573309

I didn't realize that birthday buttons were not going to be available! We were counting on getting one for our kiddo who is celebrating at the end of May. Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives?

 

[Kender]

I didn't realize that birthday buttons were not going to be available! We were counting on getting one for our kiddo who is celebrating at the end of May. Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives?

I bought a custom one from Etsy a couple weeks ago for my trip that's now in a couple weeks because I knew buttons might not be a thing when I went. I have old ones I could repurpose, but I wanted a new one that's special for this year.

 

[NoelleCagle]

Thank you for the report and glad to hear you had a great time! Can I ask how long it took you to get through security on Harbor after parking at the Fairfield at 8am? I am really hoping to be inside the park by the 9am open and feel like avoiding the structure is the way to go!

I would say it was 30-40 minutes. We felt like we were already going through the turnstiles before we would have been pulling in the parking structure (the lines into parking were solid all the way to Disneyland drive and around the corner. Insane)

 

[NoelleCagle]

I didn't realize that birthday buttons were not going to be available! We were counting on getting one for our kiddo who is celebrating at the end of May. Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives?

We were there on opening day and got birthday buttons from a kiosk in CA by the Incredicoaster.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I would say it was 30-40 minutes. We felt like we were already going through the turnstiles before we would have been pulling in the parking structure (the lines into parking were solid all the way to Disneyland drive and around the corner. Insane)

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I think we want to do this for sure. To confirm, were you staying at the Fairfield, or are they allowing anyone to pay and park for the day?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

We were there on opening day and got birthday buttons from a kiosk in CA by the Incredicoaster.

I’m happy to hear this! We were told no at the Grand and from the plaids by City Hall. So that is a good tip to know that they might still be available some places.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I’m happy to hear this! We were told no at the Grand and from the plaids by City Hall. So that is a good tip to know that they might still be available some places.

You can try the stores. City Hall was closed when I was there (Hopefully, they'll figure a way to open and still stay socially distant) and cast members were out in front. I did see one of the cast members get some Celebrate buttons and hand them to a guest. Etsy is a nice alternative if you want to make sure you have a button, though.

 

[NoelleCagle]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I think we want to do this for sure. To confirm, were you staying at the Fairfield, or are they allowing anyone to pay and park for the day?

We did not stay at a hotel. I found a list online of hotels that *might* let people going to Disney park there, and they were the first one we tried and they said yes.

 

[WonkaKid]

We spent the day at Disneyland 5/5 and I have to say that for my family, sadly, the magic wasn't back. Indeed, as my young adult son put it late last night, the park seems to be missing most of its soul.

I had a similar experience so I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. I’ll go again this Sunday but I doubt I will again anytime in the next few months. I don’t
blame Disney in the least; they’ve done the best they can under challenging circumstances. But there is something missing: being able to smile at other guests, seeing more people and the general atmosphere has definitely suffered. Perhaps things will begin to return to normal towards the end of summer. I guess we’ll see.

 

[twodogs]

I am trying to figure out how they are loading some of the rides like BTMRR. Do they load every row? Plexiglass? What about rides like RSR, ,does each family have their own car? GOTG?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I am trying to figure out how they are loading some of the rides like BTMRR. Do they load every row? Plexiglass? What about rides like RSR, ,does each family have their own car? GOTG?

It varies a lot.

ROTR has plexiglass between the front and back row, so we were directly behind another group there. BTMRR, it’s one group per train car, basically. Pirates and IASW it’s either a whole boat for a big group, or two smaller groups at the front and back. GOTG has some plexiglass and they had the groups spread out, like we were in the back corner with no one directly in front of or beside us. RSR it’s one group per car. A lot of rides skip rows or vehicles. So, yeah, it varies a lot.

 

[edhmom]

My husband will be so happy! The chimichanga ride and the corndog ride are his favorite rides in the park!

When we were there last time, the last day or so my husband and son started eating after almost every ride. They're looking forward to that again. My son was really hoping there would be chimichangas there so I' happy to know where to find them.

 

[DLgal]

I was there on Saturday about 8:30 or so, and it was a normal line to get in to Mickey and Friends. I think that the line will be long on the weekends right before park opening, though. I got to the walking path to the parks when they were still closed, so the line was stopped. Once the park opened and the line started moving it didn't take long to get in - it was a slow and steady walk. Personally, I'd rather get there just before 9am and avoid all that standing and waiting.

Thank you for this. We are going Sunday and only live about 15 minutes away and I've been debating what time we should leave home. Seems like maybe an 8:30 departure would serve us well. I have no desire to sit in my car and wait at the parking structure nor do I have a desire to shuffle slowly along that tram path.

 

[DLgal]

Does anyone know if the entrance to the Pixar Pals structure is open? The one off Magic way across from the old DtD parking lot? We used to use that one all the time.

 

[KPeterso]

Thank you for this. We are going Sunday and only live about 15 minutes away and I've been debating what time we should leave home. Seems like maybe an 8:30 departure would serve us well. I have no desire to sit in my car and wait at the parking structure nor do I have a desire to shuffle slowly along that tram path.

I will be interested to hear how getting there about that time works. I believe I live fairly close to you and was thinking maybe leaving around 8. We are going on Tuesday!

 

[DLgal]

I will be interested to hear how getting there about that time works. I believe I live fairly close to you and was thinking maybe leaving around 8. We are going on Tuesday!

I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[DLgal]

Anyone know the status of the upstairs portion of Lamplight Lounge? Is it still available on a standby basis.