For OVER a year, Disneyland’s theme parks have been closed (with just a minimal opening of some of Buena Vista Street as an extension of Downtown Disney District).

Disneyland’s theme parks will officially be opening in late April. But, today we’re BACK inside of Disney California Adventure Park for the special “A Touch of Disney” ticketed event. And guess who’s back with us?! DISNEY CHARACTERS! Finally, a huge part of the Disney parks that has been missing from Disneyland is BACK. We will try not to cry…we will try not to cry…oh who are we kidding?!

You can spot Mickey, Joy, Winnie the Pooh, and so many other characters over at Disney World. But, with the parks closed at Disneyland for over a year, the magic and joy that comes with waving to Minnie or giving an air high-five to Goofy has been missing…until NOW! Characters are officially back in the parks and we got a look at a bunch of them today.

And dare we say it, these character interactions are potentially…BETTER than the ones at Disney World?!! Okay okay, we know that seeing Donald water the plants or seeing Chip ‘n’ Dale having a picnic in Disney World is pretty hard to beat. But, just WAIT until you see these characters in action at Disneyland! We gotta give it to ’em, these character interactions are PRETTY fantastic.

Cars Land

Over in Cars Land…

Cars Land! pic.twitter.com/AnYRfxGZeX

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 18, 2021

 

 

…we raced our way down the highway (singing, of course, Life is a Highway) and found the one and only Lightning McQueen. KA-CHOW!

McQueen was welcoming guests back to Radiator Springs. What a great photo op!

But, Lightning McQueen wasn’t the only character we spotted in Cars Land. Not too far away, we found our buddy, Mater!

Mater was looking mighty fine over by the mountains. We only wish we could have stuck around to go tractor tipping with him.

We’ll just have to wait until next time! Life is a highway and (even though it took a whole year) it led us right back to some of our favorite Disney friends.

Paradise Gardens Park

As we made our way around the park, we spotted another character, this time in Paradise Gardens Park near the Silly Symphony Swings. And we’re not joking when we say that seeing this character brought tears to our eyes. It’s MICKEY!!!!

Once again, for context, Disneyland’s theme parks have been closed for OVER a year. Fans in California haven’t been able to see Mickey inside one of their parks for SO long.

But the Mouse who started it all is BACK and looking SNAZZY in his band leader outfit.

Guys….it’s MICKEY in Disney California Adventure! 🥺 😭 #ATouchofDisney pic.twitter.com/kxcaxgvutN

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 18, 2021

 

 

He was waving, dancing, and just generally being just the best ever! We also love that the lights for the Silly Symphony Swings were on behind him, just adding an extra magical touch. We can’t wait to see you again once Disneyland’s theme parks reopen in late April, Mickey!

We also got to see Daisy and Pluto later in the day!

It was so exciting to see these pals come out and say hello! We also got to see Miguel from Coco!

Look who we found in Disney California Adventure! He’s over by Paradise Gardens. #ATouchofDisney pic.twitter.com/3LuX4Zpi52

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 18, 2021

Miguel was with his guitar, of course. These character interactions have been so fun!

 

 

Pacific Warf

Another AMAZING character interaction we spotted was over in the Pacific Warf area in the park. You may not be able to see Max and Goofy go on a whirlwind adventure to Lester’s Possum Park BUT you CAN see them in California Adventure as they go fishing!!

We’re not exactly sure that we’d rely on this pair to catch our lunch for us though!

But, there’s no denying that Max and Goofy looked like they were having a great time…

Look at this adorable father son duo fishing! #ATouchofDisney pic.twitter.com/BXk4n5FdUv

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 18, 2021

 

 

…and we couldn’t help but have a great time too!

Grizzly Peak

Over in Grizzly Peak near Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, we spotted two of our favorite troublemaking chipmunks — Chip ‘n’ Dale!

Chip ‘n’ Dale are hanging by the trees in Grizzly Peak by the Grand Californian! #ATouchofDisney pic.twitter.com/CQHLUvtJD1

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 18, 2021

They were hanging out in the trees!

Spotted!

Also hanging out in the area was none other than Donald Duck!

Yay! What a fun appearance!

We’re glad we finally passed by while he was out and about!

Pixar Pier

Over at Pixar Pier, we ran into Joy from Inside Out!

We spotted Joy at Pixar Pier! #ATouchofDisney pic.twitter.com/AdLl18Mrar

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 18, 2021

She seemed like her cheerful self as always!

 

Hey Joy!!

 

And those are all of the characters we spotted in the park for now, but we have a feeling we’ll find a few more throughout the day. We’ll continue to update this post as we find more of our friends in the park. We hope that even seeing these characters virtually gave you a little sense of the magic!

We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more updates and we’ll let you know what we find. Stay tuned for LOTS of posts, photos, and videos from inside California Adventure.

Click here to see more from our time at A Touch of Disney!

Who do you think has better character interactions? Disneyland or Disney World? Let us know in the comments!