We’re live from Disneyland Resort today as both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure park reopen from over a full year of closure. Things are likely going to look pretty different from our last visit to the parks in early 2020, and we’re here to get you ALL the updates.

Today, we’re going to take a look at new procedures, crowds, wait times, and more! Let’s dive in to find out what going to Disneyland is like now!

We will be updating this post throughout the day, so be sure to check back.

Reopening Day

Follow along as we explore Disneyland Resort on its reopening day!

Arriving at Disneyland Resort

When we arrived this morning, we parked in the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure. As a reminder, the parking trams are NOT running at this time.

Cars were parked in every space so there were no spaces between like we’ve seen during some other theme park openings.

From our spot, we moved on to security. Security and temperature checks were a breeze. Your temperature is taken with a touchless thermometer and you walk through a security scanner. If you have bags, you’ll be directed to bag check.

For those who have mobility issues, wheelchair rental is available on the ground floor of the parking garage.

Once outside, we spotted that the line was ALLLLLLL the way back to the parking structure to get into the park prior to opening.

In fact, as we moved up we saw that there were two lines that stretched the entire tram route. Cast Members told us that the left line was for people who had arrived first and that line would move through before the right line.

The line moved VERY quickly though. A Cast Member told us that despite the fact that folks had been lined up for HOURS, we entered the park just 30 minutes later than the first person in the gates.

Just like our preview visit, the ticket points had plexiglass and plastic barriers for health and safety.

Then, we were in! It was quite the sight to see the Disneyland Railroad and walk under the tracks.

And down Main Street, U.S.A. we went!

Cast Members lined the stretch towards Sleeping Beauty Castle waving and welcoming guests back.

This is SO sweet.

Welcome Home. 🏰 #Disneyland pic.twitter.com/Vn6wEptwAM

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 30, 2021

Well, let’s get ready for a BIG day back as we fully explore EVERYTHING at a reopened Disneyland!

But real quick before we go, we’re gonna stare at the castle for a minute.

Seeing the Castle again in #Disneyland 🥺 pic.twitter.com/Bftdeiz4ud

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 30, 2021

Health Measures

One health measure that’s in place is that guests are only permitted to remove their masks to eat and drink in designated dining areas. These are pretty much everywhere marked with little signs.

Social distancing markers are also the norm around the park in areas where crowds might gather.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge even has in-universe markers!

As has been the case elsewhere in Disneyland Resort, a health and safety announcement does play.

Galaxy’s Edge is empty + listen to health and safety announcement overhead in #Disneyland pic.twitter.com/D0YDhgF2Z9

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 30, 2021

Some closed attractions have tables in their queue space to allow for more physical distancing.

Of course, there’s a lot of health and safety signage.

Crowds

Disneyland is at severely limited capacity so some areas of the park were more full than others. When we entered, the castle area had a good crowd around it.

Galaxy’s Edge on the other hand was pretty empty.

In most instances, it’s easy to physical distance.

We’ll keep an eye on the way crowds flow throughout the day too.

Click here to see more coverage of crowds in Disneyland! 

Attractions

On our way through Fantasyland, we got to take a look at the newly opened Snow White’s Enchanted Wish!

This attraction is a retheme of the classic Snow White’s Scary Adventures ride. We can’t wait to give it a spin!

Also back in action in Fantasyland is the newly-refurbished King Arthur Carrousel.

Even though we’re a little out of practice, we were able to snag a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group to take another look at the changes. Social distancing markers were used inside the transport vehicle!

We were loaded into the prison transport ride vehicle with another party but the two rows were separated by plexiglass.

Of course, lines are socially distanced. You can see how guests are six feet apart in the Haunted Mansion queue.

Pause. We’re gonna get a quick ride in.

Riding Haunted Mansion 👻 in #Disneyland! pic.twitter.com/zUi2dpsvPg

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 30, 2021

Ok! The Jungle Cruise is closed for refurbishment at this time…

…but the queue is in use as an extension of the queue for Indiana Jones Adventure.

With queues completely outdoors, they sometimes wind pretty far from the attraction.

Speaking of Indiana Jones Adventure, the attraction vehicles have plexiglass and groups are being loaded with a row inbetween.

Construction walls are up near the Matterhorn and we could hear construction.

Many attractions are modified in Disneyland with the reopening.

Click here to see more about riding attractions in Disneyland!

Characters

Over in New Orleans Square we spotted Captain Jack Sparrow!

And we spotted a certain lady pirate too… Hey, Redd!

We spotted Redd hanging outside of Pirates of the Caribbean in #Disneyland! pic.twitter.com/46Oc9LhP2i

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 30, 2021

Merchandise

There is some special merchandise for the reopening too including some t-shirts!

The designs all proclaim, “The magic is back!”

They feature Sorceror Mickey too.

You can also snag a mask…

…and a tumbler!

The special merch collection is pretty cool.

Want to see more of this merch? Click here!

Select Groups Preview

We visited Disneyland Resort on Wednesday as a few select groups were invited for an early return to Disneyland theme parks.

Arriving at Disneyland Resort

We have to say, Disneyland welcoming guests again was quite the sight to see.

Hello from #DISNEYLAND! We have a DFB reporter checking it all out for you today! pic.twitter.com/23Wvh5ZaT0

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 28, 2021

Guess we better grab a map! We might know Disneyland like the back of our hands, but it’s been a while!

We noticed that the ticket booths and scan-in points had added barriers to protect Cast Members and guests in the tight space.

But the process was about the same as it’s always been and soon we were in!

Hello, Disneyland Park!

Walking down Main Street 🎉 pic.twitter.com/O8o4dvaeap

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 28, 2021

We’re excited to see the updates.

Click here to see more glimpses from inside Disneyland! 

Health Measures

We started to spot a few health measures right when we entered. Physical distancing signage was placed regularly.

There are also Designated Dining Areas; this is a departure from the way dining is handled in Disney World.

And we spotted some heavy-duty handwashing stations too. These are fancyyyyyy!

We also spotted Cast Members out cleaning surfaces.

And hand sanitizer stations placed as well!

Characters

And you bet we got to see some characters! Mickey and Friends were greeting guests at the train station!

Hi there Mickey!

We’re not sure there’s a better way to be welcomed into a Disney park.

And the main characters aren’t the only ones we got to see. We even spotted a villain on our way in. Hi there, Cruella DeVille!

Some princesses are out and about too! We spotted Tiana in New Orleans Square.

We even saw the princess and villain duo Snow White and the Evil Queen!

We spotted the Evil Queen and Snow White in #Disneyland! pic.twitter.com/EBudDRQOJS

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 29, 2021

Some of the Hundred Acre Wood characters were here too!

It’s Winnie the Pooh…and Tigger too! And Eeyore in Disneyland! pic.twitter.com/pTsRqrMVcu

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 28, 2021

We also saw the rare Miguel from Coco!

Love seeing Miguel in Disneyland! pic.twitter.com/5O6ZvpYBHz

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 28, 2021

He has been in the Magic Happens Parade in Disneyland, but since parades are not happening right now he is out and about meeting guests.

Want to see more Miguel? Click here!

Dining

Alright well, we certainly couldn’t stroll into Disneyland without snagging a churro. And this process has changed a little! First, you place your order and then you stand on one of the socially distanced circles in the area.

Once your churros are ready, they set them down on the table in front of the stand. And yes, the churros are fully bagged.

But they taste just as good nonetheless!

It’s pretty interesting to experience these new processes.

Want to learn more about the churro process? Click here!

We also spotted a change to an iconic eat that made us VERY unhappy. The Monte Cristo has had an update that just might be breaking our hearts.

It’s now a HALF serving at Cafe Orleans. You can still get the full serving at Blue Bayou but this is a pretty unfortunate update.

Click here to learn more about this change!

Attractions

Right when we walked in, we were greeted by the familiar sight of the Main Street Trolley clip-cloppin’ along.

And the Disneyland Railroad was running too!

We spotted that lines are all physically distanced. You can see what we’re talking about with the Pirates of the Caribbean line!

As a note, this can make lines seem a lot longer than usual. For instance, the Indiana Jones Adventure line stretched all the way back to 21 Royal.

Rides are also being loaded differently to before the closure. In some cases, you’ll have ride vehicles to yourself and in others, there will be several empty rows between you and another party.

We saw both loading methods on Pirates of the Caribbean.

To learn more about changes to lines, click here!

For “it’s a small world”, Cast Members split up groups by either giving a group the entire boat or skipping a row.

On it's a small world in Disneyland, your whole group gets a boat or they skip a row to separate parties. pic.twitter.com/Wwg00jU50m

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 28, 2021

In Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, guests were seated in every other row.

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room in #Disneyland – they are seating every other row. pic.twitter.com/NeeajGFqBu

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 29, 2021

We also rode the west coast version of Rise of the Resistance to see if there were any changes from before the closures!

Ready to ride Rise of the Resistance in #Disneyland! pic.twitter.com/w0qtVh1V4E

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 28, 2021

It was very similar to before, and we were thrilled to fight with the resistance again.

See more about the changes to Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland

Exiting

After an incredible day back in Disneyland for the first time in over a year, it was time to head home! We’ll see ya’ later Disneyland!

Goodbye for now #Disneyland! pic.twitter.com/v9WTZZwJ13

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 29, 2021

As you can see, a LOT has changed at Disneyland with the reopening. Stay tuned for even more updates!

Click here to learn more about Disneyland’s reopening!

Do you have questions about the reopening of Disneyland? Tell us in the comments!