Day 1, Friday, August 20, 2021
Disneyland open until 11pm, DCA until 10pm
Because we weren't sure what side we could get to the park, we decided not to try the 7am virtual queue window. We left Corona around 9:45am and got to Paradise Pier Hotel at about 10:30am. There was a cast member at the bottom of the parking structure informing guests that there is no garage elevator and to drop bags off on the lower level. I asked if I could take a spot in the open lot. He said it's normally reserved for valet but since there's no valet right now he let us. That made easy access to the car.
We left our bags and headed over to Disneyland. It was not dead, but definitely low crowds. Wait times were very short across the resort all day. I don't think I saw anything longer than 30min (RSR) and the longest we waited was about 15min (Smuggler's Run).
First stop, Space Mountain, which was almost a walk-on at 10:45am. Star Tours, Buzz and Big Thunder were almost the same. Next, we walked over to Galaxy's Edge Smugglers Run where we got to both be pilots. It was fun, but I can see where repeated rides get old fast. All this was completed before noon, giving us time to sit down and get ready to try for a virtual queue for RotR at noon. We got it! Estimated wait was only 2 hours. Nice.
I'd not been to Galaxy's Edge before and don't have much to say that hasn't been said elsewhere. I like the layout and the look. I like the nooks and crannies that make the land feel bigger than it is. My wife was surprised there were only two attractions.
Lunch was mobile order at French Market, and we would have been better off just going there and ordering in person, it wasn't crowded. To their credit, food prep was fast and we got our meals promptly. Herb-roasted Chicken (dry) Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (good), served with Chef's Choice of Vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower, heavily seasoned and delicious.) We also got a Cajun-style Chicken Caesar Salad which has the same chicken, although it was not as dry. The gift card is no longer a plastic card, it's just a barcode. You can enter the number into the Disneyland app and that helped with the mobile food order, but for the rest of our dining we had to have them scan the barcode, with varying degrees of hassle as I will describe later.
The weather was beautiful all weekend, with a cool overcast morning burning off to a sunny but still comfortable afternoon. The high on both days was around 80. Just lovely. So we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the French Market's patio before heading over to RotR.
Rise of the Resistance was spectacular and I am glad I didn't watch any YouTube videos to spoil it. I knew bits, but it was so nice to have it unfold for us completely fresh.
Since we cleared that virtual queue with still a lot of day left, we were able to get virtual queue for Web Slingers. Turns out that's pretty easy to do as it's not as popular as RotR. Our return time was over five hours though, so we decided to go back to the hotel and get settled.
We walked back through Grand Californian. Paradise Pier check-in was contactless. There was a cast member at the door who stopped us and took our name, then had us sit in the hallway while she got our keys. We had checked in online, so it was pretty fast completing the process.
Our room was on the 7th floor, facing west. We were overlooking the pool area and had a great view of the DL Hotel. The rooms haven't had much of a refresh. Sorry there's no pic, but I can describe it as being "barely Disney". The hallways have a nice Disney carpet, but inside the room it's a beachy wallpaper, a "Goofy Learns to Swim" poster, a Mickey on a Life Guard Chair lamp and Lighthouse lamp that both look like they were lifted from the Beach Club, and that's about it. The beds were old and squeaky. Otherwise, the room was fine. Great blackout curtains and good A/C. Hot water in the shower. All you really need. The PP food & beverage offerings were still shuttered during our visit which was fine, although a nightcap at the hotel might've been nice
After unpacking we took a little break in our room and then headed back over to the parks (around 5pm). Walking to Grand Californian, we decided to have a grown-up beverage at Hearthstone Lounge. It's tucked away in a corner of the expansive lobby and we enjoyed a cocktail and some free bar snacks. Paying required that I walk over with the waitress to her POS in order for her to scan my gift card barcode. Otherwise I would've had to let her walk away with my phone. That was awkward. I could've printed the gift card barcode - in retrospect that would've been better.
We stopped at Soarin'. 10 minute wait at 6pm. Nice. We walked on Radiator Springs Racers in the single rider line with zero wait and we were both in the same car. Standby wait was posted as 25 minutes. Then we walked onto Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters and got notified that Web Slingers was ready for us. I had no idea what that ride is, but it's just Kinect-meets-Midway Mania. It's the same ride, just using your hands instead of a pop gun. Not worth riding again.
We rode Incredicoaster and then headed over to see if we could get a walk-up at Blue Bayou. It was about 8:50pm when we got to the desk and they said "sure" and had us wait about15min. We watched the beginning of MixMagic Fireworks while we waited. Not a great show, but I get that it's filler.
For dinner, we shared a House Salad and a Monte Cristo Sandwich. Delicious. It's been years since we've eaten at Blue Bayou. It was great as always. At check time, I once again had to walk over to the POS and have the waitress scan my barcoded gift card.
After dinner we still had over an hour left, so we went for a second ride on Smuggler's Run. Total walk-on at that time. RotR closed at 9pm but we did ask the cast member if they ever let on late walk-ups. He said maybe and to try right before closing. More on that in Saturday's report.
We closed out the last hour hitting most of Fantasyland. Casey Jr., Pinocchio,
Snow White's Enchanted Wish (nice improvements), Storybook and Alice. Interesting to note that all the dark rides have two operators, one working the offload. I think that's been there a while, but I remember the causal days where one person ran a ride alone.
That's it for day 1. We left after the park closed and were very happy with the low crowds. Hard to believe it was a Friday in August and amazing to see no surge in attendance in the evening when SoCal residents would normally pour in. Fantastic.
Step count 25,207, 12.29 miles
More to come in my day 2 report.