Disney in the Fall 2021

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During the pandemic we went to Disneyland twice and both times were different experiences.

The latest trip felt more familiar to the old Disney.

First, if you are planning a trip to Disneyland and are hoping for a smaller crowd since the state of California has strong restrictions during the pandemic, think again. It felt like a regular pre-pandemic day at Disneyland. Full of people.

When we booked our tickets and reservations, we wistfully hoped for an experience like we had in June, only 2 months prior.

We were wrong.

We booked the tickets last minute. Albondi 1 had never gone to Disney during the Halloween/Fall season. Which is when Disney decks out the parks with Fall and Halloween decor. Some attractions also change the scenes inside and display fan favorite Disney characters/movies.

We checked our schedules and booked our tickets!

Fun Fact: Unofficial Gay Days at Disney. (: And they aren’t in June. See this link for more info.

We randomly chose September 18th as our day of visit. About half way through the day we realized one to many people sported red gear, either shirts, hats, backpacks and more. While waiting for the railroad ride, which we waited about 15 minutes, we did what everyone does when we want to know something random, we Googled it. And our trusty assistant told us it was a Gay Day. It was a good laugh since we didn’t know it existed and didn’t intentionally book our tickets on those dates. The more you know!

If you are expecting Disney to have safety precautions in place, to the max, wait to visit. One of the things I dread every time are. . .long lines.

To attend Disneyland you need a valid ticker for entree and a reservation for the day you want to visit. I thought surely the amount of reservations would limit the park to a capacity. Nope!

Most lines on the app showed an estimated wait time of about 20-80 minutes long depending on the ride. More unpopular rides had shorter wait times. Since we did attend during the first weeks of the park changing for Halloween / Fall we knew some rides would have long lines.

The rides with long lines were:

Haunted Mansion (a main attraction at Disneyland for the fall season): 70-80 minutes the majority of the day. (the line was far outside what I’ve normally seen it at. It extended closer to the beau cafe)

StarWars: 70-80 min

Space Mountain: 50-60min

Snow White: 70-80min

Matterhorn: 70-80 min

Splashmountin: 50-60 min

Big Thunder: Closed

Fast Pass: Disneyland still has this perk out of service. There are no fastpass tickets at Disney as of September 18th. It's being replaced all together by Disney Genie Service.

So how long were the wait times, truly?

Not as bad as you would think.

We waited for the rides to have less people in line even when the app and the display at the entrance of the ride showed a high wait time, above 45 min.

When we entered the Haunted Mansion line the app showed 50 minutes and the display at the front of the ride estimated 45 minutes. It was around 4:30 when we entered the line and we hopped into our doom buggies a few minutes before 5 pm. So we waited about 30 minutes. We worried we’d miss our 5:20 pm dole whip pick up window. We didn’t notice a long wait time as the line kept a steady pace of moving forward. My feet hurt after walking all day and each time we moved I had about 2 seconds of sit time before the line moved again.

If you’re wanting some refreshingly delicious dole whip, they only accept mobile orders. You'll have to download the Disney app, create an account, add your preferred card, place and pay for orders at restaurants and or to make store purchases and you're set.

If you’ve never been to Disneyland: The haunted mansion begins as one line before the main gate and for a few minutes inside the gate. Once inside the gate and directly in front of the plantation, the line splits. Albondi saw a tiktok that encouraged people to stick to the left lane with the enticement that it moves faster. I didn’t pay too much attention to gage if it was or wasn’t true but maybe I will next time. So we moved to the left. It’s two lanes until you round the corner of the plantation, and are a few steps away from entering the front door. At that point the lanes merge again and both lanes begin to enter the house. Don’t be THAT person, just like when you drive, left side, right side, left, right. Share the love and be kind.

Inside the house the cast members guide everyone to pack inside, and to stay clear of the walls. You’re also asked to put on a face mask if you didn’t have one on while waiting in line outside. If you’re waiting in an outside line (which is typical of Disneyland rides) it’s not required to wear a face mask. If you are indoors at either a ride, shop or other enclosed buildings you must wear a mask. That’s the most recent update as of September 18th.

Inside the first part of the ride pre-pandemic you’re in close quarters to others outside your party. This last trip was still the same. Nothing changed other than you have to wear a mask. Your group is still encouraged to pack close to others outside your party. No social distancing at all. And it’s encouraged. If you expect to go to Disneyland and social distance, I recommend you pass and attend post-pandemic. From what I experienced. Even the floor signage of “Keep 6 ft. apart” or the arrows to direct traffic were gone.

I can’t give away what the ride will be, you’ll have to visit to see!

After the first half of the ride you walk through a hallway, a short distance to the buggies, everyone tends to pack closer together even now when we should be social distancing. At the end of the hallway is when you step onto a moving walkway also called a flat escalator, the same ones you find at airports to walk faster. A few rides at Disneyland have these types of get on get off walkways.

At the end of the ride you exit the doom buggies in the same way as you jumped on, using the moving walkway.

Sanitizing the ride

From what I saw first hand getting on and off the rides that day, none of the cast members sprayed, wiped down or did anything out of the ordinary to disinfect after riders exited the buggies, carts, boats etc. at any ride. Back in June after every rider departed the attraction cm's could be seen spraying down high touched surface areas of the ride each time. This time around I didn’t see that happen. The plus side, there were many sanitizing stations all over the park and only once was it out of sanitizer. Other than that we didn’t notice too many COVID precautions happening.

Overall a great experience, come on it’s Disneyland. But if you were hoping Disneyland would be less crowded it really isn't.

If you're planning a visit you have to see the firework show! But prepare to claim your spot minimum 2 hours before the show begins.

Until the next time!

Byeee