To celebrate Jenn’s birthday, we spent five days at the Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks in California, alternating between the two parks. This post includes pictures from the first day, at Disneyland.

Lines to get into Disneyland:

A selfie just inside the park:

Minnie Mouse:

Mickey Mouse:

Music:

Due to the pandemic, all of the characters are socially distanced from guests, behind barriers:

Sleeping Beauty’s castle and Walt Disney statue:

Horse-drawn main street transport:

We did the Haunted Mansion ride first (fairly randomly):

We then did the Enchanted Tiki Room, which was rather cringy cultural appropriation:

Hey look, some ducks! Oh, and a castle:

Ducks:

We got the Genie+ option, which lets us use the Lightning Lanes (formerly fast passes) to skip lines. Another benefit is it includes photo ops, so we got some, including in front of the castle:

Photo magic:

Heading through the castle:

Carrousel:

We were keen to check out the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area:

We had lunch at the Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland, then afterwards decided to have a drive in Autopia:

Then enjoyed some cheesy goodness at It’s a Small World:

New Zealand got a tiny representation:

Back to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area; we really liked the otherworldly feel of it:

A selfie:

And photo op:

More socially distanced character stuff:

We did the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride, which was fun:

Blue and green milk:

Jenn drinking blue milk:

Then the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride:

After that point it’s a ride in a car, so I put my phone away. A pretty easy ride, with one big drop.

Heading for some shopping:

And a snack:

Back to Adventureland, and a sighting of Captain Jack Sparrow:

Jenn collected numerous smashed pennies:

Dinner:

Shopping:

Finally, the castle at sunset:

Tomorrow, we head to the neighboring Disney California Adventure park.