Now more than ever, a day at Disneyland feels like a journey to another world

A Disney veteran, I have always loved the challenge of navigating those 500 acres, which I know probably too well.

and later staring at a single phone for 10 solid minutes so we could hit “join queue” at the precise moment 11:59 became 12:00, my friends Suzann, Kris and I managed to keep our group of seven fed and get on Rise of the Resistance.

A year ago, a Disneyland hangover was an impossibility Last spring, the closure of the Disney resorts in Anaheim brought the realities of COVID-19 home in a way little else could: Love it or hate it, Disney is, in the American imagination, an unassailable, unstoppable force.

Even when the vaccines rolled out and Disney reopened, I did not expect to tread those familiar paths any time soon.

But in April, two of my friends, with whom I have shared many happy Disney memories, persuaded me to take advantage of the parks’ limited capacity.

Our chosen dates in mid-June seemed impossibly far away.

As we got out of the car, the sight of hundreds of families, some masked and some not, swarming down the escalator and into the security lines only increased the anxiety.

There were definitely more people than I have seen together in many months, and social distancing was impossible, but after adjusting for pandemic-shock, it was all very reasonable.

None of us had seen the new Avengers Campus ; some of us had never been to Galaxy’s Edge; and one of us had never seen Cars Land.

This time, we were just as happy to hang out on a bench marveling at the characters who waved to us from windows and balconies, all the kids in their costumes and the inevitable ducklings that bring a real-world touch of fantasy.

Though all of us are fully vaccinated, we wore masks most of the time, particularly when on rides or standing in line.

Whether you are overwhelmed by excitement, beauty or the work of keeping kids fed, watered and whine-free while navigating them through more than 500 acres of high-volume stimulus, when you are at Disney, you are at Disney.

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