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Do You Need a Separate Ticket for Star Wars Land?

Disney Answer: No, but Kind of?

If you didn’t know already, Disney is finally building a Star Wars Land, officially known as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. This brand new Star Wars Land will be located in both Disneyland and in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. Opening dates have been announced, Star Wars Land will open on May 31, 2019 in Disneyland and on August 29, 2019. Regular admission to each park will get you access to Star Wars Land, kind of.

Disneyland – While technically your theme park ticket will get you into Disneyland, from May 31 – June 23, 2019, it will NOT get you into Star Wars Land. During this time frame, in addition to a park ticket, you will also need a reservation.

Guests staying in one of the three Disneyland Resort Hotels during this time will get a free designated reservation to access Star Wars Land (one reservation per registered guest). You will still need a theme park ticket, but the reservation will get you into Star Wars Land once inside Disneyland.
Reservations for non-Disneyland Resort Hotel guests will be made available, though this process and how they will be made available has not yet been announced. Reservations will be free, but will be extremely limited.
Beginning June 24, 2019, a separate reservations will no longer be required.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be capacity controlled, so after June 24, you may need to stand in a very long line just to get into Star Wars Land to stand in another very long line to ride any of the rides.
Star Wars Land will not be available during Extra Magic Hours or Magic Morning at Disneyland Park, and is not available with FastPass or MaxPass services.

Walt Disney World – Disney World has decided to forgo the reservation system (they have A LOT more hotels) and just give everyone equal access. And by equal access I mean anyone that wants to wait in a 5+ hour line can have access. Capacity for both Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Land will be capacity controlled, so even if you have a ticket, you may not be able to get into Hollywood Studios, and if you get inside, you may not be able to get into Star Wars Land. As with Disneyland, there will be no FastPass+ service for any attraction in Star Wars Land.

Please note at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is opening with only one of the two main attractions available. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will be available at the grand opening while Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will not open until later in the year (or possibly 2020 at Walt Disney World).

Are the Disneyland Hotels Pet Friendly?

Disney Answer: No

Unfortunately (or fortunately), the three Disneyland Resort Hotels, the Disneyland Hotel, Grand Californian Hotel and Spa and Disney’s Paradise Pier, are NOT pet friendly. They do not allow pets of any kinds in the rooms, other than trained service animals. If you are planning on bringing a service animal with you to stay at one of the three Disneyland Hotels, you must notify Disney in advance.

Service Animals are also allowed in the parks, but are not allowed in certain areas and on certain rides.

Disneyland also operates the Disneyland Kennel Club, located to the right hand side of the main entrance to Disneyland. The current cost is $20 per day per animal, but overnight boarding is not allowed. Kennels are available for your pets on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not accepted.

Do Disneyland Hotels have Airport Shuttles

Disney Answer: Yes and No

The Disneyland Resort has three “Disney” Hotels, the Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Paradise Pier and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. The three hotels are all right on Disneyland property in Anaheim. Disneyland is located about 35 miles from LAX (Los Angeles International), 23 miles from LGB (Long Beach International), 14 miles from SNA (John Wayne – Orange County) and 36 miles from ONT (Ontario Airport). Because of the limited number of hotels, and the distance from LAX, which is the most popular airport, Disneyland does not offer a Magical Express airport shuttle similar to the Walt Disney World option.

However, Disneyland does offer the Disneyland Express (technically it is run by ATD but Disneyland offers it as a transfer option on their packages). The Disneyland Express runs from both LAX and SNA to the three Disneyland Hotels as well as quite a few Good Neighbor hotels. The Disneyland Express is not free though, it is currently $48 per adult round trip from LAX and $35 per adult round trip from SNA. It does not serve either LGB or ONT.

If you are planning on renting a car, please note there is a nightly parking fee at all three Disneyland Hotels, currently $20 per night for self parking and $30 per night for valet parking.

Does Fantasyland reopen after Fireworks?

Disney Answer: Maybe

Each night in the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, Fantasyland (or parts of it) is closed for the nightly fireworks show that happens on and around Cinderella’s and Sleeping Beauty’s Castles. While all of Fantasyland in Disneyland is closed during the fireworks, only the part between Prince Charming Regal Carrousel and Cinderella’s Castle is closed in the Magic Kingdom, while many of the rides behind the carousel will remain open during fireworks. This really is unfortunate for many as a large part of the park must shut down hours before the normal closing time. However, some nights, Disney will reopen Fantasyland after fireworks.

The answer to the Disney question really depends on park hours. If there is enough time after the fireworks end, then Fantasyland will open back up. If the nightly fireworks are towards closing time, then of course, Fantasyland will not reopen until the next morning. I have found that if the fireworks start 2 hours or more before park closing, then Fantasyland will reopen. Once you get inside that 2 hour window, it really doesn’t make sense for Disney to reopen a large part of the parks just for a few minutes.

The current Magic Kingdom fireworks show “Wishes” is a 12 minute show, while the current Disneyland show “Remember…Dreams Come True” is closer to 16 minutes long. It takes quite a while for Disney to clear Fantasyland after the fireworks, but you can expect Fantasyland to be open sometime around 15 – 30 minutes after the fireworks end, and it should remain open until park closing.

Tonight in the Magic Kingdom, Wishes is scheduled for 9:00 PM, and the park is open until 11:00 PM, so you should have access to Fantasyland for a bit over about 90 minutes after it reopens.

Please note: Currently, Disneyland DOES NOT offer fireworks during the week, they are only allowed to present their fireworks show on weekend nights (Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights), so Fantasyland will remain open all night on weekdays.

DisAnswers Hint: If you want to ride Peter Pan, head to the back side of Fantasyland in Disneyland right after the fireworks open. Disney will start a line for Peter Pan near Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and will only allow about 50 people in the line. Once Fantasyland is ready to open, they will escort that line to Peter Pan and start loading the ride. Once that line is in place, they will drop the rope and allow everyone else into Fantasyland.

Does Fantasyland reopen after fireworks — Watching fireworks from the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel in Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Are Disneyland and California Adventure connected?

Disney Answer: Yes

Disneyland was opened in 1955. When Disney decided to open a second theme park at Disneyland, they built Disney California Adventure in the parking lot located right in front of the Disneyland entrance. Once California Adventure finally opened in 2001, it created a great pavilion located between the two parks. From one entrance to the other, the two parks are less than 200 feet apart, so you are just a minute or two to cross the pavilion and enter the other theme park.

While the Disneyland monorail passes through both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, there is not a monorail stop in California Adventure (there is one in Tomorrowland in Disneyland and one in Downtown Disney closer to the Disneyland Hotel). You cannot use the monorail to hop between the two theme parks.