Disneyland in the Time of Coronavirus

In July, with COVID restrictions easing (at the time), my family and I took the plunge for a two-day trip to Anaheim to spend one day each at Disneyland and the adjacent California Adventure.*

Though COVID-19 restrictions had lessened, Disneyland still limited attendance. As a result, the park was nowhere near as crowded as we’ve experienced in the past—with a couple of exceptions (like Space Mountain and the Matterhorn), most waits for rides were reasonable, ranging from just a few to 40 minutes. (Until about five years ago, it was a family tradition to go to Disneyland during the holidays until the crowd size began giving us diminishing returns of enjoyment.)

It had been two years since our last visit and, since then, Galaxy’s Edge—the new “Star Wars-themed land”—and the Marvel’s Avengers Campus had respectively opened at Disneyland and California Adventure.

Galaxy’s Edge
While Star Tours has been a fixture at Disneyland since the late 1980s, the new Galaxy’s Edge offers a more immersive Star Wars universe experience. Set in a frontier town on a planet called Batuu, visitors interact with local denizens and Star Wars characters (including stormtroopers) and can explore the alleyways, shops and restaurants.

The centerpiece of Galaxy’s Edge is a full-size replica of the iconic Millennium Falcon and two rides: Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run and the Rise of the Resistance. To ride the latter, guests must obtain "boarding passes" through the Disney app on their mobile phones at two specified time windows: 7 a.m. and 12 noon. Tickets are limited, so a little after 7 a.m. the morning of our planned visit to Disneyland, I dutifully logged on and discovered that the ride was already sold out.

While waiting for the park to open, a Disneyland employee told us that the full allotment of tickets were usually taken in only 4 seconds! He said he heard people used their smartphone clocks—tied to international atomic clocks—to countdown to the ticket window. Though I dutifully tried this approach for the 12 noon window, I had no better luck, though it looks like I came close. So that ride will need to wait for another day.

That said, as soon as the park opened to guests, we headed straight for Galaxy’s Edge and happily discovered there was virtually no line for Smuggler’s Run. While Rise of the Resistance is a state-of-the-art ride, Smuggler’s Run, while simpler, is certainly no slouch, similar to Star Tours as a “magic motion,” multi-media ride, but interactive—plus, of course, you get to pilot the Millennium Falcon!

The immersive experience begins on lineas park guests enter a “space port” and are told of their “mission” by an animatronic-controlled smuggler named Hondo Ohnaka, who tells you that he has procured the Falcon to smuggle some spices and you are the crew. (Chewbacca makes an appearance during the presentation.)

Guests are then split into groups of six and assigned roles of two each: pilots, gunners and engineers. You’re then herded into the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. As a motion ride, it’s similar to Star Tours, but more interactive since you get to pilot the ship, fire guns or act as engineer. Everyone is prompted over the intercom when to engage—while no doubt the ride is controlled, the ride still responds to your actions. Our first time on the ride, my son and I both piloted and got a kick out of being able to “fly” the iconic Millennium Falcon and punch it into hyper space. I thought the ride was a blast and being able to walk through corridors that resembled the Star Wars movie set was a thrill.

California Adventure: Avengers Campus

On our second day, we visited California Adventure. The last few times we’d been to the park, the Avengers Campus—devoted to the successful Marvel universe films—had still been under construction.

Like the Galaxy’s Edge, the Avengers Campus is an immersive experience that allows you to interact with Marvel super-hero characters, including live shows, immersive facilities and rides. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy ride has been a popular attraction at the park for a few years now (replacing the Tower of Terror ride, which uses the same skeleton of the original drop tower ride), and the Avengers Campus builds on the popularity of that ride and, of course, the Marvel films.

One of the centerpiece rides is Web-Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure. Like Rise of the Resistance, advance online reservations are required but are not as competitive, so I was able to score spaces.

Like Guardians of the Galaxy and Rise of the Resistance (and even the Haunted Mansion ride), guests enter an anteroom where the ride is set up with a story presentation that features actor Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in an effective multi-media production where Holland is convincingly integrated with live action/practical effects in the presentation

From there, you go into the heart of the ride, consisting of guided cars that take you through the  Tony Stark-funded research facility where you are recruited to use spidey-webs to destroy an out-of-control army of Spider-bots that have infested the building. Though at its heart a shoot ‘em up arcade game similar to Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear Ride, what sets this game apart is that guests put on wristband shooters that allow you to fire digital webbing onto a live screen like Spider-Man to take out the Spider-bots. It’s an amazing bit of technology.

Of course, we also enjoyed many of the classic old school rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours and Indiana Jones. Better yet, since Disneyland was not yet at full capacity since it had only re-opened a few months before, wait times for the most part were from only a few to 20-40 minutes at most.

I have to admit, spending two days at the parks was a bit exhausting, partly due to it being pretty hot on the second day when we were at California Adventure. That said, with things slowly re-opening after more than a year in lockdown, it was a nice family getaway.

Below are some additional pics—click here to see our full vacation gallery.

* We originally planned to visit my mother and siblings in Northern California but when it became clear we needed to remain vigilant in protecting my mom’s health, we decided on the trip to Disneyland.

Capsule Reviews in the Time of Coronavirus — or How I Survived the Pandemic (9)

Like many people, I’ve binge-watched both new and old series television shows throughout the period of stay-at-home lockdown. Although it’s not clear whether the pandemic is close to over yet, here are a few personal favorites that sustained and hooked me over the past year-and-a-half:

Sex Education (Netflix)
I remember seeing this dramedy dropping on Netflix in 2019—though I watched a few minutes of it early on, I quickly checked out, feeling it wasn't for me. Earlier this year, however, when I saw a popup promoting the second season, I gave it another shot and ended up getting totally hooked and bingeing it!

According to online coverage, it is a modern-day homage to classic John Hughes films—but a lot more edgier and diverse. So much so that, though the series is set in England, students at the fictional Moordale Secondary School have lockers and letterman jackets, though that’s not the norm there—it is an American conceit the showrunners used to appeal to a larger (and U.S.) audience.

The initial premise involves a main character, Otis (played by Asa Butterfield), teaming up with a fellow (semi-outcast) student named Maeve, to dispense sex advice at their high school. Otis feels that he has some expertise because his own mother, Jean (played by Gillian Anderson), is herself a sex therapist. Though the show’s main characters are Jean, Otis and Maeve—with Otis and Maeve’s hot-and-cold relationship serving as the heart of the series—it’s actually an ensemble piece, with various storylines tracking the arc of diverse characters dealing with a wide range of teenaged (and adult) issues and uncertainty related to sex, love, relationships and life. This context also provides the opportunity to explore a wide range of sexuality in the series, often very explicitly, with heart and a bit of raunchiness.

Resident Alien (Sci-Fy)
A loose adaptation of a comic-book series of the same name, this is another show that I made a note to watch but didn’t until after the whole series had already aired on SyFy. I ended up bingeing it on our cloud DVR with my wife, who also was won over by the series.

A comedy-drama that is somewhat of a cross between a dark E.T. and the television show Northern Exposure, Alan Tudyk plays an extraterrestrial sent on a mission to destroy Earth who then tries to assimilate (after assuming human form) when he inadvertently crash lands and gets stranded in the remote (fictional) town of Patience, Colorado. Learning English (and police work) through the tv show Law and Order, he becomes the town doctor and gets embroiled and gradually deeply invested in both the lives of the townspeople who soon become friends as well as a murder mystery involving the previous town doctor that provides much of the arc of the first season. (One of the funny running gags is the fact that some earthlings—in this case, a young boy—possess a rare mutation that allow them to see him in his true lizard-like alien form. But nobody believes the boy.)

As the show progresses, predictably, the alien slowly comes to embrace and understand the quirks and humanity of the people he has been sent to exterminate. As the show draws you in and invests you in the arc of the main character and the lives of the people he encounters, the sci-fi aspects of the show kick into high gear as more people learn his secret and rather ruthless government “Men in Black”-like agents show up and close in on him, turning the show into a low-fi action series.

The first season of Resident Alien ends on an uplifting note, with the possibility of continuing. Indeed, the series was quickly renewed for a new season.

Mythic Quest (Apple+)

Even after watching a few episodes of this single camera sitcom series, I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was all in—co-created by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator and star Rob McElhenney, the show features some of the same kind of “unlikable” and politically incorrect characters as his other show. However, as I watched more episodes, my appreciation for the series deepened.

A workplace comedy set at a video game company that produces an online role-playing game called Mythic Quest, McElhenney plays the company’s creative director. Both a talented visionary and a narcissist, he is surrounded by a rich cast of characters played by talented comic actors that include his co-creative director Poppi (played by terrific Australian-Filipino actress Charlotte Nicdao); washed up fantasy writer C.W. Longbottom (a hilarious F. Murray Abraham); the wishy-washy put-upon game producer David; the ruthless head of monetization Brad (Danny Pudi) and his even more sociopathic executive assistant, Jo; and Rachel and Dana, two game testers who fall for each other in a sweet romance.

As I said, it took a few episodes to get into the series—like  McElhenney's other show, episodes often involve terrible people doing terrible things to each other. But then the stories and characters redeem themselves with moments of genuine heart and self-awareness that, at times, really hit it out of the park. Deepening the series were several one-off episodes that did not even feature the main characters: one is a flashback to the 1990s featuring Jake Johnson, about the journey of a couple developing a video game and the sacrifices and compromises they make (and the impact on their marriage) to make the game a success (the episode does at one point subtly tie in to the series); the other is a flashback episode featuring the “origin” of F. Murray Abraham’s hack fantasy author character Longbottom (played by a younger actor) that is set in the 1950s—which pays off in the next episode when the modern-day Longbottom faces off against his colleague and rival from those early days, played by William Hurt! It’s episodes like these that show you the the show occasionally tries to aim higher.  (Another terrific one-off “bonus episode," referencing the pandemic and lockdown, was produced remotely and through Zoom, using it as a platform for how the gaming company itself was operating during the pandemic.)

I found this show extremely bingeable and give it kudos for its diverse casting and storylines. Thouh the cast is outstanding, Charlotte Nicdao, ostensibly the co-lead as Poppi, is a standout.

Ted Lasso (Apple+)
Like a lot of people, I discovered “Ted Lasso” late in the game, well into the pandemic in spring 2021, following its premiere in the late summer of 2020. (A nice perk of upgrading our iPhones was a complimentary Apple+ subscription.)

It’s everything as advertised—about an American football coach hired to coach an English football (soccer) team called AFC Richmond. Co-created by comedian and former SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis, the actor plays the titular lead who, despite his inexperience and lack of familiarity with soccer, gradually wins over the team owner, staff, players and fans by his relentlessly positive attitude and ability to help people be the best version of themselves. The show embraces and takes advantage of its English setting, exposing audiences to the unique devotion and obsession of English football fans to their teams. The show is a terrific amalgam of American and British comedy and acting styles.

Much has been written about the goodness and positive vibes of the series, especially during a time of great division that has, of course, been exacerbated by the pandemic. Far from being syrupy or treacly, however, the show wins you over and the audience's emotional investment through solid heartfelt writing and an understanding of it characters.

Schmigadoon! (Apple+)

Though ostensibly a parody of classic American musicals, down to many of their conventions and clichés, Schmagadoon! turned out to be as much of an homage that also stands as its own as a musical, in strong numbers that both convey character and push the story along, as well as addressing social issues as many past musicals did. 

The cast is led by Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong as an engaged couple whose relationship seems to have gone off the rails and who become trapped in a magical town called Schmigadoon where everyone seems to be in a musical from the 1940s, ready to break out in song. They will only be allowed to leave when they find true love.

They are helped by a strong ensemble of Broadway veterans, including Kristin Chenoweth, Jane Krakowski and Alan Cumming (who, of course, have also done film and TV). Another standout was Ariana DeBose, next to be seen in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming Westside Story. 

This is a show that took me by surprise and improved every episode. 

The Deuce (HBOMax)
Running 2017-19 for three seasons, The Deuce is a drama set in 1970s and ‘80s New York City about  Times Square which, during this era, was notorious for its seediness, particularly as a center of  prostitution, drugs and crime. While Times Square has since then been cleaned up and re-invented as a family-friendly tourist destination, the series covers the period when sex work began to evolve and impact the area and its denizens, particularly with the rise and legalization of the pornography industry; at the same time, we are offered brief glimmers into the city's beginning efforts to reclaim and re-gentrify the historic area. (Rudy Giuliani played a prominent role in the transformation of Times Square and is name-checked in the series.) 

Although the cast is led by Maggie Gyllenhaal (who also produces) as a prostitute who transitions to directing porn and James Franco playing a set of twins who operate on the fringes of organized crime and also get involved in the sex work industry, the series is an outstanding ensemble showcase, featuring a wide range of characters and their various arcs as the years progress, ranging from prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts, mobsters, cops both good and on the take, encompassing government and police corruption, the violence of the drug epidemic and the real-estate booms and busts that came with the change.

The show is compelling and extremely bingeable—while I can sometimes take or leave Franco, he does a terrific job delineating two very different twins to the point that you forget it is the same actor. It is a true ensemble piece that very much captures the era, as you follow the transformation not just of New York City and Times Square, but also the diverse cast of characters who for the most part exist on the fringes of society.

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Aside from being a show that works on so many levels—comedy, murder mystery, podcast satire—it is the incredible chemistry and performances of the show’s three leads Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez that make this show work as well as it does.

As much a love letter to New York City, as well as to the loneliness that sometimes comes with life in the big city, the three characters are residents of an upscale co-op who bond over their shared love of true crime podcasts and embark on a podcast of their own when someone in their building turns up dead. As the show expectedly exposes the layers of mystery surrounding the murder, it also slowly reveals the characters and private secrets of the main players.

In some sense, the show shouldn’t be a surprise—much of Martin’s work always has had a streak of intelligence and intellectualism behind it, and his chemistry with Short is well known. But as some reviewers have noted, Gomez is a delightful revelation. I was somewhat aware of the actress’s early work since I have children who were at the right age to see her Disney work, but I was recently wowed by her on-screen presence and sardonic and deadpan comic chops in the Woody Allen film, A Rainy Day in New York. Having been charmed by her work there, I looked forward to seeing her in this role and can say she delivers—indeed, her character in many ways anchors and carries much of the emotional weight of the show.

The show is still dropping episodes weekly as I write this, but it already seems to be a winner.

Jean-Paul Belmondo

For anyone who's read the series, Belmondo's reputation as a maverick inspired the character as much as his rugged look. pic.twitter.com/eYXzaYBj78

— Randy/WCGComics • Inkpot Award 2018 SDCC (@randywcgcomics) September 7, 2021

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