Yesterday afternoon, Disney announced details on a special ticketed event at Disney California Adventure which they’ve named A Touch of Disney.  While the event is temporary and attractions won’t be running, it is a great way for Disney to bring back some of their furloughed workers until the parks can fully re-open later this year.  

Here’s what we know about A Touch of Disney:

Tickets and dates:

Instead of having a reservation system like WDW is currently using, individual tickets for the event will be sold for specific days.  The initial ticket sale will be on March 4th (time TBD) and the dates available will be Thursdays – Mondays starting Thursday, March 18th and ending Monday, April 5th.  After the initial ticket sale on March 4th, future tickets will be sold  “on a rolling basis until the experience ends”, according to Disney Parks Blog.

DCA will be open from noon to 8pm, with the idea being that people will stick around and snack and shop for eight hours. Downtown Disney will remain open as usual – 7 days a week with no special ticket needed.   Buena Vista street will be open for anyone to walk through until March 14th, after which they will close to prepare for A Touch of Disney and then it will only be used for the event.

Cost:

Tickets are going to be $75 each and will include:

• A $25 dining card to spend toward food and non-alcoholic drinks.  It seemed like there may be more restrictions on what the card can be spent on, but it wasn’t specific beyond alcoholic drinks being excluded.
• Parking for the event at the Mickey & Friends parking structure (currently $10 / day if you’re visiting Downtown Disney)
• Unlimited PhotoPass downloads

So, as I’m sure most of you already did the math, if you take out the $35 dining credit and parking, it’s really only $40 for admission.  I would have expected the price to be a little higher, but on the other hand without attractions, all people will be doing is spending money on food and merch for eight hours while the walk around the park, so they will end up making significantly more than $40 / day on everyone.  The wording of the announcement also alluded to prices potentially changing after the initial three weeks, so once they get some data on this unprecedented type of event, they may increase the price or keep it the same, but I really don’t see them decreasing it.

What will be open?

Disneyland’s site says “select outdoor areas” will be open so for now, we have to wait and see what makes the cut.  Based on the stores and dining it seems like most of the park should be open to walk through.  A lot of people, including myself, are hoping that Avengers Campus is included, but right now that’s all speculation.

Parking will open at 11:30 AM at the Mickey & Friends parking structure.  The Disneyland website also specifies that there’s going to be a dedicated entrance to get to DCA from the parking structure, so I’m not really sure what that will be but it may not be the main entrance?  We’ll have to see. There also will not be a tram between the park and parking structure.

Let’s talk food.

Since attractions won’t be running, the real emphasis of A Touch of Disney seems to be the eating and drinking of the classic Disney foods.  Apparently, some of the foods will be snack-sized which would give it some Epcot festival vibes.

So far they’ve announced a few specific favorite food items:

• Churros
• DOLE Whip
• Popcorn
• Ice cream novelties
• The Monte Cristo Sandwich (coming over from Disneyland’s New Orleans Square)

A number of locations will be available for Mobile Ordering. Note that originally, the popcorn and churro carts were on this list but they were taken off Disneyland’s app at some point yesterday afternoon:

• Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats
• Award Weiners
• Bayside Brews
• Cappuccino Cart
• Cocina Cucamonga
• Cozy Cone Motel
• Pacific Wharf Distro Co.
• Poultry Palace
• Rita’s Baja Blenders
• Smokejumper’s Grill
• Sonoma Terrace

…as well as six A Touch of Disney marketplaces:

• California Craft Brews
• Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo
• D-Lish
• Golden Dreams
• LA Style
• Uncork California

There are also going to be table reservations available at Lamplight Lounge (which my friends Dani and Tony at Mouse Park Insider are very excited about) and Cathay Circle Lounge – Alfresco Dining.  Reservations will be available starting March 11th.  You must have a valid A Touch of Disney ticket to get in; a dining reservation doesn’t get you into the park just for your meal or anything.

Other than food and drinks…

A few shops will be open for the event:

• Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff
• Elias & Co
• Julius Katz & Sons
• Off the Page
• Seaside Souvenirs
• Trolley Treats
• Kingswell Camera Shop

The sites specifically mentioned Disney NuiMOs will be available and I’m really hoping for some special A Touch of Disney merch (is a pin too much to hope for?) to bring home.

There will also be Disney characters around the park – I’m wondering if there will be cavalcades since those have been so successful at WDW?  Disneyland’s website says any characters that show up will be socially distanced, so alternatively it could be similar to the current Winnie the Pooh and Joy photo opportunities at Epcot.

Disney PhotoPass Photographers will be around the park and at “unique photo locations” including some locations exclusive to A Touch of Disney.

Lastly, Disney announced that it even put together a special soundtrack for the event that will be playing.  If it’s a Disney park soundtrack I’m sure it’s good, so hopefully it’ll end up on YouTube as a loop to listen to once we’re home.

Will you be going to A Touch of Disney?  Did anything surprise you about the announcement?  Let me know!