So a few disclaimers out of the gate. In the last few years, my boyfriend Allen and I had become annual pass holders and were averaging 3-4 trips a year. Our trips were a delightful mix of eating, shopping, drinking and the occasional ride that we reserved with Max Pass. All-in-all it made for a pretty magical, stress-free getaway.
We even did three visits during the pandemic and thought Disney did a great job considering the challenges — we definitely felt safer there than most other public places. There were definitely some adjustments with wait times and mobile ordering, but nothing too onerous.
So we ended up visiting Avengers Campus on its second day of opening. Though I knew nothing was a guarantee, I was pretty hopeful we’d get to explore the land, try the new Web Slingers ride, and have ourselves the “Not So Little Chicken Sandwich” at Pym’s Test Kitchen. We had been there on opening day of Galaxy’s Edge and not only did that go really smoothly, we were able to experience all that the land had had to offer.
We got an early start, but unfortunately made a critical mistake out of the gate. If you’re going to have multiple people attempt to get a boarding pass, you need to make sure that everyone has their tickets linked. Since we didn’t, when we all tried to get a pass and one of us was successful, the others were prompted to take them off. In the ensuing confusion, only one of us got a pass. See mrcheezypop’s excellent video below on exactly how to get a boarding pass.
While our buddy was able to get in right away, Allen and I tried the standby line. At first it moved at a fairly good clip, but then it stalled, and probably for an hour, didn’t move at all. The feelings I experienced for the next three hours was similar to what Mike Carlson of Podcast the Ride has described as being Batman without his utility belt.
Like I mentioned, our previous Disney trips had been pretty much a breeze, even when we visited when the parks were in limited operation. Now we were in a line that wasn’t moving, and without our Annual Passes I realized that the clock was ticking. When visiting Disneyland in the casual way we’d been doing before, when we were faced with a long line, we’d simply say, well next time. Not knowing when the next time would be, and not having MaxPass to eliminate waiting in line, I was starting to do all sorts of calculations in my brain as the the minutes, then hours passed.
Adding to the complication was that the Park Hopper ticket only allowed us to visit Disneyland in the afternoon so we were losing time to experience anything in DCA. There was another boarding pass opportunity at noon and originally we had thought, we’d just forgo Avenger’s Campus and go for Rise of the Resistance, but then we realized that we’d already emotionally committed to getting in, that we’d try and get a boarding pass for Web Slingers — and luckily we got in!
I heard mixed stories of how long the stand-by line was — I think five hours — but I was so thankful we got that boarding pass as I realized I’m just not cut out for that kind of wait. Anyway, after getting our boarding pass we were finally able to grab some shade and a cocktail, which put me in more of a Disneyland state of mind. I also have recognized that I am guilty of Legacy Passholder Privilege.
So we ended up getting into Avengers Campus around and I loved the atmosphere and how well it all came together — especially how it linked up to the Guardians ride. I’m not really going to get too deep into the discourse of how good a land this is, especially with it not having the e-ticket Avengers ride open. For the record, I still love The Void’s Avengers Damage Control and I’m bummed that they and Disney had some sort of falling out.
Though we were able to experience Web Slinger’s, we never seemed to be able to catch the Spiderman robot, Dr. Strange or any of the other performances — at that time they didn’t publish their schedule. And being a foodie, I had really wanted to check out food at Pym’s. They had some issues with mobile ordering though and the they were only letting people in the standby line sporadically. When mobile ordering windows did become available, it was for much later in the day and since you couldn’t re-enter that area just for food, we didn’t feel that it was worth the wait. More importantly, it was basically around 3pm and we had only rode one ride, Web Slingers.
The good news is they have ironed out most of these issues — though you still need the boarding pass. One thing that I will definitely keep in mind for our next visit, is that in many ways, Avengers Campus is a ride in of itself. To get the most out of it, you need to set aside the time to not only order and eat your food, but catch a few of the performances. I definitely loved what I saw, but I really felt I only experienced a third of what the land had to offer.
The good news is, Disneyland is still Disneyland, and it truly is one of my favorite places on earth. If you are a Legacy Passholder like myself though, the pressure of trying to experience everything because you don’t know when you’re coming back, the bigger expense, the waits for just about everything, and the lack of tools like MaxPass will take some adjusting.
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