Photos: Disneyland visitors get out their mouse ears and flock back to the park
Mathew Jimenez, 2, of Santa Fe Springs, blows bubbles with Mickey and Pluto on Main Street as a limited number of people came to Disneyland the first day after being closed for more than a year ago. Characters remained distanced from guests, not getting close enough for hugs and handshakes.
Break out those mouse ears — the House that Mickey Built is open.
Eager parkgoers began lining up hours before Disneyland’s official 9 a.m. opening time Friday, and a cheer greeted the announcement that the temperature-check station would start processing visitors for admission about an hour early. To prevent crowding in Disneyland’s Main Street area, park employees waved in the admitted guests and invited them to freely roam the grounds.
In the 66-year history of Disneyland, the theme park has been shut for extreme circumstances only a few times — after the assassination of President Kennedy and following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, for example — but before the pandemic struck in March 2020, none of those closures lasted longer than a day.
Instagrammable
Minerva Mendez and Ahmed El take photos in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle inside Disneyland.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
A meeting of princesses
Annable Zavala and her mother Yani visit princesses from a distance inside Disneyland as the park reopened for the first time in more than a year.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Masked greeting
The first park visitors are greeted inside Disneyland as the theme park reopened for the first time in more than a year.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Walt and Mickey
Visitors take a selfie with the Walt Disney statue in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Chewie mode
Chewbacca greets a park guest in the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge area at Disneyland.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Socially distanced
A socially distanced Small World boat begins its journey at Disneyland.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Hand sanitation stations are set up inside Disneyland as part of health and safety measures.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
Prince Charming finds Snow White in the Snow White’s Enchanted Wish attraction at Disneyland, which opened for the first time in more than a year on Friday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
More scenes from the Snow White’s Enchanted Wish attraction at Disneyland.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
First in
The first park visitors are on the run inside Disneyland as the theme park reopens for the first time in more than a year.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Emotions run high
Park visitors get emotional inside Disneyland.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A couple recreates the famous Alfred Eisenstaedt V-J Day photo as they arrive at the park.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Getting cast members fired up
Walt Disney Co. Executive Chairman Bob Iger elbow-bumps a park employee before the reopening.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Camera ready
Employees record the moment as the park prepares to reopen.
Robert Gauthier has been with the Los Angeles Times since 1994. He has covered international and national stories, including Middle East conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon and catastrophes such as the Sept. 11 attack in New York and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. His assignments also include sporting events such as the Olympic Games, Super Bowls and NBA championships. Gauthier was the photographer for a story detailing the failings of a Los Angeles public hospital; the project won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Other awards include the Robert F. Kennedy, World Press, Pictures of the Year and Sigma Delta Chi. Before The Times, Gauthier worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Escondido Times-Advocate and the Bernardo News in San Diego County, his hometown.
Hugo Martín covers the travel industries, including airlines and theme parks, for the Los Angeles Times Business section. A native Californian, Martín was part of the Metro staff that won three Pulitzer Prizes in 1993, 1995 and 1998.
