An insider's guide to visiting Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure
ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) -- Avengers Campus is now open at Disney California Adventure! I got to visit the area this week, and here are the things you need to know before you go.
With so much to experience, it was a little overwhelming, even for a BIG Disney fan like me, so make sure to plan ahead. I also spoke to theme park journalist Carlye Wisel, who went to the campus for a media preview and on opening day.
How to enter the land:
To control the amount of people inside of the area, Disney currently has two ways to get into the campus: 1) Getting a boarding group for WEB-SLINGERS or 2) Waiting in a standby line adjacent to the entrance of the land.
Boarding Group:
In order to try the new ride, you'll need a boarding group. First, make sure you have the Disneyland app downloaded on your phone. Once downloaded, you can request to join the virtual queue at 7 a.m. or at noon. For the 7 a.m. virtual queue, you can try to nab a spot from outside of the park, but for the noon queue, you must either be inside Disneyland or Disney California Adventure to try for a boarding group.
A few minutes before the top of the hour, click the "Join Boarding Group" button and toggle to the park or ride you want to try to get. Under the Disneyland section, you can try for a chance at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and in the Disney California Adventure section you can try to get WEB-SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure. It's important to note that you can only hold one boarding pass at a time.
If you're lucky enough to get into the virtual queue (like I was!), you'll be given a boarding group number and an estimated time to return to the attraction. If you turn on the app's notifications, it will notify you when it's your time to ride so you can explore other parts of the park while waiting. When it's time to board the attraction, go to the entrance of the park and walk right into the area. You'll be able to experience the rest of Avengers Campus after your ride!
Brittany's pro tip: Have all of your group's tickets linked together in the app before you go so you don't get slowed down. Also, have someone in your group look at a world clock (where seconds are visible) and refresh the queue page a second or two before the hour.
Carlye's pro tip: If you have multiple people in your party, have them all try to get a boarding group. The more people trying to get access to the ride, the better. Side note: Once on the ride, make sure to look at the color of the spider bot you're shooting at. Each one is worth different points! If you see a gold one, definitely shoot at it because it's worth the most points.
Standby line:
If you're unable to get a boarding group during either of the time slots, you can still experience Avengers Campus -- you'll just have to wait in a line to get in.
Due to capacity restraints and high demand for the land, there's currently a standby queue set up outside the area. When I went on Tuesday, the line was four hours long, and on opening day, Carlye said the line was up to six hours long, so if you decide to enter the queue, know that it could take that long (or even longer) to enter.
Menu guide: Here are the foods to indulge in at Avengers Campus
Food and beverages:
These two words will become your best friends while inside the park: MOBILE. ORDERING.
Mobile ordering is being utilized to order both food and drinks inside Avengers Campus at Pym Test Kitchen and Pym Tasting Lab. So, if you want to try the new 453.8-gram quantum pretzel or Not So Little Chicken Sandwich, make sure to plan ahead!
To get food at the Shawarma Palace or Terran Treats carts, mobile ordering is not necessary.
To learn more about the food options at Avengers Campus, click here.
Brittany's pro tip: Getting a mobile order time slot will not give you access to the area. When clicking on the restaurant in the app, this message pops up: "Please wait to place your order until you have entered Avengers Campus. Placing a mobile order will not allow you access to Avengers Campus."
Carlye's pro tip: Try the Choco-Smash candy bar. It's Disney's take on a Snickers bar and is the best thing I've ever eaten at a Disney Park.
Entertainment:
June 14 update: Show times are now posted in the Disneyland app for some of the entertainment offered inside of the land including the Amazing Spider-Man!, Avengers Assemble! and Dr. Strange: Mysteries of the Mystic Arts.
Guests can also visit the Ancient Sanctum, where they can learn the site's secrets from Doctor Strange and Avengers Headquarters where they can view the Quinjet and encounter super heroes such as Iron Man, Ant-Man and Black Panther.
Brittany's pro tip: If you stand by Avengers HQ in the middle of the campus, you're bound to see at least a few superheroes. While in that area I was able to see Thor, Black Panther and Captain America.
Carlye's pro tip: Make sure to ask a cast member when the Doctor Strange show is happening. Since it's in a semi-walled off space, you have to be in the doorway or inside the sanctum to see the show.
For more theme park coverage, make sure to follow Carlye on social media @carlyewisel.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this station.
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