In a recent episode of D23 Inside Disney, Disneyland President Ken Potrock discussed the reopening of the Disneyland Resort. He said that the Disneyland experience “was going to be different.”

“I think it’s going to be different,” said Potrock. “We’ve been very transparent about making sure that people understand what”s going to be different and what to expect.” He went on to say it is important that guests remember they are still operating under COVID restrictions.

Since Disneyland has been closed for over a year, it has given Disney time to make enhancements all over the resort. As a result, Disney had the opportunity to introduce new technologies that would otherwise have taken much longer to implement. Potrock said that he hopes that guests will be “amazed by” and will “lean in to” many of these new additions including virtual queues, mobile ordering, mobile wait times, and other enhancements.

In addition to the park reopening tomorrow, Potrock revealed new details on some upcoming projects.

He said it was necessary for Disney to “sunset” or retire the annual pass holder program. The program, which ended this past January, canceled all current Disneyland annual passes. At the time, Potrock said the decision was made “due to the continued uncertainty of the pandemic and the limitations around the reopening of our California theme parks.”

On the podcast, Potrock said terminating and re-imagining the program that “wasn’t just built on the last couple of decades, but was built on how our guests and fans wanted to use the parks going forward.”

He stated that the new annual passholder program would be launched by the end of this year.

Recently, Disney added a fifth key, to their culture and approach to service. In addition to giving Cast Members more freedom when it came to the “Disney Look,” Disney is also updating some scenes and in some cases entire attractions to better represent the current environment. One of those attractions is the popular Jungle Cruise.

The Disneyland and Walt Disney World attraction will be receive a new story line and some new characters that will infuse it with “more humor, wildlife and skipper heart.”

Although the attraction is a fan favorite and many Disney fans are not known for accepting change, especially when it comes to anything Walt Disney personally had a hand in, but Potrock said he really did think that “there were some very important things that were wrong with the attraction.”

“We had depicted people and things in ways that in today’s environment just quite honestly wasn’t it as respectful as we would like it to be,’ said Potrock. He said they need to make some changes, but at the same time respect the tradition and core of the ride – the skippers. He said that current Jungle Cruise skippers, as well as those from years past, helped craft the new storyline.

He said that when guests ride the updated version of the attraction, he believes they will come off the ride with a smile on their face.

Although he did not give an exact date, he said that the attraction will open this summer.

When the Blue Bayou reopens it will not be serving beer, wine, and alcoholic beverages. “Having a great meal, but not having the ability to have a glass of wine, a glass of champagne, or a beer to go along with it feels incomplete,” said Potrock. “It’s something our guests have been telling us for years … we used the pandemic as a window of opportunity … we [added] what was missing to the Blue Bayou Restaurant. I don’t have any concerns on its impact on the experience.”

The restaurant will not open with Disneyland tomorrow, it will open “shortly after that.”

It also seems that Disneyland might keep its only California resident restriction in place until June. Potrock told the podcast in regards to the State of California they will be “operating under, for the next six weeks or so, one set of ground rules and then we’re still learning about what the new set of ground rules will be from the state beginning on June 15.”

He briefly allude to Disneyland’s Downtown Disney when asked about Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs. He said working on Disney Springs was one of his highlights and said that “many of the things that we learned and accomplished at Disney Springs there’s so much potential here at Downtown Disney. I am really excited for what Downtown Disney will become in its next chapter.”