Review: Disneyland “Returning” Trading Cards

While at Disneyland last week as part of our D23 Expo festivities, my friend Adam and I had a chance to collect the new (and FREE) Disneyland “Returning” set of trading cards. Consisting of six cards, these collector cards found throughout Frontierland, Adventureland, New Orleans Square, and Critter Country celebrate six iconic Disneyland attractions coming back from a hiatus due to the construction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The cards debuted in the park towards the end of June with the return of the Rafts to Tow Sawyer Island, and a reimagined Pirate’s Lair on said island, back on June 16th. Let take a closer look at this set of cards.

Here is a close up of each of the card fronts, as well as where in Disneyland they are currently located. NOTE: They are not available at all times during the day, as locations either run out for a time being or close early for the day.

S.S. Mark Twain Riverboat

Park Locations: River Belle Terrace Restaurant (Frontierland, Outside Kiosk) or Adventureland’s Tropical Imports

Rafts to Tom Sawyer’s Island

Park Locations: Raft Dock or New Orleans Square’s Lemonade Stand

Sailing Ship Columbia

Park Location: Pieces of Eight Shop (New Orleans Square, exit for Pirates of the Caribbean)

Fantasmic!

Park Location: Bonanza Outfitters Shop (Frontierland)

The Disneyland Railroad

Park Location: Port Royal Shop (New Orleans Square, next to Pieces of Eight)

Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes

Park Locations: Hungry Bear Restaurant or Briar Patch Shop (both in Critter Country)

 

On the back of the cards, when properly placed, a map is formed of Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island. I love the detail of the map, with the nods to the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. Also of note is what I personally think of as an Easter Egg: the area coming soon at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge labeled “Uncharted Lands”.

Now, it is worth noting that some locations had more cards than they were assigned. For example, because Critter Country can become quite crowded, the Lemonade Stand also had the Canoes Card both days that we were collecting. In addition, the Briar Patch had a few different ones available the night we finally made it over there. Also, normally the limit is one card per person, and most of the time that limit was adhered to, especially with the Fantasmic! card, which was deemed the most popular (for what it’s worth, it was it’s premiere weekend). However, at times, especially if they had an over-abundance at the time, some Cast Members gave out more than one card per person if asked. Both Adam and I were collecting multiple sets for friends as well, so we had to visit some spots many times.

Overall, similarly to the Walt Disney World Transporation Cards, or even the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game (though that takes time and/or money to complete the set), this set of cards is just another sprinkling of Pixie Dust to a visit to Disneyland. It creates a fun memento for the collector and, while thousands of these cards will be given out during the promotion, these look to be a limited run (probably until the end of July when the rest of the attractions open) so there is something special about knowing you were there and completed the set. I know I enjoyed going into shops I might have never gone into if it weren’t for these cards, and the Cast Member interactions because of the cards (from trivia contests to Fantasmic! chats to general merriment) were priceless.

Have you been to Disneyland to collect these “Returning” cards? Were you able to get the complete set? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.