The past two years since the COVID-19 pandemic started have felt like dog years for Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock with each year feeling more like seven — and the phased reopening of the parks will take at least another year.

“The last few years have been rough,” Potrock said. “So many people said to me that the Disneyland job is going to be the best job you’ve ever had. The first year was a pretty tough job, but this second year truly proved it is the best job in this company.”

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A 27-year Disney veteran, Potrock took over as Disneyland resort president in May 2020 about two months after the Anaheim theme parks were shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic. Little did Potrock or anyone else know at the time that Disneyland and Disney California Adventure would be closed for 412 days.

With the one-year anniversary of Disneyland and DCA’s triumphant return in late April 2021 fast approaching, Potrock said the theme park resort has only just reached the halfway point of an extended phased reopening with another year needed before operations fully return to pre-pandemic levels.

“We’ve embarked on this legendary comeback,” Potrock said. “We’re more than halfway through it, but we’ve got another year.”

Potrock sat down to speak with the Southern California News Group in the otherwise empty 1901 Lounge — DCA’s version of the secret and private Club 33 — where the wait staff knows how the boss takes his coffee. Unlike his baptism-by-fire first year at Disneyland that was like downing a strong and bitter pot of black coffee, Potrock’s second year has been a lot sweeter — just like the way he takes his cup of Joe with cream and sugar.

If the mantra of Potrock’s first year at Disneyland was adaptation and survival, then the message of the second year is hope and revival.

“We focused on two things,” Potrock said. “One was we were very focused on a common enemy — the pandemic. Then we had a common objective which was survival. That meant we had to be unified, quicker to market and innovative. We needed to recreate the Disneyland experience without losing the heart of it.”

The silver lining of the pandemic for Potrock and Disneyland has been the ability to reassess the business in a number of ways.

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Change has been a constant at Disneyland over the past two years. From advance reservations and a new passholder program to pay-to-ride attraction access and an ambitious multi-decade expansion plan, the pace of change has sped up at the tradition-bound Happiest Place on Earth.

“The message that I keep delivering to my senior leadership team is, ‘We can’t get tied up in the bureaucracy,’” Potrock said. “We are dynamic, innovative and decisive. The team is so good that even if we don’t get it right, we’ll ultimately get it right because we’ll adapt.”

Some of those changes have rankled the Disneyland faithful who have taken to social media to voice their displeasure. Potrock knows the rollouts of some new services and experiences haven’t been perfect — especially with a loyal annual passholder audience extraordinarily aware of every move Disneyland makes.

“I tell the team again and again, ‘We’re going to try stuff and I’m OK if we don’t get it perfect right away,’” Potrock said. “A lot of times perfect gets in the way of excellence. We’re really focused on doing the best we possibly can. We’re going to listen and adjust as quickly as humanly possible. The team gets it and that’s the culture that we’re trying to create.”

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Disneyland’s workforce was cut from a pre-pandemic level of 32,000 to a low of 2,000 due to furloughs and layoffs during the coronavirus closure. Disneyland has rehired and hired 28,000 people in the past year to reach a current level of 30,000 cast members, Disney parlance for employees.

“We’re still not staffed up all the way,” Potrock said. “We are hiring every single week.”

In addition to bringing back a majority of the pre-pandemic staff, Disneyland has hired about 10,000 new employees.

“We’re never going to be back to where we were until those 10,000 people truly have it in their DNA as to what their role and what their mission is as we begin to go forward,” Potrock said.

Disneyland recognized 5,600 long-time cast members who have worked at the resort for 10 or more years last week at Disney California Adventure. The employee service celebration was the largest in Disneyland history in part because the COVID-19 pandemic-delayed event recognized honorees from 2020 and 2021.

“We are so empathetic and sensitive to the tough journey that our cast members have been on,” Potrock said. “We want to make sure that we are showing sensitivity, compassion and gratitude to our cast members.”

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Up next for Potrock: A State of the Disneyland resort presentation in late April.

“We’ll be able to announce a bunch of things that are continued improvements, opportunities and experiences,” Potrock said. “We’re going to talk about the impact that we’re having on the community and how we’re using our economic engine to rev up the economy here in Orange County and Anaheim in particular.”