This is a how-to guide for reserving your spot at Disneyland or Disney California Adventure. For the most part, the process is easy to follow. We’ll show you how it’s done!
Reservations to visit Disneyland Resort theme parks began on April 12th for guests who already had valid tickets! New ticket sales began on April 15. I had an old ticket which was valid, so I was able to book a reservation on the 12th and I thought you might appreciate seeing how the process works so you will know what to expect when you book your own theme park reservation.
How to Make a Disneyland Theme Park Reservation
Because of California’s restrictions on theme park operations, guests must be a California resident and make advance reservations before visiting a theme park. If you’d like to check on theme park availability to see if the day you’d like to visit is available, you can Check Disneyland Theme Parks Status HERE
STEP ONE: Log Into Your Disneyland.com account (or make an account). Get as much done in advance as you can!
STEP TWO: Add Your Ticket To Your Disneyland Account
You’ll need valid admission. You can buy a ticket right on Disneyland.com, but we also have handy info on how to snag discount multi-day tickets from our ticket partner below.
Once you have your ticket, you’ll need to add your ticket number to your Disneyland account so you can later use it to book your theme park reservation. You can find your ticket number (usually) under the barcode on whatever ticket type you have. Depending on your ticket and when you bought it, it might have between 12 and 18 digits:
STEP THREE: Create Your Party
Don’t stress, you’ve got this. Follow the step above for finding the ticket number and add the tickets for each person in your party to your account. (I’ve circled the little button in red below so you don’t overlook it). Don’t skip this step unless you are traveling alone.
STEP FOUR: Reserve Your Date to Disneyland or California Adventure
Select a day and park that you’d like to start your day in (if you have a Park Hopper ticket, you’ll be able to switch parks after 1pm. If you don’t have a Park Hopper ticket, you’ll need to spend the whole day in just the park you select, so think it through before making your selection!
First, select an available day. If you are lucky you’ll see a symbol for both Disneyland and California Adventure under your preferred day. That means the day is fully available. You might also just see the icon for one park, in which case you can only select the available park for that day. And, once a day is completely booked, a slash will appear through it (though I hope the Force is strong with you in your attempt to book vacation magic):
Once you have selected your date, you select your park:
After you confirm your park you are asked to also confirm that you are a California resident. Keep in mind that out-of-state visitors are not allowed to purchase tickets to any CA theme park right now; we hope for a speedy lifting of this travel restriction in the near future, but it’s unclear when that will actually happen. After making the necessary confirmations, you’re asked what email address you’d like a QR code sent to. When you enter the park, you need both the QR code and your ticket. That’s important! Please remember that.
After you’ve confirmed everything for your ticket and date, you’ll see the reassuring screen below. If you still have days left on a multi-day ticket you simply repeat the process and select more dates to visit. You’ll see the option to “Book Theme Park Reservations” as soon as you’ve booked your first date. Just keep using this process until you’ve booked all the days in your trip.
JUST A TIP: Avoid Errors – If you added your tickets to your account via the website, also use the website to book your park reservations. If you used the Disneyland app to add your tickets to your account, make sure you use your app to make reservations. I tried to use the website at first and once it was my turn in queue, I was taken to a screen to enter my ticket number. Since my ticket was already on my account, it could not be re-added and I could not continue from the website. Fortunately, my Disneyland app realized it was still my turn and I was able to immediately make reservations after switching booking methods from my computer to my phone.
In the end, I was very lucky to book a theme park reservation for all the dates of my visit (I had a 3-day Disneyland Park Hopper ticket from Get Away Today). As of the time of publishing this article (early Tuesday April 13th) all dates were still available for both Disneyland Resort theme parks.
It’s all much easier than it sounds.
Did You Get Your Reservation?
Those waiting for reservations on the 12th, had an easy time compared to those who tried on April 15th. There were reports of people waiting over 13 hours just for the opportunity to schedule a theme park reservation. In many cases, fans waited longer to buy a ticket than they’ll be able to spend in the park when it opens.
I was able to book my reservation on April 12th because I already had a valid ticket. I woke up early and entered a “Waiting Room” on the Disneyland.com site a little after 7am.
Around 8:15am the message changed, and we were given an approximate wait time. The first message most people saw was that the wait time would be more than an hour.
Fortunately, the time updated quickly, and in less than 30 minutes, most people saw this screen (but you might wait MUCH longer, hours perhaps, on April 15th):
We were then directed to a log-in screen again, and then a button appeared that said “Make Reservation,” which is the quick and easy park reservation process I outlined above.
Folks who tried to get tickets on April 15th, had a similar experience, but with more site errors and much longer waits. That’s the bad news. The good news is that now that the busy first few days of park reservations is behind us, your experience in buying tickets and booking park reservations should be MUCH quicker (minutes, and not hours).
But there are some things you can do to make your trip a little more affordable and comfortable…
Discount Disneyland Tickets (and Hotels Too)
At long last, it’s time to return to Disneyland. Our travel partners at Get Away Today always make it easy for MiceChat readers to get lowest prices on theme park tickets and travel. Right now you can buy tickets to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm, and other attractions across the country.
BEGINNING APRIL 15TH, you can buy multi-day tickets to Disneyland as well (2 day through 5 day) at $2 to $5 less than Disney prices. You’ll find the Disneyland tickets starting at 8am on April 15th (though you are welcome to check a bit earlier). Though, if you just want to buy tickets and hold them for a future visit, you can do that too, you have until December of 2022 to use them! Tickets will be immediately available after purchase so you can make park reservations. Get your Discount Disneyland Tickets HERE
UPDATED: Our pals at Get Away Today have received so many requests from all of you that they’ve put together a little FAQ to answer frequent questions:
Get Away Today Disneyland Ticket FAQ:
Q: What time do Get Away Today’s tickets go on sale?
A: Tickets will be available no later than 8am PT, but feel free to check the TICKET PAGE earlier, just in case.
Q: What is the fastest way to buy tickets?
A: The fastest way to purchase tickets in our opinion will be at your MiceChat Reader TICKET PAGE on Get Away Today. You can pull up the reservations system on the Disneyland site in a second tab while purchasing tickets as well just so you can do two things at once. If you need assistance, the Get Away Today reservations team will be happy to help at 855-GET-AWAY.
Q: Do I have to be a California resident to buy tickets?
A: Right now Disneyland is only allowing California residents to visit the parks per state guidelines. We don’t know how long that will last. Although they are only actively marketing to California residents, out of state guests may choose to purchase Disneyland tickets, realizing that they will not be able to use them until the theme parks are open to out of state visitors.
Q: How is residency being verified?
A: Disney is asking you to verify residency at time of purchase and when making theme park reservations. They may also check photo IDs at the gate.
Q: When do I get my tickets?
A: You’ll get your tickets as a PDF via email immediately after booking with Get Away Today and can begin making theme park reservations right after you receive them. You can also get your tickets any time by logging in to your Get Away Today account on our website. As a reminder, theme park reservations are only available 60 days in advance. If you’re planning to go later, you won’t be able to make theme park reservations yet.
Q: How much are tickets?
A: Disney has confirmed that ticket prices did not increase. Prices will be live when they go on sale and as always, Get Away Today tickets are always discounted off of Disney’s prices.
Q: Do your tickets have tiers?
A: Get Away Today only sells multi day (2-5 day) tickets and they are NOT affected by the tier structure. They are valid any date during any dates before they expire.
Q: When do these tickets expire and when do they have to be used?
A: New Disneyland Resort Tickets are valid for travel through 12/31/2022. Multi day tickets have to be used within 13 days after the first day of use.
Q: Can I make changes to my tickets or reservations after I purchase them?
A: Yes! Tickets are valid any date before they expire (12/30/2022) and you can reschedule your theme park reservations to any valid date. If you need to cancel your tickets all together, Get Away Today has the only tickets that are refundable minus a $50 per ticket fee. Or, guests can purchase Peace of Mind for $75 that will allow cancellations and changes for no fees on their entire vacation (great for those also booking hotels).
Q: Can I book just tickets or do I need to book a hotel too? Which do I book first?
A: You can purchase either tickets only, hotels only, or both together with Get Away Today. Either way, you can check theme park availability before booking and you’ll get your tickets right after booking to start making theme park reservations. We recommend booking as a package to save the most and for ultimate convenience.
Special MiceChat Hotel Offer
AND, since it’s helpful to have a place to stay, we’ve worked with our amazing partners at Get Away Today and the Howard Johnson Anaheim Resort to reserve the lowest rate on rooms JUST FOR YOU! The HoJo is located just across the street from Disneyland with a great Matterhorn and Monorail view!
All you need to do to claim this offer is follow the link AND use our special offer code below:
- Use Code: HOJO to get an extra $20 off (for as low as $129 + tax).
- Be sure to select the MiceChat rate.
- You can only get this special rate if you click through the MICECHAT HOJO BOOKING LINK, and use the promo code HOJO.
Let’s Hear From You
Were you one of the lucky few who already had a ticket and could book on April 12th? Are you planning on visiting the Disneyland Resort now that they are reopening on April 30th? If so, will you be visiting right away or will you wait a bit? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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