Disneyland Confirms the WDW Park Reservation Model Will Be Used

Some Disneyland Resort updates were announced during a presentation on Disney Parks’ Approach to Operating During a Pandemic. We at Inside the Magic virtually attended this presentation and learned some updates pertaining to Disneyland Resort.

Patrick Finnegan, Vice President, Disney California Adventure Park & Downtown Disney District, confirmed that Disneyland Resort will use the same reservation model as the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks have been using since its reopening. Here are the most recent updates on the how the reservation system for the theme parks will work when Disneyland reopens.

“We are ready to launch the theme park reservation model in use at Walt Disney World to maintain capacity limits [at Disneyland],” Finnegan shared. 

“Many of the lessons learned in Florida are already being adopted as we prepare for our reopening,” he added, before continuing, “We already have a virtual queue system that we had used for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.” 

New Park Reservation System

Though there are no new updates as to when the reopening date of Disneyland theme parks will be or when this new reservation system will go live, the official Disneyland website has already added in a section to show that there will be a new reservation system. As we have seen from Disney World, there most likely will be no park hopping as only one reservation could be made at a time with either Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or EPCOT.

Below is the information from the Disneyland Resort website:

The Disneyland Resort will reopen with some important updates to promote physical distancing, including:

• Park Reservations: Because theme park capacity will be significantly limited to comply with governmental requirements and promote physical distancing, we will manage attendance through a new theme park reservation system that will require all Guests, including Annual Passholders, to obtain a reservation for park entry in advance. Theme park reservations will be subject to availability. More details about this new reservation system will be available soon.
• New Ticket Sales: At this time, we are also temporarily pausing new ticket sales and Annual Passport sales and renewals. Additional details will be provided soon.

The Hotels of the Disneyland Resort remain closed and will reopen at a later date.

Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park remain closed and will reopen at a later date, pending state and local government approvals.

Upon reopening, certain theme parks, hotels, restaurants and other locations may be limited in capacity and subject to restricted availability or even closure based on guidance from health experts and government officials. Furthermore, certain attractions, experiences, services and amenities will be modified, have limited availability or remain closed. Park admission and offerings are not guaranteed. We will provide more information as it becomes available. We reserve the right to cancel any reservations, admission media or purchases and provide applicable refunds. Please also see our policies regarding cancellations by Guests.

Additionally, select attractions and certain experiences that draw large group gatherings—such as parades and nighttime spectaculars—will return at a later date. While character meet-and-greets will be temporarily unavailable, Characters will be in our parks in new ways to entertain and delight our Guests. The Disneyland Resort will also have capacity measures in place, as well as limitations on parking and operating hours.

Given this unprecedented situation, we appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we navigate through this process as responsibly as we can. Additional measures and procedures will be announced closer to the opening date.

Disneyland Wants to Reopen

Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro is just as anxious to have the Disneyland Resort theme parks reopened as Disney fans are as he urges California to give reopening guidelines with Disneyland. And for the Cast Members who will be returning to work at Disneyland when the parks and hotels do reopen, it’s important to note that Disneyland is aiming to have testing facilities for Cast Members so as a Disney employee, you can feel safe.

We will share more updates as we receive them.