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Credit: DisneyIf you are planning on going to Disneyland Resort this week, there is one park that you cannot enter if you have not yet made your park pass reservations.
Park pass reservations are a detested Disney addition that the parks employed after the pandemic in order to control capacity. While it made sense in the initial phases of the pandemic, pandemic protocols are no longer being used, which makes the park pass reservation system appear to be dated.
At Walt Disney World, we are seeing progress in terms of the overall elimination of park pass reservations. As of now, guests with standard, date-based theme park tickets no longer require park pass reservations. This means you can simply show up to the park on the date listed on your ticket and enjoy the magic! Other tickets, like Annual Passes, however, still do need a park reservation to enter a park if they are coming before 2:00 p.m. and it is not a “good-to-go” day.
This weekend, Disney content creators Fresh Baked! shared the reservation calendar for Disneyland Resort, and as you can see below, every weekday does not show availability for Disney California Adventure, meaning that guests without a park pass reservation or without a valid park hopper ticket will not be able to visit Disney California Adventure.
What’s happening next week at DCA?
What's happening next week at DCA? pic.twitter.com/rJl6soldlk
— Fresh Baked! (@FrshBakedDisney) March 29, 2024
Related: Disney Emergency Alert: Thousands Instructed to Stay Out of Park, No Refunds
As for why DCA is already sold out, this post on X has had some commenters generating their thoughts; one Disney fan replied, “Traditional Easter week vacations and DCA having a smaller guest capacity gets ‘sold out’ first; some people start in that park to initiate their park hopping day”. If we do look at the park pass calendar for park hopping, there are a few more days that do have a park pass reservation for Disney California Adventure for guests to use as their starting park, so paying more does open availability, which may be a tactic.
Additionally, spring break is still going strong, and with the Food and Wine festival taking place from March 1 through April 22, 2024, visiting DCA has an added appeal for tourists at the moment. On top of that, this weekend, we will celebrate Dapper Day, which is set to take place on April 7, another sold-out DCA day.
Even Disneyland acknowledges that they are now out of the “slower” season when asked when the best times to visit the parks are, “It’s always a great time to visit Disney theme parks! However, when planning a trip to the Disneyland Resort, expect lower crowds from mid-September through mid-November (before the Thanksgiving break). Mid-January through mid-March is another time when potentially lower crowds are expected. The parks are generally less busy during these 2 periods, which makes it an ideal time to explore.”
Disneyland has been strategically pulling some levers to boost attendance. One major tactic was the hugely popular kids’ ticket discount, slashing prices to just $50 for children. This clever move targeted families during peak spring break season, ending conveniently on March 10th, 2024, right as the break began.
They also extended their usual Southern California resident offer with a twist: this year, weekends were included, and the end date overlapped with the return of the popular Fantasmic nighttime show. Magic Key annual passes were also offered for purchase twice, similar to last year. However, the re-release happening right before spring break suggests Disney might be anticipating attendance figures to be softer than expected. Overall, these strategic moves, particularly the kids’ ticket discount, highlight Disney’s efforts to attract guests and capitalize on the busy spring break season.
Do you think that it is time for Disneyland to do away with park pass reservations?