How to Make Disneyland Park Reservations in 2025

When the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California reopened way back in 2021 after more than a full year of closures, it was in a world of capacity restrictions. At that time, the parks instituted a theme park reservations system to control crowds.

In 2025, a lot of these reservations requirements and capacity caps are long gone, right? Well, not quite at Disneyland.

While a lot of things have returned to "normal" since that time, theme park reservations are one post-closure change that look like they are here to stay for the long-term. Gone are the days when guests can walk right up and buy a ticket at the booths outside Disneyland right before entering. Park reservations - which can still occasionally still book up in advance - are required for all guests.

So how does the Disneyland reservation system work? How complicated is it to book park reservations for Disneyland or Disney California Adventure parks? How competitive are the most popular days and how fast do they book up? Let’s take a look at the basics and then dive deeper into some advanced strategies and special situations.

Disneyland Reservation System Basics

Disneyland is no longer under any state-mandated restrictions. But the resort is still using theme park reservations in 2025 to control crowds and to plan for park staffing.

Related: Disneyland Guide + Planning Tips for Visitors in 2025

This stands in stark contrast to Walt Disney World in Florida, which reopened in July 2020 with its own similar Disney Park Pass reservations system. In early 2024, however, Walt Disney World eliminated this reservations requirement for all regular ticket holders (annual passholders still require reservations in certain circumstances).

Reservations for Regular Disneyland Ticket Holders

In order to use the Disneyland reservations system, you must first have a valid theme park ticket for the day on which you want to make a reservation. If you have multi-day tickets, all days are potentially available to reserve.

With one day tickets, however, guests have a more complicated matrix to navigate. Why? Because Disneyland has tiered pricing for 1 day tickets. Tier 0 tickets are the least expensive. Tier 6 tickets are the most expensive.

As you might expect, busy times like weekends and holidays are assigned to higher tiers. Tickets for those days cost more. One day ticket purchasers need to be sure to buy the tier of ticket that at least matches the day on which they wish to make a reservation. Lower tier tickets will be blocked out from making reservations those days.

Regardless of ticket length (one day or multi-day), there are two different reservations calendars in play for regular ticket holders. One-park-per-day tickets have their own bucket of reservations while park hopper tickets have a separate calendar.

Reservations for Magic Keys (Annual Passes)

Disneyland's annual pass program Magic Key also requires reservations for keyholders to access the parks, even for the most expensive passes. The Magic Key reservations calendar is entirely separate from the two calendars for regular theme park ticket holders. Availability for Magic Key reservations is much more competitive.

(Because most Trips With Tykes readers are regular vacationers with regular tickets, this article covers those ticket types primarily. For more Magic Key tips, see this Magic Key guide from my friend Mindy who a long time keyholder and local.)

Frequently Asked Questions about Disneyland Park Reservations

Here are some of the most common questions that arise about Disneyland reservations.

How far in advance can I make Disneyland reservations?

While you can buy theme park tickets at any time (and most current tickets are valid until the end of 2026), you can't make your theme park reservations many months in advance.

For regular tickets, Disneyland reservations open 120 days in advance. This availability calendar usually opens one day at a time, creating 120 days of rolling availability.

For Magic Keys, the reservations calendar only opens up 90 days in advance. Magic Keys are additionally limited to a certain number of reservations at a time, depending on pass type.

How long will Disneyland require reservations?

There has been no end date announced for the reservations requirement at Disneyland. It seems likely that this is a permanent addition to the parks in some shape or form - at least the ones in California where demand regularly exceeds supply.

How fast do Disneyland park reservations run out?

After nearly four years of reservations in place and several years now with the parks at full capacity, we know that reservations can and do run out. That said, things definitely are nowhere near as competitive as they used to be if you are purchasing regular theme park tickets (for Magic Keys, it's still nuts).

For regular theme park tickets, there is usually park reservation availability in both parks nearly every day as long as you book a day or two in advance. But for peak travel periods like a holiday weekend or a major attraction or festival opening, reservations can and have filled a week or more in advance.

Here is what the calendar looks like for the rest of June 2025 - wide open availability. But it's not guaranteed to look like that when holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around. Although the calendar doesn't fill up as fast as it used to a year or two ago, planning a little bit early still is a smart strategy to avoid disappointment.

How does the Disneyland reservation system work with park hopping?

Disneyland permits park hopping for all guests who pay for the park hopper upgrade to their ticket ($65-$105 extra as of summer 2025, depending on length of ticket). What does this mean for how you make reservations? If you have a park hopper ticket, you should make a reservation only for the park you plan to enter first.

Related: Disneyland Park Hopper Tickets: Worth It or Waste of Money?

Then at 11:00am, you are permitted to begin park hopping without needing to do anything more with the reservations system. Some of you may remember that when the parks reopened in 2021, park hopping was not permitted until 1:00pm, but Disneyland moved this time to two hours earlier as of February 4, 2023.

Park hopping is technically subject to capacity limits. Practically speaking, these limits are almost never hit and likely won't be ever again.

Are on-property hotel guests given priority for Disneyland theme park reservations?

If you are staying at one of the three Disney-owned hotels on-property, there is one perk available to you for the high prices you are likely paying: a separate theme park reservations calendar!

Simply link your hotel reservation in your Disney account. It unlocks a calendar that is otherwise not visible to guests. In my experience, this calendar is wide open even during holidays.

For last minute vacation planners, this is a possible backdoor into finding theme park availability when it's otherwise sold out (assuming the hotels aren't sold out too!). Of course, you'll have to pay for the privilege because the Disneyland hotels are usually much more expensive than nearby off-property options.

Related: Comparing Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Grand Californian: Which is Right For Your Family's Trip?

Can I modify my Disneyland reservations if I want to switch from one park to the other?

Thankfully, after several years of this not being possible, Disneyland now has a modify function on its website for theme park reservations. No more having to cancel the reservation you already have and book the other park anew!

Start on Disneyland's theme park reservations page and select "Modify Reservation" and walk through the prompts.

How can I check if there is park reservation availability for my travel dates?

Before you buy tickets or make your vacation plans, you should always check to see whether Disneyland has reservation availability for the days you plan to travel. If you’re booking in advance, it is unlikely to be a problem. If you are booking a last minute trip or a highly popular holiday you might run into issues.

You can check park availability using this link. As mentioned above, there are two separate calendars for 1 park per day park tickets vs. park hopper tickets - and these calendars can diverge and have different availability (see advanced tips below).

How to Make a Disneyland Park Reservations Step-by-Step

Now that many of the questions you may have are out of the way and you've checked to make sure your travel dates have reservation availability, let's walk step-by-step through making a theme park reservation at Disneyland.

When Purchasing from Disney Direct (Recommended for 1 Day Tickets Only)

If you are buying tickets from Disneyland directly, you make park reservations as part of the ticket purchasing process. Previously, you had to purchase a ticket then make a reservation. Naturally, this caused all sorts of confusion and resulted in guests purchasing the wrong tier one-day tickets or only purchasing tickets but forgetting the step of making reservations. Thankfully, this system is much more foolproof these days!

I recommend purchasing one day theme park tickets direct from Disney, as there are no discounts available from resellers for single day tickets. Start here and follow the prompts to purchase and reserve in a single process.

First, select a one-day ticket from the available types:

Then select the number of adults/children in your traveling party and whether you want a one-park-per-day ticket or a Park Hopper ticket for an additional fee.

Select the date of your visit. Note that you can quickly toggle between two calendar views - one that shows the prices and the other that shows the parks that have availability for the ticket type you already selected (hopper or non-hopper) that day.

Select the park you plan to visit (or the park you plan to start with in the morning if you have a park hopper ticket). This screen will look a little different depending on whether you have a one-park-per-day ticket or a park hopper.

Add extras like Lightning Lane Multi Pass or parking (check out my guide to Disneyland's Lightning Lane to learn more about whether this option is worth it for your vacation):

Review your selections, and click continue to add the tickets/reservations to your cart.

Then assign the tickets to a person in your account or enter new names if needed. There will be one more field to enter contact information (phone and email) as well. Finally, click next/continue one more time to complete the purchase and make the reservation final.

Look for a confirmation screen with a confirmation number to be sure the process completed.

When Purchasing from Third Party Discount Brokers (Recommended for all Multi-Day Tickets)

But what if you want to go to Disneyland for multiple days? While the same Disney direct system screenshotted above works for multi-day tickets, you really shouldn't buy multi-day tickets from Disneyland directly. Why? Because that means you are paying too much money!

Trips With Tykes partner Get Away Today sells the very same tickets that Disney sells - but at a discount. I highly recommend purchasing from them first. Most ticket orders are fulfilled immediately and arrive into your inbox in minutes. Then you can easily link those tickets to your Disneyland account to make reservations. The extra step takes only a minute or two and can save you quite a bit of money, especially if you are purchasing for several people.

Step 1: Link Park Tickets

For tickets purchased from authorized third party discount brokers like Get Away Today, navigate to the theme park reservations landing page and click on the blue "Make Park Reservations" button below the "If you've already purchased a ticket" heading.

Once you enter the reservations system, click on "Book Theme Park Reservation" (the other option, "Retrieve Hotel Reservation" only applies if you have reservations at an on-property hotel). You’ll then be directed to create your party.

Click the link a ticket option. Enter the ticket ID numbers one-by-one and hit continue. (Note you can also link park tickets in the Disneyland app too.)

On the next screen, assign a name (note this cannot be changed later) to each ticket. If you have both adults and kids in your party, make sure you double check ticket numbers to put the right names with the right children and adults tickets in your group.

Step 2: Make Park Reservations

Next, create your party from the tickets you've linked and assigned. This is the screen that guests who already have tickets linked in their account will see and start from right away.

After your party is complete, it's date and park selection time! Disneyland's calendar shows a pink castle for Disneyland park and a blue Mickey wheel for Disney California Adventure. Select the date you want to visit and select a park for that day. Follow the prompts until you see the final confirmation screen indicating you've made a reservation for the first day of your ticket.

If you have a multi-day ticket, click the white “Book Theme Park Reservation” button on this final screen. This will allow you to make more park reservations for the additional days of your ticket. Do this each time until you’ve covered the total number of day of your vacation.

Note that when you book subsequent days, dates you've already booked will be slashed out with a gray line on the availability calendar. Days that are outside of the ticket's validity window - 13 days before/after the first day that you book - will similarly be grayed out.

Additional Tips and Considerations

The basics of making park reservations should be enough for the casual Disneyland visitor. But there are a few other considerations to keep in mind, and some tips that may come in handy if you are planning last minute at a high crowd time where you may need to be a bit more strategic.

Check park availability often to snag newly-available spots

If you aren't able to reserve the Disneyland park you want to visit, don't give up.

Disneyland has always made clear that although a day may look sold out, "To accommodate as many types of ticket holders as possible, reservations for select dates may be made available on a rolling basis." This means that some spaces may not be initially be made available, but can be offered later if you keep looking.

There is no published calendar or announcement about these releases, so you just have to check often. At times when park reservations are full, we post about these reservation drops in the Disneyland with Kids Facebook group I co-own, so join us there if you are on the hunt!

Additionally, many guests will make last minute cancellations and changes to their existing reservations. You should keep refreshing to snag those spots as they become available. Specifically, check the night before and even early in the morning to see if you can make a park reservation at the last minute.

Expect Disneyland park reservations (usually) to book up before DCA

Disneyland park is larger and can hold more people than Disney California Adventure, especially now that the extra capacity of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has come into play. But does this mean that reservations for DCA will run out first? Not so fast.

When guests plan to visit the Disneyland Resort for just a single day, most of them invariably go to Walt's original park. The demand there is higher, even with the park's larger capacity. More often than not, Disneyland reservations "sell out" before Disney California Adventure.

Of course, when something special is happening at DCA, it can be the first park to sell out. For example, expect DCA to book up first on the first weekend of a festival like Food & Wine or Lunar New Year. So watch the special events calendars closely too!

Related: Complete Guide to Seasonal & Special Events at Disneyland

Understand the 1 day ticket tier blockout calendars & how they drive demand

If you are planning a multi-day vacation to Disneyland, you might think you can ignore the 1 day ticket types. As much as we'd all prefer to ignore those 7 tiers of confusion, they are important!

The reason you need to care about these is that many other guests are looking for the absolute cheapest day they can go to Disneyland park. Price-conscious visitors purchase the cheapest Tier 0 and Tier 1 one day tickets (usually without the park hopper option). Days when Tier 0 or Tier 1 tickets are permitted to attend will book up more quickly, because they are so few and far between. So book those days early (especially if you have one-park-per-day tickets) or risk missing out.

Watch out for the SoCal resident offer effect

Some times of year, Disneyland offers a special discounted ticket type to Southern California residents. And it has also begun offering kids $50 tickets some times as well. Like with the cheapest Tier 0 and Tier 1 one day tickets, these discount tickets can really mess with the availability calendar in unexpected ways.

Earlier this year, for example, the SoCal ticket deal ran until May 15, 2025, with cheaper prices available for weekday only tickets. As a result, sometimes weekdays might book up before weekends - the reverse of what you might expect!

The closer to get to the end of these deal windows, the more pressure these tickets can also put on the reservation calendar as more guests realize they need to use up their final days before the tickets expire.

Compare the 1 park per day calendar to the park hopper calendar

Disney has created two different buckets of park reservations - one for guests that buy one park per day tickets and another for guests who purchase the park hopper add on. Though the availability calendars generally track one another, there are a few differences and at times they can diverge (although less than they did a few years ago).

If a day is going to sell out, it usually happens on the 1 park per day calendar first. This makes good sense - Disney ideally wants to hold more space for guests who pay for the pricier park hopper upgrade. If you are booking more last minute, you may have more parks on more days available to you if you are willing to pay for this upgrade too.

Buy 1 day tiered tickets with all contingencies in mind

Want to only go to Disneyland for one day? While you'll certainly save money buying only a single day ticket, it's essential to be able to redeem it. Only purchase a one day lower tier ticket if you are sure you will be able to use it on the day you first reserve. Why? Because if your plans are less firm and you have to cancel or switch to another day, you may find that you can't find many days when the low tier ticket isn't blocked out.

For example, all Tier 2 tickets are completely blocked out during all of July and are only usable 6 days in June. If bought a Tier 2 ticket for a date in mid-May and ultimately could not visit that day, you may find yourself unable to use the ticket to go to Disneyland again most of the summer.

That may be just fine for a local looking to go on a tight budget with time to wait. But may not be as palatable for out-of-towners who simply want to make a minor adjustments to their travel plans (like switching their park day from a Wednesday to a Thursday if they are on a longer LA-area trip).

Thankfully, Disneyland has finally made it easier to upgrade a lower price one-day ticket to a higher-tier one in the app (previously, the only way to solve this was by talking to a Disney cast member on the phone and spending hours on hold, with inconsistent results). So if you find yourself in this pickle, there is a way to solve it, albeit at a cost.

But note, however, if you buy a higher-tier ticket, you can't get a refund for a lower-tier one if you switch to a cheaper day!

Final Thoughts

While it has a been a bumpy road the last few years, park reservations at Disneyland are the new normal. Magic Key holders still have lots of struggles, but for out-of-town vacationers and guests purchasing 1 day or multi day ticket types, the system is an increasingly navigable minor hassle as long as you still plan a bit early for peak times. We may not love it, but at least we know what to expect from it now.