Disneyland tickets go on sale next week. Here’s what to know about park’s new system

After more than a year, people can purchase tickets to Disneyland again starting next week — but they’ll need to navigate a new system.

Disney announced Tuesday that it would be launching its new admission ticket and reservation system starting April 12. People who have tickets can check availability for their ticket starting April 9.

At first, people who have existing valid tickets will be able to make park reservations for the day on their ticket. The system will open at 8 a.m. Pacific time, Disney said. On April 15, people without park tickets can buy a ticket and make a reservation.

“As a reminder, ticket expiration dates were extended for many outstanding tickets,” Disney said in a news release. “To accommodate as many types of ticket holders as possible, park reservations for select dates may be made available on a rolling basis. Ticket calendars will be updated on a rolling basis.”

Once you have a valid admission ticket, you’ll need to access the reservation system, create a party and select the day and theme park you’d like to visit. Then you should review and confirm the visit, Disney said.

It’ll be easier to make a reservation if you’re already logged into your Disney account with the admission ticket linked beforehand.

Disneyland will be reopening April 30 with limited capacity and additional safety measures. Reservations for the two Anaheim parks will be limited and only be available to California residents.

Disneyland Resort hotels will also have a phased reopening.

“Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa plans to reopen on April 29, with limited capacity,” Disney said. “Disney Vacation Club Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa will plan to reopen May 2. Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel and the Disneyland Hotel will reopen at a later date.”

California officials relaxed state guidelines for reopening venues and said amusement parks could open April 1 in counties that are no longer in the state’s purple tier, according to The Associated Press.

Disney, however, said it would need more time to get the park ready to follow additional COVID-19 safety measures and retrain its workers.

More than 10,000 park employees were furloughed and needed to be retrained to follow California’s new requirements for theme parks during the pandemic.

“Here in California, we’re encouraged by the positive trends we’re seeing and we’re hopeful they’ll continue to improve and we’ll be able to reopen our parks to guests with limited capacity by late April,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in a March 9 statement.

Disneyland first closed on March 14, 2020, to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

About 18.6 million people visited Disneyland and California Adventure parks in 2019, Statista reports.

Before the coronavirus pandemic closure, Disneyland usually remained open year-round, including on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It had only closed several times in the park’s history, including in 1963 on a national day of mourning for President John F. Kennedy, in 1994 following the Northridge earthquake, and on Sept. 11, 2001, according to the website BirthMoviesDeath.

The resort also has closed early from time to time through the years as a result of heavy rain and wind.

The scheduled reopening dates for other Southern California amusement parks, according to the Orange County Register, are as follows:

• Six Flags Magic Mountain and Legoland California reopened Thursday.

• Universal Studios Hollywood will reopen April 15 for passholders and April 16 for everyone.

• Knott’s Berry Farm will open in May.

• SeaWorld San Diego is open as a zoo but no date for reopening rides has been set.

In Northern California, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom reopened Thursday and California’s Great America will reopen May 22, the publication reported.

Many people are excited to visit the theme parks again and purchase tickets.

Reporter Don Sweeney contributed to this story.