How far in advance should I make park reservations?

[marcais]

We're (me, my wife, our 14-year-old son, our 18-year-old daughter and her boyfriend) coming to Disneyland for our first time in August.

We have a 3-day, 1-park-per-day pass.

Currently our plan is to do one day in each park on Monday 4th August and Tuesday 5th August. We're then having different thoughts about what to do for the third day. The plan is to do that 3rd day on Thursday 7th August.

Would we be OK waiting until after we've done the first two days before deciding which park to do for the third day?

I think that approach makes the most sense. We can see which park we liked better pr if there's stuff we missed in one of the parks that we really want to try. But it makes my wife a bit nervous that we'll end up not being able to get in to either park by leaving it that late.

Looking on the app now, I could book either park for tomorrow. But I don't know if early August is the same as mid June in terms of availability.

 

[marcais]

Ah, I've just booked the first two days and I can see a Modify reservation option. So I'm guessing the best bet would be to book the one we think we'd prefer now, and if we change our minds we can modify the reservation.

How likely is it that one or other of the parks would be unavailable at 2 days notice in August?

 

[mdmost]

I would book now just to have it locked in. You can always try to switch later. I don't know how well the availability would be that late. I would book Disneyland for your last day as I would imagine that's the tougher one to book later.

 

[OlliePop27]

Agree with others. Make a reservation now and modify later. There's really no reason not to make a reservation for all your days because there's no penalty to modify.

You will likely be fine to modify even during your trip based on availability. Single day tickets are always given highest reservation priority and have lots of availability. Its possible one of your dates sells out, but unlikely.

If you can swing it, I recommend hoppers to mitigate the issue. DL has 3 times more rides than DCA and inherently has more to do, but I understand certain people may like some DCA stuff better.

 

[LKing]

I would absolutely make your reservations now. The first week of August is when Enchant Magic Key holders can return to the parks after being blocked for the summer. MK reservations are currently sold out for Aug 4, 5 & 10 at both parks and for Aug 6 at Disneyland.

 

[LKing]

If you can swing it, I recommend hoppers to mitigate the issue. DL has 3 times more rides than DCA and inherently has more to do, but I understand certain people may like some DCA stuff better.

Plus, Disneyland has the majority of nighttime entertainment. Chances are you will need two nights to be able to see the shows you want to see.

DCA has World of Color.
DL has Fantasmic, Paint the Night, Shadows of Memory, Wondrous Journeys Fireworks show, and Fire of the Rising Moon Fireworks show.

 

[Pluto468]

I'd book them now just so you're sure to get the dates you want.