Is the park at capacity when no reservations available?

[DisneyGaga]

What is the capacity at the park when no more reservations are available? I planned to go during the week 11/17 &18, in hopes of lighter crowds, but I am noticing reservations are almost gone. So on days there is no availability, is the crowds packed in like it was right around holidays (between christmas and new years where you can hardly move in certain parts of park?) or is the new full capacity less than old full capacity (pre-covid)? It seems like almost every day on the calendar gets full, is there no light crowd days at Disneyland anymore?

 

[Wesley815]

No one knows as Disney has never released official numbers (vloggers and fan sites sometimes post as "facts", but I've yet to see official press release, and probably never will.). I can say it's been pretty crowded every single day recently.

This will be the first holiday season open again so only time will tell, but it hasn't hit the shoulder to shoulder packed crowds yet like pre-pandemic. Doesn't seem like they're truly "selling out" the park at full capacity.

 

[Steven G]

In the recent past, they have "released" additional reservations as well, where the calendar suddenly opens up again.

 

[twitch]

The park is NOT at capacity (i.e., Christmas/New Years week) just because there are no reservations available.

We went on the 4th, which at various points leading up to the date showed no reservations, and did 20 attractions (including 11 major attractions), never waited more than 35 minutes (except for a ride breakdown), had a table service and quick service meal, and watched 3 mini-shows.

We’re going again on the 18th, and expect it to be a little more crowded, but not at capacity.

Don’t lose heart.

 

[twitch]

To add to that, reservation capacity is likely dictated by staffing levels. As demand grows, Disney adds staffing and releases more reservations.

Actual capacity (Christmas/New Years) is likely determined by square footage, ride throughput, dining areas, and (most importantly) the fire marshall.

 

[MonocularVision]

To add to that, reservation capacity is likely dictated by staffing levels. As demand grows, Disney adds staffing and releases more reservations.

I think that is exactly what is happening. There is no other reason why we would see such large variation in crowd size reports (plus the backing data of line wait times) on days that were both “sold out”.

 

[twitch]

I think that is exactly what is happening. There is no other reason why we would see such large variation in crowd size reports (plus the backing data of line wait times) on days that were both “sold out”.

Imagine a music teacher who sees 21 students over the course of three days each week. He enjoys the schedule, and works another gig (that he doesn’t enjoy as much) on Thursday and Friday. He can’t take any more students on Mon-Wed… but can’t teach on Thurs/Friday without giving up the other gig.

So when one prospective student calls and asks about lessons, he puts them on a wait list. He can’t afford to quit his Thursday gig for one new student. But when 4 students call about lessons, he quits his Thursday gig, takes the 4 students, and now has openings for 3 more students.

That’s a parallel to what’s going on at DL. I think.

 

[bardays]

I am wondering if this is still the case? The week after Easter shows little to no available reservations and I assumed this means full capacity, but maybe not?

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I am wondering if this is still the case? The week after Easter shows little to no available reservations and I assumed this means full capacity, but maybe not?

Not necessarily but I know a lot of people who have their spring break the week after Easter. I expect that week to be busy.

 

[StormyCA]

Right now capacity is what TPTB says it is (or fire code max). They may decide a certain day's 'full capacity' is actually 60% of fire code max but that the next day's 'full' is the actual max fire code capacity. We're just used to thinking of the fire code max as the 'standard' for capacity because that's the only time they closed the turnstiles in the past.

I'm sure it all has to do with staffing ability and budget combined with TPTB's access to historic attendance records that tell them that (for example) the '3rd Tuesday in February' has usually had 'XX' number of guests so they adjust capacity to that number to avoid overstaffing, which saves them money.