Hi there Simone,
Welcome to planDisney and thank you so much for your question. I'm thrilled to hear you're planning a trip to the Disneyland Resort in sunny California in just a few short weeks - it'll be here before you know it!
Currently, to enter one of the parks of the Disneyland Resort, you need both valid
theme park tickets and a
theme park reservation for each day you plan to visit. Once you've purchased your tickets and made your park reservations, you're able to enter the park as early or as late as you'd like during
park hours and subject to park capacity.
There have been a few trips that I've taken with family over the last few years where we knew we were going to arrive later in the afternoon but still decided to make our theme park reservations for the same day and enter the parks late afternoon or early evening. I think it really comes down to a budgeting decision.
Since the tickets are the same price no matter when you enter the park, you'll just want to make sure you're okay entering a park later in the day rather than waiting for the following day where you can enjoy the Happiest Place on Earth from park open to park close.
Thanks again for your question, Simone! I hope you have a wonderful visit to the Disneyland Resort.
Have a Magical Day,
Greg