Hey there, Hi there, Ho there, Julia!
Welcome to
planDisney and thanks for stopping by. Let me first start with a huge thank you from my military family to yours, “Thank You!”. We are truly grateful for the incredible military offer the Disneyland Resort has for eligible military members and their families.
Since you do need a
theme park reservation to enter the parks, I do recommend purchasing your theme park tickets beforehand. That way you will be able to schedule a theme park reservation as soon as it becomes
available, especially since you’re planning on visiting during the
holiday season. You’ll want to link your theme park tickets to your Disneyland account beforehand, so that you can quickly reserve the day when it becomes available.
Julia, if this is the only time that you can visit the theme parks, I would stick to your original plan. Keep in mind reservations are limited and are subject to availability. I just don’t want you to have unused tickets hanging around. My family enjoys spur-of-the-moment trips, so we usually always have a theme park ticket, or one day left on the
Military Promotional Park Hopper Ticket, available to use. I understand planning can be difficult, especially with being a military family, so what my family does, might not work best for you. So I do recommend doing what feels best for you and your family.
Of course, if you are set on that date, you can always
purchase tickets and schedule theme park reservations off the official Disneyland Resort website. Again, don’t forget to check the Availability calendar before doing so. You won’t be able to take advantage of the military offer, but you will have everything taken care of as it becomes available!
Julia, I hope this helps plan for your visit. Please be sure to let us know if there’s anything else we can help with!
-Shantel