Hi there, Viliami! Welcome to planDisney!
I see that you're wishing upon a star to visit the Happiest Place on Earth! I totally understand that feeling, especially with the
return of Character Greetings this week! We've all waited patiently to give Mickey and his pals a big hug or high-five. I've been following posts on social media all day to see Guests' faces light up as they finally come in contact with their favorite characters again.
Disneyland Resort has taken a
gradual approach to reopening safely. This includes the requirement to have park reservations to enter either
Disneyland Park or
Disney California Adventure Park. Though it is possible, Viliami, to purchase park tickets through a third-party vendor and make park reservations if they open up, this does prove to be a risky strategy. I'd recommend two possible magic carpet rides to get you where you'd like to go.
First, you could keep checking the
Disneyland Resort Website feverishly to see if the date you prefer to visit becomes available. You are correct that many Guests do change their plans and there is a possibility of reservations opening on the day you'd like to visit. If you check the website each day, even multiple times per day, leading up to the date you'd like to visit, you may find that your wish has been granted with newly available park reservations! This is a good alternative to purchasing tickets and hoping the parks become available, as doing it that way requires you to pay in advance and the tickets are nonrefundable and nontransferable. It would be unfortunate if you purchased tickets for a particular day in hopes that you could go, but were unable to use them.
Along that same line of thinking, you could choose to purchase tickets for a backup date. Find another day on the calendar that works for your group and purchase tickets with park reservations for that day instead. If you find that the date you originally wanted does become available, you could change the date on your ticket to that date instead and only pay the difference if the price is greater than your original ticket purchase.
Viliami, I know this may not be the news you wanted to hear, but you will have a magical time at the Happiest Place on Earth whichever day you're able to visit! Just keep an open mind and get ready to make some core memories!
Hakuna Matata,
Ashley