Hi there, Don!
Thanks for bringing us your question. It's been a frenzy of magic and pixie dust here at planDisney the past few weeks as Magic Key sales briefly resumed. We've also been helping a surprising number of guests navigate their post-holiday vacation plans at Disney Parks and aboard Disney Cruise Line. It seems that everyone is kicking off 2024 in full-on vacation mode! I do apologize that we weren't able to answer your question before your preferred date of visit, but I'd be happy to offer some suggestions the next time you run into a similar issue.
As you know,
theme park reservations are required in addition to valid admission for each day guests plan to visit the parks. As indicated in the
Magic Key Terms & Conditions, theme park reservations may or may not be available for a given date, even outside of blockout dates. If you review the
Magic Key calendar and find that a reservation is not available when you'd like to visit, unfortunately, there isn't a set time when you'd still be able to enter the parks. I'm an Annual Passholder at Walt Disney World Resort and
we can visit without a reservation after 2 p.m. most days except for Saturdays and Sundays at Magic Kingdom Park. This sounds like what you might be referring to, but unfortunately, the same type of program isn't available at Disneyland Resort.
My recommendation is to keep checking for reservation availability even up until the day before your preferred visit, as guests may change their plans. Magic Key holders must
cancel their theme park reservation by 11:59 p.m. PST the day before their scheduled visit to avoid any no-show penalties, so it's always possible you'll see reservations open up at the last minute. I hope you were able to visit last week by snagging another guest's canceled reservation. If not, be sure to keep an eye on the availability and secure your future visits as soon as possible. I find the work week goes by a little smoother when you have a visit to Main Street, U.S.A. waiting on your calendar.
I hope this helped, Don. Please come back and see us again with more questions.
Magic and memories,
Amy