Hey there, hi there, Hannah! I have to say I like your way of thinking. A trip to Disneyland Resort on a whim sounds extra magical to me.
The short answer is yes it is possible to visit Disneyland Resort on a whim. The longer answer is you would need a little bit of pixie dust for it to all work. This is because since the
reopening of Disneyland Resort a reservation system has been put in place to help manage the volume of Guests with the reopening guidelines issued by the State of California. Reservations are required to enter the parks at Disneyland Resort. This means that you would need to purchase a ticket and there would also need to be reservation availability for that day.
My advice would be to bookmark the
Theme Park Ticket Reservation Availability Calendar and keep checking that. As soon as you decide you are going to make the trip happen, purchase the ticket either through the Disneyland website or
Disneyland app and it will prompt you to make a theme park ticket reservation in the check-out process. This will help ensure that you get both the ticket and reservation before checking out and you won't be left with a ticket, but not a reservation.
I also want to mention that the availability calendar is fluid so as people book reservations and cancel reservations the availability could change. So if you don't see availability for one day a week prior, there could be availability closer to the date as people are more likely to cancel. I've been able to snag a reservation the night before or the day of when it previously showed no availability.
Hannah, I hope this answer gets you one step closer to a magical last-minute visit to The Happiest Place on Earth! See you real soon!
Carrie