Disney will be making park hopping at Disneyland Resort a bit easier in 2026. Beginning later this year, Disney is dropping the restriction that prevents park hopping before 11am. Guests will be able to jump between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure as soon as they want once the restriction is lifted.
What does that mean for park reservations? Disney is keeping those around. Scott Gustin mentioned that Disney will be talking more about park reservations, but they’re apparently here to stay.
No date was announced for the relaxed park hopping rules. We expect Disney will release more information along with details on other initiatives heading into Spring.
The rules on park hopping have been gradually improving over the years. In February 2023, Disney allowed guests to start park hopping beginning at 11am. That was an improvement over the previous rule that prevented park hopping until 1pm.
However, this change only raises more questions about the park reservation system. Disney fans have been very vocal about their displeasure with the reservation system. But, Disney is a big fan of park reservations. It allows them to manage staffing (see: save money) by being able to anticipate crowd levels.
Why keep park reservations if guests can immediately jump from one park to the other? Passholders. Disney can still use the park reservation system to manage how many annual passholders (Magic Key holders) are able to visit the parks on a given day. Unlike Disney World in Florida, a large percentage of guests visiting Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are locals. Being able to manage that chunk of guests is so valuable to Disney that we can’t see them dropping the reservation concept in California anytime soon.
