Disneyland Suspends Ticket Sales Twice During Holiday Week Rush

Overflowing with visitors at the height of the holiday season, Disneyland halted ticket sales midday twice this week, the first time it has taken such action in four years.

The park stopped selling tickets on Christmas Day about 3 p.m. and again Wednesday at just 12:30 p.m., Disneyland spokesman Tom Brocato said.

“We suspended one-day ticket sales for a period of time because of the capacity in the park,” he said. “We don’t want it to detract from our guests’ experience.”

Disneyland, of course, has helped to pack the park through its heavy holiday advertising and admission discounts. The park also created special holiday events, such as a themed fireworks display and machine-made snow.

The last time Disneyland halted the turnstiles was in the waning days of the popular Main Street Electrical Parade in late 1996, he said.

Visitors were flooding the park this year even before public schools shut down for the holidays. One insider said Disneyland is expected to have about 400,000 more visitors this quarter, setting a record for the October-December period. The additional guests have helped push the park’s attendance up a healthy 3% to 13.9 million for the year, according to estimates by Amusement Business, a trade publication.