disneyland covid
Visitors take selfies in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle during the last day before Disneyland closes because of COVID-19 in Anaheim, California on March 13, 2020.
Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images
  • After Disneyland reopened ticket sales, the website to reserve slots saw huge traffic.
  • Some would-be customers said on Twitter that they waited over eight hours for a reservation.
  • The park will reopen on April 30 after closing due to the coronavirus.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Tickets for Disneyland went back on sale on Thursday, but would-be buyers are having trouble getting through the automated queue on Disneyland's website in order to snag them.

Fast Company reported on Thursday that users were experiencing long wait times and that some had been kicked out of the digital queue to get tickets to the California theme park. The park, located in Anaheim, California, includes Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park.

California state law now allows theme parks to reopen as long as they have between 15 to 35% occupancy. The stiff competition for tickets after more than a year resulted in wait times that some Twitter users said were as long as eight hours.

When Insider attempted to access the website for ticket sales, the page did not load. A Disney spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Disneyland website states that the park will open its doors again on April 30, more than a year after it shut down in March. One hotel on the premises - the Disney Grand Californian Hotel and Spa - will reopen the day before the park does, on April 29. However, the other two hotels in the park will stay closed.

The process for getting tickets, however, has changed. Users must reserve a spot in the park as well as getting tickets. The park reservation system allows the park to limit capacity. Disneyland also warns that "an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present." And under the state's reopening guidelines, only California residents are able to enter the park.

Disney World, located in Florida, reopened on July 22, 2020, despite pushback by some people worried about the potential for coronavirus infections tied to the park.

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