Lydia Chen /Shanghai Daily news 

Hong Kong Disneyland yesterday set a limit on the number of visitors at peak hours during the coming Spring Festival at 34,000 -- the park's maximum capacity, the Guangzhou-based Information Times reported today.

To avoid a repeat of last year's chaos, visitors are being encouraged to make reservations for their trips and admissions will be reserved for those who buy tickets that are valid for the Special Week of February 17 to 24.

Ticket sales will be suspended when the number of visitors wanting to enter is too great, the park warned.

Opening time will also be two hours longer from 9am to 9 pm during the Special Week to receive more guests, the park said.

At last year's Spring Festival holidays, thousands of visitors, mainly from the mainland with valid tickets, were denied entry because the park was already beyond its allowed capacity.

The mass shut-out was resented and criticised by furious mainland visitors. Disney hastened to apologise and said it had learned a lot about China from the lunar New Year holiday fiasco.

Hong Kong Disneyland has attracted more than 5 million visitors since it opened in Sepetember, 2005 and three-fifths of the visitors were from the mainland, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.