Can I say again how much I HATE park reservations!

[TwoMisfits]

Wouldn’t the simplest solution for that be to just eliminate park hopping all together?

And turn down all that extra free money on tickets?

 

[DonMacGregor]

And turn down all that extra free money on tickets?

Exactly

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

I don't fully love the system, but I don't hate it either. Because of it , its is the only way I would ever consider 4th of July or NYE's for the fireworks since you can enter whenever (if you got the reservation) vs having to be stuck all day.

It would not be hard for them when you scan to recognize park hopping tickets or not if you miss your morning park for various reasons.

Personally I don't find it that much different that FP+ since having to make FP 60 days out is pretty much the same thing, not exact I know but still forced thinking which park and which day and last min you could change parks sure but you often didn't get good FP then.

 

[icc2515]

Wouldn’t the simplest solution for that be to just eliminate park hopping all together?

Well that would leave a huge amount of money on the table. Disney makes a fortune selling the park hopper option.

There has been a reservation system as long as there has been a way to make fast passes online. You had to make your 3 fast passes at the same park and that was basically your park reservation. Disney got lazy in using that information for staffing and could not give it up. Now the reservation system is used for 2 things. Staffing and to keep control on how many of the lower profit AP's they let in as opposed to the much higher profit ticket holders and the very very high profit Disney hotel guests. This is the main reason for the reservation system. Guest spending is up 40% when compared to pre pandemic spending. Much of that has to do with doing away with AP's and limiting the amount of AP's in the parks per day.

The reason you have to physically tap in at your reservation park is because they don't want the AP holders to get around the limits by making a reservation at Epcot, which always seems to have reservations avail and just go directly to the MK at 2:00pm. Sure they can just go to their reservation park first then hop to the MK or where ever, but it is a real pain.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

ITA! One thing I've always wondered is-suppose you have a park reservation for Epcot, for example, but you wake up with a hankering for a ride on Kilimanjaro Safari. Assuming AK has availability, can you change your park reservations day of, or only in advance? Also, does the app let you directly modify reservations now, or do you still have to deal with that couple seconds of panic between when you cancel your reservation at one park, then as quickly as possible, make a reservation at the second park but for a couple seconds you know you don't have a reservation anywhere!?

You can change your park pass reservations the day of. We have done that several times. I usually make my park passes based on which park I think will “sell out” and then we adjust our park passes the day of. I do a lot of planning to maintain the pretense of spontaneity for my 6 year old.

I think I was able to modify reservations made as an AP guest with no hotel stay. But park passes booked as part of my AP-with-on-site-hotel had to be cancelled and then booked again. It’s a pain yes but I don’t log in, check availability on the site, and then pray for the two seconds it takes between canceling + rebooking.

Edited to add: I’ve been able to cancel park pass reservations even after a park closed. We decided to do a resort day, then at 9pm, wanted to go to MK for the deluxe evening hours. Problem was we hadn’t tapped into our reserved park and we weren’t going to make it before they closed. Thankfully MK had park reservations available (this was during the period when WDW was treating APs nicely). Otherwise I would’ve had to plead my case with a plaid.

 

[Wells Larsen]

I miss the old days of no park reservations, paper fast passes, no Genie+, restaurants you could actually get into, full size Mickey Premium bars, and beer that doesn't require financing

Me too. Very good memories of a time long ago.

 

[npatellye]

Please can I just check if anyone knows this, can you cancel a park reservation AFTER the park has opened? I'm just thinking if we have one of those late nights and just can't be bothered in the morning, if it was possible to cancel it. I don't fancy running into the same problem as the first post.

Yes. I have cancelled reservations day of after the park has opened. I was also able to book a new reservation for a different park the same day.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Well that would leave a huge amount of money on the table. Disney makes a fortune selling the park hopper option.

There has been a reservation system as long as there has been a way to make fast passes online. You had to make your 3 fast passes at the same park and that was basically your park reservation. Disney got lazy in using that information for staffing and could not give it up. Now the reservation system is used for 2 things. Staffing and to keep control on how many of the lower profit AP's they let in as opposed to the much higher profit ticket holders and the very very high profit Disney hotel guests. This is the main reason for the reservation system. Guest spending is up 40% when compared to pre pandemic spending. Much of that has to do with doing away with AP's and limiting the amount of AP's in the parks per day.

The reason you have to physically tap in at your reservation park is because they don't want the AP holders to get around the limits by making a reservation at Epcot, which always seems to have reservations avail and just go directly to the MK at 2:00pm. Sure they can just go to their reservation park first then hop to the MK or where ever, but it is a real pain.

My point was that they aren't playing games with the park hopping because they hate it and want to get rid of it. If they wanted rid of it, it would be gone. And they aren't getting rid of it.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

"Park hopping' is Disney nomenclature. My AP is supposed to allow me to ENTER any park at any time. THAT'S what I paid for when I agreed and purchased it. Sleeping in until 10:00 and going to a random park of my own choosing at 12:00 is what I agreed to. It's what I paid my money for. Anything less or that inconveniences ME outside the scope of that is outside the boundaries of what I agreed to when I purchased my ticket.

Disney continues digging its own grave in the parks. It's just a matter of time before it starts caving in on them.

 

[AdamsMum]

They know how many staff they have for the day.

So, if they don’t feel the staff they have can support too many hoppers then they can close down hopping as the day goes on.

You still scan in when you hop so they know you did it and can keep count in real time, even without a reservation.

So I paid for park hopping, and don't get to do it? That doesn't seem right. Is there some way they notify guests in the park that park hopping has been suspended? I would be a very unhappy "guest" if I traipsed all the way from one park to the other and was then refused entry.

 

[Sandisw]

So I paid for park hopping, and don't get to do it? That doesn't seem right. Is there some way they notify guests in the park that park hopping has been suspended? I would be a very unhappy "guest" if I traipsed all the way from one park to the other and was then refused entry.

Yes, there is a number you can call, or ask a CM. I believe it will also show on MDE. So far, it hasn’t happened but a few times at MK and I wasn’t there at any of those times.

The chances of all 4 parks at capacity is slim. But this has always been a term of park hopping even before park reservations. If a park closed for capacity, you were out of luck.

 

[Disneylover99]

I didn’t do that on a couple of days… no issues.

So you were able to go to a park you didn’t have a reservation at after 2pm as your first park of the day?

 

[Ansky]

They know how many staff they have for the day.

So, if they don’t feel the staff they have can support too many hoppers then they can close down hopping as the day goes on.

You still scan in when you hop so they know you did it and can keep count in real time, even without a reservation.

This seems to make the most sense out of anything I have read as to why Disney would want you to scan into your first park before hopping to a second. Staffing is an issue for just about every kind of business everywhere now. I can't imagine how hard it must be for a giant corporation like Disney. I still doesn't make me hate the park reservation system any less. Also, there is no way that they get rid of this system even when all the staffing issues in the country go away.

I just think they should be able to tap your MB, check you in for park 1 on their iPad, and then let you tap at the second park without physically going to park one.

I agree with this too. There has to be an easy way that if you show up to a park after 2pm other than where you have your 1st park reserved a cast member should simply be able to tap your band/ticket to make it as though you went to park #1. Having someone travel all the way to a different park just to scan in and then return to the desired park is insane. I can't believe that Disney would think that is reasonable. It is one thing if you show up a park you didn't have your reservation for and they aren't accepting hoppers. It is another if they are and you simply didn't scan into your reserved park first. I understand you aren't technically "hopping" at that point, but it should be an easy fix. Not something that they are moving mountains for to let you in.

 

[McCrae]

So you were able to go to a park you didn’t have a reservation at after 2pm as your first park of the day?

Yes, I did this on 3 days.
No questions asked. I wasn’t aware their could be an issue.

 

[Spivey378]

Yes you can, OP. This is a Safe Space.

 

[MinnieSueB]

Can anyone verify that you can change park reservations on app? I know you used to be able to but I've read recently that is now not an option and must be done on website. Anyone do it recently? And maybe I should have asked front desk at RIV to change my reservation before we headed over to HS? It's all becoming just too complicated.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Disney Parks' data gathering and parsing was world class long before park reservations ever became a thing. Despite the hell given to 'Disney IT' (myself included at times) for their forward facing systems (not maintained domestically for the most part, BTW), the backend stuff is renowned in the IT world for being some of the best designs and working systems in the world, despite what some here may choose to believe.

All of that to say this. Disney does NOT need the park reservation system to gauge staffing needs in the parks. I'm not really sure I remember if that angle originated on the boards, or as a 'by the way' comment from some Disney propaganda along the way, but it is nowhere near essential or necessary to predictive park staffing.

Disney Parks' data parsing can tell you when a purple polka-dotted magic band is going to go thru the 2nd turnstile at Epcot International Gateway after 11:07 within seconds. They know exactly how many people they need for the Magic Carpets of Aladdin at 3:04pm as well. And at 8:00am also. It's that good. I'm not exaggerating. Please consider stopping the pass we are giving them on the necessity of 'park reservations' for staffing predictions. It is totally and utterly ridiculous.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Let's connect a few years from now to see if this holds true. I am a little dubious that patrons will embrace the idea.

Not embrace, more like grow tired of being mad about it, accepting that it's not going anywhere. Like boiling a frog, over time it starts to seem normal. It's already happening with Genie+. People are getting used to the idea of it. Companies rely on that particular aspect of human nature.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Not embrace, more like grow tired of being mad about it, accepting that it's not going anywhere. Like boiling a frog, over time it starts to seem normal. It's already happening with Genie+. People are getting used to the idea of it. Companies rely on that particular aspect of human nature.

Great analogy! You may be on to something.

 

[SL6827]

I have never park hopped in all our trips. It is almost $300 to add the hopper to our 4 day tickets. No way.