Did Disney World just increase capacity?

[MamaJJ2018]

Sorry, but I think Disney is doing the best they can under the circumstances. What are you suggesting they do? You realize there is no fast pass + at this point, and many attractions outside of rides remain closed as well has limited dining options. Allowing thousands of more people in under these circumstances would make for some very unhappy guests who now have to wait in unbearably long lines for rides and food. Though things are better we are still in the midst of a pandemic and they have to put limits in somewhere. They already likely shifted a bunch of reservations from AP holders to resort guests and you missed the boat.


Disney is VERY transparent that you make park reservations ASAP, and that is very much the sentiment expressed on this board and and other sites. I think this is more of a lack of planning problem on your behalf rather than poor management by Disney. However, I wouldn’t lose hope... you’ll just have to be very persistent and constantly check for a reservation to open. Many people have been in this situation and have been able to get a park pass by being persistent. If it doesn’t work out just make the most of what you have.

I understand where you are coming from about my situation and take no offense. I know I could have planned better. First, I 100% support keeping things safe in the parks. My frustration is NOT that I think everything should be opened up further without caution. Absolutely not what I meant to imply.

But if Disney IS going to increase capacity, it’d be nice to get a heads up somehow. That’s why I asked about looking for a good place to find an alert on these boards. I’m trying...

That being said, for a typical family trying to figure out a Disney trip right now, it is not easy. Not everyone has been following disboards, or even knows about them. Not everyone has the time/flexibility for persistence. I do think there is more Disney could be doing to help. I do understand we are in an unprecedented situation but I don’t think expressing frustration is wrong. As they have increased capacity and demand has increased, their system has not changed. Families planning Disney trips are spending just as much money as ever, and I do think Disney could be doing more as demand picks up.

 

[DivaMama3]

No, but I suspect it is for situations where someone makes a park reservation but then later changes their tickets (eg, cancels/modifies a package booking, or modifies dates on their separately purchased date-based tickets). One would hope someone in that situation would manually cancel their park reservations, but I guess maybe there are some who don’t.


I encountered this after adding a ticket onto my reservation. I bought a one-day ticket to add someone to my group, reassigned/switched a 2-day ticket to them, but the person who switched to the one-day ticket still had reservations for the two days. I could not for the life of me figure out how to cancel the reservation for the one day without canceling it for everyone. I even called WDW guest services and they could only tell me how to add a reservation to the group, but now how to delete an individual reservation.

 

[MamaJJ2018]

I think you need to spend more time understanding what Disney is like right now. Many lines, especially if you have little ones aren’t that bad. But this is not a time you can just “wing it” and expect things to be great. You need to understand park opening times, wait times and best way to tour the park, mobile ordering for dining etc. I’d maybe check out the “here and back” thread, and maybe check out some YouTube videos from allears for guidance on how to tour the park etc.
You need to realign your expectations and plan accordingly or you might want to postpone your trip to another time.

To be clear, I was aware before just now about the fast pass situation. I am relatively well informed about it all. But as the parks are getting more and more crowded, that impacts how I feel about it.

 

[MamaJJ2018]

To be clear, I was aware before just now about the fast pass situation. I am relatively well informed about it all. But as the parks are getting more and more crowded, that impacts how I feel about it.

Also, thank you for the thread recommendation. I am checking it out now!

 

[MamaJJ2018]

Some things that I think would actually help:

-having a waitlist for park reservations for situations such as capacity increases

-ability to swap your park for a day if availability does open up, instead of having to cancel your reservation and hope that quickly grabbing the one that pops up available works out and you don’t end up with none

-indicators as to how full parks are getting on their availability calendar,

-more virtual queues for popular rides and attractions (not just ROTR)

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

Yes, but, I think under the hood WDW also wants to know are numbers of guests so they can adjust staffing and supplies accordingly. Allowing last minute flexibility messes with that

 

[MamaJJ2018]

Yes, but, I think under the hood WDW also wants to know are numbers of guests so they can adjust staffing and supplies accordingly. Allowing last minute flexibility messes with that

If all of the parks are getting to capacity anyway except Epcot, staffing is already baked into the cake for those parks, isn’t it?

 

[LuvLeLe10]

Is there a sub thread to follow that alerts you about changes in reservation availability?

Long story short I have a trip planned in June and had pritoritized magic kingdom with my reservations. We’ve decided we’d like to add more parks to our trip but would not even be able to get an animal kingdom day at this point! Just Epcot! If suddenly they increase capacity or something though, I’d really appreciate an alert! I already knew I wanted more days on April 14th, but by the time I saw this everything was full again :-(

I must admit I am fairly disappointed and frustrated with how Disney is managing this as demand continues to increase. I think early in the opening process it probably worked great but now, it needs to evolve! Thank goodness I booked my hotel, some dining, and a few magic kingdom days early! But now I’d happily trade a magic kingdom day for an animal kingdom day and I’m SURE someone would be happy to swap with me, but there’s no way to make it happen!

FWIW I do plan to use all my magic kingdom days, I was not “place holding” with my reservations. We are staying at GF and I have two small children who will love MK and we planned on having resort days. We weren’t sure we’d be comfortable with the buses with COVID when we originally booked everything.

Hi MamaJJ2018, do you have park hopper?

 

[MamaJJ2018]

Hi MamaJJ2018, do you have park hopper?

Yes! Definitely plan on hopefully using that option. It’s after 2pm of capacity limits allow, right?

 

[becauseimnew]

Looks like they released all those reservations. Things opened up

 

[LuvLeLe10]

Yes! Definitely plan on hopefully using that option. It’s after 2pm of capacity limits allow, right?

yes

 

[Kerr84]

If you need park reservations, hurry! Some just opened up for May and June that weren't previously there.

 

[wdw&sonny]

People who made plans including tickets and park reservations, but then changed their dates or cancelled a package. The park reservations haven’t been automatically cancelling.

Why isn't the ticket purchase and park reservation, one in the same? Couldn't it just be linked to begin with?

 

[mrsap]

If you need park reservations, hurry! Some just opened up for May and June that weren't previously there.

Thanks so much for that heads up! My friend just found out a couple days ago that her boyfriend got approved to go on vacation with us this summer! She was so upset she could not get him a HS reservation with us!! I just texted her as fast as I could and she just secured one while shopping at Kohl’s Thank you!!

 

[JC0712]

Just changed a day to Hollywood Studios. Thanks so much for posting this.

 

[MamaJJ2018]

Thank you guys so much for the heads up! I was able to book all of the parks for our trip

 

[Tiggerish]

Thanks. I was able to nab a Hollywood Studios for the person in my party that was a last minute add on. Now everyone has matching admissions for all the days we are going!

 

[Boardwalk III]

Our trip is not until November, and we aren’t ready to book our park reservations quite yet, but hope this thread thread continues, as it’s great to know when things open up!

 

[luv2cheer92]

Why isn't the ticket purchase and park reservation, one in the same? Couldn't it just be linked to begin with?

Not all tickets are date-based. Especially the people who had trips cancelled last year when the parks were closed. Then you have APs. Buying new tickets could, but if you already have to have the separate system for those that aren't buying date-based tickets, then it would make more sense to just have everybody reserve the parks the same way.