Eliminate the Park Reservation Requirements

[cakebaker]

When you buy you tickets you make the park reservation. I don't know why you would buy the airfare without having tickets purchased. I kinda like the park reservations - at least I know when I buy the tickets that I won't be denied entrance day-of because the park reached capacity.

Unless you're going Christmas Day, that's not an issue. They rarely hit capacity and it's only the MK. I'm almost sure Epcot and AK have never hit capacity closure and quite possibly not HS. It's really not a good reason for the reservation system, although with our touring style, reservations don't bother me at all. Even 2pm park hopping is fine by me- we never hop until late afternoon or evening anyway. No fireworks, no shows, no FP, closed restaurants and shops, limited hours - THAT bothers me. Bothers me enough to stay home until they come back - and please no one try and convince me that a Calvalcade is a parade or FOTLK lite is the real FOTLK. lol

 

[Weedy]

Even after COVID restrictions end Disney is trying to decide what capacity will be.
Pre covid the park (usually MK) was not enjoyable.
Disney is trying to strike a balance of making the parks enjoyable and giving guest the freedom to visit the parks on their schedule.

 

[DuvalDisneyDad]

Even after COVID restrictions end Disney is trying to decide what capacity will be.
Pre covid the park (usually MK) was not enjoyable.
Disney is trying to strike a balance of making the parks enjoyable and giving guest the freedom to visit the parks on their schedule.

I’m not so sure about this, the parks have been much less enjoyable than precovid. Magic Kingdom was always slammed but if you rope drop and fast pass efficiently you can weave in and out before the afternoon thunderstorms start poppin. Throw in EMH on a Friday morning and you can really move.

Whatever they do they need to make some moves soon, if they think they will simply increase capacity through the summer and not change much there will be a lot of pissed customers.

 

[Weedy]

Now this is crowded

 

[luv2cheer92]

I’m not so sure about this, the parks have been much less enjoyable than precovid. Magic Kingdom was always slammed but if you rope drop and fast pass efficiently you can weave in and out before the afternoon thunderstorms start poppin. Throw in EMH on a Friday morning and you can really move.

Whatever they do they need to make some moves soon, if they think they will simply increase capacity through the summer and not change much there will be a lot of pissed customers.

I have definitely found all parks, but especially MK, to be way more enjoyable now than pre-Covid.

 

[Rick195275]

I don't like the new reservation system, but I could learn to live with it (I'm an out-of-state PAP holder.) assuming we're going to true 100% capacity and match that with the reservations system.

What has to go though is the 2:00 hopper limitation, and the touch reserved before hopping entry thing. That is not a sustainable model to provide the true benefits hopping is supposed to provide. If we have a morning reservation for MK, and we decide to sleep in and go to HS after pool time in the afternoon, I have to go all the way to MK and touch a turnstile and then go to HS. This problem is amplified if HS is "full" for the day and I can't even change my park reservation after the fact. This part of the system is broken and needs fixing.

Will it mess up the staffing benefits they are getting from the reservation system? I would contend not, and that the number of people that do what we do is negligible in the scheme of things, and that the ones doing it are likely offsetting each other at the various parks anyway. This needs to be fixed, and sooner rather than later.

100% with you on this! Twice on our last vacation we wanted to do something different in the morning than originally planned and a different park than we had a reservation for that evening. It was really frustrating to have to waste an hour or 2 literally going to tap in at our reserved park and immediately leave. And completely counterintuitive for Disney, rather than sitting by the pool at beach club and getting a drink at hurricane Hannah’s, we were riding the skyliner and friendship boats back and forth to the studios and never going into the park.

 

[tigger2002]

100% with you on this! Twice on our last vacation we wanted to do something different in the morning than originally planned and a different park than we had a reservation for that evening. It was really frustrating to have to waste an hour or 2 literally going to tap in at our reserved park and immediately leave. And completely counterintuitive for Disney, rather than sitting by the pool at beach club and getting a drink at hurricane Hannah’s, we were riding the skyliner and friendship boats back and forth to the studios and never going into the park.

That sounds like what we will have to do on our upcoming trip, and I think a lot of people do also. We have four days reserved at HS to make sure that we can get on ROR. Once we get a ROR BG we will want to go to another park but may not be able to until after 2:00 PM.

 

[Rick195275]

That sounds like what we will have to do on our upcoming trip, and I think a lot of people do also. We have four days reserved at HS to make sure that we can get on ROR. Once we get a ROR BG we will want to go to another park but may not be able to until after 2:00 PM.

It wasn’t even really that, the second was was actually MK and we we hopping to HS lol. We had switched to poly so the checking in at MK wasn’t too bad but still a pain! We just wanted to relax by the pool for the day and go to HS for sci-if that night, the hour long adventure with no poly monorail stop just to make it happen was less than ideal. Not the end of the world and if I’m being honest we always have fun even traveling around Disney for no reason but I would have definitely preferred the freedom to just enjoy our pool day and go to dinner when we felt like it. Hopefully soon! I really don’t mind the reservation system in theory but just make it noon we can hop wherever without checking in please!

 

[FoodieFriend]

When you buy you tickets you make the park reservation. I don't know why you would buy the airfare without having tickets purchased. I kinda like the park reservations - at least I know when I buy the tickets that I won't be denied entrance day-of because the park reached capacity.

This! Thank you for this! I appreciate knowing that I can start my day a bit later & not worry about the park hitting capacity. I don't have to rope drop if I don't want to which truly makes it a vacation! I do wish park hopping would be allowed earlier & Epcot opening would also start earlier so I can eat more, but i have no complaints about the park reservation system.
When we were at Universal in March, i know they hit capacity the week after we left so I'm sure there were many guests with tickets that were denied entry. We made sure we were at Universal at rope drop so we would get in for our 2 park days. It was exhausting & crowded & it made me appreciate the WDW park reservations system.

 

[piccolopat]

I'm not a big fan of the reservation system and can see how it will greatly affect last minute travelers. For us, we plan far in advance and so it shouldn't be more than an annoyance due to the extra planning step and the lack of flexibility if we want to change our plans once we're there. I would like to see the hopping hour a bit earlier, perhaps noon, since we would sometimes hop just for an ADR. The RotR issue could be addressed simply by moving the second window to an hour before the hopping hour. More important to us though would be a return to normal, extended hours and fully reopened rides and restaurants.

 

[dato63]

When you buy you tickets you make the park reservation. I don't know why you would buy the airfare without having tickets purchased. I kinda like the park reservations - at least I know when I buy the tickets that I won't be denied entrance day-of because the park reached capacity.

This is how I feel too. But, we are going over Christmas.

I like the current scenario where if we go to a park in the morning, take a break in the afternoon - we can return later that evening and not have to worry if we have lost "our spot" at the park. And, I feel it saves us from buying hoppers, to increase our odds of having a spot at "A" park, if the park we start the day at did reach capacity during a break.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

TBH I do not mind the reservation system since I know what parks I am going to be at anyway (I had to plan my FP+ and dining). It's just another step in the planning process and if it means that Disney can keep the parks slightly less crowded OR at least staffed appropriately so that the lines are shorter, that's a price I am willing to pay.

 

[C&Jx2]

The park reservations are annoying but I think it’s more annoying because of the limited capacity. Once capacity limits are lifted it won’t be much different than booking ADRs and FP+ and locking yourself into a park since you’ll be able to change your park day easily.

I think Disney would love to be at regular capacity but can’t due to staffing issues.

This is pretty much what I think too.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Even after COVID restrictions end Disney is trying to decide what capacity will be.
Pre covid the park (usually MK) was not enjoyable.
Disney is trying to strike a balance of making the parks enjoyable and giving guest the freedom to visit the parks on their schedule.

Agree. Many on these boards are thinking of the Park Reservation system as a way for Disney to "predict" the expected crowds and respond (to adjust staffing, for example). The Reservation system is proactive. It allows Disney to set capacity limits, restricting crowds to their limits. For now those limits may be covid-driven. But in the future they can use those limits to dictate crowd levels. The assumption that more people in the park equals more revenue may not be accurate. Disney can use the park reservation system to "improve the guest experience" and see if per guest spending increases, overall revenue increases, guest satisfaction improves, coordinating staffing needs, reducing crowds in parks with attractions undergoing refurbishment, etc.

 

[mom2rtk]

TBH I do not mind the reservation system since I know what parks I am going to be at anyway (I had to plan my FP+ and dining). It's just another step in the planning process and if it means that Disney can keep the parks slightly less crowded OR at least staffed appropriately so that the lines are shorter, that's a price I am willing to pay.

It might mean your lines are shorter. But it also might mean your lines are longer at other parks as Disney takes the information and staffs down.

 

[HashberryOTG]

4. Drop the requirement to visit your first park before you hop(while still enforcing the hopping arrival time).

Take HS for example, as it's always booked up. If you didn't have to visit your 1st park, people would simply sign up for Epcot and go to HS asap. So far, hoppers have never been denied entrance. I suspect if they removed this requirement, we'd start seeing hoppers denied entrance due to capacity limits. The combination of waiting until after 2 and having to spend time at that 1st park is preventing this.

When people ask why Disney isn't selling APs yet, this thread is the largest example as to why. It can be frustrating as a local AP holder (I'm not local, but I get it) to have this AP and be told you can only reserve 3 days at a time. With park capacity filling up, the value of that AP is lower, because you aren't guaranteed to get into a park even 4 days in a row. I do agree, for any AP holder, the inability to do anything more last minute can be frustrating. I'm with those hoping as capacity increases it gets easier.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

DVC resale market is on fire right now. I have no problem selling out of my DVC and making a quick profit if Disney doesn't turn things around.

I’m talking more about the past 12 months. Very subpar experience and the owners were stuck taking a trip that was very watered down. Anyone buying now will get a full experience in a year when they can make their first reservation for.

 

[Rick195275]

Take HS for example, as it's always booked up. If you didn't have to visit your 1st park, people would simply sign up for Epcot and go to HS asap. So far, hoppers have never been denied entrance. I suspect if they removed this requirement, we'd start seeing hoppers denied entrance due to capacity limits. The combination of waiting until after 2 and having to spend time at that 1st park is preventing this.

When people ask why Disney isn't selling APs yet, this thread is the largest example as to why. It can be frustrating as a local AP holder (I'm not local, but I get it) to have this AP and be told you can only reserve 3 days at a time. With park capacity filling up, the value of that AP is lower, because you aren't guaranteed to get into a park even 4 days in a row. I do agree, for any AP holder, the inability to do anything more last minute can be frustrating. I'm with those hoping as capacity increases it gets easier.

I don’t think that would be true if they kept boarding passes the way they currently are. Most days all park reservation are gone for all parks. The draw of HS for most people and the reason they have multiple days there is to try to get boarding passes. You need to have your original park reservation be for HS to be able to get one so as long as that remained true I don’t think there would be a huge draw to hop to HS right away but maybe. I think most would even be fine with hopping time staying afternoon as long as you didn’t need to check in to your first park first.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

It might mean your lines are shorter. But it also might mean your lines are longer at other parks as Disney takes the information and staffs down.

If you are saying do I expect Disney not to be staffed to the gills on a day when the park is only at 30% capacity, then of course I would expect that. If you are hinting that a park that is staffed for 80% capacity but only has 30% guests would have shorter lines than a park staffed at 40% for 30% guests, then well - yeah. But you are missing that this is not new. Disney has been staffing based on their best guess for YEARS. All this crowd guessing stuff that the internet has been doing (like touring plans). Disney has that 100 times over and much more complex with much more detailed data. The only thing was that previously you might have gotten lucky and Disney may have guessed wrong in your favor. Or you might have gotten unlucky and they guessed wrong in the other direction.

All this does is make their guessing a little more intelligent - which I think on par will work out better in the long run.

 

[jade1]

I’m talking more about the past 12 months. Very subpar experience and the owners were stuck taking a trip that was very watered down. Anyone buying now will get a full experience in a year when they can make their first reservation for.

Not sure who was "stuck" going, but owners could bank those points, rent them for triple the cost of dues or sell them at a record high resale market.

Those of us that "chose" to take some trips have to decide if it was subpar or not. It was not subpar for us.

But since a lot (probably most) have AP (we just renewed for $585) and stayed for about $100 a night deluxe in dues-the cost was very low. Esp when airfare was $29 to $49 (Delta) one ways.

But even then, veterans knew the escape (from covid lockdowns) there was going be different than past and future trips.

For us-just the escape itself was worth it.

Pleasant surprise was touring in a positive way that we well likely never get to experience again.

EX Hopping to AK with walk on (no waits at all) for EE, Safari and FoP was actually better than the old one hour plus wait for each even though there was no RoL.

No waits at all for the EPCOT food booths that ran most every month.

Had SAB pretty much all to ourselves.

Looking back it was actually amazing.