New reservation -what to know

[bearette]

We were thinking of doing a last minute trip in November or December. With all the new Covid rules, I was trying to find all the necessary information for a stay, but I can't find everything and wanted to make sure I haven't missed anything.

1. So far I know- no fast passes or extra magic hours
2. You must have reservations for each park, no hopper:You get a park guaranteed when staying on site but not a specific park-Hollywood studios sells out (sounds like because of Star Wars). When can you make reservations for parks on site vs not on site.
3. What exactly is the policy for reservations for restaurants? I know lower capacity with some doing take away.
4. Is magical express still running? Sounds like just the check in for airport is not allowed now at the parks. How does that work? It's been a while since we stayed on site...
5. Can you buy tickets through another vender while still staying on property or does it have to be through Disney?
6. Obviously mask wearing is required- like almost everywhere now

Thanks for clearing up any issues. We were also looking to rent from someone DVC points for our stay if that makes a difference.

I appreciate any help!

 

[nw6675]

For #6, be sure to read their guidelines. Double layer cloth with ear loops. No gaiters. This was a major disappointment for my DH and SS. Glad I noticed that because both of them only wear gaiters (regardless of the debate on effectiveness of them).

 

[VandVsmama]

We were thinking of doing a last minute trip in November or December. With all the new Covid rules, I was trying to find all the necessary information for a stay, but I can't find everything and wanted to make sure I haven't missed anything.

1. So far I know- no fast passes or extra magic hours.
2. You must have reservations for each park, no hopper:You get a park guaranteed when staying on site but not a specific park-Hollywood studios sells out (sounds like because of Star Wars). When can you make reservations for parks on site vs not on site.
3. What exactly is the policy for reservations for restaurants? I know lower capacity with some doing take away.
4. Is magical express still running? Sounds like just the check in for airport is not allowed now at the parks. How does that work? It's been a while since we stayed on site...
5. Can you buy tickets through another vender while still staying on property or does it have to be through Disney?
6. Obviously mask wearing is required- like almost everywhere now

Thanks for clearing up any issues. We were also looking to rent from someone DVC points for our stay if that makes a difference.

I appreciate any help!

1. Correct. Currently, there are no FPs or EMH.

2. Correct on no park hopping right now, but for 2021, they ARE selling park hopper tickets. They haven't announced when park hopping will begin again. HS does tend to run out of park reservations the most and yes, it's because of Star Wars. In order to make a park reservation, you have to have a ticket first. Once you have the ticket, you can make a park reservation for a specific day. You should NOT wait until you get on site to make the reservation. Basically, make the reservation any time after you've purchased your ticket.

3. Reservations for restaurants - you can make ADRs 60 days before hand, not 180 days.

4. Magical Express - it IS still running. But you have to collect your own bags at baggage claim. And there is no resort airline check in desk. This means that at the end of your stay when you're going to go back to the airport, you can't check into your airline at the resort/hotel. You also cannot check your luggage into the airline at the hotel. You have to bring it with you yourself to the ME bus. Then when you get to the airport, you take your luggage to the airline check in desk yourself.

5. I don't have experience with that, but I believe you can do this.

6. Mask wearing - it has to be a mask with ear loops or straps that go around the back of your head. Has to cover your nose and mouth. Cannot be a gaiter. If you wear it like a chin strap, CMs WILL tell you to fix it. If you wear it so it only covers your mouth (leaving your nose exposed), CMs WILL tell you to fix it. Guests who refuse are going to be told to leave.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

On the Disney site read Know Before You Go

 

[Dug720]

6. Mask wearing - it has to be a mask with ear loops or straps that go around the back of your head. Has to cover your nose and mouth. Cannot be a gaiter. If you wear it like a chin strap, CMs WILL tell you to fix it. If you wear it so it only covers your mouth (leaving your nose exposed), CMs WILL tell you to fix it. Guests who refuse are going to be told to leave.

Also no vents, holes or mesh are allowed in the mask.

 

[bearette]

Thanks, I was on there but it may be the tablet and not full site mode that I could find some of the info.

 

[PixieLily]

As for restaurant reservations, better to make them as soon as you can. We were there recently and thought we did not have to book ahead. We have a nostalgic weakness for the Garden Grill at Epcot, but could not get reservations even two weeks in advance. We had no problem at the Coral Reef restaurant, though. It was worth it. For the first time we were able to sit in a table right next to the aquarium.
The food at the Coral Reef has never overwhelmed me, its more for the ambiance. However, although I don't usually eat chicken, the oven roasted herb chicken was delicious.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Uh oh.... upon check out - can we still check our luggage with bell services for them to hold (while we go to the parks) until we return to the hotel for our DME time to meet our bus to the airport??

 

[Dug720]

Uh oh.... upon check out - can we still check our luggage with bell services for them to hold (while we go to the parks) until we return to the hotel for our DME time to meet our bus to the airport??

Yes. You just have to give them to the driver when DME comes and collect them at the airport. No more resort airline check-in.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Yes. You just have to give them to the driver when DME comes and collect them at the airport. No more resort airline check-in.

Thanks so much! I almost panicked thinking about dragging our suitcases into the parks and putting them in a locker! lol

 

[Ahabart]

#5 the answer is yes. We purchased our tickets through UT and stayed on site at Contemporary and then moved to Swan. Magic Bands were comp with the Contemporary stay. One thing about UT tickets...purchase the tangible tickets rather than e-tickets if you go that route as the e-tickets are non-refundable. I was worried about the turnaround time, but they actually sent me the ticket numbers at the same time they mailed the hard copies. So, I was able to load my tickets into MDE and connect them to our magic bands. We didn't activate them until we went to the park, so I still could have cancelled them if we changed our plans.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks so much! I almost panicked thinking about dragging our suitcases into the parks and putting them in a locker! lol

No. Bell services will still hold them. You just have to make sure to get them at the airport because that service (them getting picked up for you) isn't happening right now.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

No. Bell services will still hold them. You just have to make sure to get them at the airport because that service (them getting picked up for you) isn't happening right now.

Will do, thanks!

PS - we haven't used those yellow luggage tags in YEARS because of that one time that we didn't get our suitcases until 2am (because somehow they went to the wrong resort) and needed them well before that. Lesson learned on that one. We now always pick them up in baggage when we arrive in Orlando and hand them off to the DME driver and retreieve them from the bus once at the resort. I like to keep my eyes on my stuff now.

 

[LizzyDragon]

1. You must have reservations for each park, no hopper:You get a park guaranteed when staying on site but not a specific park-Hollywood studios sells out (sounds like because of Star Wars). When can you make reservations for parks on site vs not on site.

FYI- I don't think Disney makes any guarantees for park access, even for resort guests. That said, resort guests get their own pool of reservations (different from off-resort and AP pools). You should make reservations as soon as you get your tickets. Reservations can be changed later- even on the day of- as long as the park you want to switch to has availablity.

 

[Dug720]

FYI- I don't think Disney makes any guarantees for park access, even for resort guests. That said, resort guests get their own pool of reservations (different from off-resort and AP pools). You should make reservations as soon as you get your tickets. Reservations can be changed later- even on the day of- as long as the park you want to switch to has availablity.

I may be wrong, but I think there is a guarantee of getting into *A* park for guests staying on property. Just not a guarantee of *WHICH* park. Hence why they limit the AP park reservations then expand them closer to the date. Looking at the calendar, it definitely appears that there are at the very least MORE park reservations for Resort guests than Theme Park Ticket guests and there are more of those than for AP holders.

 

[lanejudy]

There used to be that on-site guests with multi-day tickets were guaranteed entry to A park (maybe not choice of parks), largely because I don't believe all 4 parks have ever hit total closure due to capacity. I honestly don't know if that guarantee carries through the current park-reservations requirement. Earlier this fall I recall a poster complaining they had added someone to their resort reservation somewhat last minute but were unable to get a parks reservation for that person. I didn't hear how it turned out, but calls to WDW before arrival weren't getting the desired result. That leads me to believe there may not currently be any "guarantee" of park entry if one doesn't book a resort reservation well enough in advance. But you are correct that the pool of available slots seems to shift and it has been rare that all parks are booked. In fact, I believe somewhere the website states that having a ticket does not guarantee park entry and also that having a resort reservation does not guarantee park entry.

 

[Dug720]

There used to be that on-site guests with multi-day tickets were guaranteed entry to A park (maybe not choice of parks), largely because I don't believe all 4 parks have ever hit total closure due to capacity. I honestly don't know if that guarantee carries through the current park-reservations requirement. Earlier this fall I recall a poster complaining they had added someone to their resort reservation somewhat last minute but were unable to get a parks reservation for that person. I didn't hear how it turned out, but calls to WDW before arrival weren't getting the desired result. That leads me to believe there may not currently be any "guarantee" of park entry if one doesn't book a resort reservation well enough in advance. But you are correct that the pool of available slots seems to shift and it has been rare that all parks are booked. In fact, I believe somewhere the website states that having a ticket does not guarantee park entry and also that having a resort reservation does not guarantee park entry.

It could be that they essentially are up until a week before - I seem to recall the situation you bring up, and I think it was very last minute (like within a week of arrival) that the person wanted to join (I seemed to remember that they wanted to go to a specific park (Studios I think) and that was the problem, but that could be me remembering incorrectly) - at which point they are released to AP holders and non-resort guests.

 

[lanejudy]

I agree that most likely an on-site guest has been able to make a park reservation to one of the 4 theme parks, even if not the park of choice -- sometimes even same-day. But it still is not "guaranteed." The only way to guarantee admission to any park is to have a parks reservation for that park.

From the website:

• a Disney Resort hotel reservation does not guarantee theme park access
• Park admission, offerings and ticket options are not guaranteed
• Reservations are limited and subject to availability and are not guaranteed until a reservation is finalized.

 

[Dug720]

I agree that most likely an on-site guest has been able to make a park reservation to one of the 4 theme parks, even if not the park of choice -- sometimes even same-day. But it still is not "guaranteed." The only way to guarantee admission to any park is to have a parks reservation for that park.

From the website:

• a Disney Resort hotel reservation does not guarantee theme park access
• Park admission, offerings and ticket options are not guaranteed
• Reservations are limited and subject to availability and are not guaranteed until a reservation is finalized.

Thank you. I apologize for not being correct about it.

 

[lanejudy]

Thank you. I apologize for not being correct about it.

It’s an easy point to confuse, since current rules are 180 from the past.