Not showing up for a park reservation

[Mrs.AMC]

Both PP and I both were allowed to enter without the initial scan

You got lucky. You both got an exception made. You can not count on an exception being made. No one should at any time suggest someone skip scanning in to their reserved park just because a CM made an exception for their case.

 

[Sweettears]

You got lucky. You both got an exception made. You can not count on an exception being made. No one should at any time suggest someone skip scanning in to their reserved park just because a CM made an exception for their case.

I won’t argue the point but we have two that were allowed and no one turned away so far in this thread.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I won’t argue the point but we have two that were allowed and no one turned away so far in this thread.

Yes. There have been some say they got turned away. Maybe not personally to them but witness happening to others

How about just recommending following rules? It’s one thing to not be aware but now you are. So no reason at all not to follow rules. Is there?

 

[Sweettears]

Yes. There have been some say they got turned away. Maybe not personally to them but witness happening to others

How about just recommending following rules? It’s one thing to not be aware but now you are. So no reason at all not to follow rules. Is there?

All I’m saying is that stuff happens. If this is a hard and fast rule they certainly don’t do a very good job of publicizing it. Variances are more of a random situation rather than someone trying to get some imaginary gain. If you have a park hopper pass and you are checking into a park after 2:00 what exactly is the infraction that needs to be prevented? This explains why it is easily resolved by CMs

 

[Meglen]

All I’m saying is that stuff happens. If this is a hard and fast rule they certainly don’t do a very good job of publicizing it. Variances are more of a random situation rather than someone trying to get some imaginary gain. If you have a park hopper pass and you are checking into a park after 2:00 what exactly is the infraction that needs to be prevented? This explains why it is easily resolved by CMs

Well how would you feel if someone took your advice and didn't tap in at first park and got turned away and told they had to go tap? Have them say "sorry a person on the internet said it was ok"... If someone makes a honest mistake and a cm helps them out great but to assume they will "fix" it for everyone is just silly. People ask for the rule and how it works.. people don't need pixie dust moments thinking it's now policy.

 

[Sweettears]

I’m not giving advice to anyone. Just relaying how it worked in real life. No one has pointed out where this “rule” is stated or displayed. Does a disclaimer appear before you make a reservation or purchase a park hopper ticket? If not I’m not sure what their basis would be for not allowing entrance with a valid ticket

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I’m not giving advice to anyone. Just relaying how it worked in real life. No one has pointed out where this “rule” is stated or displayed. Does a disclaimer appear before you make a reservation or purchase a park hopper ticket? If not I’m not sure what their basis would be for not allowing entrance with a valid ticket

They do indeed state the rule
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/park-hopper/

 

[Mrs.AMC]

All I’m saying is that stuff happens. If this is a hard and fast rule they certainly don’t do a very good job of publicizing it. Variances are more of a random situation rather than someone trying to get some imaginary gain. If you have a park hopper pass and you are checking into a park after 2:00 what exactly is the infraction that needs to be prevented? This explains why it is easily resolved by CMs

Just because it's a stupid rule doesn't mean it's not a rule. I think we can all agree that the stipulation to check in to the reserved park and to wait till 2 to hop is dumb. There's really no true reason for it at all. It's some time they pulled out of their hat. But, it's their rule. Their park, their rule.

 

[bakerworld]

As long as there's availability, it doesn't take much time to cancel one park reservation and create another. So far we've been lucky to go when park availability wasn't a problem.

 

[Dnebxr]

I don't think the rule about tapping in to reserved park before park hopping is well publicized. I had only heard of it once before our trip last week and completely forgot about it. We decided to take the morning off for a resort day instead of going to MK which was our park reservation. All the park reservations were sold out last week (except for Epcot) so we couldn't have changed it anyway. At 4:00 we went to Animal Kingdom as many guests were exiting. The CM at the tapstiles stopped us when the light turned blue instead of green and said that AK was sold out for the day and we would need to visit the Guest Services window. It really seems silly when just as we were standing at the tapstiles easily 100 people were leaving the park. Anyway, we stood in line at Guest Services and that CM easily changed our park reservation.

 

[sueg]

I am surprised at the lack of available park reservations for a random week in May. I thought that holiday weeks etc. were the main times that reservations were in high demand. So I was "casual" about making them. Lesson learned.
This is DH & I celebrating birthdays/anniversary week of May 16th. Our focus is fine dining for dinner and some casual park visits/Flower & Garden. But imagine my surprise when I only got one Epcot reservation. This is what triggered the "hop" to Epcot on arrival day.
My last thought about the swipe requirement is that we are taking a reservation for HS from someone else, just so we can eat at a few booths in Epcot.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I am surprised at the lack of available park reservations for a random week in May. I thought that holiday weeks etc. were the main times that reservations were in high demand. So I was "casual" about making them. Lesson learned.
This is DH & I celebrating birthdays/anniversary week of May 16th. Our focus is fine dining for dinner and some casual park visits/Flower & Garden. But imagine my surprise when I only got one Epcot reservation. This is what triggered the "hop" to Epcot on arrival day.
My last thought about the swipe requirement is that we are taking a reservation for HS from someone else, just so we can eat at a few booths in Epcot.

It's yet another aspect of this that Disney hasn't thought through.

 

[Sweettears]

They do indeed state the rule
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/park-hopper/

I never doubted that they may have created this rule but at what point during the process of planning, reserving or buying tickets do they make this disclosure?

 

[AnnaS]

We stayed 10 nights for our trip in March. It was so annoying having to enter whatever park we had a reservation for before going to another park (mostly get into Epcot for the concerts).

I just randomly pick parks for a day - not much planning/thought put into it. We usually spend the day at the resort pool. Late afternoon/evening, decide where we want to go (and mostly Epcot).

For our October trip - we will be at BCV - for our 7 night stay - I booked Epcot 5 days - I can just easily walk over for the concerts in the evening and if we decide to go to different park, can easily walk over swipe and get out. So much better than wasting an hour or so just to get swiped at another park.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

Is it possible you’re going during a GOTG preview day? If so, I think there is a good chance they will be very strict on who they are letting into the park. Personally, I don’t assume I will get pixie dust. I just follow the rules because it’s easier for me to plan to go to the park I have to tap into than to end up doing it unexpectedly. That will easily eat up an hour.

 

[lanejudy]

I never doubted that they may have created this rule but at what point during the process of planning, reserving or buying tickets do they make this disclosure?

It's noted when you buy tickets or add them to a package reservation. Most likely you simply didn't read the details. It says something along the lines of "... park reservation required for the first park..after entering your first park you may hop..." (that's not a direct quote, paraphrasing).

 

[Sweettears]

It's noted when you buy tickets or add them to a package reservation. Most likely you simply didn't read the details. It says something along the lines of "... park reservation required for the first park..after entering your first park you may hop..." (that's not a direct quote, paraphrasing).

I understand and expected that was the case. Usually fine print is included for situations that are unusual where the presenter feels a need to enforce a particular rule. In this case if Disney is going to take a hard line approach on this I would think that the disclosure would be more prominent especially when purchasing park hoppers.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I never doubted that they may have created this rule but at what point during the process of planning, reserving or buying tickets do they make this disclosure?

I guess right there on the link I posted? Did you read the link? It does spell it out fairly clearly. Listed as all things Park Hopper. What exactly do you want?

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I don't think the rule about tapping in to reserved park before park hopping is well publicized. I had only heard of it once before our trip last week and completely forgot about it. We decided to take the morning off for a resort day instead of going to MK which was our park reservation. All the park reservations were sold out last week (except for Epcot) so we couldn't have changed it anyway. At 4:00 we went to Animal Kingdom as many guests were exiting. The CM at the tapstiles stopped us when the light turned blue instead of green and said that AK was sold out for the day and we would need to visit the Guest Services window. It really seems silly when just as we were standing at the tapstiles easily 100 people were leaving the park. Anyway, we stood in line at Guest Services and that CM easily changed our park reservation.

They've put it out there but It is up to the guest to read what they've posted.
When you go to the how the park reservation system works page, they mention you can hop after 2 and provide the link to learn more about the Park Hopper option there. So the info is there but it puts the onus on the guest to read it. However, as anyone who is responsible for sending out important emails knows, people rarely read the materials they are given, even when it's important stuff such as things that impact employment. Granted, even if you make it very simple and stamp it somewhere obvious, they won't always read it. Most you can do is put the info there and hope some take the effort to read it

Heck, even when they had FP and put the FP info right on the park maps you had guests with maps in their hands who still had no idea the FP existed. I'm not sure what all they can get the word out better.

 

[Sweettears]

They've put it out there but It is up to the guest to read what they've posted.
When you go to the how the park reservation system works page, they mention you can hop after 2 and provide the link to learn more about the Park Hopper option there. So the info is there but it puts the onus on the guest to read it. However, as anyone who is responsible for sending out important emails knows, people rarely read the materials they are given, even when it's important stuff such as things that impact employment. Granted, even if you make it very simple and stamp it somewhere obvious, they won't always read it. Most you can do is put the info there and hope some take the effort to read it

Heck, even when they had FP and put the FP info right on the park maps you had guests with maps in their hands who still had no idea the FP existed. I'm not sure what all they can get the word out better.

If it’s a rule that is potentiallygoing to have a significant impact on the purchaser’s experience a service oriented business is going to make you aware of restrictions rather than point you to their website for further information while not disclosing that the further information contains restrictions on the product you just purchased