Park Pass- Was this a huge mistake???

[Blondie58]

We have our trip from 5/6-5/15, and I mistakenly only reserved HS Park Reservations, as I figured those would be the first to do. I just checked today to start finishing-up our plans, and noticed that MK and suprisingly AK is booked-up for most of our trip!!! Got a couple questions:

1. Is there any flexibility to those opening up? When we went in fall, all these parks were pretty much 'open' even day-of, so this was really a surprise.
2. Does this mean they are also closed to park-hopping? Meaning, I wouldn't even mind so much if we couldn't get into these other Parks until after 2PM.


Any help or advice is appreciated, as I don't want to be blamed for ruining our vacation, lol

Your boys are so cute. I bet they are excitied about the trip. If you are fine with hopping - sign up for any park that is open, go there about one to be registered per your park reservation and then head to the park you wish to hop to at 2:00.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Do you mean that you reserved HS for all 10 dates of your trip? And, did not reserve any other park?
That does seem like a mistake.
I think the park reservation system should not allow that. There should be a limit set for number of days to reserve any one park, to provide ample opportunity for others.

 

[beesly]

I think the park reservation system should not allow that. There should be a limit set for number of days to reserve any one park, to provide ample opportunity for others.

That just wouldn’t make sense, logistically. What if someone purchased a 5-day ticket but only Epcot was available every day? Should they be blocked out of the only available park on their 5th day because (by no fault of their own) it was the only park they could reserve on the first four? Even if someone is choosing to reserve the same park every day because it’s their favorite park, I see no reason they should be restricted from doing so.

Everyone planning to visit WDW has ample opportunity to purchase tickets in advance and view the availability calendar in advance. If RotR is a must-do, they can choose dates when DHS is available and reserve their park passes early, or they can choose to book when it’s full and keep searching for availability to come up.

That said, I do hope that hearing about scenarios like the one OP has found themselves in will discourage people from booking DHS for more dates than they would really want to visit it as their first or only park of the day.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Do you mean that you reserved HS for all 10 dates of your trip? And, did not reserve any other park?
That does seem like a mistake.
I think the park reservation system should not allow that. There should be a limit set for number of days to reserve any one park, to provide ample opportunity for others.

I disagree with the bolded. If I buy a ticket I should be allowed to reserve whatever parks I want so long as there is availability.

 

[wdw&sonny]

I disagree with the bolded. If I buy a ticket I should be allowed to reserve whatever parks I want so long as there is availability.

If you intend to visit the park you reserved, fine. I understand that. But the OP clearly was reserving HS everyday without intending to visit HS everyday.
To me, it's like placing your towel on the pool lounger first thing in the morning, only to arrive at lunchtime to use them. It is inconsiderate of others.

 

[FCDub]

If you intend to visit the park you reserved, fine. I understand that. But the OP clearly was reserving HS everyday without intending to visit HS everyday.
To me, it's like placing your towel on the pool lounger first thing in the morning, only to arrive at lunchtime to use them. It is inconsiderate of others.

That’s definitely not how I read it, but rather OP started booking HS days, then didn’t book the other days, assuming there’d be no issue coming back later and getting the reservations desired.

Either way, the system sucks.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

If you intend to visit the park you reserved, fine. I understand that. But the OP clearly was reserving HS everyday without intending to visit HS everyday.
To me, it's like placing your towel on the pool lounger first thing in the morning, only to arrive at lunchtime to use them. It is inconsiderate of others.

Whether or not I agree with the intention is irrelevant. I wouldn’t want a policy in place to prevent it. Regardless, I don’t believe OP actually booked every day at DHS. The way I’m reading it, she only booked those days and nothing else.

 

[boxer]

If you intend to visit the park you reserved, fine. I understand that. But the OP clearly was reserving HS everyday without intending to visit HS everyday.
To me, it's like placing your towel on the pool lounger first thing in the morning, only to arrive at lunchtime to use them. It is inconsiderate of others.

No, that is not what I did. I booked 4 days of HS, and left the others 'open'--as I figured when Dining Reservations opened, I would book the rest. I didn't get around to do that until last week, and then I realized the parks I wanted were booked up. I did this in the fall and it worked fine--but I guess Spring attendance is up.

Worse case scenario I'll book EP, and just park hop later. Not ideal, but I may have no choice at this time.

 

[MomOTwins]

No, that is not what I did. I booked 4 days of HS, and left the others 'open'--as I figured when Dining Reservations opened, I would book the rest. I didn't get around to do that until last week, and then I realized the parks I wanted were booked up. I did this in the fall and it worked fine--but I guess Spring attendance is up.

Worse case scenario I'll book EP, and just park hop later. Not ideal, but I may have no choice at this time.

Go book the rest of your days at EP now! If you see another park open up, you can cancel and rebook then. We can't see how full the buckets are and you absolutely don't want your days to go gray, which can happen any second as it is not possible to see how close EP is to fully booked.

We had a March trip, and I was being fiddly with our reservations and cancelled one thinking I'd book a different park in a day or two (was "green"). I went to check a couple days later and sure enough--totally sold out all four parks. We spent an extra day at universal instead and it ended up being lovely, but that was just one day we had to plan around -- you don't want to be out of luck for most of your trip.

If you check daily, Disney seems to reallocate reservations between AP and resort/ticket buckets at various points so you might luck out.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I booked 4 days of HS, and left the others 'open'

In that case, attempt to book the other parks on your open days. Ignore the colors on the calendar and just attempt to book frequently throughout the day. Small availabilities open up but aren't reflected in the calendar - however you can still book them as they occur, despite the calendar showing fully booked. Since you have the available tickets with no reservations that you would have to cancel to try, it gives you the freedom to just keep attempting to make those reservations until one sticks.

 

[malialaine]

THANK YOU both so much! I'm more worried about the evenings, as that is tied to my dinner reservations, lol. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we don't need to be in a park BEFORE 2PM to be eligible to hop, correct? Meaning, if we just decided to sleep in, we are still eligible to go to a park after 2PM that day (so long as its open)?

No, you have to go to your original park first and go in and then you can park hop.

 

[virk4]

I just got back. There is no flexibility. It is not a user-friendly system.

 

[boxer]

I just got back. There is no flexibility. It is not a user-friendly system.

No flexibility as in what? I have already resigned myself to knowing that I will HAVE to check-in at the Park I reserved first, before hopping to another one--which to me, is the most PIA of this whole hopping issue. Additionally, I have also realized that I won't be picking any parks 'the day of' like we did the fall--as 3 days have already been sold out. What did you have issues with?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

No flexibility as in what? I have already resigned myself to knowing that I will HAVE to check-in at the Park I reserved first, before hopping to another one--which to me, is the most PIA of this whole hopping issue. Additionally, I have also realized that I won't be picking any parks 'the day of' like we did the fall--as 3 days have already been sold out. What did you have issues with?

I’m not the poster you quoted but I’m assuming “no flexibility” in terms of changing park reservations on the fly. As in, you can’t get up and just decide to head to MK if there are no reservations available. It’s also not easy to change parks since you have to cancel the current one before picking up another, which is scary.

 

[Elle :)]

I’m over here kicking my own backside. We had a second day booked for HS but the hours were extended and I was planning on switching HS to AK. I knew it was booking up fast but I foolishly procrastinated until it was too late. Now everything but EP is booked out. Oops! I’m too scared to let the HS pass go so I’ll just see if the park opens back up. Boy, do I miss our September trip. We were able to move park reservations around even day of.

Quick question: If you don‘t have a park reservation for the day, are you still allowed to go to a different park after 2pm? Or are you blocked out for the whole day?

 

[tlovesdis]

I’m over here kicking my own backside. We had a second day booked for HS but the hours were extended and I was planning on switching HS to AK. I knew it was booking up fast but I foolishly procrastinated until it was too late. Now everything but EP is booked out. Oops! I’m too scared to let the HS pass go so I’ll just see if the park opens back up. Boy, do I miss our September trip. We were able to move park reservations around even day of.

Quick question: If you don‘t have a park reservation for the day, are you still allowed to go to a different park after 2pm? Or are you blocked out for the whole day?

You can't hop without first tapping in at another park. So you could book EP and tap in there then hop to another park after 2pm.

 

[Elle :)]

You can't hop without first tapping in at another park. So you could book EP and tap in there then hop to another park after 2pm.

That’s what I thought. Thank you.

 

[GBRforWDW]

That’s what I thought. Thank you.

Yep, might as well book now and change later if something else opens up

 

[auntlynne]

I just got back. There is no flexibility. It is not a user-friendly system.

No flexibility as in what? I have already resigned myself to knowing that I will HAVE to check-in at the Park I reserved first, before hopping to another one--which to me, is the most PIA of this whole hopping issue. Additionally, I have also realized that I won't be picking any parks 'the day of' like we did the fall--as 3 days have already been sold out. What did you have issues with?

The system is inflexible, as in it cannot be overridden. If the allotted reservations are filled, they cannot make an exception for an individual, despite that person/family having tickets.

The only work-around is if one of the three “buckets” of reservations is not being used - ticket holder only, resort guests, or APs. Then they can shift those. But the total number doesn’t change. Not until capacity level is changed by Disney.

And inflexible as in you have tickets, you haven’t booked anything and if you don’t book any park for those open days, you could have spent money on park days and no park to visit. You lose money or you cancel your trip. Can you change the number of park days tickets in your reservation?

 

[Highgrove]

So when should you upgrade to a park hopper? Morning of, day before? I looked didn't look at mornings, but it does seem afternoons have been going-green, but I don't know if that's just a park hopper thing or not. I am in a similar bind in not having an HS date, but make due with an afternoon park hop as my 5 YOs aren't into star wars yet so not interested in playing the virtual queue game.