Park reservation problems strike again- the system needs to go

[ktlm]

So- our good friends took their kids on a Disney cruise for Christmas. The plan was to fly home early Christmas Day -- after multiple delays their flight was cancelled and due to all the issues this week the airline could not get them another flight home for 5 days!!!!! So, since they weren't going to get any Christmas celebration at home, the new plan was to try to spend a few days at WDW. Disney could get them a resort reservation in almost any resort--- they mostly had their pick of deluxe, moderate or value, with just a couple that were full--- BUT what disney could not get them as of yesterday was ANY park reservations at all as resort guests for December 26- 29. Not one park--- I see today they have at least one park available on a couple of those days--- but yesterday WDW told them there was absolutely nothing available, and nothing they could do to get them into the parks even as resort guests.

They, and we ,have been at Christmas before-- and resort guests were always guaranteed admission to a park-- not a park of your choosing--, but you get into at least one, and then if you have hoppers and something reopened from capacity to resort guests you could hop. Also, back when we have gone at Christmas- you better book early because there was no availability at a lot of the resorts if you waited. It surprises me with all the room availability they have at so many resorts this week, they can't guarantee to get anyone who actually books those rooms into a park. I wonder if the room availability for the week is due to all the flight problems across the country-- but then wouldn't park availability open up too-- or when cancellations happen do those not go back into the system? Yesterday when they were trying to figure out a place to stay and what to do, WDW told them they should just go ahead and book and come check into their resort and then hope maybe a reservation to a park would open up for one of more of their days. They were told there were no guarantees, and no refund of even part of the hotel prices if WDW or their resort was not able to get them into any park all week Really? Bring the kids- pay WDW holiday resort prices- come sit at a hotel and wait-- and maybe we let them into a park, and maybe not.

The kids wanted to go to Disney over Universal as they are not real big on thrill rides, and they are a Disney family--- but they checked Universal. Universal got them into an on property hotel, tickets to the parks, free universal unlimited express ride access, and early entry. So-- that is were they are. My friend, who is a huge Disney fan, said the customer service and concern for helping them was enormously better at Universal than what they got dealing with WDW.

 

[Narcoossee11]

THIS is how the system works now. Like it not.
I am sure your friends were sad/upset but the other 50000 + guest were happy to not have even one more person in the park since it was soooo crowded.

Now your friends can also become a Universal family.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Yeah, I’m here right now and all I have to say is thank god for park reservations. The experience would be completely miserable if htey let anyone else in the parks. If you want to go christmas week, you need to plan in advance, simple as that.

 

[focusondisney]

So- our good friends took their kids on a Disney cruise for Christmas. The plan was to fly home early Christmas Day -- after multiple delays their flight was cancelled and due to all the issues this week the airline could not get them another flight home for 5 days!!!!! So, since they weren't going to get any Christmas celebration at home, the new plan was to try to spend a few days at WDW. Disney could get them a resort reservation in almost any resort--- they mostly had their pick of deluxe, moderate or value, with just a couple that were full--- BUT what disney could not get them as of yesterday was ANY park reservations at all as resort guests for December 26- 29. Not one park--- I see today they have at least one park available on a couple of those days--- but yesterday WDW told them there was absolutely nothing available, and nothing they could do to get them into the parks even as resort guests.

They, and we ,have been at Christmas before-- and resort guests were always guaranteed admission to a park-- not a park of your choosing--, but you get into at least one, and then if you have hoppers and something reopened from capacity to resort guests you could hop. Also, back when we have gone at Christmas- you better book early because there was no availability at a lot of the resorts if you waited. It surprises me with all the room availability they have at so many resorts this week, they can't guarantee to get anyone who actually books those rooms into a park. I wonder if the room availability for the week is due to all the flight problems across the country-- but then wouldn't park availability open up too-- or when cancellations happen do those not go back into the system? Yesterday when they were trying to figure out a place to stay and what to do, WDW told them they should just go ahead and book and come check into their resort and then hope maybe a reservation to a park would open up for one of more of their days. They were told there were no guarantees, and no refund of even part of the hotel prices if WDW or their resort was not able to get them into any park all week Really? Bring the kids- pay WDW holiday resort prices- come sit at a hotel and wait-- and maybe we let them into a park, and maybe not.

The kids wanted to go to Disney over Universal as they are not real big on thrill rides, and they are a Disney family--- but they checked Universal. Universal got them into an on property hotel, tickets to the parks, free universal unlimited express ride access, and early entry. So-- that is were they are. My friend, who is a huge Disney fan, said the customer service and concern for helping them was enormously better at Universal than what they got dealing with WDW.

Disney has never guaranteed park admission to resort guests. With tiered closures, park guests were in the last tier, but were not guaranteed admission. Consider it as the closures are just happening ahead of time now. Your friends were making last minute plans, but that was not WDWs fault. I’m not sure why you would complain they would not get a refund on their hotel rate if they can’t get in to a park? The hotel rate is for the HOTEL room. Not park admission. Sure, it stinks for all the people that got stuck away from home. But seriously, it’s not Disney’s fault. What if the hundreds (maybe thousands, I don’t know) of people stuck in Orlando right now want to go to WDW too??? Well, they want to go, so just let everyone in?

 

[SLThomas318]

I do find it interesting that there are so many resort options but not park reservations... def shows the on-site value is lacking!

 

[Narcoossee11]

I do find it interesting that there are so many resort options but not park reservations... def shows the on-site value is lacking!

Most gst that are in the parks are NOT staying on Disney property.

 

[ktlm]

I am sure your friends were sad/upset

Now your friends can also become a Universal family.

Don't like it all as opposed to how things were pre-2020. They are making the best of it-- a little irritated by it with all the resort availability- but their vacation was just supposed to be the Disney cruise so anything else is a bonus to the kids. More annoyed that the airlines can't get them home for 5 days. Their flight was canceled due to a crew member not showing up and not having a replacement-- pilot and plane were there. They are very grateful to Universal- but it won't make them a Universal family-- too many screen based rides and thrill rides for their family. They are having fun though.

Disney has never guaranteed park admission to resort guests. With tiered closures, park guests were in the last tier, but were not guaranteed admission. Consider it as the closures are just happening ahead of time now. Your friends were making last minute plans, but that was not WDWs fault. I’m not sure why you would complain they would not get a refund on their hotel rate if they can’t get in to a park? The hotel rate is for the HOTEL room. Not park admission. Sure, it stinks for all the people that got stuck away from home. But seriously, it’s not Disney’s fault. What if the hundreds (maybe thousands, I don’t know) of people stuck in Orlando right now don’t know) of people stuck in Orlando right now want to go to WDW too??? Well, they want to go, so just let everyone in?

Actually they have--- pre-2020 we have been there at really busy times when parks were closing to capacity and that was one of the specifically set out perks of staying on site. Park admission to one of the 4 parks was guaranteed if you were a resort guest.- even if all 4 parks were technially at "tier 4". We were told that you were guaranted a single entry per day-- so if you left the park they let you in, there was no guarantee of re-entry to any of the 4. In reality, it actually wasn't much of a perk- as Tier 3 closures of all 4 parks where only resort guests got in happened, but Tier 4 closures of ALL 4 parks at the same time was extremely rare and almost never happened. EPCOT rarely closed because it had a large capacity. Way back on New Years Eve 1999, there was a Tier 4 closure of all parks-- at least for part of the day. Resort guests were directed to Animal Kingdom and let in. We were actually at AK by choice that day as we were attending the NYE party at the now long gone Pleasure Island that evening. I remember people talking about - and us also talking to people about- , them being sent to AK as all 4 parks were Tier 4 closed. The resort bus stops were only taking people to the one park.

As for hundreds or thousands- of people- if rooms are available on property--- and they had their pick of any resort except for 2--- then the people that book those rooms should be able to enter a park. They didn't ask for a refund--- WDW wanted them to come and gamble that maybe park reservations would open up and specifically told them that there would be no partial refund if they never were able to enter a park. Disney hotel rates are not normal hotel rates--- you pay for alot more than the room even outside of the park admission- you pay a premium for transportation and proximity to the parks which is worthless if they don't let you in a park. This week the values are at around $250, moderate $400, and deluxe $850- those are standard deluxe rooms too- not view or club. Not blaming Disney for being busy-- blaming them for bad changes in the system.

I do find it interesting that there are so many resort options but not park reservations... def shows the on-site value is lacking!

Yep. The only resorts with no availability were Poly and AK. They had their choice of any other on property resort for all 5 nights. I've never known the resorts to have that much availability the week between christmas and New Years. They could even get into WL or GF-- which with their holiday decor you used to have to book really early if you wanted to get in those. Of course the prices are ridiculously high for the week after Christmas this year too- higher than we had ever seen them.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I actually think that popular times like christmas/Easter/thanksgiving are the only times they really *should* have park reservations. Let’s be honest, the rest of the year, they’re using park reservations to save costs on staffing and to push people to parks that haven’t hit their attendance targets. But Christmas week, park reservations are critical to making sure that **everyone** in the parks doesn’t have a miserable experience at the expense of a few people who are blocked out because they didn’t plan ahead. While I hate the park reservation system generally, as someone who has visited over christmas both before and after reservations, I really do hope they keep some form of reservation system for Christmas week at least. Here right now, it is soooo much better than it was pre-covid.

 

[sheilafri]

I actually think that popular times like christmas/Easter/thanksgiving are the only times they really *should* have park reservations. Let’s be honest, the rest of the year, they’re using park reservations to save costs on staffing and to push people to parks that haven’t hit their attendance targets. But Christmas week, park reservations are critical to making sure that **everyone** in the parks doesn’t have a miserable experience at the expense of a few people who are blocked out because they didn’t plan ahead. While I hate the park reservation system generally, as someone who has visited over christmas both before and after reservations, I really do hope they keep some form of reservation system for Christmas week at least. Here right now, it is soooo much better than it was pre-covid.

I take your point and actually agree with it. I wonder if Disney worries that people will not be aware of the need for reservations only during a few times a year and end up shut out during those times leading to really negative perceptions. They may feel that the burden of year round reservations (to the guests) is worth it for the benefit of staffing savings (for Disney).

 

[kathy884]

At least there are other options in Orlando, and Universal while not first choice was available for them making lemonade out of lemons to some extent. For the busy Christmas week, the front of line passes should be great for them to have. SeaWorld is a great park to spend some time in at Christmas too IMHO and is less crowded than any of the Disney or Universal parks. Actually it's nice that they could at least get a Plan B option somewhere. Personally (after having done this way too many times), I'd rather not step foot in a Disney theme park Christmas week. Pre Covid crowds have honestly been insane for decades. All said and done, I honestly think the Universal option sounds delightful for them. There is the option too to do some resort hopping at Disney if they'd like that for a day. Might give them a little bit of a Disney fix. It isn't what they wanted, but this may actually be a blessing in disguise.

Disneyland Paris FYI if you book thru Disney for the resorts they own includes park hoppers for one more day than the length of your stay FYI. You can't book room only there FYI and they automatically reserve stays for you. If they aren't filling rooms there though and offer room only thru third party you have to buy and make park reservations there too.

WDW with about 40,000 spaces for hotel/condo guests just doesn't have that particular system right now. It is what it is and I do realize their disappointment and that previous rules would have given them their first choice. With last minute stuff though you end up taking what you can get and if you can get over your disappointment with Plan B, C, D, you'll probably have a pretty nice time.

We have some make a wish foundation kids that were supposed to fly down yesterday and can't get to Orlando for several days with the weather and airline flight cancellations. The foundation is now looking into renting a minivan to get them to Orlando. Being stuck in Orlando honestly sounds (if you can afford to do some fun things), like a lot better option than being stuck at the airport. But I get it that even if others have things worse that doesn't make up for disappointment in not doing your first choice.

 

[lanejudy]

wonder if the room availability for the week is due to all the flight problems across the country-- but then wouldn't park availability open up too-- or when cancellations happen do those not go back into the system?

Possible the excess room availability is due to travel troubles resulting in cancellations. However theme park reservations are not automatically cancelled; they may drop after a period of time assuming the associated ticket was also cancelled/changed. Which may be why park reservations  could become available during the week. Not everyone books a package (room+tickets) so it's possible many of the tickets did not get cancelled, instead being held for credit towards future tickets and the guest never thought to cancel their park reservations.

Sorry your friends had their holiday plans upended. I hope they enjoyed the cruise and have fun at Universal.

 

[Miffy]

Don't like it all as opposed to how things were pre-2020. They are making the best of it-- a little irritated by it with all the resort availability- but their vacation was just supposed to be the Disney cruise so anything else is a bonus to the kids. More annoyed that the airlines can't get them home for 5 days. Their flight was canceled due to a crew member not showing up and not having a replacement-- pilot and plane were there. They are very grateful to Universal- but it won't make them a Universal family-- too many screen based rides and thrill rides for their family. They are having fun though.

Actually they have--- pre-2020 we have been there at really busy times when parks were closing to capacity and that was one of the specifically set out perks of staying on site. Park admission to one of the 4 parks was guaranteed if you were a resort guest.- even if all 4 parks were technially at "tier 4". We were told that you were guaranted a single entry per day-- so if you left the park they let you in, there was no guarantee of re-entry to any of the 4. In reality, it actually wasn't much of a perk- as Tier 3 closures of all 4 parks where only resort guests got in happened, but Tier 4 closures of ALL 4 parks at the same time was extremely rare and almost never happened. EPCOT rarely closed because it had a large capacity. Way back on New Years Eve 1999, there was a Tier 4 closure of all parks-- at least for part of the day. Resort guests were directed to Animal Kingdom and let in. We were actually at AK by choice that day as we were attending the NYE party at the now long gone Pleasure Island that evening. I remember people talking about - and us also talking to people about- , them being sent to AK as all 4 parks were Tier 4 closed. The resort bus stops were only taking people to the one park.

As for hundreds or thousands- of people- if rooms are available on property--- and they had their pick of any resort except for 2--- then the people that book those rooms should be able to enter a park. They didn't ask for a refund--- WDW wanted them to come and gamble that maybe park reservations would open up and specifically told them that there would be no partial refund if they never were able to enter a park. Disney hotel rates are not normal hotel rates--- you pay for alot more than the room even outside of the park admission- you pay a premium for transportation and proximity to the parks which is worthless if they don't let you in a park. This week the values are at around $250, moderate $400, and deluxe $850- those are standard deluxe rooms too- not view or club. Not blaming Disney for being busy-- blaming them for bad changes in the system.

Yep. The only resorts with no availability were Poly and AK. They had their choice of any other on property resort for all 5 nights. I've never known the resorts to have that much availability the week between christmas and New Years. They could even get into WL or GF-- which with their holiday decor you used to have to book really early if you wanted to get in those. Of course the prices are ridiculously high for the week after Christmas this year too- higher than we had ever seen them.

I was at WDW a couple of weeks ago and was supposed to fly home on Dec 16th but I got concerned about the weather forecast for upstate NY, so I changed my flight to come back on Dec. 17th instead.

I had to get a room for the night of the 16th. It was so easy. I was able to get a room for one night at POFQ (where I was staying) with the AP discount, no less, and the front desk nicely arranged my being able to stay in the same room. But I could've stayed basically anywhere on property--and with the AP discount! I haven't seen room availability like this at WDW since before the pandemic.

I have no direct proof of this, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that the ever-higher cost of a WDW vacation is starting to affect resort bookings there. I'm hoping to see significant discounts next year--more like 30% or 40% instead of 20%.

 

[ktlm]

We have some make a wish foundation kids that were supposed to fly down yesterday and can't get to Orlando for several days with the weather and airline flight cancellations. The foundation is now looking into renting a minivan to get them to Orlando. Being stuck in Orlando honestly sounds (if you can afford to do some fun things), like a lot better option than being stuck at the airport. But I get it that even if others have things worse that doesn't make up for disappointment in not doing your first choice.

Oh I hope they get those kids to Orlando!!!!!!

Yep- I can't imagine spending 5 days and nights in the airport. I don't know what people are doing who splurged on a Christmas vacation as a present and don't have the means for an extra 5 days of a hotel. They looked into renting a car to get home even though it is about a 20 hour drive- but they could not get one that was allowed to be returned at their local airport, or even a larger airport a few hours away. Cars were available to be rented as long as they were returned at one of the Florida airports. Guess they don't want all their rental cars to be returned out of state. We had the same problem trying to get home in the flight craziness this summer--- cars available, but not if you wanted to drive them out of state to get home. With all the news reports and continued flight disruptions, they are starting to worry about whether Southwest is going to actually get them home this weekend.

 

[gharter]

As others noted, it is interesting that there was resort availability, but not park reservations.
I wonder if that means that many more are now staying off site, as on site used to be booked solid over Christmas. Or rooms cancelled and their park reservations didn't, or they moved off site to save money.
Either way, getting stuck due to flight cancellations is never fun.

 

[supersnoop]

Actually they have--- pre-2020 we have been there at really busy times when parks were closing to capacity and that was one of the specifically set out perks of staying on site. Park admission to one of the 4 parks was guaranteed if you were a resort guest.- even if all 4 parks were technially at "tier 4".

That policy was discontinued in 1998; over 24 years ago.

That said; I don't think there was ever a time that all four parks reached tier 4 closure status, so it's likely true that a resort reservation has de facto allowed for admittance to at least one park until now.

 

[ktlm]

That policy was discontinued in 1998; over 24 years ago.

That said; I don't think there was ever a time that all four parks reached tier 4 closure status, so it's likely true that a resort reservation has de facto allowed for admittance to at least one park until now.

Actually, I think what was discontinued in 1998 was a policy that you were guaranteed admission to any of the parks you wanted regardless of closure status if you were at a Disney resort. After a ton of complaints about that being discontinued they then went from no guarantee to a resort guest guarantee of "A" park entry of WDW's choosing.

I think after that it pretty much was a non-issue. I'm with you -I don't know of any time that all 4 parks have been at a Tier 4 closure- except for a few hours on New Years Eve 1999. I know it happened that day because we were there. Basically the guarantee of "A" park entry for resort guests was Disney smoke and mirrors and PR--- they knew a 4 park Tier 4 closure was pretty much never (well once) going to happen--- so make your customers feel like they are getting something when you really aren't giving them anything. That was back when Disney cared about customer service and appearance.

 

[Narcoossee11]

The reports of how CRAZY and crowded both DLAND and WDW was/is this Christmas, proves how there is a need for park reservations.
Can you imagine if ALL could get into the parks

 

[mom2rtk]

The reports of how CRAZY and crowded both DLAND and WDW was/is this Christmas, proves how there is a need for park reservations.
Can you imagine if ALL could get into the parks

Disney has always had the control to close off admission at any level they decided to set.

 

[gorjus121]

Wouldn't surprise me if more guests are staying offsite due to the increasing costs. Our flight on Christmas Eve was canceled on Friday night. We checked for hours for alternative flights and hotels. As of last Friday night, there was not much availability at Disney hotels for this week, so I imagine many that opened were due to flight cancelations.

 

[maciemouse]

Most gst that are in the parks are NOT staying on Disney property.

We will start staying off property with those folks in the future if Disney does not come down off those hotel prices. They are ridiculous.