Possible new reservation options for AP holders

[Jrb1979]

I must be dense because I'm not getting this. Is this what it means?

I'm an AP holder not staying on site. I decide I want to go MK on day x but look at the reservation calendar for APs and see there is no availability that day. Then day of I look and there might be availability to enter at 12 or 5. Could I still book another park and hop over to MK that day at 2 (If that rule still holds)

I'm assuming if there was availability in advance on the calendar I could book morning and still go to MK that day but hop to another park later. Or am I going to have to check the calendar on the day to see if there is availability and book my 2nd park to hop to say noon or 5?

Very confusing to me and makes it all the more important if you have an AP and are from out of town to stay on site, since people staying on site seem to get priority.

If there is availability you could book in advance. The way I see it is this gives Disney to change the buckets and give more to resort guests and those with multi day tickets ahead of AP holders.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Ah ok.

So we would just grab Epcot the night before (or a few days before or whatever) to be safe.

This new option would only be if we were "shut out" on a given day, and decided to check day of availability.

Otherwise there seems to no reason to wait and check, or ever use it actually.

Expect to be "shut out" a lot more. This will probably be a way for Disney to further restrict AP's, by making it very difficult to get morning availaibilty so that they can give that capacity to their "more valuable" ticket holders.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

If there is availability you could book in advance. The way I see it is this gives Disney to change the buckets and give more to resort guests and those with multi day tickets ahead of AP holders.

Yes, it's this. It's another way for Disney to devalue the AP and get more "valuable" guests into the park and keep the "less valuable" AP holders out at peak times.

 

[jade1]

Expect to be "shut out" a lot more. This will probably be a way for Disney to further restrict AP's, by making it very difficult to get morning availaibilty so that they can give that capacity to their "more valuable" ticket holders.

I will say we almost always just enter in the evening, but feel bad for others.

However we will likely grab available parks sooner than we have been just to be safe.

 

[Jrb1979]

Yes, it's this. It's another way for Disney to devalue the AP and get more "valuable" guests into the park and keep the "less valuable" AP holders out at peak times.

They have made that obvious ever since Chapek took over. If you want to visit the parks more often the best way is to stay on site

 

[DVCjj]

I know I'm old. A million trips under my belt and thought I was quite knowledgeable.

BUT....I DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA WHAT ALL THIS MEANS WITH THE ADVANCED PARK RESERVATIONS' DIFFERENT TIMES.

Disney tries my patience more & more each day.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I guess I’m really dense too
I don’t see where this changes a thing
Unless it gives us a chance to hop at noon on a day we can book one of those reservations. Could we book both a regular park reservation and a noon entry or is it going to be one or the other? If it one or the other why would I ever choose the noon or 5:00 one?

Then again we only stay on property so likely our impact using the reservation system is very different than others

 

[Jrb1979]

I guess I’m really dense too
I don’t see where this changes a thing
Unless it gives us a chance to hop at noon on a day we can book one of those reservations. Could we book both a regular park reservation and a noon entry or is it going to be one or the other? If it one or the other why would I ever choose the noon or 5:00 one?

Then again we only stay on property so likely our impact using the reservation system is very different than others

It's for AP holders only. You can't book a regular park reservation and a noon entry. The point of adding this is if a day you want is fully booked you can wait til day of and these might be an option instead.


For example Friday you wanted to do MK but it's fully booked. Come Friday they may add these options. AP holders can then book to go to MK at noon or 5pm.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

It's for AP holders only. You can't book a regular park reservation and a noon entry. The point of adding this is if a day you want is fully booked you can wait til day of and these might be an option instead.


For example Friday you wanted to do MK but it's fully booked. Come Friday they may add these options. AP holders can then book to go to MK at noon or 5pm.

That’s conjecture. No one knows what this is yet.

 

[Jrb1979]

That’s conjecture. No one knows what this is yet.

What else could it possibly be? The point of it is to fill in unused capacity.

 

[Liquidice]

What else could it possibly be? The point of it is to fill in unused capacity.

I thought the point was to avoid having APs take away park passes and then not show up until the evenings.

I think you're making an assumption that these will only be available day of.

Right now, if you were an AP and wanted to go to dinner at Epcot, you have 2 choices - you can book Epcot for the entire day if it is available, or if it isn't and another park is, you can book the other park and show up after 2pm to scan in and then hop to another park. In both cases you're taking away a park pass that someone could have used in the morning.

Where this creates an issue is some parks like Epcot may end up with lower crowd levels than Disney expected in the morning.

Where I see this being a bad thing for APs is likely the AP "pool" of all day park pass availability may be cut down and replaced with 12pm/5pm park passes will be made available for APs.

For Disney, the positive thing will be is they can make more park passes available for resort and ticket guests who will more than likely show up in the morning - and still get that AP traffic later in the day after resort and ticket guests have either park hopped or gone back to their hotels.

 

[Jrb1979]

I thought the point was to avoid having APs take away park passes and then not show up until the evenings.

I think you're making an assumption that these will only be available day of.

Right now, if you were an AP and wanted to go to dinner at Epcot, you have 2 choices - you can book Epcot for the entire day if it is available, or if it isn't and another park is, you can book the other park and show up after 2pm to scan in and then hop to another park. In both cases you're taking away a park pass that someone could have used in the morning.

Where this creates an issue is some parks like Epcot may end up with lower crowd levels than Disney expected in the morning.

Where I see this being a bad thing for APs is likely the AP "pool" of all day park pass availability may be cut down and replaced with 12pm/5pm park passes will be made available for APs.

For Disney, the positive thing will be is they can make more park passes available for resort and ticket guests who will more than likely show up in the morning - and still get that AP traffic later in the day after resort and ticket guests have either park hopped or gone back to their hotels.

In that case it's even worse for AP holders. My guess is a lot of morning availability will be gone. Pushing AP holders to half days or evenings.

 

[New Mouse]

Man the attendance must be hitting record stratospheric levels like they have never seen before!

Can't wait to sell my dvc at this point.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[Jrb1979]

Their view of a perfect world is the same number of people at the parks all day every day with the same ratio of vacationers to locals. This is their attempt to achieve that.

That is the basis behind the reservation system.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Didn’t they kinda create this problem when they started with Virtual Boarding sign up requirements? We’re stressed out all night worried about it and then we have to be awake and then we have to figure out the day without really knowing what’s going on!

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

In that case it's even worse for AP holders. My guess is a lot of morning availability will be gone. Pushing AP holders to half days or evenings.

Yes, a better title of this thread would be: “WDW to block out most peak mornings and many peak afternoons from AP holders, relegating AP holders to afternoons and evenings only during peak periods.”

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Off-site guests (the ones most likely to use afternoon entry) cannot even select Genie+ rides

This is not accurate. Off-site guests can select Genie+ rides at 7 am like on-site guests can.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[Liquidice]

Thank you for the correction of info, Anna.
Update: Are you sure? I know I have read that off-site guests (not in Disney partnership hotels like Swan/Dolphin) had to be in the park before they could pick Genie+ and ILL$ rides. Did they recently change to allow all guests to choose at 7:00 a.m. day of? Maybe a recent switch?

Anna is right.

At WDW, all guests can purchase Genie+ starting at midnight and make their first selection at 7am, whether they are staying onsite or not. Individual Lightning Lane purchases however (for E-Ticket rides like Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, Cosmic Rewind, 7DMT) are only available at 7am for Resort guests and are available at park open for everyone else.