Theme Park Reservation Advice

[elvispursley]

I’m hoping for some advice on making red actions. I’m the only AP-holder in our group so have to make park reservations. The other ticket no,Dee has a date-based PH ticket. I can’t make up my mind about which park to start the day at (was decisive enough to make ADRs for dinner so know where we want to to hop to)—do I figure out where to go now and make a park reservation or just decide the night before/morning of and make them then? We will be going 8/25-9/5. TIA!

 

[DL1WDW2]

I might choose the one that opens early and keep eye on weather for heat or thunderstorms .. Also would consider getting there early if I wanted the new Villains Show at Hollywood Studios.
Or Test Track at EPCOT.
Late for new Dream Parade at MK.2 parade times 9 & 11 with fireworks Im between.
Also newparade route was announced for MK
And No park hopping new restriction for new parade at MK.

 

[elvispursley]

And No park hopping new restriction for new parade at MK.

Is this newer than what was announced? I understood that as long as you had a reservation at another park, and MK was not at capacity, you could hop into MK? Did this get changed?

 

[scrappinginontario]

I might choose the one that opens early and keep eye on weather for heat or thunderstorms .. Also would consider getting there early if I wanted the new Villains Show at Hollywood Studios.
Or Test Track at EPCOT.
Late for new Dream Parade at MK.2 parade times 9 & 11 with fireworks Im between.
Also newparade route was announced for MK
And No park hopping new restriction for new parade at MK.

This information is not correct based on contact with the VIP passholder desk. (See below) The announcement on the Disney website is unclear if an AP requires a park reservation to the MK or, a park reservation to ANY park.

Is this newer than what was announced? I understood that as long as you had a reservation at another park, and MK was not at capacity, you could hop into MK? Did this get changed?

You are correct, an AP requires a park reservation to ANY park starting July 20, 2025 in order to be eligible to hop to MK for the nighttime parade. (What is unknown is if MK will ever close to park hopping, especially during party season, once the nighttime parade begins.)

This is the information @Disturbia received in writing from VIP Passholder Desk:

It seems that you need a park reservation at one of the parks (not necessarily MK) to hop to MK starting July 20. I emailed guest services and per the VIP passholder help desk:

View attachment 975023

 

[Genie+]

Imho park reservation for APs onsite is nasty. Straight up nasty.

 

[elvispursley]

Imho park reservation for APs onsite is nasty. Straight up nasty.

Totally agree. I have to have the highest AP since I’m out of state and hate that I’m forced to make reservations when I’m staying onsite.

Still torn and whether to make a plan now and make retractions for our morning park or wing it when we’re there. I guess I could make them now and then modify later.

 

[CaroM8]

If I could just ask for some clarification -
If I have a ticket that requires a park reservation, I am allowed to park hop correct?
And without the time restriction like a few years ago you couldn't hop until 2pm..?

Are you guys saying that it's possible I won't be able to hop to MK for the evening because of the new parade? Because that changes our plans a little if that is true. We are going mid September if that changes anything.

 

[Genie+]

Totally agree. I have to have the highest AP since I’m out of state and hate that I’m forced to make reservations when I’m staying onsite.

Still torn and whether to make a plan now and make retractions for our morning park or wing it when we’re there. I guess I could make them now and then modify later.

Yes! It’s nuts. Because in this situation they are not really gaining anything for the extra headaches to the guest. They already know:

You have an onsite reservation allowing you reserve parks everyday with no limt (whether you plan to go everyday or not) and you can keep changing those planned park days usually right up to a couple days prior (if/when they hit capacity).

What they can glean for onsite AP is not much different whether or not reservations are made.

It creates more headaches for the guest like you mentioned. The MK parade now adds another layer.

And it created another headache for us:

Like you, we reserved our park days about a month or so ahead of our onsite trip… even though not yet 100% sure exactly where we wanted to be every moment… pressured by potentially getting locked out of parks that made the best sense on certain days for us… and hopping with ADRs… and other family joining onsite without APs. A week or so after I made those preliminary park reservations for each day onsite, WDW decides to make half our trip “AP Good to Go Days”. Sounds nice, but then as we got closer to trip and final park schedules were released, we decided on a different park order. Result - I could not correct the old plans in MDE on the ‘good to go’ days. And the whole trip my MDE plans kept the wrong parks listed. Couldn’t edit. It just felt frustrating and senseless. Like on Tues my sister would ask something about Thurs, I’d open MDE and it would show Animal Kingdom reserved and evening ADR at HS, yet I’d have to remember that we changed AK to MK and that’s where we intend to start Thursday. Was super annoying on top of everything else regarding AP park reservations and the hyper planning needed in the LL era. Not to mention that ‘good to go’ days also meant increased park attendance, but that bothered me much less than the whole onsite AP shenanigans. That part needs to go! Onsite? Then you should always be ‘good to go’.

eta-
I should add that after they changed some of our trip dates to ‘good to go’, the system warned me that now I could possibly be denied entry to the parks I had previously reserved (due to capacity).

 

[Dave006]

If I have a ticket that requires a park reservation, I am allowed to park hop correct?
And without the time restriction like a few years ago you couldn't hop until 2pm..?

Yes park hopping is still alive and well. The 2 PM rule / issue is determined by your ticket type. What specific ticket type do you have?

Are you guys saying that it's possible I won't be able to hop to MK for the evening because of the new parade?

Yes it is possible but we don't really have any crowd history to know the chance if it happening when the new nighttime parade launches later this month.

It is simply a capacity issue that may limit guests entering on any specific day.

Dave

 

[scrappinginontario]

If I could just ask for some clarification -
If I have a ticket that requires a park reservation, I am allowed to park hop correct?
And without the time restriction like a few years ago you couldn't hop until 2pm..?

Are you guys saying that it's possible I won't be able to hop to MK for the evening because of the new parade? Because that changes our plans a little if that is true. We are going mid September if that changes anything.

Yes, you may hop from your reserved park as soon as you have tapped into the park where you have a reservation.

There is a possibility you will be unable to hop to the MK if the MK reaches capacity. We truly will not know the impact the new parade has on evening crowds until July 20th and then again starting in mid-August when the MK will only feature the new parade some evenings due to MNSSHP on other evenings. Only time will tell if they ever close MK to park hopping due to reaching capacity.

There is an entire thread dedicated to park hopping should you have any additional questions.

 

[CaroM8]

Thank you both!

I misread and thought the no hopping to MK for the parade was a new rule - I understand the capacity issue. Got it. I guess we will just have to wait and see!