WDW to prevent AP holders from visiting parks many mornings

[Madame]

@Madame My screen shots look identical to yours. Except that after picking a day on the calendar, it slides open a section which displays the current status of every park. You don't actually select parks until after, but this status is appearing for me (in Safari browser).

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Yeah I don’t see anything like that at all! I’m on Chrome on my laptop.

 

[Mle8308]

If you have the time and inclination could you post the screenshots of what you’re seeing? I’m just interested to see as I’ve bought 3 sets of tix since early Dec 2021 and each time I have to do park reservations *after* checkout. For someone who isn’t overly familiar with the system/wdw I could see how this gets missed after purchase.

It would not have let you purchase those tickets if any one of those days were already full. Meaning all 4 parks fully reserved for one of the days during that time frame. It doesn't happen very often. If at least one park had availability during that time frame, it will allow you to buy them.

 

[Madame]

For Disneyland, it actually forces you to choose a park each day before proceeding. (Note Disneyland is at capacity the first two days listed below, thus not an option. Both parks available on July 20)

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Yes, this is what I wish the process was like for WDW.

 

[Madame]

It would not have let you purchase those tickets if any one of those days were already full. Meaning all 4 parks fully reserved for one of the days during that time frame. It doesn't happen very often. If at least one park had availability during that time frame, it will allow you to buy them.

Yes but we’re debating customers forgetting or overlooking the fact that park reservations are necessary at all.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It’s just a simple tweak though. Putting the park selection *during* the purchase process instead of after the checkout. I work with hundreds of teens yearly so I understand what you’re saying, but a simple adjustment puts the onus squarely on the consumer. I assume something in the system won’t allow for « holds » on the park reservations though so maybe that’s why.

While I respect what you're saying truth is someone will still be confused with picking a park during the process especially when you have many days.

I know that I could keep track of what parks I picked during the 7 days of park days I would have in May but I also am a spreadsheet kind of person and my husband are planners and I am well used to MDE having used it since 2015 and well used to apps.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law? They wouldn't have the darndest clue what parks they picked much less what the heck they were picking. Like they wouldn't understand this concept and no amount of wording would get them. And consider how many people are managing other people's park plans. My comment wasn't about what they could do but rather that people showing up clueless will happen regardless.

Besides many of us don't want to be locked any anymore than we are now by picking park days during the checkout. That would have been a gigantic mess for my May trip. I don't think people actually realize how much of an awful experience it would be to have to pick your park like that during the process.

There was a long debate many months ago about the park reservation system wording and process. It's been hashed out before but in terms of this thread with AP holders and the rumor it's a totally different thing

 

[Mle8308]

Yes but we’re debating customers forgetting or overlooking the fact that park reservations are necessary at all.

Gotcha. No patience to read the entire thread, and it seems a little off the original topic. Though it's hard to believe someone could overlook the reservation piece! Forgetting, maybe, but either way, that's on them. And this is probably not related to what you are debating!

 

[tjkraz]

The part that I find disturbing is that on three days in this screenshot alone, 50% of the parks are closed for reservations. Why? What makes Thursday, Friday, and Monday in late July so unusual as to shut off access?

Let me answer your question with one of my own.

Does it make sense to add staffing at MK and DHS--in order to increase capacity--if Epcot and Animal Kingdom are currently under-utilized?

 

[Miffy]

And yet, for nearly 50 years, there was no park reservation system at WDW. It seems to me--and this is just my opinion, nothing more--that the entire park reservation system has been implemented because of the current staffing shortages.

That being said, it's possible that WDW management sees this system as a way to keep staffing levels low.

One thing that I find ridiculous is how G+ is touted as something that makes spontaneity easier and that it "levels the playing field." In fact, G+ is a moneymaker for Disney. Don't believe me? Try talking to a few guests on their first WDW visit and see how much they understand about Genie, G+, and ILL$. It's very similar to the previous situation with FP and FP+--people can be utterly clueless about how things work.

 

[Smugpugmug]

It's not a feeling, it's just how it is and if you've worked with the public enough you'd know it.

I wish signs, bold letters, hand spooning and everything worked for everyone but it doesn't. Retail and food people get it quite quickly that there is no way every single person they encounter pays attention to things, even right in front of them. Heck even when I was in corporate world people can be that way. I was in insurance world my husband in engineering. Oodles of stories to tell and across the nation, and globally (germany, canada, mexico, india, etc) somehow doesn't seem to matter.

Your opinion is Disney isn't doing it well enough, what isn't up for debate is that there will always be people, sometimes a lot, that still don't get it. Even ones who call for improvement to the park reservation system seemed to get that.

I do agree that the park reservation process should be tweaked to where you make the reservations when you buy your tickets but I also agree that no matter how clear Disney makes the process, people will still be clueless. I worked in retail and I've seen it firsthand. We had signs very clearly displaying what the sales were and regardless of that I was asked over 100 times a shift what the sales were. Even when it comes to Disney, on Disney FB groups I'm in people are clueless about park reservations, MDE, ADRs and even what rides are in each park. A common question I see asked is what parks are the Harry Potter rides in LOL

 

[wnielsen1]

The part that I find disturbing is that on three days in this screenshot alone, 50% of the parks are closed for reservations. Why? What makes Thursday, Friday, and Monday in late July so unusual as to shut off access?

These late July dates begin 3 days from now. I assume it is common for parks to be unavailable that close to the actual date.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Let me answer your question with one of my own.

Does it make sense to add staffing at MK and DHS--in order to increase capacity--if Epcot and Animal Kingdom are currently under-utilized?

It does if those are the only days that you can go to MK and DHS. I've been going to WDW for decades and can only recall a few instances where parks were at capacity. This is nuts.

 

[Madame]

Gotcha. No patience to read the entire thread, and it seems a little off the original topic. Though it's hard to believe someone could overlook the reservation piece! Forgetting, maybe, but either way, that's on them. And this is probably not related to what you are debating!

Too many posts on FB of people (off site mainly) who bought tix and didn’t realize they had to reserve a park and now (usually only days before) they can’t get into MK (other than hopping), say otherwise.

If their screen looks like mine, they’re purchasing before ever seeing park availability. The only way to see it for me during the process is to click where I circled which opens a new window - it’s not clear at all.

I’ll bow out now & allow the thread to get back on track

 

[BeachClub2014]

These late July dates begin 3 days from now. I assume it is common for parks to be unavailable that close to the actual date.

Which doesn't make me feel any better. Parks being routinely unavailable does not lead to the feeling that WDW remains the most magical place on earth.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Which doesn't make me feel any better. Parks being routinely unavailable does not lead to the feeling that WDW remains the most magical place on earth.

So the conversation with our local DISer friends went this weekend (ETA: these are local to Orlando, AP holders at WDW who were saying this)

"I think for now if I were to recommend a place for someone to go especially with kids it would not be to WDW." This was the same in May and since we were just in Silver Dollar City that same couple said "I would recommend SDC over WDW to a family"

An interesting observation to them was just how many snack carts there were and how they felt WDW had so little these days. They were impressed with the food service and how quick it was comparing it to "the very long lines at WDW".

 

[tjkraz]

It does if those are the only days that you can go to MK and DHS. I've been going to WDW for decades and can only recall a few instances where parks were at capacity. This is nuts.

Well, Disney is the one making that decision. If I put on my manager hat, I can completely understand why. Every business has some minimum staffing requirements. Epcot has some minimum number of workers it takes to staff the front gates, attractions, guest relations, dining venues, etc. Once you've met those requirements, you can accommodate "X" amount of business (guests.)

If Animal Kingdom and Epcot are staffed to the minimum yet still not at max guest capacity, that's where you want to route people. It doesn't make sense to have unused capacity at two locations (EP, AK) while adding MORE capacity at others (MK, HS).

It's unfortunate for the guests, but it's easy to avoid by booking 2 weeks in advance. Including today, 9 of the next 11 days have one or more parks at capacity. After that, everything is wide open except for MK on one random day in August and one day in October. If things start to fill up a month or more in advance, Disney tends to increase capacity. I'll be pretty surprised if they don't increase capacity for MK on those 2 days.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Well, Disney is the one making that decision. If I put on my manager hat, I can completely understand why. Every business has some minimum staffing requirements. Epcot has some minimum number of workers it takes to staff the front gates, attractions, guest relations, dining venues, etc. Once you've met those requirements, you can accommodate "X" amount of business (guests.)

I fully understand that Disney is responsible for the decision, and it is, in my opinion, not a good one. If I were to put on my manager hat (which I do every day, btw) I would ensure that I have adequate resources and staffing to meet customer needs, wants, and demands. I'm not trying to argue or take us down tangential rabbit holes so will bow out with one final editorial comment: This is a bad policy that will not lead to enhanced customer satisfaction or a better guest experience.

 

[DL1WDW2]

And Knotts Berry Farm for southern cal near DL ! Haha

Back on topic …
Lets consider Disney has created enough data to consider making a new AP / Park Pass Reservation category for WDW .

They have already implemented a restriction to penalize those park pass reserves that fail to cancel in advance at DL.

Is that the sum total of the problem . They just added up all the No Cancel failures on a daily basis and decided this solves the problem.
A new chapter to add to the Disney Travel planning Book.
I feel like I am going to have to start using stickies all over myself to remeber the criteria as I walk around the Parks.

This will just force us to want to keep our planning even more simpler to the point that we just choose to stay home and read a different book.
Can I have my money back on that WDW Guidebook still?
The 2022 version is already outdated !

I don’t think Genie can keep up with it either.

 

[tjkraz]

I fully understand that Disney is responsible for the decision, and it is, in my opinion, not a good one. If I were to put on my manager hat (which I do every day, btw) I would ensure that I have adequate resources and staffing to meet customer needs, wants, and demands. I'm not trying to argue or take us down tangential rabbit holes so will bow out with one final editorial comment: This is a bad policy that will not lead to enhanced customer satisfaction or a better guest experience.

In some cases, they may not have additional staffing available to make that happen.

But even if they do, Disney has apparently determined the additional resources do not justify the business it would add. Perhaps the majority of guests ARE willing to go to other parks, with the option of hopping to their preferred destination later in the day. And the amount of business they stand to lose altogether is not material.

Time will tell whether they are right or wrong.

 

[RoseGold]

Does it make sense to add staffing at MK and DHS--in order to increase capacity--if Epcot and Animal Kingdom are currently under-utilized?

HS's problem is size and rides. And reliability. It just isn't big enough for its crowd load. MMRR, Slinky, ROTR, even RnR are going down all the time. ToT is half down for months. When one of these rides goes down, that's thousands of people with nothing to absorb.

Hiring staff isn't going to help. HS just can't handle the load the other parks can. That's why it's the first to sell out.

 

[Smugpugmug]

HS's problem is size and rides. And reliability. It just isn't big enough for its crowd load. MMRR, Slinky, ROTR, even RnR are going down all the time. ToT is half down for months. When one of these rides goes down, that's thousands of people with nothing to absorb.

Hiring staff isn't going to help. HS just can't handle the load the other parks can. That's why it's the first to sell out.

I agree 100%. This park needs more B and C ticket attractions. The E tickets they're building do not have the capacity for the amount of people visiting the park. They especially need to stop removing high capacity attractions to build lower capacity attractions that keep breaking down *side eyeing GMR and MMRR*