8. Downside – The system is rough on Passholders and Park-Hoppers
Passholders have good reason to continue to dislike Parks Pass Reservations—the implementation of the system meant an end to spontaneous Disney visits for Florida locals and DVC Passholders.
The ability to make off-the-cuff visits at almost any time was, admittedly, one of the best perks of having an annual pass prior to the pandemic. Sure, most passes had some blackout dates, but these were generally on busy days when frequent guests might not want to visit in the first place. While it is still possible to make same-day Parks Pass Reservations on some occasions, those are becoming harder to come by. In this regard, the Parks Pass Reservation system has definitely had some negative impacts on Passholders.
The other big negative affects not only Passholders but a very wide range of guests: park hopping remains extremely limited at Walt Disney World.
This is the pandemic measure that we are the most surprised to see still in place. Previous to the closures, Passholders and guests with a park hopper ticket could visit any Disney park they wanted throughout the day—even all four if you chose. Following the pandemic reopening, park hopping was shut down, and it took some time for Disney to even re-institute it at all. When they finally did, they added a huge limitation: park hopping is only available after 2PM.
The primary reason for the park hopping limit comes back to the Parks Pass Reservation system—you can’t plan for specific park capacity numbers if guests can start their day at any park they want. While we aren’t surprised that Disney has left some limitations on park hopping, we are surprised they haven’t expanded the park hopping window at least by a few hours. This remains one of the biggest issues where we think Disney could win back some fan goodwill if they gave guests a little more flexibility.
9. Upside – Disney now has a built-in pandemic safeguard
If nothing else, Disney Parks Pass Reservations certainly accomplished the company’s original goal: to have a system in place to prevent a future extended closure of Disney’s US parks.
As long as the terms “pandemic” and “COVID-19” remain topics of concern in the news, Disney is going to want to keep measures in place to ensure they can act quickly in the event of a push for lockdowns and closures. Keeping Disney Parks Pass Reservations in place makes sense in this environment—it means Disney can act very quickly to limit park capacity should the need arise. It also has given Disney a tool to navigate complex national issues like staff and supply shortages.
There is no question Disney as a company wants to do everything they can to prevent the losses of 2020 from ever happening again (a concern that has likely influenced their continued push to move Imagineering to Florida despite discontent within the company). At a bare minimum, keeping the Parks Pass Reservation system in place remains a smart move to mitigate these concerns for now.
10. Downside – It’s much harder to replicate the magic of a pre-pandemic Disney trip
It’s been a season of a lot of change—a multi-year season now.
Disney parks were going in pretty amazing directions back in 2019. Guest satisfaction was increasing, and no one foresaw the effect the events of 2020 would have on the parks experience.
Unfortunately, what has happened has happened, and the arrival of sweeping changes like the implementation of Genie+ and Parks Pass Reservations mean it is nearly impossible to replicate the magic of a Disney vacation from prior to the pandemic.
Don’t get me wrong—there is a lot of good at Walt Disney World and Disneyland right now. Fresh arrivals like Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and the upcoming TRON Lightcycle/Run are all welcome additions. Demand is clearly very, very high for Disney vacations right now.
But that doesn’t mean the change hasn’t proven more than some guests are willing to flow with.
It seems unlikely that we will see Disney Parks Pass Reservations disappear anytime soon. The benefits for Disney as a company are just too good to ignore, even if it has meant some serious hampering for guests longing for the Disney experience of yesterday. We will acknowledge that parks reservation have resulted in some benefits, even for guests.
At the same time, there’s no question we miss much about Disney parks before the changes of the pandemic, and many of those shifts are unquestionably tied to the arrival of Disney Parks Pass Reservations.
How do you feel about Disney’s Parks Pass Reservation System? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook! Thanks for reading!
Comments
My wife and I were premium annual passholders for 2 decades. At one point, we went to a park at least once every two weeks. I used to defend Disney as the best place to "hang out". Not anymore. Our annual passes expired January 2021. The negatives you listed for park reservations are precisely why we will not renew our passes. As long as Disney continues to require park reservations, I won't be going there (meaning, I won't be spending money there) and I'll encourage anyone who mentions Disney to me to do the same.
Where have you been? The crowds are far worse w/ the reservation system than anything I saw before, even on typical off season days. I think they're using the reservation system to admit even more crowds .
Last trip to WDW was 2007. Planning a quick visit while moving daughter in to the DCP. Wow, big difference. Really takes some of the spontaneity and flexibility out of it. Example, now your reservation is for a park and you want go see the outside stuff like parades and shows or animals at AK. And that morning weather changed. Your stuck with a reservation in the rain.