Of all the changes we have seen at Disney parks over the past few years, few have stirred more controversy than Parks Pass Reservations… and all current signs indicate they’re here to stay.
For those unfamiliar, the Parks Pass Reservation system was a change Disney introduced following the long closures of the 2020 pandemic. In order to control park capacity levels, Disney began requiring reservations to visit any of their parks. Reservations are available in a limited capacity for three “pools” of visitors: Disney resort guests, annual Passholders, and everyone else.
Parks Pass Reservations definitely played an important role helping Disney get their parks reopened, but the system has lingered well beyond the lifting of other pandemic measures. In fact, all recent statements from Disney leadership have implied the system is here for the long term.
Required reservations mark one of the biggest changes to the Disney experience in the company’s history, and the system has certainly earned its fair share of criticism. If we’re stuck with park reservations for the foreseeable future, it’s worth asking an important question…
Is the Disney Parks Pass Reservations system entirely a bad thing?
I want to clarify that I am coming from the angle of someone who misses much about pre-pandemic Disney parks, such as being able to visit off-the-cuff as a Passholder. Like many readers, I’m not a fan of Genie+ and many of Disney’s sweeping cost-cutting measures. At the same time, I wanted to fairly weigh if there might be benefits gained from the reservation system while it remains in place.
What are the actual pros and cons of Disney requiring Parks Pass Reservations?
1. Upside – Crowds can’t get out of control so easily
If there is one positive to be gleaned from Disney’s Parks Pass Reservation system, it’s the effect it has had on crowd management at Walt Disney World.
The original purpose for Parks Pass Reservations was to limit capacity to reasonable levels as part of Disney’s pandemic safety measures. While most of those restrictions have been lifted, attendance limits have remained in place. While these limits are nowhere near as low as they were during the pandemic, the choice to cap park attendance has had a positive effect in preventing extreme surge days.
Prior to park reservations, guests were taking something of a risk if they visited during a busy season like Spring Break or around major holidays. On 4th of July and New Year’s Day in particular, Disney regularly was forced to cap entry to Magic Kingdom due to staggering demand.
By limiting capacity even in a small measure, Disney has taken a step towards preventing extreme surge days and limiting the sting of ultra-busy seasons. This is admittedly a positive, especially for those who have had no choice but to visit during these tumultuous times of year.
2. Downside – Walt Disney World still feels pretty crowded
While limited park capacity can certainly have positive effects, that doesn’t necessarily mean Disney is capping attendance at a cozy number. More and more, guests are noticing that when the parks reach reservation capacity, they definitely feel busy.
This makes sense from a business standpoint, as Disney’s primary goal has been to reestablish revenue streams lost during the pandemic. It remains in their best interest to squeeze as many people into the parks as their resources will allow. This means that there are certainly days Disney parks feel busy, even with the reservation system in place. This tends to be most noticeable at both Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Unfortunately, as long as demand remains high, it seems likely that Disney will continue to push the limits on where they can cap attendance, bringing in the most revenue while teetering on the knife’s edge of managing guest comfort with some attendance limits.
3. Upside – Disney can allocate resources better throughout the parks
There’s no question that the Parks Pass Reservation system provides a major upside for Disney—better resource allocation.
I know… not the most exciting subject, at least not for guests.
If Disney knows how many guests are visiting a particular park on a particular day, they can plan for staffing, supplies, and other budgetary factors with a precision that just wasn’t possible in the pre-pandemic free-for-all. Staffing shortages have proven one of the biggest hurdles Disney has struggled to overcome and limiting park capacity has allowed them to balance cast-to-guest ratios much more easily than before.
CEO Bob Chapek and Disney leadership have made much to do about this particular benefit, trying to sell it as a game-changer for the future of Disney parks. The theory is that if Disney can fine tune their budgets using Parks Pass Reservations, they can manage their revenue streams more effectively without having to raise ticket prices, ultimately meaning savings for guests. While this is great news for Disney as a company, we have to admit we’re skeptical of one thing…
4. Downside – Disney may not pass on the financial benefits to guests
Disney hasn’t had the best track record for lowering prices on… well, really anything.
Quite the opposite, one of the biggest frustrations fans have voiced is the feeling that Disney has priced out much of their target audience, to the point of nickel-and-diming guests with upcharges like Genie+, Individual Lightning Lane access, MagicBands, airport transportation, increased food costs, and more.
In truth, nothing in Disney’s recent decision-making has suggested significant savings are on the way for guests. Rather, increased demand for the parks has given Disney the greenlight to do pretty much whatever they want to keep the money coming in, even if that means losing some fan goodwill.
Another angle to consider is the fact that fine-tuned resource allocation doesn’t necessarily always work in guests’ favor. In the same way that Disney can choose to bolster resources and experiences in a park likely to be sold out, they can just as easily choose to skimp on resources for a park that isn’t at such high capacity. This could theoretically mean that guests trying to avoid crowds by visiting on less busy days may not have access to the same experiences as those visiting on high demand days. We haven’t seen this shift yet, but it is a theoretical situation that could occur.
While we do certainly hope to see any savings Disney incurs through the use of Parks Pass Reservations passed on to guests, we remain skeptical of this actually happening. If trends continue, it seems far more likely that Disney will happily take any revenue boosts into pocket without passing on meaningful savings to guests.
5. Upside – Guests have a better idea what they’re getting into
Let’s look at another positive: the implementation of Disney Parks Pass Reservations has certainly made it easier for guests to know what they are in for when it comes to crowd levels in the parks.
Prior to the pandemic, savvy guests usually had to rely on crowd prediction calendars and expert strategies to catch times when the parks were less busy. While both measures are still helpful, Parks Pass Reservation availability now provides some significant clues what guests can expect from crowd levels on a given day.
While Disney doesn’t post specific numbers regarding Parks Pass availability, they do maintain calendars that let guests view what days particular parks are sold out or nearing capacity. By checking all three reservation pools (resort guests, Passholders, and general tickets), guests can glean clues if a particular park or week is going to be significantly busy. Speaking as a Passholder, reservation levels now play a major role in whether or not I decide to visit a particular park. If I can avoid high capacity days, I usually will choose to do so.
For those looking to do the same, taking a close look at Parks Pass Reservations can certainly provide some helpful clues to help you make informed decisions about your upcoming trip.
6. Downside – Not a lot of room for spontaneity anymore
Across the board, this is probably the biggest complaint we’ve seen about Parks Pass Reservations—they’ve killed spontaneous Disney trips.
While there are certainly guests who don’t mind planning their Disney vacations months ahead of time down to which park they will visit on which day, for many longtime Disney fans, park reservations have taken a significant part of the magic out of visiting Disney parks. There are just no guarantees when it comes to last-minute trips with Parks Pass Reservations in place. I’ve had to explain to many friends visiting Florida that they won’t be able to add-on a Walt Disney World visit on the fly due to reservations being sold out.
Even for those visiting from far away, planning parks down to the day isn’t many guests’ idea of fun. In this regard, Disney Parks Pass Reservations have brought some significant negatives for those who prefer a more flexible Disney experience.
7. Upside – Guest types are mixed more evenly
I will admit, it’s unclear to me if this was a major problem before the pandemic, but some guests have mentioned they appreciate that Disney Parks Pass Reservations have helped ensure a more even balance of guest types throughout the parks.
By guest types, we mean specifically the three reservation pools: resort guests, Passholders, and general ticketholders. We do appreciate that Disney created separate pools for each type, which can help ensure an even distribution of guests throughout the parks. Resort guests get access to some advantages, but they don’t necessarily take up the entire pool of attendance. Passholders, as well, can’t necessarily all flood the park on the same days. Guests outside of these categories have their own fair shot at getting a reservation.
In the end, while the odds aren’t completely even for each group (resort guests usually get priority if a pool is increased), the system has helped ensure a somewhat even distribution of all three groups.
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!
