After a long, weird season, things are starting to look up for Disney parks fans. New attractions like TRON Lightcycle/Run are now open, some attractions (like the Indiana Jones Adventure) have finally received a long overdue maintenance, and the company is finally starting to cultivate some vision again for major expansions to its parks.
One question has remained hanging, however: are park reservations finally going away?
The answer is complicated…
It comes as no surprise that Disney has opted to keep their controversial Parks Pass Reservation system for the foreseeable future, even in the midst of the temporary return of Bob Iger. The benefits of the system for Disney as a company are just too significant to ignore. It does seem, however, that Disney has heard guests’ frustrations and is currently working on steps to modify the system. Indeed, it is possible Parks Pass Reservations might actually be going away for some guests.
The question is, should they?
We asked this question back during Bob Chapek’s purview as CEO, and with some of the options Disney is supposedly floating, we need to ask it again: should Disney completely get rid of Parks Pass Reservations, or do they ultimately improve guest experience enough to keep around?
Why do people hate Parks Pass Reservations?
For those unfamiliar, Disney Parks Pass reservations came about in 2020 after the long closure of all Disney parks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The system allowed Disney to carefully control attendance, making it possible for Walt Disney World to safely reopen (eventually followed by other parks).
Declaring an actual “end” to the pandemic has been a slow, foggy business years later. For the most part, Disney has rolled back most pandemic-era policies, except for Parks Pass Reservations.
The company’s usual go-to reason is that they feel keeping Parks Pass Reservations makes for a better park-going experience for guests since they significantly limit park capacity (more on that later). In truth, the reason Disney’s corporate overlords like the system is obvious: by knowing exactly how many people are planning to come to a park on a given day, the company can allocate resources and schedule cast members with a much higher precision than in years past. If they know a park is going to be dead one day, they can purposefully scale back everything from cast member presence to how much food is ordered on a given day.
While this could, theoretically, increase the potential for fans to save money, it’s ultimately not a good thing—it’s far too easy for Disney to use low reservation numbers as an excuse to thin offerings in any park with low attendance, ultimately diminishing what guests can enjoy on lighter days.
The bigger problem is Parks Pass Reservations continue to crimp one of the biggest perks of visiting Walt Disney World in years past, especially for Passholders: flexibility.
As long as Disney requires reservations to enter their parks, a last-minute or largely unstructured Disney vacation is no longer possible. Yes, there are still light days where a Passholder can pop in last minute, but Parks Pass Reservations affect every component of a guests’ vacation now, from access to virtual queues for E-Ticket attractions to posing frustrating limits on park hopping. Sifting through reservations can also prove an annoying step for families who already have limited time and options for visiting Disney Parks.
Do Parks Pass Reservations actually make Disney parks better?
Despite the fact Disney has no doubt inflated the benefits of Parks Pass Reservations for guests, there is one area where they have made a significant difference: they really have helped lower crowds to some degree.
Is it still possible to catch Disney Parks on a very, very busy day? Absolutely, particularly during holidays and special events like RunDisney marathons. However, Disney has finally put a much-needed upper limit on days where the parks have reached extreme capacity levels–particularly doorbuster days where the parks hit maximum capacity and have to start turning guests away.
Several times a year, usually on the 4th of July and New Year’s Day, Walt Disney World used to regularly reach full capacity, particularly at Magic Kingdom. The parks became so packed with people, even moving from one land to another required a test of fortitude. I frequently have warned people over the years that visiting the Most Magical Place on Earth during these extremely busy days is a recipe for a lousy vacation that really no clever strategy can solve.
Parks Pass Reservations at Walt Disney World have at least succeeded in spreading Disney guests out more across the four parks, discouraging those old ultra-busy days. Yes, the parks still get busy, but not to that extreme anymore. The reservation system has also provided a helpful side-benefit as a means to estimate crowd levels well before a trip. While the loss of flexibility is lamentable, this at least is one tangible benefit of Parks Pass Reservations that has made a big difference. It’s such a big difference, in fact, that for some guests, it’s enough to keep the system around in some form.
Is it possible, however, for Disney to preserve the benefit of the Parks Pass Reservation system while eliminating some of the hassle? Let’s find out…
Has Disney found a way to eliminate Parks Pass Reservations (sort of)?
Rumor has it, Disney has been working on a change to Parks Pass Reservation that might help eliminate at least some of the frustrations connected to it: merging the system into general hotel and ticket purchases.
The idea is that Disney may choose to ultimately eliminate Parks Pass Reservations by simply limiting ticket sales in the future. The theory is that Disney could simply put an upper limit on how many tickets they sell if guests are willing to attach a date to any ticket purchases.
I will admit skepticism regarding this rumor, however. The reason why is that while Disney can limit attendance at their resorts overall using ticket sales, if the company still wants to keep the resource allocation benefits of the current system, guests will still have to attach their ticket to a specific park on a specific day. This is basically exactly the same scenario as the Parks Pass Reservation system, only with a shift in name. The primary gripe—lack of flexibility–remains an issue.
This rumor is also problematic as it flagrantly says Passholders shouldn’t expect the lifting of Parks Pass Reservation requirements any time soon. The system would remain in place to limit how many Passholders can enter parks on a given day, something Disney has been keen to do for some time as guests traveling from abroad are generally considered bigger spenders than Passholders on an average visit.
That being said, it does seem Disney has really been working on a solution, and we’ll admit, it might be a step in the right direction.
A workable compromise
The smartest move Disney has made recently in regard to Parks Pass Reservations is that they are starting to address guest concerns by actually rolling some restrictions back. Starting April 18th, 2023, Annual Passholders no longer need a reservation to enter a Disney park after 2pm, except for Magic Kingdom on weekends. Disneyland guests have also already seen an expansion to park hopping hours for guests with that option.
This is a welcome shift for Walt Disney World Passholders, and it is the first move towards a workable compromise that might assuage fans somewhat. I do think Disney needs to go further and expand park hopping hours at Walt Disney World (the fact they haven’t remains a point of contention draining Passholder goodwill), but the shift does at least restore a little flexibility.
In conclusion
A fair argument can be made that Disney Parks Pass Reservations are worth keeping around in some form purely to prevent days where the parks become so busy, an enjoyable vacation becomes completely impossible. The system is not without upsides—it’s just that it remains a hassle, and the benefits remain far too heavily in Disney’s favor rather than providing more tangible perks for guests.
The idea of rolling Parks Pass Reservations into general and resort admissions has potential to take some of the sting out of the loss of freedoms incurred at the system’s arrival, but it seems like any adjustments might not make that big of a difference if Disney is deadest on preserving the economic benefits from keeping Parks Pass Reservations.
As for Disney’s shaky relationship with Passholders, giving them access to the parks in the afternoon is a very welcomed step in the right direction… but we’re going to need more. Park hopping is far, far too overdue for an expansion, and Disney can only shuffle the cups so many times before fans get frustrated all over again and decide to just take a break rather than wait for Disney to release their iron hold.
What do you think of Disney’s rumored plan to rework Park Pass Reservations? Should Disney get rid of the controversial Parks Pass system for good? Let us know by voting in our poll or by leaving us a comment below or on Facebook! Thanks for reading!
