Disney’s Park Pass Reservation System has been something of a sore spot for many guests.
Bob Chapek
Gone are the days of being able to waltz into the parks at your leisure. Now we’re left having to make our plans in advance. Disney held its third-quarter earnings call in August of 2022, and we found out all sorts of juicy information about Disney+ and the new ad-supported plan. Not only that, but we also heard from CEO Bob Chapek about the reservation system and what it means for the company.
Whether you love it or you hate it, Disney’s Park Pass Reservation System is here to stay — at least for now. During The Walt Disney Company’s third-quarter earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek commented on the system and how it can benefit the company.
Magic Kingdom
Disney has been able to limit park capacity using the reservation system since it was first introduced when the parks reopened. We’ve heard Chapek comment on the system before, and now it looks like he’s echoing his prior statements.
In terms of the guest experience, Chapek stated, “As you know, everything we do in our parks is all about improving the guest experience. And part of that has to do with limiting capacity, but also about personalizing those experiences.”
Animal Kingdom
The CEO then went on to say, “We have a [park] reservation system which now enables us on the fly, to change whatever factors we need in terms of ticket packaging that we want. Years ago, we didn’t have that. We published prices by the quarter and that was all the flexibility we had.”
EPCOT
In terms of park demand and capacity, Chapek said, “Our reservation system really does a great job spreading demand. If we see any spikiness, we can smooth that in a way we couldn’t before, and we’re real pleased we did that.” Based on these comments, it doesn’t seem like Disney has any plans to change the reservation system any time soon — though no official announcements were made during the earnings call.
©Bloomberg
Again, these statements echo some of the statements Chapek has made in the past. Back in May of 2022, Chapek said that they have felt encouraged by the continuation of the trends they’re seeing for certain things, including guests’ willingness to come to the parks with the reservation system, which helps them manage their price per day.
Christine McCarthy, Disney’s Chief Financial Officer, also noted in May that they are limiting attendance by using the reservation system and that this all goes back to Disney trying to “balance demand and attendance throughout the year, not have days when consumers in the parks aren’t enjoying the experience.”
According to McCarthy, attendance is something they’re controlling but they’re doing it to “have a better consumer experience.”
Christine McCarthy ©The Walt Disney Company
Will the parks increase capacity (and thus potentially make it easier for some guests to get park passes)? It’s possible. In May, McCarthy said that “they will continue to increase attendance in the parks with capacity as things change.” And things like the opening of new rides can change capacity.
In terms of demand, it seems guests are still flocking to the parks. During the Q3 earnings call in August of 2022, McCarthy said that Disney hasn’t seen demand abate at all. Instead, McCarthy noted that Disney is seeing demand in excess of the available reservations.
©Disney
If Chapek and McCarthy’s statements are any indication, the Park Pass system could truly be here to stay. So what can you do to make sure you get the Park Passes you want?
Second, make those Park Pass reservations as soon as you can. If you make the reservations early, you give yourself the best chance of scoring the parks you want for your trip.
©Disney
Can’t find the park passes you want? Our advice is to at least make a reservation for one of the parks that is available at the time you’re looking. That’ll at least give you the chance to go into a park on those days, and if you have a Park Hopper ticket you can hop elsewhere later.
Then you’ll want to keep searching back on the Park Pass availability calendar for updates. Sometimes we’ve seen dates fill up only to be later replenished entirely. So just because you don’t see availability for the park you want right now, it doesn’t mean things can’t change in the future.
If park availability pops up, you can cancel your existing park pass and grab the new one.
Hollywood Studios
The key here is to act early, be prepared, and check back often for updates.
Want to learn more about the latest Disney news? Check out our links below for some big reveals from the August earnings call and report:
- Updated Disney+ subscriber numbers released
- Pricing announced for the Disney+ ad service
- Price increase announced for the Disney+ ad-free service
- Disney parks revenue has increased by $4.3 BILLION
- How many people are buying Genie+? We have an update
- A full look at the latest updates on Disney park demand
- Disney has reported an “unfavorable attendance mix” at Disneyland
We’ll continue to keep an eye out for news on Disney’s park pass system and more — so be sure to stay tuned to DFB for the latest!
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Just one of the many reasons why I won’t go.
The problem with controlling capacity, is that no one knows what that capacity is. From watching all the vloggers and regular Disney visitors, it seems the parks most days are over full. Of course Disney, will continue to push the capacity UP so people have to buy Genie + and Lightning Lanes, if they want the experience.
The easiest thing to do would be to limit park tickets and do away with reservations. If there’s no tickets left for that day you can’t get in.
The park reservation system is annoying, but the thing that bothers me the most is that I feel like I am being nickled and dimed to death by Disney now. It used to be that when you booked a Disney vacation, you outlaid the cash and then it was done; it was never cheap, but you knew ahead of time what the all in cost was. Now, there is the shuttle, the genie+, the lighting late if necessary. So many extras and no longer a value. I love Disney and I am a DVC member, but Universal will overtake them now that they have grabbed some land for resorts and Disney is following this business model.
We have loved WDW. We are so lucky we have had 8 brilliant visits over 16 years.
Our last visit will be our last for a long time.
All the phones and the extra money for rides and some crazy prices for some sad looking merchandise.
The lack of Disney dinning, the change from fast pass to genie +, so many things that made everyone’s day less fun.
I used to tell everyone you must go to WDW it is brilliant, the best holiday amazing staff etc etc.
Now i wish they would be honest. If they have to increase prices to make it more fun and less crowded and give back some fun then do it. That will not be popular but it might be more realistic for everyone.
I want Disney to be like i remember, the glasses maybe rose-tinted but those previous holidays left me feeling i wanted to go back as soon as i could. Now if i go back to Florida i may just stay at Universal and not go to WDW at all. That almost seems like madness.
I see why, however I want to know if the annual passes will be back?
I don’t really have a problem with the booking a park thing but I wish we could get Genie+ in advance…say 30 days and be able to book 3 rides like we did with the FP+. I am not a morning person so resent having to get up at 7am. If I know I am guaranteed 3 rides I would be happy
Benefits the company screw the guest experience.
Disney is all about the money
Now and cutting corners under the pretense of “customer experience” . Everyone was enjoying Disney perfectly fine the way it WAS with FP and rope drop and park hopping to any park at anytime.
Now they have made everything red tape and tons of restrictions, I can’t imagine the consumer experience has improved. I know mine has declined and I have no intentions of returning as long as things remain the same. 1/10 for me. Do not recommend.
I’ve been a loyal annual pass holder, along with my 2 daughters, for 22 years. For the first time since I was 16 (got my first paSs) I’ve decided this is the last year and and last time I will will visit Disney. Disney has chosen the path of money, and NOT “user Experience” as Chapek stated. In past years you could breeze through Disney parks and Annual pass holders had a clear advantage. Now we have to pay for all of those experiences and we’re seeing less and less perks over the years as prices continue to soar. This was a place of nostalgic fun, a place we could come as kids, with hopes of one day bringing our own children and grandchildren. But now Chapek has turned Disney into nothing more than a cool carnival game designed to collect money from unsuspecting suckers passing by for the weekend. It broke my heart to make this decision, but Disney has lost the magic it once carried. It traded happy experiences for the mighty dollar and killed everything it stood for… family. I will never set foot in another Disney park while Chapek sits on the throne. Walt Disney is rolling in his grave knowing his beloved parks have been turned into cash registers. So long Disney… you will be missed.
Park hopper restriction to prohibit hopping before 2pm should be lifted after Labor Day. Paid $$$ for the right to hop only to be restricted as to when.
We are enjoying the park reservation system, it’s saving us more than $209 a month. By not have annual passes!
Then I’m not returning.
It doesn’t appear that Disney is actually listening to feedback from it’s consumers. Since the park pass system has stayed in place, it is no longer magical. It’s just work and not that much fun. The parks are crowded – no matter what they say, and you have no ability to go to a less busy park, until 2 pm in the afternoon. Also, if you opt not to go in the morning to the park you made a pass for, you still have to go there and go thru the ticket line to be able to go to a different park. I have not been asked to do a survey a single time, as a DVC member, since all of this began. I don’t know that we will continue to go to Disney as there are never reservations available when we are able to go. Not everyone is able to make reservation 6-12 months ahead. Not a great plan.
Limiting Attendance, what a joke. It doesn’t matter when I go to the park is always full. Wait times for the rides are over an hour for most. Long line to eat too. If they say their limiting attendance, they are lying.
RedQueen has the right idea. Dump Disney and go elsewhere. So many people complain and complain and complain, BUT still go. If more people would stick to their guns and stay away from Disney, maybe, just maybe some things would go back to the good old days. Greed has taken over for sure, but people still go and it feeds right into that greed!! Control crowds is their reason, that is BS as it is still packed! That’s just smoke and mirrors from Chappy!! No impulsive fun at Disney now and forever!
Went to Disneyland this year in January. We tried booking a reservation for dinner 3 months ahead of time. System said already full. Instead of nice dinner we grabbed a over priced corn dog and called it a day. We use to be able to ride some of the rides many times a day that fast pass would allow us, usually about 4 times. You get one chance with the new + system then its back to the long standard lines. It cost us 4200.00 for this whole package 3 years ago for 4 days, this year was 5600.00 for 4 days. This new way really makes us think twice about going. Sad really.
Disney corporate Big wigs are so out of touch with what their guests actually want—if it wasn’t so expensive it would be humorous! They are just about making money and they will say whatever it takes out of the other side of their face, to try and sound like they care about the guest. We all know better. Disney does not care about us, stop going to Disney or none of this will ever change!
Reduce crowd capacity??? Are they joking??? Its busier than ever.
Mr Chapek makes it sound like they have the Park Pass Reservation system as a benefit for the guests for two reasons. First to keep you safe by social distancing due to Covid which, according to the CDC is no longer necessary, and second to keep parks from getting over crowded again for guest’s benefits. This can’t be true as photos taken by friends show people shoulder to shoulder in many parts of the parks. Mr. Chapek isn’t kidding the public.
We were in Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. I did all the reservations and everything as soon as I was able to in the app. Day 1 in the parks no problems. Day 2 in the parks 2 of the 5 of us had no reservations connected to our tickets. Luckily I had my email confirmations and the ticket cast member let us go to city hall to get it straightened out. City hall couldn’t figure out what happened but eventually got it fixed and looked at the rest of our week to make sure everything was ok and found out 1 of the 5 of us had no reservations for the rest of the week. So I showed them my email confirmations and they got it fixed. This whole process took almost 2 hours of our morning. There was no kind of compensation for the lost time. I was so disappointed.
This is garbage. They can limit the number of guests at any time. They’ve done it for years. When I went down in 2005 for New Years, MK hit capacity every morning between Christmas and New Years. And they closed the park until crowd ms thinned out.
This completely diminishes Park Hopping and AP value.
Fire Bob paycheck
I love how throughout this article they are quoted as Saying it’s all to improve, “Customer Experience” BULL! If Bob Paycheck has shown us anything it’s that yhr LAST thing he cares about is customer experience.
So glad we sold our DVC. It was good while it lasted. We’re done. End of story. Disney lost yet another 4 generation Disney family.
Just to echo other comments, just came back and the park hopper experience is barely worth it any more. Went to Hollywood studio for early entry finished all we wanted to do by 11:30. Thought great, go to EDPCOT for the food & wine to have lunch. NO, can’t enter the park until 2. Went back to the hotel and took a nap, not a fun Disney experience at all, but I guess that works for the company! Going to be hard to justify going back and I have been going since 1972.
From the comments, I might think I am the only one left who likes Disney; but with the crowds in the parks, there must be others out there. I like planning in advance. I know what I want to eat months from now and where I want to eat. It is nice knowing I will be able to sit down in a cool place, rest, relax and eat. I do miss Fast Pass. I do not have a smartphone; and even if I did, I would not be on it 24/7. You do not need a smartphone to enjoy the parks. Look up at your surroundings instead of walking with your nose glued to your phone. I will not pay to get on certain rides faster. For those complaining about the crowds and long wait times, that has not changed. I know people who waited three hours to get on Flight of Passage and that was before the Pandemic. If more people start going to Universal and Busch Gardens, maybe the crowds will lessen. Can’t wait to go in September, December and July!
Our family have stayed at Disney world over 15 years now due to all this complex rubbish Genie,Park bookings,etc and having to stare at phones all day plus all the extra to pay once you have managed to get into a park we stayed at Universals Hard Rock with the great fastpass bonus and just spent 4 days at Disney. We were all in agreement it was a superb choice all round.
Park Passes are so unnecessary complicated.
Why can’t people just buy their ticket to a specific park for a specific day and be done??
I have been at the parks since Oct 1, 1971……change is always inevitable but since Eisner left it has become nothing but greed for Disney. I am a long time DVC, AP holder and it seems we have lost just about every perk we ever had while paying more and more. I used to love leaving our phones behind for a day at the parks, now I have to carry an extra battery pack to keep my phone from dying just to see what time I can eat. I used to splurge by eating a nice meal at the parks, now I wait until I get home. Cast members now can do anything they want and behave rudely to people paying for their rudeness…I am very unhappy with these latest changes, o wonder people are bumping into each other starting fights…they are just on their phones trying to figure out their next step. Magic is gone
I’m so glad Chapek is happy with what he has done to Disney. My family is not and we will never go back.
“…willingness to come to the parks with the reservation system…” REALLY?!? Willingness?!? As if we actually have a choice?!?!? Chapek and his cohorts have managed to suck all the MAGIC from what was once the most magical place on earth.
Marty Sklar would be ASHAMED of the state the company today.
I have no intentions to renew our APs when they are up. We’re talking about Universal annual passes instead. Even the cast member in the family agrees that the new park reservation system isn’t worth the money the APs cost. We used to be able to just run over to one of the parks when we felt like it. Now, we have to make a plan to go visit when it used to be as simple as just having a whim. Keeping park reservations for our days off just in case we want to go is more work than we have time for and for the more expensive APs, it’s like we’re paying them to work for them. This is stupid.
I have wrote before on this. The reservations system makes it so much harder to plan your day. My family 13 of us went in July. It was so stressful planning which parks we wanted to go ahead of time. My husband is on Kidney Dialysis and the day he had treatment we missed going to Animal Kingdom before 2pm in order to go to another park in the evening. We went to guest services and there was nothing they could do for us but tell us to take the bus over to Animal Kingdom check in and then come back so we could visit a different park in the evening. We are DVC members and seriously considering selling back our points if this system continues. In all the years we have been going we have never not got into a park including over Thanksgiving. It is not a vacation if you need to reserve a park when you are paying the prices they are charging. It is no longer a fun experience and Genie+ is just another money grab. Unfortunately, Mr Chapek is here for another 3 years and the only thing we can hope for is eventually the parks will see a drop in attendance and not continue to increase revenue. If the park reservation system remains permanent then I will definitely sell my points.
Poor Bob Chapek, he doesn’t read any comments, he only reads “Today’s Accountant” and only talks to his really rich neighbors . They say ignorance is bliss….Chapek is the most “Blissful” person on the planet.
Disney loves the park reservation system so that they can “push” people into the parks that are not as busy. This system “encourages” people to pay the extra cost for park hoppers so that people can go to the parks they really want after 2:00. It also means that people will also spend more time on transportation rather than complaining that the lines are too line. What a move on Disney’s part so that they don’t have to add more entertainment or build new attractions! I personally hate the park reservation system. This system is all about making more money for Disney and has nothing to do with with improving the guest experience.
My husband and I first went to Disney in October in October of 1972 for our honeymoon. It was so great back then. We have gone back to Disney too many times to count. My very last trip was in February of 2022. I paid for a park hopper ticket as we always did. We went to Disney Hollywood and spent the day walking around and not being able to get on one ride because each line had a two hour wait. I said this was not enjoyable anymore and I will not go back. The ticket prices are outrageous and I don’t know how families can afford it not to mention that they price gourg you on items in the stores and now having to pay for fast pass. What a shame it’s not the happiest place in the world anymore.
We’ve been AP holders at Disneyland for 17 years, now we are members of the “ Unfavorable Mix”. Our AP expires 8/31, so Chapek has 2 weeks to change course and let us pay >$1800 for our 2 AP renewal. If not, then we shall boycott everything Disney, including Disney + ( we were among the first to subscribe in 2019), our D23 membership, even our Chase Visa Disney credit card.
We refuse to be treated like riff-raff, like “a basket of deplorables”. UNSHAKABLE MIX!!!
As satisfying as writing these words has been, the ONLY action Chapek and minions will respect is TOTAL BOYCOTT until change happens. Lovers of Uncle Walt’s legacy , now is the time to go on strike and hurt them where it will be felt at all (you know where).
SI SE PUEDE !
I am truly baffled by what their definition of “guest experience”. We went to WDW the first two weeks of June, and it was absolutely packed. Lines for the silliest of rides that used to consistently be 10-20 minutes were up to an hour or more. There were a couple of 100+ days when we just didn’t feel like fighting the crowds in the heat, so we did not go to to first park we had reserved, but then were stuck having to go to that park just to get in somewhere after 2pm – ridiculous. If this is the preferred “guest experience”, then count me out.
I have a couple Floridan Resident Passes that my late husband bought in 2013 or earlier, when you could still pay an extra charge ($15) for nonexpiring tickets. My only problem there is that Disney won’t tell me if or how many days I have left. The last time I visited EPCOT, the man at the gate refused to read my tickets. I sent Disney an e-mail asking if I still had days left, including photographs of the fronts and backs of the asses so you could read the bar codes, but no one ever answered me. Are you re
REALLY telling me I have to buy new, more expensive, expiring Fla Res passes AND RESERVATIONS just to get Disney to tell me whether I still have days left on my existing passes?!?!? That’s ludicrous!!!
“the ONLY action Chapek and minions will respect is TOTAL BOYCOTT”
Couldn’t agree more. All complaints fall on deaf ears unless they are backed up with a complete boycott. We voted with our wallets and went to Europe this year instead of Disney. We have great memories of trips that happened before the parks experience was destroyed, and that’s going to have to do for now. We will not go back until/if park reservations are removed and fast pass is brought back to how it was. If changes are not made, then we’re done. Simple.
Disney is only a pit-stop for Chapek. He was brought in to wring some extra bucks out of the business for stock holders. He has figured out how to monetize most every facet of the guest experience, with no regard for the guests. With Chapek, not only has the cost of everything gone up, Disney has found ways to charge you for things that were, in the very recent past, provided at no cost to you. The reservation system is an example; it allows them to lower staffing if the park is not at capacity, which makes their operating costs lower, while keeping their castmembers busy (and stressed). This is some of the reason guest service reviews have been more unfavorable than in years past. There are never days where the castmember to guest ratio changes. Those wonderful days that everyone always talked about, when the park attendance was low and the guest experience was high, are gone. At the expense of the Disney fan-base, which despite ticket sales, is not expanding. My friends and relatives who are not avid disney goers and have gone recently, have told me they had no idea that it was so expensive, that the lines were too long, and it was crazy crowded. All tell me that they may not go back, at least not in the foreseeable future. In a few short years, Chapek will be gone, leading some other company to make some temporary money making changes that will diminish their customer base, and hopefully Disney will have the sense to place an imagineer or Disney fan at the helm, and not another Scrooge.
I agree with these comments, I have also emailed Disney customer service. NO response back from them when you give them negative feedback regarding Bob and the new policies. I really hope, and suggest that that everyone who comments here also sends the same thoughts to actual Disney company website. Giving feedback to the right place is more effective. They may ignore you like they did me, but at least the feedback is going to the right place.
Park Pass system does not work for crowd control. Disney (not Walt’s dream) continues to build resorts bringing more people to the parks. With more people crowding into the parks, they just increase the park capacity. Building a new park could reduce capacity. But it would only be a temporary fix until they build more hotels. Oh, I forgot you would have to have park passes for the new park which is not available because of crowd control. Bob Paycheck and his minions have got to go, Board members you need to listen to your customers (yes average American/other countries customers) and make the right choice.
We have been done with Disney for 5 years now! We could see all these changes coming as the MAGIC was disappearing back then! We were AP holders for about 10 years!