News Disney Park Pass System announced for Walt Disney World theme park reservations

kgoose23

Active Member
One surprising thing about today’s updates is the fact that WDW’s park hopping time is staying at 2pm while DLR’s is moving to 11am (from 1pm which already was earlier).

What gives? They can’t at least move it to 1pm at WDW also? It seems odd that they keep hanging on to such a late park hopping time.
I agree. I was hoping for at least noon which I feel is more reasonable than 2. For us our animal kingdom day is typically done by 10 am and in the old days we would move to the next park and spend more money. Now if we’re done we don’t have that option so it’s usually back to the pool, which I can promise them is saving me more money with two little ones wanting everything they see when we are in the parks.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Today's announcements were a step in the right direction. This was after 600 steps in the wrong direction.

They did the bare minimum today and people are praising it thinking everything is fixed. If Steve were to start charging us 1 cent per character on these forums, the traffic would be significantly reduced. Then if he rolled that back after 6 months, how many of you would come back?

Disney has increased prices 4-10% annually, cut offerings, cut maintenance and more. There are still plenty of things that need to be addressed before I'll be satisfied with a "make good". Just to start:

  • Return parking lot trams to DHS and EPCOT
  • Return AP Sales
  • Return Photopass to APs
  • Eliminate the charge for Genie+ and ILLS
  • Maintain the parks
  • Eliminate park reservations for all ticket types
  • Eliminate the park hopping limitations on all days for all ticket types
  • Return the Magical Express
 

Andrew25

Well-Known Member
Could it be that the 2PM restriction stays for APs while regular park hoppers are moved to 11AM (or even entirely removed) eventually? Seems like they've realized it alls been an unnecessary hassle.
 

DCBaker

Premium Member
Comments from Josh D'Amaro on the reservations system from an interview with Robert Niles -

"Robert: But you also have to push for capacity, because you just talked about the the reservation issue. I feel, from observing this, that when people talk about or push back against the reservation issue, it's not necessarily [just about] getting the reservation. It's that the [parks'] capacity is not big enough to accommodate all the people who want reservations.

Josh: It's a guest experience issue. This all starts with guest experience, and having been in this business for as long as we have been, we know what constitutes a great guest experience. We know that there are certain attendance thresholds that can potentially deteriorate the experience. So the reservation system change that we've made is completely premised on wanting to deliver [you] the best experience I possibly can. And to do that, I'm asking my guests to make reservations, which is change. Change isn't easy, particularly for Disney, where everybody watches every single move that we make, and if you change something that's tradition, or the way that it's always been, it's hard.

Robert: Nostalgia is a big part of the branding.

Josh: It's a big part of it. So anytime we step into one of these areas, we know that there's going to be input, and we're going to take that input and listen, and we're going to react and adjust. But we will never sacrifice guest experience. I have these conversations with guests all the time in the theme parks - "Why do I have to make a reservation?" And the moment I sit down and talk to them about guest experience, and how we're continually trying to make that easier and more flexible, they completely get it and understand it. So we're going to keep pushing on that. If we're going to be pioneers, we're going to keep being pioneers to make that experience as great as it possibly can be.

Robert: I think that's an important point for a lot of people to understand - that it's not just necessarily what people are asking for, but what they intend. The classic example I always used from my days was when people would ask, 'What time is the three o'clock parade?' and I would tell them it's at 3:20 because that's when it got to where they were standing.

Josh: I love it.

Robert: You're just sussing that out. I think a big issue with the reservation program is that people are looking at it kind of superficially, 'I have to do this,' and they're not understanding, 'but I will get this in return.'

Josh: That's right. I think some of that's time. I think some of that is discussion. We see that changing right now. But we've always done this. We've always molded and adjusted with the intent always being the same: best stories in the world, best experiences in the world. And that will never never change

Robert: The situation in terms of capacity and demand is very different on the two coasts, obviously [now] with the change coming for the annual passholders in Florida.

Josh: Absolutely.

Robert: You look at California and I think the population is more than four times what it is in Central Florida. I'm assuming - I cannot get this information out of you but I will keep trying - that the number of annual pass holders in California is at least that much more than it is in Central Florida.

Josh: Well, I won't answer that question specifically, Robert, but what I will tell you is your premise is right. The businesses are so different - both the experiences that we're offering, the footprint of those experiences, [and] how guests visit, and so for each of them, we're looking specifically at how do we make sure that experience is as good as possible? So we'll manage things a little bit differently. We're going to try and make sure it's as simple as possible. We'll continue to evolve these experiences so that we can integrate things so it's very simple. You're just in the park, enjoying the things that are around you, and not worrying about things, etc. But yeah, they're very different. So we'll address the input a little bit differently as we move forward."

Here's the full interview talking about the operational changes made yesterday -

 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
Comments from Josh D'Amaro on the reservations system from an interview with Robert Niles -

"Robert: But you also have to push for capacity, because you just talked about the the reservation issue. I feel, from observing this, that when people talk about or push back against the reservation issue, it's not necessarily [just about] getting the reservation. It's that the [parks'] capacity is not big enough to accommodate all the people who want reservations.

Josh: It's a guest experience issue. This all starts with guest experience, and having been in this business for as long as we have been, we know what constitutes a great guest experience. We know that there are certain attendance thresholds that can potentially deteriorate the experience. So the reservation system change that we've made is completely premised on wanting to deliver [you] the best experience I possibly can. And to do that, I'm asking my guests to make reservations, which is change. Change isn't easy, particularly for Disney, where everybody watches every single move that we make, and if you change something that's tradition, or the way that it's always been, it's hard.

Robert: Nostalgia is a big part of the branding.

Josh: It's a big part of it. So anytime we step into one of these areas, we know that there's going to be input, and we're going to take that input and listen, and we're going to react and adjust. But we will never sacrifice guest experience. I have these conversations with guests all the time in the theme parks - "Why do I have to make a reservation?" And the moment I sit down and talk to them about guest experience, and how we're continually trying to make that easier and more flexible, they completely get it and understand it. So we're going to keep pushing on that. If we're going to be pioneers, we're going to keep being pioneers to make that experience as great as it possibly can be.

Robert: I think that's an important point for a lot of people to understand - that it's not just necessarily what people are asking for, but what they intend. The classic example I always used from my days was when people would ask, 'What time is the three o'clock parade?' and I would tell them it's at 3:20 because that's when it got to where they were standing.

Josh: I love it.

Robert: You're just sussing that out. I think a big issue with the reservation program is that people are looking at it kind of superficially, 'I have to do this,' and they're not understanding, 'but I will get this in return.'

Josh: That's right. I think some of that's time. I think some of that is discussion. We see that changing right now. But we've always done this. We've always molded and adjusted with the intent always being the same: best stories in the world, best experiences in the world. And that will never never change

Robert: The situation in terms of capacity and demand is very different on the two coasts, obviously [now] with the change coming for the annual passholders in Florida.

Josh: Absolutely.

Robert: You look at California and I think the population is more than four times what it is in Central Florida. I'm assuming - I cannot get this information out of you but I will keep trying - that the number of annual pass holders in California is at least that much more than it is in Central Florida.

Josh: Well, I won't answer that question specifically, Robert, but what I will tell you is your premise is right. The businesses are so different - both the experiences that we're offering, the footprint of those experiences, [and] how guests visit, and so for each of them, we're looking specifically at how do we make sure that experience is as good as possible? So we'll manage things a little bit differently. We're going to try and make sure it's as simple as possible. We'll continue to evolve these experiences so that we can integrate things so it's very simple. You're just in the park, enjoying the things that are around you, and not worrying about things, etc. But yeah, they're very different. So we'll address the input a little bit differently as we move forward."

Here's the full interview talking about the operational changes made yesterday -

Blah. Ya'll backed yourself into a corner by poor choices ...and the result was having no choice but to implement a res system.
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
*Reads Josh D’Ollar’s comments on Park Passes being about the guest experience*

Michael Jordan Lol GIF


Nothing like doubling down on a bad idea, Josh.

And people wonder why some of us never have and never will trust him.
 

Drdcm

Well-Known Member
I love how they try to pass this off as benevolent. I honestly can’t grasp why they have it. They say it’s to improve guest experience. Others say it’s so they can know attendance levels beforehand and plan to ensure bare minimum staffing. As Josh says, he’s been doing this for a long time. Do they really need reservations to estimate attendance levels?
 

dmw

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Josh: ...But we will never sacrifice guest experience. I have these conversations with guests all the time in the theme parks - "Why do I have to make a reservation?" And the moment I sit down and talk to them about guest experience, and how we're continually trying to make that easier and more flexible, they completely get it and understand it. So we're going to keep pushing on that. If we're going to be pioneers, we're going to keep being pioneers to make that experience as great as it possibly can be.
Two comments on this one quote from Josh:
1. Disney is not a pioneer in the area of park reservations. Pretty much all amusement/theme parks implemented a reservation system to be able to re-open in a covid-restricted era. Almost three years later, what parks besides Disney still have a reservation system?
2. Josh implies that if he was able to sit down with any guest who complains about the reservation system that he could convince them of the benefits. That might have been true if he could have shown how capacity control resulted in a better guest experience through shorter wait times. But, from all I have read, the guest experience has NOT improved with the park reservations system.
 

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