Do we still need park reservations when back to full capacity??

[Parker in NYC]

We don't need them. But we'll get them.

 

[HauntedPirate]

We don't need them. But we'll get them.

Bob needs them. That’s all we need to know.

 

[Parker in NYC]

Bob needs them. That’s all we need to know.

Yup.

 

[Jrb1979]

You won't have to, that's the whole point.

Pretend Disney says "we're going to keep the Park Pass system in place forever." Once they're back to full capacity, you can just ignore the park pass system and make your reservation in the morning while you're walking up to the front gates. The parks never fill to full capacity, meaning there's no risk of the parks "selling out," meaning there's no risk in waiting to the last minute.

Obviously you'd want to make reservations ahead of time for Christmas week, 50th anniversary, major new attraction opening, etc. But during normal times, the system will just be background noise.

What if the also have an artificial capacity limit?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

What if the also have an artificial capacity limit?

Disney will never have an artificial capacity limit. If the regulators say they can fit 100,000 but they only want 50,000, they'll just raise prices until they only get 50,000.

 

[JohnD]

For the 50th, I'm counting them. I don't have a park reservation for MK on 10/1 but do for Epcot. So my hope is that I'll be able to hop to MK after 2pm that day. And the park reservations at MK that day allow for capacity for park hoppers from the other parks.

 

[Jrb1979]

Disney will never have an artificial capacity limit. If the regulators say they can fit 100,000 but they only want 50,000, they'll just raise prices until they only get 50,000.

If you go over to the Disney Park Pass thread, there is a post by Magic Feather that says the parks max capacity will be lower then pre-pandemic level.

 

[lindawdw]

We kind of had to choose which park with the fastpasses before COVID hit.

 

[JIMINYCR]

We did ok on our recent trip, in fact much better than I was expecting with planning our full park days and not taking on PH’s. Saved us money and we found we didn’t miss moving around to a second park as much as we thought we would. But we knew how we wanted to schedule things out with a lot of pre planning and had the pleasure of time. I do have to say it was pleasurable to have a trip where the crowd situation was less and although the artificially long lines were a pain, we managed pretty well.

 

[sndral]

We kind of had to choose which park with the fastpasses before COVID hit.

Yep, actually we’d start 6 months before w/ making our dinner ADRs trying to guess which parks would be open later or have evening EMHs based on historical trends & trying to predict which nights MK would close early for upcharge Christmas ‘parties.‘ Our preferred visit had us securing a.m. FPs in one park & then hopping to a different park for our ADR. My slight concern now is reserving our day park & then being unable to hop to our evening dinning park.

 

[seanjclarke]

I think they’ll keep it in place to limit the number of people disappointed that they don’t get ROTR boarding groups. There has to be a magic percentage that’s acceptable to Disney.

the real question is, if there’s no capacity limits why can’t I park hop at 11 a.m. or whenever I want before 2 p.m.?

 

[Jrb1979]

I think they’ll keep it in place to limit the number of people disappointed that they don’t get ROTR boarding groups. There has to be a magic percentage that’s acceptable to Disney.

the real question is, if there’s no capacity limits why can’t I park hop at 11 a.m. or whenever I want before 2 p.m.?

From what others have said they are going to artificially keep capacity lower.

 

[nickys]

I think they’ll keep it in place to limit the number of people disappointed that they don’t get ROTR boarding groups. There has to be a magic percentage that’s acceptable to Disney.

the real question is, if there’s no capacity limits why can’t I park hop at 11 a.m. or whenever I want before 2 p.m.?

I think the park hopping time will change at some point.

 

[Bullseye1967]

My guess is 100% is relative. Whatever magic number equaled 100% pre-Covid will not be the new capacity once everything is opened back up. Bob already indicated Park reservations are here to stay!

Bob also stated that we would be wearing masks through the end of the year. Things change.

 

[Mickey5150]

Park reservations are the best thing for the customers and the company. Imagine if every place you went knew exactly how many customers it would get that day. They can schedule the right amount of people to work in each park, better adjust merchandise and food levels. Once capacity gets back to 100% it shouldn't be difficult to get reservations, how many days are you normally turned away from a park? I've never not gotten in.

 

[G00fyDad]

Park reservations are the best thing for the customers and the company. Imagine if every place you went knew exactly how many customers it would get that day. They can schedule the right amount of people to work in each park, better adjust merchandise and food levels. Once capacity gets back to 100% it shouldn't be difficult to get reservations, how many days are you normally turned away from a park? I've never not gotten in.

Allowing Park Hopping kind of destroys that type of asset management.

 

[seanjclarke]

Allowing Park Hopping kind of destroys that type of asset management.

Yeah I agree. When they don’t limit park hopping (which they haven’t done) it all goes out the window for the second half of the day

 

[Mindy55]

another thing you have to be on your phone for, i know many on here disagree with me. But there are some people still rocking flip phones, or dont have a ton of minutes. While im unlimited and use my phone for everything (including my water usage via a fancy water bottle), my parents have flip phones with enough minutes just to use for emergencies, they have never texted let alone been on the web with it. And if you look at grandparents, some still have a house phone and no cell phone. And lets be honest you are on vacation. I want to arrive and forget i even have a phone, i want to be immersed in the parks not have to worry about planning my day through disney.
Im also someone who likes to do whatever i want on the day i want with no planning, and disney is trying to kill that with every move.

I couldn’t have said that better myself! Thank you !! You echoing the thoughts of many of us !!

 

[Minthorne]

The new restroom advanced reservation system is really going to drive some people bonkers.

 

[Jamie77]

Disney will never have an artificial capacity limit. If the regulators say they can fit 100,000 but they only want 50,000, they'll just raise prices until they only get 50,000.

Before the pandemic I was thinking that Disney was over selling its parks to the point that you couldn’t enjoy your time at any park due to crowds. This is the answer I’m looking for if it doesn’t mean it will be harder to get reservations like it is now. I’m planning to go next year.