Reservation expansion

SingleRider

Premium Member
Disney is preparing to offer "half day" reservations to Annual Passholders. The reservations will be broken up into three (3) time slots:
  • Morning - Park Open
  • Afternoon - 12:00 PM
  • Evening - 5:00 PM
The language in the current reservation calendar has been updated to reflect this change in mentality around reservations: "Select the park where you will start your day."

These are additional reservations for APs to secure as a form of first park entry; not a requirement to hop. This should help alleviate the need to make faux EPCOT reservations and help Disney fill the parks when capacity is available after the morning rush.

I hope this clears up the confusion regarding this rumor.
Will evening reservations still count the same as full day reservations toward your allotment?
 

SaucyBoy

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Disney is preparing to offer "half day" reservations to Annual Passholders. The reservations will be broken up into three (3) time slots:
  • Morning - Park Open
  • Afternoon - 12:00 PM
  • Evening - 5:00 PM
The language in the current reservation calendar has been updated to reflect this change in mentality around reservations: "Select the park where you will start your day."

These are additional reservations for APs to secure as a form of first park entry; not a requirement to hop. This should help alleviate the need to make faux EPCOT reservations and help Disney fill the parks when capacity is available after the morning rush.

I hope this clears up the confusion regarding this rumor.
This sounds decent enough. For example, we have an MK reservation today. But we're not heading over until around 5:00 pm for dinner at Crystal Palace and then spend the evening in the park.
 

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
wait I have to be reading into this wrong, does this mean you can only stay in that park for half the day if you make a morning reserve? Or just that you can make any one of those three and then stay as long as you want.....surely its the latter?
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
wait I have to be reading into this wrong, does this mean you can only stay in that park for half the day if you make a morning reserve? Or just that you can make any one of those three and then stay as long as you want.....surely its the latter?
It is an entry reservation. It's exactly the same as the current model except with more reservations being available for different top slots throughout the day.
 

mmascari

Well-Known Member
You are. They are spreading out AP holders from taking up space in the park
Maybe.

I can see where the 12:00 or 5:00 reservation for an AP avoids them just making an EPCOT reservation, tapping in and then immediately hopping after 2:00. Perhaps that will free up more passes earlier in the day for resort guests.

It doesn't actually stop someone from doing that tap and hop dance. So, if they run out of 5:00 reservations, it'll happen anyway.

If it does open up more 12:00 passes at parks that don't have opening time passes, that would seem to indicate they can take more guests earlier then 2:00. It would be nice if they could move the hopping time up to this 12:00 time instead of 2:00 for everyone. It would also be nice if they could eliminate the tapping in requirement for hopping.

Eliminate tapping in to hop and move the time up to earlier than 2:00 would be actual improvements for resort guests.
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
Maybe.

I can see where the 12:00 or 5:00 reservation for an AP avoids them just making an EPCOT reservation, tapping in and then immediately hopping after 2:00. Perhaps that will free up more passes earlier in the day for resort guests.

It doesn't actually stop someone from doing that tap and hop dance. So, if they run out of 5:00 reservations, it'll happen anyway.

If it does open up more 12:00 passes at parks that don't have opening time passes, that would seem to indicate they can take more guests earlier then 2:00. It would be nice if they could move the hopping time up to this 12:00 time instead of 2:00 for everyone. It would also be nice if they could eliminate the tapping in requirement for hopping.

Eliminate tapping in to hop and move the time up to earlier than 2:00 would be actual improvements for resort guests.
There are further logistical pieces here that I am admittedly unaware of. That being said, all things point to this being a good change. They are definitely actively working towards removing the 2pm hopping restriction, which is possibly the biggest complaints re: Park Pass among guests.

The gist of this is that there is unused capacity in the afternoons and evenings and this works to address that (in benefit to the guest as well).
 

mmascari

Well-Known Member
There are further logistical pieces here that I am admittedly unaware of. That being said, all things point to this being a good change. They are definitely actively working towards removing the 2pm hopping restriction, which is possibly the biggest complaints re: Park Pass among guests.
Between 2:00 PM and the tapping in restriction, the tapping in first is the worse one by far.

We could deal with finding something else to do until 2:00. Sure, 12:00 would have been much better, but we could deal.

The tapping in first however, that required that we go to a park we otherwise would have skipped completely that day. Even if it was 5:00 or later to start the park part of the day.
 
Between 2:00 PM and the tapping in restriction, the tapping in first is the worse one by far.

We could deal with finding something else to do until 2:00. Sure, 12:00 would have been much better, but we could deal.

The tapping in first however, that required that we go to a park we otherwise would have skipped completely that day. Even if it was 5:00 or later to start the park part of the day.
I agree with this. Very annoying.
 
I hate all parts of park reservations and no change other than their elimination is going to be a good one imo.

On a recent trip we ended up at a park we didn’t want to be in because there were no more park availability - at Epcot! Probably because all the tapping in needed to hop later. We wanted another shot at guardians but no dice. The ability to be flexible on your vacation is gone. I don’t want more options for reservations, I just want to spend my vacation as I see fit, and it’s increasingly becoming “somewhere else”. Ok, maybe a Disney cruise so they are still getting my money...but something other than WDW!
 

Fido Chuckwagon

Well-Known Member
It is an entry reservation. It's exactly the same as the current model except with more reservations being available for different top slots throughout the day.
If disney is offering morning reservations to day guests but only afternoon or evening ones to AP’s for the same day they are absolutely going to get sued again and lose. This wasn’t part of the terms of the AP I purchased.
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
If disney is offering morning reservations to day guests but only afternoon or evening ones to AP’s for the same day they are absolutely going to get sued again and lose. This wasn’t part of the terms of the AP I purchased.
I don't know the details of how or when this will be activated but I would imagine they will offer pro-rated refunds due to these material changes to the program.
 
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Fido Chuckwagon

Well-Known Member
I don't know the details of how or when this will be activated but I would imagine they will offer pro-rated refunds due to these material changes to program.
Not going to cut it. Those AP’s are a contract. They don’t get to just back out of it because they figured out they could make more money after people have already paid for the AP’s. It would be one thing if they were forcing this change on all users (day guests and resort guests as well as AP’s). Otherwise they’re back to the same problem of selling “no blackout date” passes and blacking out times of certain dates to prioritize higher spending guests when they haven’t actually hit capacity for those times. They will absolutely get sued for this.
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
Not going to cut it. Those AP’s are a contract. It would be one thing if they were forcing this change on all users (day guests and resort guests as well as AP’s). Otherwise they’re back to the same problem of selling “no blackout date” passes and blacking out times of certain dates to prioritize higher spending guests when they haven’t actually hit capacity for those times. They will absolutely get sued for this.
The current AP terms are:

Admission to one or more Walt Disney World Resort theme parks during the year with an advance reservation¹

What term are they violating here? Asking honestly. Re: them being a contract, services change all the time with ability to get a refund. This isn't really new. As long as they return your money for the unused portion, I see no lawsuit.
 

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