Looks like the park reservation system is here to stay.

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Looks like the leaders are saying the park reservation system is here to stay. But what has not been mentioned is if AP will go back on sale. I guess if they are capping the parks then its hard to sell a pass if a person can't get in.


March 8, 2022 at 2:09 p.m. | UPDATED: March 9, 2022 at 1:46 p.m.
Disneyland and Walt Disney World won’t be filled to the gills with crowds bursting at the seams when the parks eventually return to full capacity in a post-pandemic world, according to Disney officials.
“We are coming back toward full capacity,” Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said during an investors conference. “We’re not yet there.”
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SEE ALSO: Star Wars Celebration 2022 sets date to get tickets for Anaheim event
McCarthy discussed managing capacity and balancing attendance after the COVID-19 pandemic closures of Disney theme parks around the world during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Monday, March 8.
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“We don’t want to have the parks bursting at the seams,” McCarthy said during the conference. “We want to have them so that they are a great experience. If you’re having a good time, you’re probably inclined to spend more money and that has been the results we have had to date since we’ve reopened.”
McCarthy credited a new reservation system introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic closures of Disneyland and Disney World with spreading out attendance at the parks.
“It allows us to better balance load throughout the year, throughout the week, throughout the month,” McCarthy said during the conference. “That’s something that has really given us a toggle for how we’re going to manage attendance.”
SEE ALSO: When will Disneyland let Mickey Mouse hug visitors again?
Balancing attendance allows Disneyland and Disney World to offer a better visitor experience, according to McCarthy.

“When you’re a guest in a park and you can’t do things and everything is too crowded, your guest experience is going to go down, your intent to return is going to go down and word of mouth will not be as good,” McCarthy said during the conference.
McCarthy expects the company’s “yield management” strategy to lead to continued strong financial returns at the Disney Parks business that includes the Disney cruise line — which is just beginning to return to the seas after an extended coronavirus-related disruption.
“You can let more people in — not necessarily filling it to the gills — but we can let more people in very thoughtfully on how we’re going to balance these loads,” McCarthy said during the conference. “You’ll see, I believe, that I don’t think the best is over.”
SEE ALSO: Disney’s Food & Wine Festival returns after a pandemic pause
Disney rarely talks about theme park attendance or capacity levels — and McCarthy did not discuss specific numbers for Disneyland or Disney World.
Disneyland and other California theme parks were forced to reopen at reduced capacity levels last spring under state COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Disneyland attendance climbed steadily from 25% of 2019 levels when the Anaheim theme park reopened in late April after an extended coronavirus closure to nearly 85% by the end of the summer, according to a report from a data analytics company.
Disneyland saw visits rebound during the summer of 2021 and climb close to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to the report from Placer.ai, a firm that tracks foot traffic at theme parks, retailers and restaurants.
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Disneyland and Disney California Adventure saw 80% attendance declines in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic closures that kept the tourist destinations shuttered for most of the year, according to a report from the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.
Disneyland attracted an average of 51,000 visitors per day in 2019 while DCA drew an average of 27,000 daily visitors, according to TEA/AECOM.
McCarthy said in August during a quarterly earnings call that Disneyland and Disney World planned to steadily increase attendance capacity in an “aggressively but measured” manner.

 

[KYMickey]

Just another stupid move that makes a vacation at WDW less of a vacation and more like a wargame! A vacation is supposed to be something that you do things today for a moment if you want to change your mind, this certainly prevents that. What if you plan on riding a certain ride and it's down that day? You can't schedule another day in that park before you leave so you are SOL? This is going to disappoint many many people and offers no upside!

 

[middlechild]

“When you’re a guest in a park and you can’t do things and everything is too crowded, your guest experience is going to go down, your intent to return is going to go down and word of mouth will not be as good,” McCarthy said during the conference.

It is good to know that at least someone in leadership is concerned over word of mouth.

 

[Liquidice]

“When you’re a guest in a park and you can’t do things and everything is too crowded, your guest experience is going to go down, your intent to return is going to go down and word of mouth will not be as good,” McCarthy said during the conference.

It is good to know that at least someone in leadership is concerned over word of mouth.

She would much rather word of mouth be that Disney is here to help reduce your waistlines, and that people who come to Disney either have more time than money or more money than time - and the people who aren't buying Genie+ and ILL$ I guess just have lots of free time and therefore not as much money?

Those 2 statements actually conflict with each other - because there are tons of complaints that the parks are too crowded and lines are too long already, thats the word of mouth right now. Her answer to that is you must have more time than money. (Source: https://www.disneydining.com/paying...ys-some-guests-have-more-money-than-time-ks1/ )

I guess the point she's trying to make is that if you're not rich its because you work less and have more time available to wait in long standby lines. If you want to be rich, you should work more.

The level of disconnect from reality is shocking and I don't think Christine McCarthy is the only Executive at Disney that has no idea what it is like to be a middle class working person.

 

[bbeagle]

What if you plan on riding a certain ride and it's down that day? You can't schedule another day in that park before you leave so you are SOL? This is going to disappoint many many people and offers no upside!

Yes you definitely can - you can schedule at ANY park after 2pm and park hop over there.

 

[bbeagle]

Just another stupid move that makes a vacation at WDW less of a vacation and more like a wargame! A vacation is supposed to be something that you do things today for a moment if you want to change your mind

Vacations mean different things to different people. We have friends that we can't vacation with anymore.

If they go to a vacation in Disney World, they want to sleep in, eat a big breakfast, arrive at the parks around 11, go on a few rides, head back to the hotel pool around 3, then have a nice sit-down meal. Relax at night drinking wine and watching fireworks outside their hotel window.

We would like to wake up at the crack of dawn and get to the parks before rope-drop. We want to ride 'ALL THE RIDES' and see 'ALL THE SHOWS'. We will eat the occasional sit-down meal, but it's not the norm. We'll be back at the hotel after the fireworks, and repeat every day. We'll rest when we're back home.

We HATE beach vacations (boring!), we LOVE city/museum/attraction vacations (exciting!). Our friends are the exact opposite.

 

[k5xs]

Yes you definitely can - you can schedule at ANY park after 2pm and park hop over there.

That doesn’t do you much good if you’ve done an 8:30am rope drop and found the attraction you wanted to do broken or the crowd in that park overwhelming. You’re stuck for five and a half hours with that park.

The park reservation system is all about giving Disney the ability to optimize resources in parks, and I get that.

But for Disney to say it “enhances the guest experience” is tone deaf disingenuous garbage.

 

[bbeagle]

For Disney to say it “enhances the guest experience” is tone deaf disingenuous garbage.

I 100% agree with that.

 

[Mamabun]

NM

 

[New Mouse]

For Disney to say it “enhances the guest experience” is tone deaf disingenuous garbage.

Worse, it's just a flat out lie and deceptive. Working for Disney PR recently must be a struggle for those with a moral compass.

 

[MillauFr]

That doesn’t do you much good if you’ve done an 8:30am rope drop and found the attraction you wanted to do broken or the crowd in that park overwhelming. You’re stuck for five and a half hours with that park.

The park reservation system is all about giving Disney the ability to optimize resources in parks, and I get that.

For Disney to say it “enhances the guest experience” is tone deaf disingenuous garbage.

As another poster already mentioned the parks are crowded enough. I would prefer they reduced crowding even more.

 

[BrianL]

Worse, it's just a flat out lie and deceptive. Working for Disney PR recently must be a struggle for those with a moral compass.

I agree. I mean, I get why they want to keep the reservation system and, you know, that's fine, but they don't have to position everything they do as to "enhance the guest experience." They could just say that, "We need this system in place to help manage our resources." That's an acceptible answer. I don't love it, but I get it.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

“We don’t want to have the parks bursting at the seams,”

And yet, based on countless guest reports, they are bursting at the seams.

“When you’re a guest in a park and you can’t do things and everything is too crowded, your guest experience is going to go down, your intent to return is going to go down and word of mouth will not be as good,”

Precisely. So, why are they admitting too many guests when they don't have the capacity to handle that many yet? $$$$$.

With the park reservation system in place, they could cap the number of guests at a lower number (like they did when they first re-opened after COVID hit) to reduce crowds, avoid the parks "bursting at the seams" and improve the overall guest experience. Even if that meant slightly less profits (gasp!).

Of course, we all want to experience less crowding, but the trade-off for that would be the risk of not being able to get in at all if they admit fewer guests and you're not one of the people who was able to get a park reservation.

“We want to have them so that they are a great experience. If you’re having a good time, you’re probably inclined to spend more money and that has been the results we have had to date since we’ve reopened.”

So, instead of raising prices on everything, nickel and diming guests at every turn (I'm looking at you, G+ and ILL$), and admitting more crowds than you can sustain, why not focus on truly improving the guest experience and those guests will be inclined to spend more. Is it better to extort those extra profits at the expense of guest satisfaction, or make the experience so awesome that people will beg you to take more of their money?

Yes, people are spending more money now... but not because they're having such a good time that it makes them want to spend more. They are leaving unhappy about having been made to spend that much and not getting a quality experience in return. It's not accurate to equate the amount of money they're bringing in with guest satisfaction.

Yes, I know... vote with your wallet, people are still paying it, etc. But Disney has always been extremely expensive. Difference is that, in the past, most people left feeling that even though it cost an arm and a leg, it was worth every penny. Now, there's a big uptick in people (average guests, not just the uber-fans on sites like this) who seem to be coming home feeling like it wasn't at all worth that high cost. Disney still made money from them, so by that metric (i.e., more money = guests are more satisfied), Disney is in denial and convincing themselves that everything's rosey. The problem is that their equation is based on a false assumption. Yes, people are spending more, but if they get home and say "I won't do that again. It wasn't worth it" then you can't equate profits to guest satisfaction.

ETA: I, like many on this site, am potentially Disney's "dream" customer. I'm WILLING to spend more money if it will improve my experience. For example, I'd happily pay more than $15/day for an improved Genie+ product that allows me to skip more than just a handful of lines and doesn't require me to get up early, play the lottery for my time slots, and have to spend all day competing for additional slots. The problem is that G+ (among other examples) costs more, but is a dumpster fire in terms of giving me a better experience in return for my spending extra. I'll spend more, but give me better service in return.

“You can let more people in — not necessarily filling it to the gills — but we can let more people in very thoughtfully on how we’re going to balance these loads,”

Doesn't seem like they are being thoughtful enough in their approach yet. They're actually doing exactly what she states they don't want to be doing... filling parks to the gills, resulting in a bad experience in an overcrowded park with a lot of folks leaving unhappy, disgruntled, and feeling ripped off.

 

[k5xs]

As another poster already mentioned the parks are crowded enough. I would prefer they reduced crowding even more.

I don't think the reservation system is in any way controlling crowds. Disney has always had a process (probably a fire code requirement) of shutting off entry to the parks when capacity is reached. And our experience last month was that the system is allowing huge crowds.

I think what it does for Disney is to be able to pre-position supplies (food, beverage, etc.) and staff/CMs to accurately match supply and demand.

No doubt the logisticians and staffing people love the park reservation system. I hate it.

 

[Brocktoon]

I know I'm being Captain Obvious here ... but the park reservation system along with limiting hopping is going nowhere as it allows Disney to to study and optimize their ultimate balance:

Attendance / $ per guest yield VS Staffing / Operational resources

Disney wants (needs?) to pack the parks as much as possible, while keeping the staffing and operations as low as possible. The solution isn't to add more staff or hours if it starts offsetting a smaller gain for an increase in park attendance or satisfaction.

When McCarthy says they're going to 'balance these loads' ... it means they are going try and find a sweet spot (from profits NOT guest satisfaction) where you've maximized your operational budget matched to an optimized park guest (think high yield $/guest) and attendance level.

Human behavior tends to be an unpredictable variable, so to eliminate that they'll use tools like park reservations and limiting hopping to control their balancing model. They know they'll have plenty of unhappy guests, but as long as it's kept to an acceptable level Disney will keep rolling forward.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I know I'm being Captain Obvious here ... but the park reservation system along with limiting hopping is going nowhere as it allows Disney to to study and optimize their ultimate balance:

Attendance / $ per guest yield VS Staffing / Operational resources

Disney wants (needs?) to pack the parks as much as possible, while keeping the staffing and operations as low as possible. The solution isn't to add more staff or hours if it starts offsetting a smaller gain for an increase in park attendance or satisfaction.

When McCarthy says they're going to 'balance these loads' ... it means they are going try and find a sweet spot (from profits NOT guest satisfaction) where you've maximized your operational budget matched to an optimized park guest (think high yield $/guest) and attendance level.

Human behavior tends to be an unpredictable variable, so to eliminate that they'll use tools like park reservations and limiting hopping to control their balancing model. They know they'll have plenty of unhappy guests, but as long as it's kept to an acceptable level Disney will keep rolling forward.

I agree with what you said. I still think it's tone-deaf for the CEO, CFO, etc. to give lip service to guest satisfaction/experience and point to how much money they're raking in as proof that guests are happier.

No, Disney... you charged them a lot more but didn't deliver an appropriate level of service/quality in return for the astronomical prices. This is leaving many guests unhappy and DIS-satisfied, so don't pee on our shoes and tell us it's raining by pointing to your profits as a metric of guest satisfaction.

 

[MillauFr]

I don't think the reservation system is in any way controlling crowds.

If there are no reservations available how is that not controlling crowds?

Disney has two way of controlling crowding. Jacking up prices even higher or reservations. I see no other ways. Do you? Isn't reservation preferable to even higher prices?

 

[Brocktoon]

I agree with what you said. I still think it's tone-deaf for the CEO, CFO, etc. to give lip service to guest satisfaction/experience and point to how much money they're raking in as proof that guests are happier.

It definitely is tone-deaf ... but I'm so jaded by this point that I already expect 'guest is #1' will be slapped onto any Disney statement just like the health and well-being of their employees

 

[RNRMOM]

If there are no reservations available how is that not controlling crowds?

Disney has two way of controlling crowding. Jacking up prices even higher or reservations. I see no other ways. Do you? Isn't reservation preferable to even higher prices?

I agree with you and I see both sides of this argument. I wouldn't have an issue with park reservations if the crowds were lower. We were there just two months ago during the "slow" season and I felt like I was visiting during the fall when it's packed with Food and Wine activities.

If Disney actually cut down the number of guests they let in I don't think so many people would have issues with the system. Also if they wouldn't charge for Fastpasses that would make a world of a difference. They could simply charge more for the tickets instead of forcing people to use a system so they don't have to wait 45 minutes or more in a line that used to max out at 20.

With all of the extra party and special event tickets being sold (and sometimes sold out), clearly people will stretch their dollars if they believe the crowds will be reduced. It's frustrating when you're paying more (if you utilize Genie Plus and LL), you're forced to use the reservation system and the crowds are still very high.

 

[k5xs]

If there are no reservations available how is that not controlling crowds?

Disney has two way of controlling crowding. Jacking up prices even higher or reservations. I see no other ways. Do you? Isn't reservation preferable to even higher prices?

I stated my point poorly. Yes, reservations are "controlling the crowds," but they are "controlling" them at a level that is crowded--way crowded.

I'm convinced they aren't setting the park registration limit at a level that assures guests of a smooth attraction-filled experience, "guest experience enhanced" visit. Instead, I think they are limiting attendance to the highest possible level their staffing can bear (and possibly to the limit the fire code allows).

And I don't think the reservation system has in any way been used to control prices. To the contrary, a primary focus that's been articulated by Disney to its investors is that they are working to INcrease the "spend per guest." The only ways to do that are to either sell guests more stuff or to charge more for the stuff you're selling them (or both).