Looks like the park reservation system is here to stay.

[AMartin767]

Many people who want to come to the park are turned away since they have no reservations. Attendance is lower than it would be with no reservation system.

That doesn't mean that the limit of people they have set isn't still too high to make the visit an enjoyable experience. If I can get in but can't find an available bathroom, can only get in a couple of attractions at most due to overly long waits, can barely acquire food, drinks etc. in a reasonable amount of time, can't walk through the park, find a place to sit down and rest, can't even get into a retail space without being packed shoulder to shoulder and without being overwhelmed by lack of the minimum of physical space then in my opinion it's too crowded and what's the point?

Also, I speculate that the "limit" they are setting is not far below the maximum capacity allowed anyway.

 

[MillauFr]

That doesn't mean that the limit of people they have set isn't still too high to make the visit an enjoyable experience.

Yes, I can agree with you on that statement.

 

[Alicefan]

Actually I tried on my last trip and it worked:

wife had a migraine and i had reservation for Epcot and went alone- when I got there, it was crowded and miserable, so I went to MdE and changed that days reservation to AK while in Epcot, and at noonish headed over to AK and got in

So, as along there’s availability, you can switch - at least i could in November.

But what a pain in the butt! Wouldn't it have been so much better to just turn on your heel and walk back out without a second thought? Like we used to do? I was trying to do my clients hair the other day while he was on hold with Disney, trying to change his park reservation because their plans had changed for that day. Just an utter PIA. Another reason to clog up the phone lines at WDW with problems that never existed in the past. No one on the planet likes having to deal with guest services, let alone just to simply explain to someone that you changed your mind! They're making vacations so blasted stressful! But the bigwigs "like" these changes because they can see where they money is going. No mention whatsoever of the guest experience anymore, but we DO keeps seeing just what corporate likes.

 

[Alicefan]

So if guests can't get into the parks because there are no reservations available how is that not controlling crowds?

Have you been to the parks to see what it looks like? The crowds used to be self controlled and it worked so much better. I'm not even going to say "in my opinion" because after 25 years of seeing it first hand, it's fact. The ability to use our own judgment has been taken away basically. Remember when you could walk in the gates and do a loop and judge for yourself whether to stay or hop to another park because the one you were in was much too crowded for your liking? Now what happens is, you walk in, hit mainstreet and say, "oh no!" and instead of jumping on that monorail, you sigh, and think, "welp, let's try to make the best of it." Then right behind you, the next person and the next person and the next, all do the same thing. It's like the roach motel until 2pm. One right after another are trapped unless they want to do a big song and dance with guest services. We've lost the ability to distribute the crowds naturally. They've decided to do it FOR us, and what THEY think is an acceptable crowd level, might not be to me and you. I for one, do NOT think the line for HM being out by the River boat entrance, and a 150 minute wait for Jungle Cruise on a Monday in February is crowd control of any kind.

 

[jpeterson]

Have you been to the parks to see what it looks like? The crowds used to be self controlled and it worked so much better. I'm not even going to say "in my opinion" because after 25 years of seeing it first hand, it's fact. The ability to use our own judgment has been taken away basically. Remember when you could walk in the gates and do a loop and judge for yourself whether to stay or hop to another park because the one you were in was much too crowded for your liking? Now what happens is, you walk in, hit mainstreet and say, "oh no!" and instead of jumping on that monorail, you sigh, and think, "welp, let's try to make the best of it." Then right behind you, the next person and the next person and the next, all do the same thing. It's like the roach motel until 2pm. One right after another are trapped unless they want to do a big song and dance with guest services. We've lost the ability to distribute the crowds naturally. They've decided to do it FOR us, and what THEY think is an acceptable crowd level, might not be to me and you. I for one, do NOT think the line for HM being out by the River boat entrance, and a 150 minute wait for Jungle Cruise on a Monday in February is crowd control of any kind.

I was in WDW last week for our Spring Break. We go for Spring Break nearly every year and expect crowds. This years were more than I have ever seen. The park reservation system just served to "lock us in" as you suggested. We are "stuck" until 2PM. I'm the type that would normally show up at park opening, spend a couple hours and then maybe go somewhere else around 11-12. That's a lot more limited now.

 

[MillauFr]

Have you been to the parks to see what it looks like? The crowds used to be self controlled and it worked so much better. I'm not even going to say "in my opinion" because after 25 years of seeing it first hand, it's fact. The ability to use our own judgment has been taken away basically. Remember when you could walk in the gates and do a loop and judge for yourself whether to stay or hop to another park because the one you were in was much too crowded for your liking? Now what happens is, you walk in, hit mainstreet and say, "oh no!" and instead of jumping on that monorail, you sigh, and think, "welp, let's try to make the best of it." Then right behind you, the next person and the next person and the next, all do the same thing. It's like the roach motel until 2pm. One right after another are trapped unless they want to do a big song and dance with guest services. We've lost the ability to distribute the crowds naturally. They've decided to do it FOR us, and what THEY think is an acceptable crowd level, might not be to me and you. I for one, do NOT think the line for HM being out by the River boat entrance, and a 150 minute wait for Jungle Cruise on a Monday in February is crowd control of any kind.

I didn't say the parks aren't crowded. I just said that if Disney is restricting more guests from accessing the parks that they are less crowded than they would be if there was no restrictions on entry.

 

[NobodyNew]

But what a pain in the butt! Wouldn't it have been so much better to just turn on your heel and walk back out without a second thought? Like we used to do? I was trying to do my clients hair the other day while he was on hold with Disney, trying to change his park reservation because their plans had changed for that day. Just an utter PIA. Another reason to clog up the phone lines at WDW with problems that never existed in the past. No one on the planet likes having to deal with guest services, let alone just to simply explain to someone that you changed your mind! They're making vacations so blasted stressful! But the bigwigs "like" these changes because they can see where they money is going. No mention whatsoever of the guest experience anymore, but we DO keeps seeing just what corporate likes.

by all means, yes! It would have been way easier to just walk out and head somewhere else.

I was mainly pointing out that we aren’t locked in to 2pm if the day’s chosen park is not making us happy!

i would way rather have the freedoms we had just a short time ago. The park change really only took maybe 60-90 seconds? Pretty quick and painless!

 

[Grasshopper2016]

I wouldn't have an issue with park reservations if the crowds were lower.

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

Agreed. Until Disney can get back to full staffing, the caps on park attendance should be substantially reduced to ensure that guests have a better experience.

But all of this still feels like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's arguably nice to spread people out among the four parks (though that comes at a cost to guest flexibility). But the bottom line is that there are simply too many people at the entire resort. Disney keeps building new hotels, making new arrangements with good neighbor hotels, and advertising the parks like crazy. But they are not doing much to increase the ride capacity to match. Indeed, even before Covid, they were cutting entertainment left and right. And now, with Covid, there is much that isn't fully reopened.

Not everyone who wants to go to the Super Bowl gets to go. The NFL limits ticket sales to make sure that everyone with a ticket can meaningfully enjoy the event. (Instead of, say, selling a million tickets and then having people line up for hours to try to actually get into the stadium.) Unless and until they significantly increase capacity, Disney needs to do the same thing. If the park reservation system were properly used, it could serve that goal. Which would at least provide a benefit to offset its downsides. But that doesn't seem to be happening.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

Agreed. Until Disney can get back to full staffing, the caps on park attendance should be substantially reduced to ensure that guests have a better experience.

But all of this still feels like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's arguably nice to spread people out among the four parks (though that comes at a cost to guest flexibility). But the bottom line is that there are simply too many people at the entire resort. Disney keeps building new hotels, making new arrangements with good neighbor hotels, and advertising the parks like crazy. But they are not doing much to increase the ride capacity to match. Indeed, even before Covid, they were cutting entertainment left and right. And now, with Covid, there is much that isn't fully reopened.

Not everyone who wants to go to the Super Bowl gets to go. The NFL limits ticket sales to make sure that everyone with a ticket can meaningfully enjoy the event. (Instead of, say, selling a million tickets and then having people line up for hours to try to actually get into the stadium.) Unless and until they significantly increase capacity, Disney needs to do the same thing. If the park reservation system were properly used, it could serve that goal. Which would at least provide a benefit to offset its downsides. But that doesn't seem to be happening.

Yes rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!! I hope the powers that be hear you!!

 

[k5xs]

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[Jrb1979]

First I will say I don't have the emotional attachment to Disney like many of you do here. I didn't grow up going to the parks.

What I don't get is if so many of you hate whats happening to the parks, why not visit other parks instead. I know they don't have the IP of Disney but there is so many amazing parks out there.

 

[Turksmom]

First I will say I don't have the emotional attachment to Disney like many of you do here. I didn't grow up going to the parks.

What I don't get is if so many of you hate whats happening to the parks, why not visit other parks instead. I know they don't have the IP of Disney but there is so many amazing parks out there.

Besides the emotional attachment, many on the boards are DVC and AP, so there's already a monetary investment. 4 Incredipasses take a big chunk out of the annual vacation budget, so I have to figure out how to make the most out of Disney, rather than going somewhere else.

While I'm unhappy with some of the changes, there are also things I still love about Disney, so I'm willing to wait and see if the experience continues to be degraded, or if they actually recognize some of the guest dissatisfaction and take steps to address it.

 

[zillayen]

First I will say I don't have the emotional attachment to Disney like many of you do here. I didn't grow up going to the parks.

What I don't get is if so many of you hate whats happening to the parks, why not visit other parks instead. I know they don't have the IP of Disney but there is so many amazing parks out there.

Some people are. We converted our Universal tickets to APs after we had a great experience last week, and don’t plan to return to WDW anytime soon. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with venting frustrations on these boards. Lots of things have changed over the past few years, it’s ok to be upset about those changes while still trying to make the best of them.

 

[MillauFr]

Not everyone who wants to go to the Super Bowl gets to go.

Anyone who wants to go to the Superbowl and is willing to pay the market rate on the ticket reseller rates can go to the Superbowl. Disney could move to this model but so far seems unwilling to do so. They seem to continually underestimate demand and charge too low of prices for park admission. Just look at the annual pass debacle at Disneyland where the $1,500 passes sold out in a month. They still aren't available yet.

 

[dancergirlsmom]

First I will say I don't have the emotional attachment to Disney like many of you do here. I didn't grow up going to the parks.

What I don't get is if so many of you hate whats happening to the parks, why not visit other parks instead. I know they don't have the IP of Disney but there is so many amazing parks out there.

I love Disney and have been a passholder for years. However, since the parks re-opened July 2020 I have become a Universal Passholder and also rent a car. I now split my stays between the two. I really enjoy the Universal Parks and the AP rates for the top 3 hotels for unlimited express pass are great. Prior to the closures I used Magical Express and spent all of my time at Disney.

 

[ktlm]

Have you been to the parks to see what it looks like? The crowds used to be self controlled and it worked so much better. I'm not even going to say "in my opinion" because after 25 years of seeing it first hand, it's fact. The ability to use our own judgment has been taken away basically. Remember when you could walk in the gates and do a loop and judge for yourself whether to stay or hop to another park because the one you were in was much too crowded for your liking? Now what happens is, you walk in, hit mainstreet and say, "oh no!" and instead of jumping on that monorail, you sigh, and think, "welp, let's try to make the best of it." Then right behind you, the next person and the next person and the next, all do the same thing. It's like the roach motel until 2pm. One right after another are trapped unless they want to do a big song and dance with guest services. We've lost the ability to distribute the crowds naturally. They've decided to do it FOR us, and what THEY think is an acceptable crowd level, might not be to me and you. I for one, do NOT think the line for HM being out by the River boat entrance, and a 150 minute wait for Jungle Cruise on a Monday in February is crowd control of any kind.

100% THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! It isn't just WDW it is DLR too. We were at DLR in October. DL was absolutely packed on morning and the lines were ridiculous (60 minutes for Small World) and we kept looking at the wait times and they were extremely short over in CA (like 15 minutes for Toy Story Mania, and 30 minutes for RSR short). Any other trip, we would have immediately walked out of DL and over to CA and had a great morning. This time, we were stuck in DL being miserable and that was before Genie + so there was NO fast pass for anything. We despised the park reservation system- not only for that, but for the inability to hop for lunch. I think it is even worse at DLR because hopping has no time commitment there- it takes 5 minutes to be out of one park and in the other.

 

[john1012a]

This will probably never happen but i would like to see a live chart on MDE that has all 4 parks on one page that shows the number of people in each park at any given time. Remove the restriction on 2PM hopping and the crowds can make their own determination on where to go. I don't need to see a final number for capacity, but just the percentage of attendance for that day based on whatever they set the capacity at

 

[Jennasis]

The park reservations system is fine, but meaningless if it's still so miserably crowded. Make us make a reservation but then CAP ATTENDANCE at a reasonable number.

 

[AnnaS]

Has anyone been able to make their park reservations for later this year. I started my October park reservations. I was able to make 5 out of the 7 I wanted. It won't let me go further. It shows March 2022 calendar and nothing past that. I can't go backwards either. Have had this issue for more than a week with desktop and laptop. Might have to make a call.

 

[CarolynFH]

Has anyone been able to make their park reservations for later this year. I started my October park reservations. I was able to make 5 out of the 7 I wanted. It won't let me go further. It shows March 2022 calendar and nothing past that. I can't go backwards either. Have had this issue for more than a week with desktop and laptop. Might have to make a call.

Do you have tickets for those dates? A few weeks ago I tried to make park reservations for our June trip and couldn't, because although we had just renewed my AP (our APs expired in early March), we hadn't renewed DH's AP yet, so he didn't have a valid ticket for June.