No park reservations available?!?!?!

[TeKa21]

So we are flying to DL this coming weekend 3/9 and 3/10 but I forgot to make any park reservations and they are showing sold out, how is that possible? I checked last week and there was wide open availability for months and it isn’t spring break or Easter? What could possibly be going on this weekend? What should I do, this is ridiculous. What are the chances of it opening up in the next few days before our trip? I’m kind of in a panic. Help!!!

 

[cmot123]

So we are flying to DL this coming weekend 3/9 and 3/10 but I forgot to make any park reservations and they are showing sold out, how is that possible? I checked last week and there was wide open availability for months and it isn’t spring break or Easter? What could possibly be going on this weekend? What should I do, this is ridiculous. What are the chances of it opening up in the next few days before our trip? I’m kind of in a panic. Help!!!

Do you have Magic Keys? Or regular tickets? For either case slots often open up a few days before or even the day before. Keep a close eye out because openings can appear and get gobbled up quickly. If you have a reservation at a Disney hotel, make sure you enter that before you make your park reservations. Hotel guests have additional reservation slots. You can even see the Concierge after you arrive. On my last trip we had to make a last-minute change an despite no slots shown online, they were able to make it happen. I don't know if we were lucky, or if that's something they can always do.

Looking right now I see that Magic Key slots are available on 3/9 starting at DCA for Believe and Inspire keys. But for any of the keys watch closely, especially 2-3 days out for openings as locals cancel their slots.

In my experience you have excellent odds of getting some last-minute slots, but if not, consider a backup plan of Knotts Berry Farm (super close) or Universal (only make this drive on a weekend unless you love traffic jams). This time of year, you really don't need to pre-purchase either. Both parks are pretty quiet.

 

[PalmettoPath]

This is the kick-off and a major Spring Break weekend for much of Canada. We visit WDW every March at this time (we fly in on the 9th this year, which is a huge travel day for Canadian "March Break" and WDW is packed throughout March. So that could be a likely reason for the busy time you are seeing at DLR as well.

 

[tinytilly]

So we are flying to DL this coming weekend 3/9 and 3/10 but I forgot to make any park reservations and they are showing sold out, how is that possible? I checked last week and there was wide open availability for months and it isn’t spring break or Easter? What could possibly be going on this weekend? What should I do, this is ridiculous. What are the chances of it opening up in the next few days before our trip? I’m kind of in a panic. Help!!!

Hopefully you can get a reservation! I just wanted to say, this week starting tomorrow is spring break for a lot of colleges so that could be part of it?

 

[TeKa21]

Hopefully you can get a reservation! I just wanted to say, this week starting tomorrow is spring break for a lot of colleges so that could be part of it?

Update! After barely being able to sleep all night I just woke up and just kept hitting refresh and somehow a reservation popped up for each park on Sat and Sun. Crisis averted, it’s a miracle!! I certainly don’t want to go thru that again.

 

[disneychrista]

This is why I bit the bullet and bought my tickets and made my reservations yesterday. 10 weeks before my trip. I am going during a time where there are two grad nights. I didn’t want to wait and get locked out. I used to not buy my ticket until the night before “just in case.”

 

[ktlm]

For a lot of school districts in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas that is the starting weekend of spring break. Glad you were able to pick reservations up!

 

[twodogs]

For a lot of school districts in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas that is the starting weekend of spring break. Glad you were able to pick reservations up!

We live in Texas, and that is our starting week of Spring Break. Our older DD is at Colgate in upstate NY, and it is also the start of their college Spring Break.

I am glad you got your park reservations! I think it is best to book them when you buy your tickets or plan your trip (if you have a MK and have reservations available to book) because you just never know when things surge and you are possibly shut out. You can always change them or cancel them later if you don’t need them. I am very glad your persistence paid off!! Have a magical time!

 

[soniam]

Are you staying on or offsite? Regular tickets or annual passes? Supposedly there is basically unlimited access for onsite hotels. I can't remember if it matters if you have tickets or APs though.

 

[Aspencreek]

I really hate how the spontaneity of going to DL is basically gone. We just got back from a SoCal trip and did one day at DL (Thursday 2/29). We had that day planned for a while so it was no problem, but then we had Sunday open up and thought we might go back for another day. Like the OP we saw that what had previously been wide open reservations suddenly changed to the weekend being completely unavailable. Checked back a few times Friday and Saturday but never did see any spots open for Sunday. So instead of DL getting another visit from us we went the other way and hit a couple parks in San Diego instead.

 

[DLandgirlie]

On the plus side of selling more MK's today, I checked the calendar and it's wide open availability (for Enchant), so they've released more spots. I was able to get the park and day I wanted for a Sunday March. Prior to, it was constantly stating not available.