Walt Disney World's Park Pass System, Explained
With the pandemic in 2020, Walt Disney World introduced a system to limit guest capacity, called the Park Pass System. In short, guests had to have a "reservation" for the park that they wanted to enter for the day in order to be able to enter. The system went through several tweaks over the past year and a half, and reservations have varied from hard to get (during times that Walt Disney World is limiting capacity severely) to fairly easy to get (during times Disney is operating at almost full capacity). We've avoided writing an article about it because of these changes, and because it seemed it would be a temporary thing.
But now, Disney CEO Bob Chapek says the Park Pass system is here to stay. beyond the scope of the pandemic. Yes, it seems nothing Disney can do will dissuade guests from visiting anymore.... so it's time to add this to your (already excessive) list of things to do when planning a Walt Disney World vacation.
Since this is an important part of your vacation planning, it's time to talk about it.
Tickets Are Not Park Pass Reservations
To clear up one misconception right off the bat, just because you have a ticket does not mean you have a park reservation. You must have both valid theme park admission AND a park pass reservation for the first park you wish to enter on a given day. This is very important, because even if you paid admission, if you do not have a park pass and the park's reservations are already gone for the day you wish to enter, you will be out of luck.
Another thing that will not guarantee you entry into a park is a dining reservation. A dining reservation inside a theme park is not the same as a park pass reservation and, again, without the park pass reservation, you will be denied entry.
When To Make Park Pass Reservations
Ideally, as soon as possible. Right now, Walt Disney World Park Pass Reservations are available through January 2023, and a calendar of available dates can be checked online here before purchasing tickets, which is strongly advised during busy times. For example, the week of Thanksgiving already has limited park pass availability.
Importantly, you need to have tickets or an annual pass before you are allowed to make Park Pass reservations. Once you have tickets, there are three categories of guests, each with potentially different availability and rules. They are...
Guests Staying at a Walt Disney World Resort - These guests must have valid theme park tickets, and then can make Park Pass reservations for their length of stay.
Guests with Theme Park tickets - These guests can make park pass reservations for the number of days on their ticket.
Annual Passholders - Annual passholders can make park pass reservations for up to 3 days at a time. This means it can be very difficult to get a park pass reservation for a desired park during very busy times like holidays. However, some hope is to be had because apparently the capacity for each of these three groups is also divided, meaning, in supposedly rare circumstances, a guest with theme park tickets might not see availability that a guest staying at a resort hotel might see, or that an annual passholder might see. HOWEVER, if, as an Annual Passholder, you also have a resort hotel reservation, then you are in the "Guests Staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Group" and not the "Annual Passholder" group anymore.
Children 3 years old and younger do not need Park Pass reservations to enter with their adults.
Note: No matter what class of guest you are, you can only have one park pass reservation per day.
How To Make Park Pass Reservations
Like nearly everything at Walt Disney World, the most convenient way to do this will be to use your MyDisneyExperience account.
1. First, check availability at the linked calendar above before purchasing tickets.
2. Then, purchase tickets, or make reservations and purchase theme park tickets.
3. Link those tickets to your MyDisneyExperience app. The organizer for the group should also link everyone in the party's tickets.
4. Start making a park pass reservation. Don't forget to add all of the guests in your party who will be going to the same park together before you make the reservation.
5. Select your date, then park, then arrival time (usually the window that shows here is the entire park hours).
6. Agree to the terms and conditions and CONFIRM your party's park pass reservation.
Park Hopper 2.Meh, Revisited
You might recall, we are not over the moon about Disney's new version of park hopping. However, the new version should be mentioned again here because it is meant to play along with Park Pass reservations.
As a reminder, if your theme park admission includes the park hopper benefit, then you may be able to hop to a second park after 2pm at Walt Disney World (1pm at Disneyland, California). In order to park hop, however, two very important things must have happened in addition to you having park hopper benefits:
The park you are hopping to must not be at capacity.
You must have entered the park for which you made a Park Pass reservation first before hopping.
Point 2 is the part we don't love. Plans change. As a guest, I might have thought I'd go to EPCOT in the morning, but perhaps I wake up tired and think I'd rather take the morning slow. I can't just continue with my afternoon plans, even if I have the park hopper now, unless I first enter EPCOT. But this is the reality right now.
About That Excessive Planning List...
We are consummate planners. Planning and strategy is our jam here at Sassagoula-Times, but at some point one begins to think it's quite enough. We love Walt Disney World and because there is certainly an "early bird gets the worm" reward system in place for planning, we benefit from all of the planning requirements of a Disney vacation. But even we have to admit, this is not for everyone anymore.
There's a lot of uncertainty around planning a trip to Walt Disney World these days, and missing one of the numerous planning steps is not something we want you to be uncertain about. So here's our quick list of things you need to plan about a Disney vacation now:
Download the MyDisneyExperience app (or at the very least, sign up online)
When deciding when to go, check park pass availability at the calendar linked above.
When you've decided when to go, make your resort reservation and purchase tickets (we recommend doing this around the same time now because the worst thing is to have a resort reservation and then have all the Park Pass reservations gobbled up before you can book them. Admission is needed to book them.)
Link your reservation and/or tickets to your MyDisneyExperience app for your entire party (if you are the planner)
Make Park Pass Reservations
Make Advanced Dining Reservations. Right now, you can do this 60 days ahead of the first day of your vacation. In normal times, it is 180 days ahead. Plan this around your Park Pass reservations when dining inside a theme park because remember, you will not be admitted to a theme park outside of a Park Pass or hopping after 2pm for a dining reservation. The good news here is there are a lot of good places to eat at resorts if you don't like what's at the park you have a Park Pass reservation at.
Right now there are no FastPasses, but if they are available, resort guests can make FastPass Plus reservations 60 days in advance, and other ticket holders can make them 30 days in advance.
While you are at Walt Disney world, if you want to ride a ride with a virtual queue (such as Rise of the Resistance), remember to enter the park that hosts that ride first thing in the morning upon opening, and join a boarding group using your MyDisneyExperience app. Yes, you need a Park Pass reservation for the morning boarding group. Boarding groups can be joined right now at park opening, and again once in the early afternoon (lately we've seen 2pm, which is the very moment you will enter if you are park hopping).
What do you think of the Park Pass reservation system? Tell us your stories over on our Facebook page, where you can follow us to see our new posts each week. Until next time...
Comments