Disney Chairman says changes are here to stay

[tigger48]

As both a DVC member and AP holder with off and onsite reservations for 2021 beyond the current (extended by Disney) expiry date of our AP, I find the park day reservation system particularly frustrating. I cannot currently purchase/upgrade/renew APs at all. Even when I can 🤞 renew our APs the offsite AP stays can only have 3 days? ! Are there only 3 parks - er no! Will the AP be cheaper to reflect the reduced product? Highly unlikely! In the meantime anyone who isn’t reliant on AP renewal can book park days equivalent to the length of their park ticket for eg Easter 2021 right now! Not cool Disney 😠.
That’s even before you look at diminished value of the lack of park hopping. Its not the same experience and post COVID necessities if these continue, imho it is not a premium experience... universal here we come 😆

[bonnies mum]

We havent been to Disney for a few years for a number of reasons mainly the need to pre-book meals, fast passes and the general crowd levels.
For us pre-booking a park for a specific date would be fine. It would help ensure it was not overcrowded; increase the liklihood if being able to ride popular attractions as they are not restricted by fast-pass+. Also it would suit us to book an onsite hotel for our 4 or 5 night Disney visit then go further afield for the remainder of our holiday.
I do however realise that for families the proposed changes will not be so attractive and do not offer such a magically submersive experience.

[vampiress88]

Suppose it depends on what changes they are keeping.

I haven’t got anything booked anymore so it will just be a waiting game for when Disney becomes acceptable to us again.

I wish it would just all go back to normal though.

[gjdjud]

I get why people are annoyed but in all honesty we pre plan which parks well in advance so won't make much difference bar park hopping. I do see Maxpass coming I think.

[disney332]

I think the potential to ride when you want based on lower crowds, outweighs the inconvenience of booking a park day..

Disney332

[Melanie R]

Originally Posted by disney332

I think the potential to ride when you want based on lower crowds, outweighs the inconvenience of booking a park day..

Disney332

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Would it mean lower crowds though - surely once the COVID restrictions are no longer in place, capacity in the parks would go back to usual, so while it will help Disney know the crowd levels on a given day, I don’t see how it will reduce them as parks rarely reach full capacity.

[disney332]

Originally Posted by Melanie R

Would it mean lower crowds though - surely once the COVID restrictions are no longer in place, capacity in the parks would go back to usual, so while it will help Disney know the crowd levels on a given day, I don’t see how it will reduce them.

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$64,000,000 question and you could be right, but without wishing to introduce anything to this thread other than what the OP posted, I think usual will never arrive as we knew it.

Disney332

[Donaldfan]

This isn't good for me. I park hop in the sense that I sometimes spend a morning at a water park and an afternoon in a main park, I don't do 2 main parks in one day. Also I'm not in the best of health and like the flexibility of deciding where to go on the day.

[Tdon]

People saying they won't return because of booking parks ? But you basically were anyway but choosing fast passes and booking dining reservations? I appreciate park hopping is a miss, however nothing to say you won't be able to do that in the future, maybe you just have to book 2 parks instead of 1?

[The Fatadder]

An interesting listen, certainly more than a little concerning. We have always done multiple parks on the same day, be that to take advantage of extra magic hours to ride one of the big ticket attractions while using fast passes elsewhere or to do fireworks in a different park.

However I can’t believe that Disney will in the long term forgo the extra revenue of selling those park hopper options. More likely it will be a case that the reservation system will be there in some form, maybe at peak times like Christmas when the park reaches capacity. Or something where you book your first park, but have the option to book into another park on the day (subject to availability) in order to park hop.

The mobile dining ordering is a clear win for them, speeding up the process while simultaneously allowing them to reduce headcount. It’s continuation (potentially extending to the elimination of face to face ordering) doesn’t bother me at all.

Likewise the extension of contactless payment (presumably magic band payment as well as app based), the last two trips all payment has been via magic band anyway so no real change. That said, if this is their desire to maximise contactless payment I would say it certainly hints at the return of paid DDP at the very least (once restaurant capacity is up to the job).

Finally was the comment on ride reservations, probably the bit that concerned me the most. I like the fast pass+ system, particularly in how it favours onsite guests. A move to more virtual lines / booking groups that are just a free for all on the day would be very disappointing. (In that case what on earth are you paying that huge on site premium for). Hopefully if the do change the system as we approach what ever normal looks like now, it maintains that on site benefit.