So much has changed at Disney over the last few years and we do our best to keep you updated. It’s taken years but Disney Parks finally seem to be making progress on getting things back to normal. The list of shows, restaurants and shops left to reopen continues to shorten. However, some pandemic era reopening changes are still in effect today. One is an extra step that some Disney Parks guests need to know about in order to plan their next visit. Upon reopening in 2020, Disney Parks needed to limit capacity to allow for social distancing. And so, in addition to a ticket you also needed a Disney Park reservation to play for the day. You might be surprised to discover that you may still need to book a Disney Park reservation to visit any of the parks.
Do I Need Disney Park Reservations in 2024?
Do you need Disney Park reservations in 2024? It depends on your ticket, the time of day you’re visiting and where you’re going.
Reservations get extra tricky when members of your travel party have different kinds of access to the parks. There are different availability calendars for annual pass holders and those using regular day or multi-day tickets. This is in addition to any block out days you may have. Those staying at Disney resort hotels have a different pool of availability no matter the ticket type.
Disney Park Reservations Going Away at Disney World
Much to the delight of guests, Disney shared that Disney World guests using a date based ticket for entry would no longer need park reservations starting January 9th, 2024. Most tickets are priced based on demand. Disney uses the date of a ticket to determine the price. Any ticket you purchase that asks you to select the date you’re visiting will no longer require a park reservation as of January 9th, 2024. However, there are other ticket types that will still need to book a park reservation in order to visit.
Who still needs Walt Disney World Resort park reservations?
As of 2024, those with a Disney annual pass still need Disney World park reservations to visit for the whole day. Even if you’re staying at a Disney resort hotel! There is a different availability calendar for resort guests but you still need to make a reservation. Park reservations are separate from blockout dates. You will need to make sure it’s a day your annual pass is eligible and then make a park reservation to have fun in a Disney park. The number of park reservations you can have at one time depends on the kind of ticket you have and if you have a Disney resort reservation at the time.
There is a specific time when Disney annual passholders do not need a park reservation. Annual Passholders can visit the parks after 2:00 p.m. without a theme park reservation, except at Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays.
Also, anyone with a ticket that is not date based will probably need a park pass reservation. This includes some special Florida resident multi-day tickets. Refer to your specific ticket type. During the last round of ticket specials, one needed reservations and the other didn’t. This could be a selling point. Not having to make a park reservation provides more ease and flexibility.
Do you need a park reservation to park hop at Disney World?
All day park hopping is back in 2024 as of January 9th too! If you don’t need a Disney park reservation, you can go to any park you choose and park hop whenever you want.
As an annual passholder you still need to make a Disney park reservation and visit your first park, where your reservation is, and tap in in order to park hop. You do not need a reservation for any park you want to hop to after visiting your first park. We can assume anyone who needs a park reservation will also need to visit their first park before park hopping to another one. There does not seem to be a time limit on this however. This means you can make a park reservation at Animal Kingdom, ride Flight of Passage, then park hop over to Magic Kingdom as soon as you want. Technically you just need to walk into the park. This seems like an inconvenience and hopefully Disney will do away with reservations all together soon.
What are good to go days at Disney?
With these updates comes another layer of park reservation rules. Also sometime in January of 2024, Disney World will introduce good to go days on the theme park reservation calendar. This will show select days when passholders do not need to make a Disney park reservation to visit a theme park before 2:00 p.m. This replaces the bonus reservations. The first good to go days launch January 11, 2024. You can find them in the theme park reservation calendar, annual passholder admissions calendar and My Disney Experience app. More good to go days will be announced periodically.
Does Disneyland still use park reservations?
It looks like Disneyland is still using park reservations for all ticket types in 2024. Annual Pass holders at Disneyland, now called Magic Key holders, need to make park pass reservations too.
When purchasing park tickets on the Disneyland website, guests are able to make a park reservation at the same time. It can be one seamless process. It’s also possible to book Disneyland Park reservations for a ticket you purchased without a reservation.
At Disneyland Resort, park hopping begins at 11:00 a.m. After that, eligible guests can go back and forth between the parks. Note that multi-day tickets require a theme park reservation each day.
Check the policy before your trip for the most up to date information.
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