Disney Park Passes required through January 2023!

[Liquid Ice]

With the launch of 2022 Disney World Vacation Packages and pricing on the https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ website, Disney has also launched availability of Disney Park Passes through January 2023.

I know recently Bob Chapek said that he expects mask mandates and social distancing requirements to ease by 2022, but he didn't say anything about capacity restrictions or Park Passes going away.

I wonder if Disney likes the idea of using Park Passes so they know ahead of time how many people to expect and can staff appropriately / extend hours, etc? Could it be that Park Passes are here to stay?

What do you guys think about this?

I don't want to link to other websites - but if you search Google News for "Disney World Park Pass 2023" you will find lots of articles referencing this, or you can go to the Disney Park Pass availability website and see it goes through January 2023 now ... https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/avail ... nt=tickets

[T music]

With the launch of 2022 Disney World Vacation Packages and pricing on the https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ website, Disney has also launched availability of Disney Park Passes through January 2023.

I know recently Bob Chapek said that he expects mask mandates and social distancing requirements to ease by 2022, but he didn't say anything about capacity restrictions or Park Passes going away.

I wonder if Disney likes the idea of using Park Passes so they know ahead of time how many people to expect and can staff appropriately / extend hours, etc? Could it be that Park Passes are here to stay?

What do you guys think about this?

I don't want to link to other websites - but if you search Google News for "Disney World Park Pass 2023" you will find lots of articles referencing this, or you can go to the Disney Park Pass availability website and see it goes through January 2023 now ... https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/avail ... nt=tickets

I have a feeling they are going to like it and use it as a way to control crowds good be a good thing or a bad thing

[Meridasmom]

When we visited Tokyo Disney in Aug 2019, you had to specify ahead of time which days for the parks. My daughter bought the tickets and we had a 3 day ticket. It was 1 day at TDL, 1 day at TDS and the third day you could choose either park (but not hop). We still experienced lines and crowds -Tokyo has lots of people:)

I have mixed feelings on it honestly. In some ways I think it could be good for crowding, but at the same time if you're a hopper and don't like to schedule your vacation it can deter some people. I would rather them bring back a true hopper (no time frame) but it seems with the reservation process in place that may not be happening anytime soon.

We have a big trip planned for October and already have each day planned with reservations, but now we may not pay the extra for the hopper. It seems they're charging full price for the hopper option, however you don't get "full hopper benefits" so to speak. You can only hop after 2 pm. I'm not sure we'll keep the hopper option for this trip, gonna wait until closer to time and see.

[Liquid Ice]

When we visited Tokyo Disney in Aug 2019, you had to specify ahead of time which days for the parks. My daughter bought the tickets and we had a 3 day ticket. It was 1 day at TDL, 1 day at TDS and the third day you could choose either park (but not hop). We still experienced lines and crowds -Tokyo has lots of people:)

I have mixed feelings on it honestly. In some ways I think it could be good for crowding, but at the same time if you're a hopper and don't like to schedule your vacation it can deter some people. I would rather them bring back a true hopper (no time frame) but it seems with the reservation process in place that may not be happening anytime soon.

We have a big trip planned for October and already have each day planned with reservations, but now we may not pay the extra for the hopper. It seems they're charging full price for the hopper option, however you don't get "full hopper benefits" so to speak. You can only hop after 2 pm. I'm not sure we'll keep the hopper option for this trip, gonna wait until closer to time and see.

Good point on the park hopping - because of Fastpass+ we previously had always had 1 park designated to start at each day, BUT for example in January 2020 - we wanted to try to ride Rise of the Resistance each day, and so we went to Hollywood Studios every morning first to try to get a Boarding Pass and then left and went to the park we had Fastpasses for. With Park Passes implemented, you probably could not do that (and obviously right now you can't get a boarding pass without a Hollywood Studios Park Pass).

The Park Hopper option is still really nice even with the 2pm time, I hope as things change and we start going back to normal the park hopping time will be reduced, but I know for me - Animal Kingdom was often not worth spending the entire day at, so being able to park hop to either go to AK in the afternoon or go there in the morning and then leave and go somewhere else is really nice. Similar for Epcot, but we like going there after a day at the park to enjoy eating around the world (not really drinkers, so no drinking around the world lol).

[Toria]

With the launch of 2022 Disney World Vacation Packages and pricing on the https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ website, Disney has also launched availability of Disney Park Passes through January 2023.

I know recently Bob Chapek said that he expects mask mandates and social distancing requirements to ease by 2022, but he didn't say anything about capacity restrictions or Park Passes going away.

I wonder if Disney likes the idea of using Park Passes so they know ahead of time how many people to expect and can staff appropriately / extend hours, etc? Could it be that Park Passes are here to stay?

What do you guys think about this?

I don't want to link to other websites - but if you search Google News for "Disney World Park Pass 2023" you will find lots of articles referencing this, or you can go to the Disney Park Pass availability website and see it goes through January 2023 now ... https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/avail ... nt=tickets

For now it doesn't bother me. I really enjoyed the lower crowds and wait times.

[Ace]

I know its a bit annoying but it makes sense. Disney can use attendance information to schedule employees and make their operation as efficient as possible. Disney typically uses this data to make peoples experience better so i would look for more of the same.

Purely speculative but I would guess this will be rolled into their 'Genie' app that they teased at D23. If in theory they know where the reservations are they could have an edge on other planning apps by actually being able to tell guests where the lowest crowds will be instead of using predictive analytics from history. With that edge they could push 'genie' as part of their value added offering to get more people to book and stay with them.

Its valuable data that they never had before and now that they have a reason to collect it and people are willing to give them that data I don't suspect its something that will go away.

[Zach]

When we visited Tokyo Disney in Aug 2019, you had to specify ahead of time which days for the parks. My daughter bought the tickets and we had a 3 day ticket. It was 1 day at TDL, 1 day at TDS and the third day you could choose either park (but not hop). We still experienced lines and crowds -Tokyo has lots of people:)

The Tokyo parks' weren't at reduced capacity pre-pandemic though. They only required you to choose one park on the first day, and the other on the second. Also, you were allowed to park hop on the third day if you stayed at a Disney hotel.

[Liquid Ice]

I know its a bit annoying but it makes sense. Disney can use attendance information to schedule employees and make their operation as efficient as possible. Disney typically uses this data to make peoples experience better so i would look for more of the same.

Purely speculative but I would guess this will be rolled into their 'Genie' app that they teased at D23. If in theory they know where the reservations are they could have an edge on other planning apps by actually being able to tell guests where the lowest crowds will be instead of using predictive analytics from history. With that edge they could push 'genie' as part of their value added offering to get more people to book and stay with them.

Its valuable data that they never had before and now that they have a reason to collect it and people are willing to give them that data I don't suspect its something that will go away.

Technically Fastpass+ told Disney where people were most likely going, since you could only choose 1 park to have your first 3 Fastpasses at and more than likely you're going to go to that park for the day (at least at first). There were probably exceptions to that rule, so it wasn't 100%, but it should have given Disney enough of an idea for attendance at each park each day.

The thing I don't like about the Park Pass is it suggests that you won't have the ability to Park Hop the way you once were - with my being able to go to a any park in the morning - to now having to go to my assigned park first and then wait until a certain time to park hop.

Additionally, it could mean Fastpass+ may not be coming back the way we know it and maybe not anytime soon - if Disney is getting the data they need from Park Pass - there may not be an incentive to have Fastpass+ come back, and instead they will re-envision it to something else (probably a paid option).

[Ace]

I know its a bit annoying but it makes sense. Disney can use attendance information to schedule employees and make their operation as efficient as possible. Disney typically uses this data to make peoples experience better so i would look for more of the same.

Purely speculative but I would guess this will be rolled into their 'Genie' app that they teased at D23. If in theory they know where the reservations are they could have an edge on other planning apps by actually being able to tell guests where the lowest crowds will be instead of using predictive analytics from history. With that edge they could push 'genie' as part of their value added offering to get more people to book and stay with them.

Its valuable data that they never had before and now that they have a reason to collect it and people are willing to give them that data I don't suspect its something that will go away.

Technically Fastpass+ told Disney where people were most likely going, since you could only choose 1 park to have your first 3 Fastpasses at and more than likely you're going to go to that park for the day (at least at first). There were probably exceptions to that rule, so it wasn't 100%, but it should have given Disney enough of an idea for attendance at each park each day.

The thing I don't like about the Park Pass is it suggests that you won't have the ability to Park Hop the way you once were - with my being able to go to a any park in the morning - to now having to go to my assigned park first and then wait until a certain time to park hop.

Additionally, it could mean Fastpass+ may not be coming back the way we know it and maybe not anytime soon - if Disney is getting the data they need from Park Pass - there may not be an incentive to have Fastpass+ come back, and instead they will re-envision it to something else (probably a paid option).

Oh I 100% agree I think they had a good idea with Fastpass but they have a better idea now.

I also agree that the park hopped is a bit devalued. We usually like to look to hop from AK around 1 so I am hoping that they can slowly walk the park hopping time back a little bit. For example, what if I want to have breakfast at be our guest and then spend the day at epcot? Cant do it right now, hopefully as more people get vaccinated we started to see that policy walked back a bit.

I knew we would get to this eventually. There is a lot of debate if Fastpass should or should not come back. As a 'out of towner' I really liked fastpass because it guaranteed that I would be able to do at least 3 attractions of my choosing on a given day. That being said, I think there is a legitimate discussion to be had about the magnitude of time wait added to lines due to fastpass. In theory (and very likely in practice as well) all the lines in the park should get shorter without fastpass because the standby line will constantly be moving. The only question left is what is the magnitude of that difference. I think one thing you have heard from multiple vloggers and streamers is how quickly the lines move now. Even though I don't love the idea of Fastpass being gone it may be a net positive from a time wait perspective. If it is gone it will certainly be a culture shift for that to be normal.

On the other hand if the monetize fastpass in the way that six flags parks do it could be problematic.