This new tweak makes going to the parks on the days you want much easier.
Disney (DIS) – Get The Walt Disney Company Report parks have seen a lot of changes to its operations over the years, but arguably never more at one time than when covid hit the U.S. in 2020.
Walt Disney World in Florida was forced to shut its doors on March 15 in order to align itself with safety protocols, and it reopened on July 11 of the same year. However, the Disneyland Resort in California closed its doors on March 14, 2020, and did not reopen until April 30, 2021, because of that state’s requirements. Covid-related costs caused the company to lose $2.6 billion in operating income.
After close to two years of slow, careful reintroductions of its rides, events, and more, Disney parks are finally getting back to normal (whatever that means these days) by taking down their covid signs and hand sanitizer stations. And while guests are still required to complete a covid liability waiver before entering the parks, otherwise things are more or less business as usual.
One change Disney made early on in the pandemic was to implement a new system called Park Pass Reservations. Launched in late June 2020 as a way to manage crowd levels. Previously, all a visitor had to do to enter the parks was purchase a ticket. But when Park Pass Reservations started, on top of purchasing a ticket, people had to link it to their My Disney Experience account, create a party (if attending with friends, family, or both), and choose which day (or days) they wanted to come to the park.
Naturally, these changes made going to the park more complicated, and on top of the stress of the pandemic, people were not thrilled about the new system. But now Disney has made some changes to it, and they will make reservations a lot easier for parkgoers.
Here’s What is Changing With Disney’s Park Pass Reservations
In the past, if you reserved a day to go to a park and wanted to change it later, you had to cancel it outright and try to book another day, therefore losing your original reservation in the process.
This was a source of stress for guests as competition to claim reservations has been competitive, especially around holidays. But as of Aug. 23, 2022, Disney has changed this rule, making the system more flexible, reports All Ears.
Now people can modify their reservations without losing the original date, or having to cancel and lose it altogether. In the MyDisney Experience app, there is now an option to make or modify a reservation. When used, it will prompt you to replace your original reservation date, making the experience much easier.
There’s also a second change. Previously, an Annual Passholder and a single-day ticketholder could not book reservations at the same time if planning to go to the park together. But Disney has also made a change to this system, and now you can book reservations for different ticket types at the same time as well.
Small Steps Lead To Big Quality of Experience
While these may seem like small things to those who do not go to the parks often, regular visitors will tell you they were anything but (and on Twitter, many of them did just that).
While its clear that some folks desperately want the reservation system to go away altogether, Disney clearly hopes to placate some of them with these changes. But whether it will soothe these peeved souls remains to be seen.
