For my last post of the year, I'm here to tell you all about the changes (or should I say reversions) coming to Disney World in the New Year. It seems that Disney has finally decided that the changes they made during Covid can be switched back to the way things were done prior to the pandemic. A lot of the measures that Disney took to allow their parks to open amidst Covid stuck around a lot longer than they needed to, which frustrated Disney World fans. They complicated the park going experience and really needed to be taken away much earlier. However, on January 9, 2024, Disney is reversing a couple of key changes they made in 2020, which is sure to start bringing back the pre-Covid experience at Disney World. While it will never be exactly the same in Disney World as before 2020, these changes will be great strides to bringing back the experience that Disney fans were used to.
1) Goodbye Park Reservations
As one of the measures taken for crowd control in Disney World during the Covid pandemic, Disney started requiring guests to make park reservations for each day they intended to visit a park. That meant that you had to know which park you wanted to go on each day of your trip, and you had to make a reservation on the website in advance in order to visit that park on that day. If you did not have a park reservation in place, you were not able to enter the park, regardless of whether if you had a ticket or not. Additionally, park reservations were not guaranteed. There were only a certain amount of park reservations for each park per day, and if you did not have one, you were out of luck. It is also important to note that the park reservation only had to be made for your first park of the day. If you had a park hopper ticket, you could freely hop without needing subsequent park reservations for your second and later parks.
As a result of the park reservation system, park guests found themselves having to decide well in advance what park they wanted to go to on which day, completely taking flexibility out of the equation. As if Disney vacations were not burdened by enough rules and timelines, this was just another thing that guests had to keep track of in order to have a successful trip.
On January 9, 2024, Disney is getting rid of the park reservation system at Walt Disney World. Now, guests with date specific park tickets (basically anyone without an annual pass) can freely go to whichever park they want on whatever day they want. They no longer have to reserve in advance which park they want to go to. This certainly brings back more flexibility in your Disney trip planning. If you wake up in the mood to go to Animal Kingdom, you can just go without fear of not having a park reservation. However, with dining reservations made 60 days out from your vacation, it is more likely than not that you will have a general idea of which park you will go to on which day, based on the reservations you are able to obtain.
This change will also help with entering the 7am virtual queues for Guardians of the Galaxy in Epcot and for Tron in Magic Kingdom. Before, it would not make sense to try and get into the virtual queue for either of those rides if you did not have a park reservation for the respective park on that day. Now, you can try to get into the virtual queue every day of your trip if you want to, and just head straight to that park if you are able to get a spot in the queue. You are still limited to one virtual queue per ride, per day.
I will not get into the details here, since I am not an annual passholder, but keep in mind that there is another set of rules that annual passholders must follow when it comes to park reservations. However, there is some change in this department coming for annual passholders as well. They will be able to enter any park after 2pm without a park reservations, except Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays. There will also be select "good to go" days, where annual passholders can enter any park at any time without a park reservation.
While saying goodbye to park reservations does bring about more flexibility in your Disney vacation, I also fear that it might lead to more crowded parks. With the park reservation system, Disney was able to keep headcount in check and also know how many people to expect in a certain park on a certain day. It helped Disney staff the park appropriately for that day and to have some type of cap on the guests in a park on a given day (at least until park hopping began) which helped to improve guest experience. Now, there is no predicting how many people may be in a park on a certain day, and also no way to limit it. Lines could potentially be much longer, which might also put a bigger strain on obtaining lightening lanes. Only time will tell how successful Disney will be with transitioning back to a non-park reservation system and to reveal any potential cons to this seemingly positive change.
2) Hello All-Day Park Hopping
This is the change that I am most excited about in 2024. During Covid, Disney structured park hopping to only be permitted after 2pm each day. This upset a lot of park guests. To upgrade your park ticket to a park hopper ticket, you're not looking at a nominal fee. A one-day park hopper ticket is about $70 dollars more than a normal one-day park ticket. As you add more days, it just gets more expensive. If I am going to spend that much more, on top of an already extremely expensive park ticket, I want to be able to park hop when I want to.
An average day at a Disney park starts around 8am. Yet, under the restricted park hopping system, guests were limited to their first park (that they had a park reservation for) until 2pm. The timing of 2pm was very limiting. You could not hop to another park for lunch, so any breakfast or lunch dining reservations had to be in your first park, or at a non-park restaurant.
Most significantly, was your complete barring from the 2nd virtual queue slot at 1pm for Guardians of the Galaxy or Tron. It is a rule that you cannot enter the 1pm virtual queue for these rides unless you have scanned entry into the respective park. However, in the restricted park hopping system, you could not park hop to the park until 2pm, which would be far too late to enter the 1pm virtual queue. Therefore, under this system, you had to have a park reservation and start your day at the respective park to enter EITHER the 7am or 1pm queue for Guardians or Tron. This was my least favorite aspect of the 2pm park hopping rule, and the most exciting change in my opinion.
On January 9, 2024, park guests can park hop all day with no limitations. This was the way it was always done prior to 2020, and really this is the way it should have always been when considering the exorbitant price you pay for park hopping capability. Now, you will be able to move freely among the 4 parks.
This provides the ultimate flexibility on your Disney vacation. Imagine having breakfast at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom, hopping over to Animal Kingdom for a safari ride, and ending your day with dinner at Roundup Rodeo in Hollywood Studios. It will allow you to leave a park that may seem too crowded and not have to stick it out until 2pm or to visit a park to go to a certain restaurant that you were only able to get a reservation for on one certain day. Also, if you are dying to ride a certain ride and have the "multiple parks" genie plus, you can secure a lightening lane for that ride without worrying about if it's after 2pm. It is important to note that to take full advantage of park hopping, you should make sure you buy the "multiple parks" genie plus, which gives you the ability to book lightening lanes in any of the 4 parks, rather than just one.
As for virtual queues, now you don't have to start your day in Epcot to ride Guardians or in Magic Kingdom to ride Tron. You can hop to the respective park by 1pm in order to enter that 2nd queue. This is significant, because we have missed out on riding Guardians on multiple recent trips, since we did not start our day in Epcot and therefore could not enter either the 7am or 1pm virtual queues. Hopefully soon, Disney will away with virtual queues all together and allow at the very least standby and individual lightening lanes for Tron and Guardians.
3) Return of the Dining Plan
The last, long-awaited change coming to Disney World on January 9, 2024, is the Disney Dining Plan. This is a big one that Disney World fans have been hoping to return for a while. I have actually never used the Disney Dining Plan before but can appreciate why it is so popular, as it makes the trip feel even more like an all-inclusive resort.
The Dining Plan was a fan favorite prior to 2020. Disney retired it during Covid, due to the lack of employees during the pandemic. Now, it is finally making its return and Disney fans are rejoicing. Existing reservations starting on or after January 9, 2024, can be modified to add the Dining Plan and for all new reservations starting on or after January 9, 2024, you have the option of adding it while booking.
It is essentially prepaid meals/snacks that allow you to not worry about paying for food during the trip itself. There are 2 different tiers- a quick service tier and a table service tier, which allow guests a certain number of meals and snacks per day of their trip. From what I have heard from fellow Disney fans, this is popular because it allows you to take care of all costs ahead of time and the trip to feel all-inclusive once it begins. Also, if you use some strategy, you can easily save money by applying your meal and snack credits to higher priced restaurants/items. I have also heard some cons in that you end up eating way more than you would if you just paid ala carte and food can go to waste. Unfortunately, I cannot reflect on this from personal experience, but do plan to get use the Disney Dining Plan in the future to see if it is in fact worth it.
From all of the changes above, it is easy to tell that 2024 is sure to be an exciting year at Walt Disney World. It is nice that Disney has listened to comments from Disney World fans and are bringing about changes that they have desperately been asking for. Now if only Disney will bring back the free fast passes, booked 30 days prior to your trip! These are just the first changes coming in 2024 and I am sure that as the year goes on, even more change will come. Happy New Years and I cannot wait to keep writing about all things Disney in 2024!
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