Disney World Refills Park Passes for Summer!
It’s time for an update on Walt Disney World Park Pass availability for June and July 2021. Reservations have been added for Annual Passholders, on-site resort guests, and regular theme park ticket holders. We’ll take a look at the changes and speculate as to why this huge summer reservation refilled happened, and offer additional strategy to improve your chances of success in riding Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
We actively monitor Disney Park Pass availability, and this is the largest refill since April 14. In terms of timing, this comes as availability has been tight or nonexistent since before Memorial Day, with all parks fully booked almost every single day for the last several weeks. Quite clearly, tourism has rebounded in a big way, with pent-up demand playing out at Walt Disney World–or attempting to do so.
This also comes nearly one full month after Walt Disney World announced that physical distancing would be relaxed, stating that this would occur “across many areas with a gradual, phased approach” but also that “six-feet distancing measures will continue in all dining locations, merchandise stores and in areas where guests can temporarily remove their masks.” In fact, just yesterday we got another minor verbiage update on physical distancing at Walt Disney World…
I wasn’t planning on cover the “stealth update” to the language of Walt Disney World’s physical distancing rule policy since it didn’t warrant a full post, but it’s relevant here. The new wording is: “Adjustments are still in place to promote physical distancing for Guests. These measures will be reduced in a gradual, phased approach.”
To me, this is significant because it suggests that Walt Disney World might start reducing physical distancing in restaurants and stores. They are no longer mentioned specifically as being exceptions, which was obviously a deliberate change. In our recent experiences at Walt Disney World, it appears that many restaurants are short-staffed, so the practical reality is that many locations aren’t ready to fill every table. But that could change as the fruits of Disney’s hiring blitz start being enjoyed around Walt Disney World.
One day after the original rule relaxation to physical distancing, Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke to investors about these very topics. He started by indicating that Walt Disney World had already started to raise capacity caps based on past guidance from both the CDC and Florida’s relaxation of health protocol.
Chapek further addressed demand and staffing: “We’ve sort of got the perfect positive storm, if you will, where we’ve got plenty of demand, we’ve got really great yield management gains, and the cost management at the same time. In terms of labor, we had about 80% of our cast members return that we’ve asked to return. [We] continue to get more and more cast members back, it thrills us to be able to do that. We’ve had no problems whatsoever in terms of trying to get our cast to come back and make some magic for our guests.”
A few weeks later, Chapek addressed the same topics at the JPMorgan Chase Global Technology, Media & Communications Conference. There, he said that Walt Disney World can expect to see “low double digit increases” in attendance over the summer months, with the full benefits of relaxed guidelines felt towards the end of the fourth quarter (October is the start of Disney’s new fiscal year).
Chapek also spoke about the parks being bound by OSHA guidelines, which adds complexity to the process of unwinding health safety protocol in some areas of the parks & resorts. He also again expressed a desire to continue leveraging technology (things like Disney Park Pass reservations!) even after capacity limits end. That’s wishful thinking, but also another topic for another day.
We think this is all interesting and relevant background to the increase of Disney Park Pass reservations. Frankly, the recent availability–or lack thereof–partially contradicts what Chapek claimed. Our visits to Walt Disney World in the last couple of weeks further corroborate this, as we’ve experienced relatively light “feels like” crowds even over the holiday weekend.
As for labor, at minimum, the spirit of his comments there are false. If it’s true that Disney “had about 80% of our cast members return that we’ve asked to return” it must be the case that the company has only formally asked those to return they knew were likely to say yes. Like so many other businesses, Walt Disney World is short-staffed, which why they accelerated the return of the College Program to Summer 2021, has numerous job openings, and is actively advertising that its hiring in the Orlando market.
Enough commentary for now–here’s a look at June 2021 Disney Park Pass availability as of Thursday night:
Note that these screenshots only show the resort and Annual Passholder buckets, which is because the ticket and resort buckets are identical–and have been for a few months.
Anyway, as you can see here, almost nothing for on-site resort guests for pretty much the entirety of June 2021. Those dates that did have availability were almost exclusively for EPCOT.
Above is the old Disney Park Pass availability, pre-refill, for July 2021.
July looks much better for on-site resort guests, but again, many of these dates only had availability for EPCOT. You had to go mid-July or later to get anything that wasn’t EPCOT or Animal Kingdom. Annual Passholders, on the other hand, were totally fine for the entirety of July.
Above are the post-refill options for June 2021.
The next several days still aren’t great, but once you get to the middle of next week, things improve dramatically. Even the yellow dates are not just EPCOT–Magic Kingdom is available (as of right now, at least) for June 9-14, 2021.
Finally, a look at July 2021 following the refill.
Independence Day is still unavailable for Annual Passholders, but it is now an option for theme park ticket holders and on-site resort guests. It’s been a while since we’ve seen July totally green on any calendar!
One quick recommendation that we’ve made before for Disney Park Pass reservations. If you don’t mind monitoring the Park Pass calendar, book at least a couple of days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Consider doing so on all days when you’re planning on visiting Animal Kingdom or EPCOT, in addition to your dedicated DHS day.
This is our recommendation because it’s always easier to change from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to another park than vice-versa. By the time your travel dates arrive, it’s entirely conceivable that DHS will be fully booked for every day of your trip. Same goes for Magic Kingdom on some dates, whereas Animal Kingdom and EPCOT usually have same-day availability.
Our expectation going forward as capacity increases is that EPCOT will have ample availability for summer, as that was the case all of last year and this winter–pretty much up until the last month and a half. We’re optimistic that EPCOT will become easier to book same-day, but the fact is that we do not yet know for sure.
Reserving multiple DHS days gives you more chances for success with the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue. Our comprehensive Ride Guide & FAQ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance covers everything you need to know—including some “fast finger” strategy to increase your odds.
With the 7 am virtual queue time, it’s possible to attempt to score Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding passes from outside the park before you start your day. If you’re unsuccessful, you can change your Disney Park Pass reservations day-of to EPCOT or Animal Kingdom. Again, that’s pending availability, so be mindful of the Park Pass calendar going forward.
Obviously, the downside to Walt Disney World refilling Park Pass reservations is increased attendance. For the past month-plus, some or all of the parks have been fully booked on most days, hitting the current capacity cap with regularity. No one likes longer wait times and higher crowds, and you might be concerned if you’re planning a visit for those dates and already have your reservations.
Don’t be. Our recent experiences in the parks have demonstrated that Walt Disney World has greatly improved efficiency on a number of attractions in each park, and the result is even faster-moving lines, shorter wait times than what’s posted, and just less congestion in general. Suffice to say, the “feels like” crowds on our most recent visits–even on fully booked days–have been lower than what we experienced last year during the holiday season.
Ultimately, even though it’ll mean slightly higher crowds and wait times during our upcoming visits to Walt Disney World, we are very pleased with the Disney Park Pass reservation refill. Walt Disney World can absolutely handle a 10-15% increase in attendance without much of a negative impact to guests–especially if/when more Cast Members are hired and trained to help the parks better absorb those crowds.
In fact, Walt Disney World finally bumping up that capacity limit is a signifier that more Cast Members have been hired and trained. That’s key because it would put the parks in a position to restore more substantive offerings–or improve existing operations. With that potentially happening and attendance being increased, the door is opened to the return of more dining and entertainment. Our personal hope is that this includes fireworks and Fantasmic. As we’ve teased a few times, EPCOT Forever should be returning for a limited engagement this summer!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have any luck scoring Disney Park Pass reservations with this new inventory dump for June and July 2021? What’s your take on the ‘why’ behind this added availability? Think it means Disney is upping the attendance cap? Do you agree with our suggestions for Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? Do you agree or disagree with any of our other commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I have been waiting weeks for this! After nearly two hours on hold with Disney World this morning, we are finally taking the trip we had scheduled for March 2020. Kudos to Marla, the helpful cast member on the phone who had probably been dealing with people like me all day and was still cheerful and pleasant.
Thank you for the DHS recommendations- we’ll be changing some of our reservations for our trip in August to maximize our chances of getting on Rise of the Resistance. We have a pretty large group- 14. When trying to get a spot in the virtual queue, will we be able to do that as a group? Or will it limit us to 12 people the way the park reservation system does? I would hate to think that only a portion of our group might get on the ride. I also don’t want to hurt our chances of getting a spot by trying to select too many people at the 7 am check-in time. Do you have any suggestions?
My mom, sisters, and I are avid fans of your blog and appreciate all of your insight and information!!
Honestly, I’m not sure if there is an upper cutoff for Rise of the Resistance. I’ve never encountered that problem or even heard of it. For what it’s worth, everyone with park reservations will be preselected when you’re attempting to join a boarding group, so it shouldn’t add extra time to the process.
Again, be careful with checking the Park Pass calendar regularly. You don’t want to get stuck with DHS. If other parks start booking up for dates before yours, it might be wise to switch.
Would love to do a spur of the moment trip week before Labor Day but the idea of the Park Reservation system is a non-starter for me. My husband doesn’t do rides. I would go to a park do a ride I know he won’t do and meet him somewhere. Have a meal in a different park, hop on the bus to go wherever the spirit moves us. Prices haven’t gone down, they’ve gone up for less of an experience. I realize we are in uncharted territory and hoping park reservations go away soon.
It’s great that their increasing capacity (not really) but they keep adding to the capacity level and saying they have 80% of what they asked to come back to work. My thoughts are don’t add capacity until you can open more things to do and restaurants. Doesn’t that make sense?
We went for 5 days over Mother’s Day right before some restrictions were lifted. Booking Hollywood for multiple days and switching your reservation later to a different park was also a suggestion then. I considered doing it, as Rise was the one ride my boys didn’t want to miss, but ultimately gambled on just one day there, EPCOT and Animal with two days at MK. When I checked park availability a couple of weeks before our trip, EVERY park was already booked EVERY day for weeks. We would have been stuck at Hollywood every day if I had booked multiple days there. Thankfully I had added the park hopper option so we would at least have been able to leave in the afternoon for another park((as long as it wasn’t at capacity). If you don’t have the park hopper option or are only going for a few days and want to see all the parks, I suggest thinking very carefully before making multiple reservations for Hollywood. You are really only doing it to get on ONE ride that you may not even get to go on. It is ridiculously hard to even get a spot on Rise. If you do, the frequency of breakdowns (3 the day we were there) means you may still miss out. We got into a “back up group” at the 1 o’clock window
and got called to board a hour before park closing. I love Star Wars. The theming and technology are amazing on Rise but I would have been disappointed if I had spent my whole trip trying to ride it. We all enjoyed Smugglers Run way more. If you visit often and are obsessed with Star Wars and Toy Story, multiple days at Hollywood aren’t a huge deal. If you only go every few years and want to visit all the parks, think carefully before making your park reservations.
Did they increase capacity for October 1st? I’ve been trying to keep check in the hope I can get to MK that day but nothing has been available when I look
I’m having previous pass holder blues. I want annual passes back. Do you think they ever will?
We had some sad life things happen this spring and both just wrapped up the hardest year of our careers in education and Disney is our happy place so we booked a last minute trip for July (the first dates with MK and HS available). After your newsletter yesterday we checked the Park Pass Reservations first thing this morning hoping that exactly this would happen! We were able to move our trip up to mid June instead! We canceled 3 trips and our APs during the shutdown and could cry tears of joy to finally be going back. Thank you so much for your updates because you helped us make it happen 🙂
You’re welcome–hope you have a great trip! 🙂
Park reservations are here to stay. They are going to cut back on capacity, and focus on making more money from the visiting guests with extras, such as a paid fast pass system that will be coming within the next year. Their focus right now is getting the maximum dollar from each guest.
“They are going to cut back on capacity…”
Fans have been making these same predictions, incorrectly, for years.
Disney absolutely wants to increase per guest spending, but there’s no desire to reduce attendance long-term. None.
Also wondering if the need for park reservations will be eliminated once parks are back to full capacity? If so, any guess as to when that might be?
I expect the parks will be back at full capacity by October 1.
Whether the Park Pass system is scrapped by then remains to be seen. Disney definitely wants the ability to manage and forecast attendance, but there are much easier ways to accomplish exactly that. Guest satisfaction rates have suffered due to Park Pass, with many specifically blaming the reservation system for that.
That last picture of the fireworks from the Japan pavilion is gorgeous!
Thanks!
We are planning a visit mid-September and are wondering if it makes sense to pre-book parks. What are the odds that this will even be a thing in September? It seems like capacity restrictions may be gone by then. Any word on Fast Passes returning?
I wouldn’t be too worried about booking mid-September now (see above reply).
No word yet on FastPass. It’s still my belief that Walt Disney World wanted to introduce a new system rather than “restore” the old FastPass+ but it’s unclear where that stands. If it’s still 6+ months away, they may have “no choice” but to bring back FastPass+ first.
I can’t help but wonder what this means for dining. Many reservations are gone very quickly 60 days out, and unless Disney plans to open more restaurants (especially those with character interactions), I suspect a lot of people will be set up for disappointment.
As staffing allows, more restaurants will continue to reopen. I’d expect more announcements pretty much every week from here on out.
Wonder if increased capacity at the parks and more hiring might mean a return of fastpass?
Far more likely once they follow universal and go to an honour system for indoor mask wearing in the next few weeks…
We have made several trips to WDW since the reopening and got very used to all the rules about physical distancing and wearing masks. We also enjoyed low crowds and actually liked the physical distancing in the ride lines as it gave more room and made the lines be in almost constant motion. We are returning next week and I think it will be interesting to see how different things are.
I booked with Small World Travel recently for under $500 a night at boardwalk. I kept checking because I wanted to stay at yacht club and a room came up a week ago also with the 25% discount. So I changed hotels and am now where I want to be with reservations for the end of August. My advice would be to keep checking resort rooms if you don’t absolutely need DVC
Are you flexible with dates? There appears to be some confirmed reservations at some of the DVC rental companies (other than David’s). I’ve booked rooms this way, and it worked seamlessly. You might be able to find a room with dates that works for you
– but only if you are able and willing to be a little flexible. Good luck!
@Phillip Morlang The problem with renting points right now is that so many DVC members have “banked” their points to this year after cancelling trips last year, and have to use those points before they expire, so there are lots of DVC members trying to use their points and not enough DVC rooms to use them on. You would have better luck booking directly from Disney.
The frustrating part is there are no rooms available. I tried David’s DVC rental and nothing at least through October. Will there be more rooms opening up? I miss Disney, but no where to stay that is under $500 night (on property) at least for whats available (not much). Thoughts?
We former employees in entertainment want to come back to work, but the only roles options being offered are food, sanitation and housekeeping.