Disney World’s Park Pass Problems & Fixes
After a rocky start, Walt Disney World’s new theme park reservation system is finally starting to work a bit more consistently. Nevertheless, problems persist with Disney Park Pass. Our How to Guide and We’re In Orbit posts about the system have been inundated with questions and we wanted to take a chance to address some of those here with new tips & tricks for fixing glitches.
The most common Disney Park Pass questions and complaints concern lengthy wait times, which thankfully are mostly a thing of the past (at least online…the phone hold times are still pretty bad). Other issues include meaningless error messages, inaccurate reservation limits, an all-grey availability calendar, ticket priority problems, and park days showing as unavailable that actually aren’t fully booked.
We want to start by apologizing for not being too helpful the last couple of days. Our two troubleshooting posts for Disney Park Pass have amassed 975 comments (and counting), and with our resort stay, it was impossible to keep up. At this point, many/most of those issues have been resolved, so it feels futile to respond now. Instead, we’ll offer fresh advice here for thwarting the remaining glitches…
The first problem is already resolved, and that’s long waits to use the online system, and being greeted by Pepto-Pink Cinderella Castle, Seven Dwarfs, Space Mountain Countdown, Millennium Falcon, or the classic Stitch Ate the Page. Right now, you should not encounter any of these screens–if you do, try private browsing/incognito or the backdoor hack described here.
These errors were almost certainly due to high demand. We’ve seen similar screens on Walt Disney World drop days of the past (except the Pepto-Pink Castle–that’s a 2020 vintage). Accessing DisneyWorld.com in general, even pages having nothing to do with Disney Park Pass, was a herculean task.
If at all possible (and you’re eligible), you’ll want to get your Disney Park Pass reservations booked before June 26. That’s when Annual Passholders without resort reservations can begin making reservations. On June 28, regular guests with tickets but no hotel bookings can use Disney Park Pass.
Both of those ‘drop days’ are liking to see a rehash of the wait time woes and load screen frustrations as demand will once again be higher. It’s entirely possible that demand will be higher on Annual Passholder drop day than it was for resort guests since there are almost certainly more APs than guests with resort bookings.
Aside from wait times, the biggest glitch with Disney Park Pass we heard people encountering was incorrect limits. There are a few different ‘versions’ of this same error. The first was encountered by Annual Passholders with resort reservations. Walt Disney World’s official policy for Annual Passholders limits them to three Park Pass bookings at a time.
This is unless they have a Walt Disney World resort reservation, in which case that allows them to book for the length of their stay(s), maxing out at 14 Disney Park Pass reservations. We feared this might happen. Even before the Park Pass system went live, I said to Sarah, “there’s a decent chance we’ll only be able to book 3 reservations–which park is voted off the island?” Predictably, the AP limit was prioritized over the resort limit for many guests.
Oddly, this did not happen to everyone. We didn’t have this issue, and didn’t even learn about it until later in the evening after returning and checking out some reader comments.
At this point, the inaccurate Annual Passholder priority cap has resolved itself. Well, someone in Disney IT probably fixed it–the system isn’t sentient even if it does have a Skynet vibe. The point is that you don’t have to proactively take any steps for a solution. Log back in and try again if you encountered this problem and simply gave up previously.
The next glitch also relates to prioritization, but this time solely with tickets. If you have multiple tickets attached to your My Disney Experience account–this also includes things like water park tickets, special events, or just a partially-used ticket–one of those “floating” tickets could be causing an issue.
To our knowledge, this is an ongoing problem, but the good news is that you can fix it yourself! In the My Disney Experience app, go to “Tickets & Passes” and look for the non-conforming ticket (the one that doesn’t match your resort reservation). Hit the “Reassign Ticket” button and transfer it to someone else (preferably, another My Disney Experience account you control).
Now, attempt to make your Disney Park Pass reservations. If you no longer have an issue, that was the cause. Once you’ve made all of the reservations, have the person to whom you transferred the non-conforming ticket reassign it back to you.
If you still have tickets to the now-cancelled Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, this is one solution to problems you might’ve been having as a result of those tickets in your account. However, this issue is not being caused exclusively by event tickets. The “floating” ticket priority problem is the most common issue that remains outstanding–it could be the cause of other errors, so you should make sure you address this.
Finally, there are a range of issues pertaining to the Disney Park Pass calendar displaying availability (or not displaying it). If you’re seeing an entirely grey calendar or the message that ‘one or more parks is unavailable’ for dates beyond July, that’s an error.
Start by simply refreshing. If that doesn’t work, try private/incognito browsing. Failing that, use a different browser. We haven’t been able to replicate this issue ourselves, but by most accounts, it’s something that should be resolvable. At this point, only a handful of Disney’s Hollywood Studios dates in mid-July plus one Disney’s Animal Kingdom date, are fully booked. August 2020 and beyond are totally wide open.
However, on the note of Disney’s Hollywood Studios having some early dates that are fully booked, we’ll give you a preview about the topic of our next Disney Parks Pass post: we were wrong about the system not being necessary and parks rarely being fully booked after the first couple of weeks.
There’s no shame in admitting when you’re wrong, and we’d rather get out ahead of this one as it’ll prove useful from a planning perspective. The frustrating thing is that it’s painfully obvious in hindsight, and something we addressed at length on the blog at this same time last year! (The short takeaway from that upcoming post: prioritize your DHS reservations.)
Ultimately, if you’re still having difficulties booking Disney Park Pass reservations, it’s probably time to call Web Support at (407) 939-4357 and get some personalized help. Note that while wait times have dropped, there are still widespread reports of people waiting multiple hours on hold. With it being release day for 2021 Walt Disney World vacation packages, today (June 24, 2020) might not be the best day to call. Tomorrow is probably the better option.
Or, if your Walt Disney World vacation isn’t until September or later and you’re flexible on which days you do each park, you can probably wait a bit longer. Most local Annual Passholders are going to be booking near-term dates (July and August) because of the rolling limit on reservations. Hopefully you don’t have to call–and these tips resolved your issues!
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 you had success booking Disney Park Pass reservations? What worked/didn’t work for you? What do you think about the Disney Park Pass reservation system? Still having any troubles? What specific issue are you encountering? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World this summer or fall, or are you waiting until after September 2021 when this (presumably) goes away? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? 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!
The only way to fix the park pass system is to get rid of it.
People who are too afraid to be near others should stay home and let the rest of us live our lives as we see fit.
There is no reason to limit capacity at this point.
Bought wdw military tickets at base rec center. Disney web site showed where the ticket id was on the ticket to be entered on web page. Military tickets have 17 lettr number code whilecommercial tickets have 12. When I entered code I would get busy now try later or error call this number. I called an was on hold for 4 hours, listened to every sound you hear in the wdw plus many we will soon be with you! Finally a very pleasant voice who asked not for the 17 digit id but the wdw- letter number above that 17 digits. We got all four days park pass registered for 2 tickets in 10 minutes.
I spent thousands for Disney world tickets it’s not letting me make reservations or contact. Did I throw my money away?
We are making a once in a lifetime trip to Disney World with our Grandchildren. We made reservations for Be Our Guest for March 18th as it will be my granddaughter’s 9th birthday. Then, when we discovered we needed to make reservations for each park, we found the Magic Kingdom is not available! There are no reservations for Be Our Guest on the Following Saturday which is the only day of our 4 days at Disney World that we can attend The Magic Kingdom. Is it possible that we can keep our reservation and the Magic Kingdom may have some openings for that park on the 18th of March? Or are we just out of luck?! I very much appreciate any help you can provide concerning this matter. We want this trip to be magical!
Hi Tom! Have you seen info about whether or not the park passes will allow for reentry? This is the one question I have that I can’t seem to find anything about.
So I survived drop day and got my park reservations. Went in today to check and make sure everything looked good and poof….my hotel package reservation disappeared. No more hotel reservations, no park tickets, and no record of my paid deposit. Strangely the park reservations are still there with no tickets attached Has anyone else seen this problem? Are they canceling hotel packages or is this just another glitches?
Since the time window is the length of the time the park is open, does that mean we will be able to leave, go-swimming, and come back?
HELP! We have rented points for January 2021. Half our party already has tickets, but other half doesn’t. My wife has been trying to call all day and it’s been busy all day. Any suggestions? Won’t let us purchase tickets in app or website.
We are DVC members (unsure if that differs from renting in this case) and also have a resort stay booked January 2021. We called the main ticket line today, hold over 2 hours and person said we have to get tickets through DVC. Called DVC, hold over an hour, and the person says we can’t get tickets until June 28.
I have the same situation. I finally got through to someone and found out the only way I could get tickets was to convert my room only reservations to packages.. My DVC with points couldn’t be done that way because it has to be done through DVC. Hope this helps.
I am not super surprised about Hollywood Studios filling up quickly. Between the limited capacity on an already smaller capacity park and the fact that it holds five of the newest rides at WDW, it makes sense.
i read this morning that disney is claiming there are no system glitches, but that it’s a result of people trying login when they are not yet eligible. no system glitches… sure, jan.
good luck to all, i am very glad to not be involved, i think i would just quit.
I have over 1,000 calls into Disney over 2 days and have not gotten through. All I get are busy signals. So frustrating since the resort we paid for is not going to be open when we get there in a couple weeks.
Are we going to an empty resort? Would be nice if Disney actually reached out to us as we have already paid in full.
We were in the same boat with a hotel reservation in a few weeks but hotel closed. I literally sat on my phone and hit call back all day Monday and Tuesday until I got the Disney music (300+times). Then waited on the phone for a total of 6 hours Monday only to find out there was a glitch in the system and current resort reservations couldn’t move because the Disney member couldn’t get access to look up available rooms= I.T. was working on the problem and to call back tomorrow(Tuesday). Did the same thing Tuesday and after 7 hours on hold, I got some one and was able to move. In other words, just keep trying and patience. They are there and are more then willing to help you. They staff member was very patient as I looked up location and details so I understood why the wait was so long.
I have a DVC reservation for Nov 2020 and an AP, which was set to expire 6/20 with the extension my AP now expires 9/20. They will not allow me to renew my AP until 60 days prior to expiring so I cant make park reservations for our Nov 2020 trip…is there anything I can do? This is so frustrating! I am being screwed by getting the extension.
Is it possible you could buy regular tickets now, get your park reservations, then when you’re able, upgrade the tickets to AP’s? Sounds like a ridiculous roundabout way to do it, but better than not having the park reservations.
Hi Jennifer,
My AP expired 6/18 and I renewed in the MDE app. You should hopefully be able to do the same. Good luck, Mel
Tried to add a park day to existing resort reservation and 3 day park ticket with hopper because Mickey’s not so Scary a Halloween Party Cancelled. I was advised could not add a park day(upgrade) could only do a downgrade. Even though it shows park available for day I am looking for with the new park pass system. Trying to make up for day I planned on using with Mickey’s not so Scary Halloween Party would have covered . Trying to make trip special for one in our party who is going to be first visit to Disney World.
My travel agent was able to add a day , we went from a 3 day park hopper to a 4 day ticket. And she sent us a confirmation notice of the change as we has same plans as you to go to the halloween party. But unfortunately the disney app/ system hasnt updated our plans so we have only been able to make park reservations for 3 days.
Have spent over 10 hours on hold trying to get thru to disney to fix the problem with no answered calls. Very frustrating and sick of hearing the same few sings while on hold!
Robert, I have the same issue. I changed from 5 day park hopper to 6 day base ticket last night. MDE still has 5 day park hopper ticket. I cannot get through to anyone on the phone. Well, I did get through twice to web support but after I provided all of my information via the automated system and was supposed to be transferred to a rep after pressing “1” for MDE, there was a busy signal. Annoying. This happened both times.
Update that I did finally get through to the help desk number. I did not click ‘1″ or “2” after all the prompts and just waited and then I got the hold music. I was on hold about an hour and 45 minutes but the CM was able to fix the ticket issue in MDE. So hope that gives some hope. #perseverance
I’m getting anxious about having a DVC reservation for November but not having purchased our park tickets yet, and being blocked out from making park reservations for everyone except my brother who’s a Cast Member and has his Main Gate pass. (Incidentally he expected to be blocked out, but I was able to make his reservations for our planned park days no problem.) I would guess many DVC members would be in a similar boat? Not sure, but hope there’ll be some helpful info coming our way soon!
In the same DVC boat here. We have a late July res for my parents, but they had not bought tix prior to shutoff. Now they cannot get through to talk with anyone so my guess is they are out of luck. Anyone else have thoughts on what to do other than cancel the reservation? Any other way to get tickets linked?
Also DVC and have resort booked for January 2021 but no tickets. Waited on hold for over two hours with the main line to buy tickets and they said they couldn’t help because we need to go through DVC… But if you log into DVC and try to buy tickets, it sends you to the Disney World website where you can’t buy tickets. And DVC phone line isn’t going through, just busy signal.
Update: Finally got through with DVC, they said we can buy tickets June 28. I don’t know if that is for only 2021 stays or if it includes 2020. Kind of a bummer so many others get to reserve parks first but I guess it is what it is.
I can tell you that as of 10:45am PST today, the issue of limiting annual passholders to 3 days of reservations even if they have a resort reservation is not fixed. I have a reservation that’s been in place for months at the Doubletree in Disney Springs and the system still won’t let me make a reservation for more than 3 days. My reservation is for 6 nights.
Jeff did you originally have a MNSSHP or MVMCP booked? If you did, delete that day’s pass, then try to do all the other days and the day that the party would have been last.
@Jeff almost exact same except the Hilton in Disney Springs. Not letting us make more than three yet either. So frustrating. We tried this afternoon also. Guess might have to call..
Just a quick update that someone from Guest Services called me today in response to my email sent earlier in the week re my issue with my AP and my Hilton reservation not talking to each other She saw that it was so on her screen and had to get a coordinator to help but they managed to get me my fourth day booked at Animal Kingdom! I do not think I could’ve done it without Guest Services. Phew –what a week!
We have AKL reservations for Jan. 2021. I have an annual pass but didn’t purchase the other tickets before the shutdown. I have 3 confirmed rooms at AKL. Any thoughts on how I can get the remainder of my tickets before the mad AP rush on the 26th or am I doomed to wait until the 28th?
We found that by deleting the pass for the day that the MNSSHP was going to be, fixed our problem. We then booked the rest of the days and then lastly did the day that MNSSHP was suppose to be. Now our whole stay is booked instead of just the first three.
No, I had no park reservations prior to trying to get them for the length of my stay. The hotel reservation is not until November so I still have time.
Sooooo what day of the week do you think is best to go Hollywood?
I have reservations for August 15th, & the first morning the reservation system opened up it took my 3 hrs 7:30 – 10:30 am to finally pick my park reservations ( Talk about anxiety). This is what I think Disney should have to make it easier for everybody. The June 22nd dates should have been for people going in July/August. Then following week June 29th should have been for Sept/October, & then the next week for Nov/Dec 2020. Then the following week for 2021.
I have a resort reservation for December and annual pass- but my annual pass expires before our trip. I don’t have an option of renewing this early. Any advice on how to make my Park reservations for December?