Disney World’s Park Pass Reservations: We’re In Orbit!
If you’ve followed the Walt Disney World news roller coaster the last few days, you know Disney Park Pass debuted this morning, allowing guests with resort reservations and tickets to book theme park entry. Anyone familiar with Disney ‘drop days’ knew to expect the unexpected, and that has been doubly so here.
Walt Disney World has released no shortage of details, but it has felt very nebulous. Getting up this morning, even knowing the ins and outs of what’s been announced, I was anxious. It’s like we’ve been studying for the final exam about American History knowing it might cover some overlapping European History–but then it ends up being a test exclusively about the French Revolution.
Of course, that’s assuming we even are able to take the test. The test was scheduled to start at 7 am, but surprise! It could actually start at 4:36 am without you, and the door to the exam room might end up breaking at 6:55 am. Once the door is repaired at 8:48 am, you may or may not be able to take the test. Tough luck. That’s the story of Walt Disney World IT and drop days in nutshell, or tortured analogy, as the case may be.
To continue that tortured analogy, this morning it turned out that we didn’t even know where the exam was being held. Maybe it was behind the gates of a very pink castle. Perhaps it was in orbit with Space Mountain, in the mines where the Seven Dwarfs work, or even inside Stitch’s belly. WHO KNOWS?!
Any one of those could be the hidden entrance, you just need to know the secret knock to enter the testing location.
Also, the exam did not start early. It started at least an hour and a half late–and has not even started yet for some people!
In any case, here’s the story of our experience, plus the “secret knock” that worked to gain us access to the Disney Park Pass system so we could book reservations for Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot…
Not trusting that the Disney Park Pass system would go live at 7 am (we are all too familiar with the surprise 4:37 am drops of Free Dining), we were up bright and early this morning at 5 am, checking off and on periodically.
Depending upon what we tried, we were greeted by a (very pink) Cinderella Castle with a “just a moment” message, Seven Dwarfs with “we’re working on it,” or the classic Stitch Ate the Page.
We had Advance Dining Reservations for the modified character dining experience at Topolino’s Terrace this morning at 7:30 am, so we continued this process while on the drive over to Disney’s Riviera Resort, and then in the parking lot while waiting for our ADR time.
At 7:10 am, we still had zero success–and it was becoming clear we were in for a ‘long haul’ with the process, so we updated our How to Make Park Pass Reservations for Disney World guide and headed up to the rooftop restaurant.
Throughout breakfast, we periodically checked our phones and social media to see how things were going and it was clear the consensus was “NOT GOOD, BOB.”
We finished breakfast at around 8:45 am, headed down to Voyageurs’ Lounge (where I’m still sitting as I type this), and began trying all of our best hacks to get the process to work.
I’ll spare you a full run-down of our failures, and instead go through what worked in case you’re still experiencing similar frustrations.
To start, use private browsing or incognito mode on your desktop browser. Instead of going directly to DisneyWorld.com, click here. This will, hopefully, take you to the DisneyWorld.com page for Frontera Cocina (and not Space Mountain).
If that works, go through the motions of searching for availability and click a time. You’re not actually booking anything, so the dates/party size don’t really matter. You’re just doing this to get the My Disney Experience login pop-up without a redirect to that page.
Think of Frontera Cocina (or any Disney Springs restaurant, for that matter) as the “secret entrance” to Magic Kingdom reservations.
Once you get logged in, open a new tab and check here.
This is the link for creating your party, which bypasses the first step (and another phase of waiting). You’ll probably have a wait at this screen, but it should work after the countdown finishes. Very strong emphasis on should.
For what it’s worth, we never had luck on anything loading after the pink castle screen–but have had success with the Space Mountain screen. If you’ve been stuck on the Cinderella Castle screen for more than a few minutes, you might want to try again–or try in another browser.
From there, the process should be pretty self-explanatory and smooth. Here are step by step screenshots of what you should see:
Additionally, we would strong recommend that you go into My Plans after completing this process and double-checking that all of your reservations appear there.
As always, taking screenshots is a good course of action, just in case My Disney Experience “poofs” any of your reservations. We’ve heard reports of that happening already, so it’s best to be safe. Even though Disney IT is a shining exemplar of reliability and beacon of–HAHAHAHA, sorry couldn’t finish that sentence.
Ultimately, that’s the process and how it worked for us. Right now, I’m feeling a bit like I’ve just completed Jedi Training Academy: Trials of the Temple, but for adult Walt Disney World vacation planners. (In other words, Jedi Training Academy: Trials of the Tourist!) Your mileage may vary and you might experience success (or many failures) via this route or others. Judging by the 575+ comments on our How to Book Disney Park Pass Reservations Guide, a lot of you have already had success. We’ll be back later today to report on more of our experiences being back at Walt Disney World!
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? 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!
Apparently there is a glitch for some APs. I have a bunch of linked DVC resort reservations over 3 trips, but it only sees me as an “AP” and caps me at three days. This is horribly frustrating. People on Facebook who got through to Disney on the phone aver 5-7 hours say it’s being wooed. I sure hope so. Very disappointing and something that could have been foreseen.
Thanks to this thread here this morning, I got in with an incognito window!
So, this next question MIGHT be off topic. But I am afraid Disney is not going to refund the difference between park hopper and what we’ve got now. In their info, they state that we park hoppers have 3 options: 1. rebook for next year in hopes that they’ll have park hopping again. 2. cancel, or 3. call them to modify (note that they do not say anything about refund).
Any thoughts?
If you modify to non park hopper, that’s when you’ll see a change in price (if you still owe) or get a refund (if you’ve paid already). I think Disney’s decision not to automatically downgrade park hopper tickets like they did with the dining plan hopefully indicates they’re going to bring park hopping back sooner rather than later anyway.
13 hours in… I got 4 of my 6 days around 9:00 this morning, and haven’t been able to get the other 2 at all. I’ve tried everything that everyone has suggested. Currently on hold on the phone for over an hour, and waiting on live chat for over 3 hrs. I’m exhausted. And sad.
I tried at 6:00am just in case, but obviously didn’t get anywhere at all until 7:00am. But even then it was almost impossible. After trying for hours and hours I finally got 2 of our 9 days for late August. I assume there is a glitch? Clearly we will have to reschedule if can’t go to the parks 7 of our 9 days there. I guess I’ll keep checking periodically? Anyone else with this scenario?
Hey Theresa,
I just went back in, deleted one of my previous reservations, and starting booking dates WORKING BACKWARDS, from the last day of my trip… and it fixed it. I was able to book the full trip. Mad props to “smallworldvacations” for the tip.
I was unable to access it in my phone, so at 0840 my daughter got on the desktop. After 40 minutes we were able to book all four parks. I think it’s just luck of the draw. Good luck everyone
Using the backdoor method, I was able to get one date in December. Since then, I have been getting a message from Olaf that they’re having trouble loading the screen. Has anyone else experienced this?
How many different days of your stay can you book will not let me make more than 3
Yeah, Olaf meant I was booked – although probably not intended to work that way. Check your plans.
Hmm, Olaf is not booking me, and I’m getting the same error at 10:30ET on 6/22.
Yup. Super annoyed that I can’t book all of the days of our trip. 5 day pass only able to book 4. Please share out is somebody finds a solution… THANKS
My sister in law had this same issue. They have a 6 day ticket but planned to use the 6th day on their check out day and depart late. I think that means you don’t “have a reservation” for that particular day ticket and therefore have to wait until June 28 With other people who have tickets but not nightly reservations can reserve a park. We have a 4 day ticket and not departing on the last day of ticket and I was able to make all of my reservations.
Does anyone know if the water parks will be subject to the same booking system when they open? Not going until February 21 but have booked our parks but want to do couple of days at water park? Do I book other parks just in case or will the water parks be dealt with differently?
Seeing as my current trip isn’t until mid-December, I really had no concerns and waited 8-9 hours before giving it a try.
At that point, all my dates were available & I got them booked quickly.
Boom!
Jumping through these hoops is a bit of a pain, but it’s very understandable why we have to do it and I have no problem with it.
Good luck to everybody.
I, too, waited…but it was because I had apparently brainfarted every single time I looked at the info on the reservation system and deluded myself into thinking it was only set up to reserve days through September 26 of this year, not next year.
The good news is that 10+ hours into the reservation period I had zero issues getting three days booked in the first week of October 2020. Having issues with it only letting me book 3 on my AP despite having resort reservations, but as far as availability goes it’s looking good so far.
I was able to book the first 3 days of my stay but now it says I have reached my max anyone else have this issue I’m an annual pass holder with a resort stay I was under the impression I could book for the whole trip not be limited to 3
That’s the same problem I’m having right now. I initially thought it might be an issue with staying at a Disney Springs hotel since I first found the issue when trying to book a fourth day for a trip where I’m booked at the Holiday Inn by DS, but it won’t let me reserve any park days during our January stay at AKL, either. Seems like it’s just a wider issue with APs in the system??
I’m an AP holder as well and will be staying at OKW for 14 days in January and February. I was able to get a park pass each day of my stay. I was unable, however, to get any for the week I am staying off property.
Same issue for me. I am not a pass holder. I have separate tickets foR each stay and they’re linked. Cannot get through to anyone to help!
Just more reasons to cancel our APs while Disney is in the Reservation system to get in the parks. Disney did not keep up their end of the AP contract with no explanation why they chose to do so.
has anyone had any success with adding tickets to a room only reservation for
2020??????
1111 Highway 17-92N
Lot C6
I tried a couple times over the course of the day, and was just recently able to make my park reservations after about a 10 minute wait on the castle screen with the my disney experience app. November 28th- Decmeber 3rd.
Monday I was able to book all 6 days for my trip in September, but only after waiting for three and a half hours staring at the pink castle.
Took me 9 hours. Reservations finally made.
Thanks, everyone for all your posts on how to get in. I finally got my reservations after trying since 7:00 am. Everyone else who is still having trouble keep trying. I tried on several devices and used the incognito browser.
Thank you so much for this! I spent most of the day staring a the “pink castle”, finally made it to the login screen to have it just blink at me when I hit submit. Finally, after using your ‘dining reservation hack’, I made it right in! You officially pass Jedi Training in my book!
Caught in this 3 day only AP glitch. My mom has an AP voucher and I was able to her her up to 7 days. All that after 5 hours. Incredibly frustrating.
I was able to make my first reservation(Nov. 2) without a problem after a 2 hour wait, but now all other dates of my trip all parks are unavailable?!?! This is a nightmare!
That is what happened to me. I got our first day, Nov 20, then nothing else was available. I’ve been trying since 7:00 am, and have attempted every hack I could find, but still no available parks.
I have also tried all Tom’s Hacks and still get same message! I need a cocktail before I go crazy! Preferably a Mai Tai from the Poly!!
I hit the same issue — was able to book the FIRST DAY — but not any days after that.
Still .. I’m happy … locked in Hollywood Studios, so RISE OF THE RESISTANCE .. here we come!
Has anyone succeeded in booking > 1 day?
Do all of you have AP’s? I was able to book the rest of my party for 2 stays who all had 4-day tickets, but the system only let my AP book one day total. Then, for a different reservation where we all have package tickets it only let us all book one day. So crazy frustrating!
Just here to echo the other comments saying THANK YOU! For the incognito tip(and all the other tips) I was trying to get in the system all morning while traveling home. After blank windows from countdowns, to hours of pink castle, i got home and hopped on my laptop, switched to incognito and ~5 minutes later I have all my days for our halloween trip booked.
It took me over 3 hours and then when I got in it only allowed me to make reservations for my husband. It told me that there was no availability. It appears that my AP is not lnked to me even though in my disney account it shiws my AP. It also tells me to call disney and all I get is all circuits busy. Very frustrating.
Keep putting in my password says it’s pulling up the party page but then sends me back for my password ugh
Same thing for me. Nit sure what to do….trying since 6:30 this morning..
I had that too for awhile but then it quit.
Omg thank you so much for this blog!! Been up since 6am trying to figure this whole thing out and it’s now 2:53pm and I FINALLY have Park reservations! I almost gave up and canceled our trip seeing that someone posted that September was booked already. BUT, THANKFULLY this was not true and we got our parks thanks to this ingenius idea of going through the back door to get through. Disney always seems to have a runaround with their computer systems, but I’m glad there are people out there who can figure the craziness out!