How to Make Park Reservations for Disney World
Park Pass is Walt Disney World’s advance theme park reservations system for booking entry to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. This is required in addition to buying tickets between now and January 18, 2024 in order to enter the parks. This how-to guide covers the steps for making Disney Park Pass reservations, offers troubleshooting advice, and more. (Updated March 20, 2022.)
For starters, the Disney Park Pass system is available on DisneyWorld.com–not the My Disney Experience app (although there is a link within the app to take you to the reservation website). To use this system, start by making sure your tickets and resort reservation are linked in My Disney Experience, and your family and friends list is properly populated.
Now in use for nearly two years, the Disney Park Pass system has been controversial and frustrating for many fans. So much so that one of the most common reader questions during that time is When Will Walt Disney World Stop Requiring Park Reservations? We speculate and attempt to answer that question in that post. Here, let’s continue on with the details of Disney Park Pass, and making advance online reservations for the theme parks at Walt Disney World!
Step 1: Link Your Admission to Your Disney Account
To get started, you’ll need valid park admission that’s linked to your Disney account.
- First, you’ll need a Disney account, which is where your Walt Disney World plans are stored and managed. Create an account or sign in to your existing account.
- Then, link your valid admission to your Disney account. All Guests in your party must also have valid park admission linked to their profile. Note: At this time, new ticket sales are temporarily paused, and sales will resume at a later date.
- If you have a Disney Resort hotel reservation, be sure to link it to your Disney account as well.
Once your admission is linked to your account, you can begin to make a park reservation…
Step 2: Create Your Party
When you begin to make a reservation, you’ll be prompted to create your party from your Family & Friends list.
Simply select the family and friends you’d like to include, then hit the Continue button.
Don’t see someone in your travel party? Select “Add a Guest” to include them.
You may need to make more than one Disney Park Pass reservation for your party depending on your admission type. Please make sure your party consists of Annual Passholders or theme park ticket holders.
Staying in a Disney Resort or other select hotel with a package that includes tickets? Everyone in your party must also have a hotel reservation. If this varies, you will need to make separate Disney Park Pass reservations.
Step 3: Select a Date and Park
Choose the date and the theme park that you’d like to visit from the available reservations. Please note that dates and theme park selections are limited and subject to availability.
After creating your party in the Disney Park Pass system, you’ll be prompted to:
- Select a Date: View a calendar and choose one of the available dates for your visit.
- Select a Theme Park: Park hours will be displayed for your convenience.
- Select a Time: This is the time that you can visit the park.
NOTE: Selecting a time is simply “confirming” the park hours, not an actual arrival window.
After selecting your date and park, you can confirm your reservation.
Step 4: Review and Confirm Your Plans
Carefully review and confirm your selected park and date.
If you need to make any changes, select “Back” to revise your selections.
Before confirming, you’ll need to agree to the Terms & Conditions, including the health certification and liability disclaimer waiver. (For this reason, it’s unlikely that travel agents will book Disney Park Pass reservations like they do/did for FastPass+ or ADRs.)
Then, select “Confirm” to complete your park reservation. Once confirmed, your reservation will appear in My Plans on My Disney Experience or DisneyWorld.com.
Want to make another park reservation? Select “Make Another Reservation” to continue planning. As a reminder, if you have a multi-day ticket, you will be required to make a park reservation for each date of your visit.
If you need to cancel a reservation, view your daily itinerary in My Plans, then select “Reservation Details”.
We’ve now used the Disney Park Pass system numerous times, and the process usually works pretty smoothly. Nevertheless, you might have issues getting DisneyWorld.com to work. In terms of troubleshooting, our #1 solution is always to use private browsing or incognito mode on your desktop browser to access DisneyWorld.com.
This won’t always resolve your problem, but usually it will. It’s at least worth a shot. In any case, hopefully that preemptively answers some reader questions we’d otherwise receive and saves some of you some headaches.
We’d recommend making reservations weeks or months in advance, rather than days ahead of time. While you’ll be fine most of the time booking Park Passes at the last minute, that’s not always the case.
Availability varies wildly depending upon demand. In the off-season, reservations are mostly a formality. By contrast, park reservations are already booking up (see above) about a month before peak dates in April 2022. Plan accordingly and err on the side of making reservations early just in case.
With that said, it’s never necessary to book reservations 2+ months in advance. Many Walt Disney World fans stress out over planning every little detail of their trips 6+ months in advance. While that’s understandable when it comes to Advance Dining Reservations and even resort bookings, the same diligence is not necessary with Disney Park Pass reservations.
The vast majority of guests simply do not plan that far in advance. Since Walt Disney World began requiring Park Pass reservations, there is only one date that filled up months in advance–October 1, 2021. That was the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World, and is quite obviously a “special case.” If you’re just visiting for some random week in July 2022, you need to start thinking about reservations in June…not April.
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
What do you think about the Disney Park Pass reservation system? Think these policies seem fair in light of the ongoing global pandemic and reduced capacity of the parks? Think that many days will sell out, or that most will be available on short notice? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World this summer or fall, or are you waiting until when this (hopefully) 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!
No luck at all. Been trying since 7 am and have gotten past the castle a few times but even when I log in there is no option to make a park pass reservation. All my tickets are linked and my party is set up. Am I missing something? Is there a secret button somewhere that I’m not seeing? I called over the weekend and they said it would be in the chain of steps, i.e. Make a Hotel Reservation, Select Tickets, Park Pass Reservations, Dining Reservations. Not seeing it.
Just keep trying….I did it after 1 hour of the ever pink castle screen. Suddenly you will receive the log in screen. By logging in, You will see the regular my plans screen with but there will be a new small warning msg with a view availability button. By clicking this button you will be able to do it. I did it using Google Chrome at the private mode. Good luck!!
Go to home page, my Disney experience, drop down to Disney park pass system. Click on Make a Disney Park Pass Res in the middle right hand side of the page. Hope you get your days
Thanks everyone! I got in and have my park reservations made!
9:20 am EST I followed advice of others here and used this link https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/park-reservations/ and it took me to orbiter with count down immediately. Wait time was about 15 minutes total with all the resets. Able to choose parks for 7 day ticket without incident (mid August trip). The times available were the times the parks are open that day, so no specific arrival time had to be secured. Good luck to the rest of you.
I was able to book my park pass via Firefox while Chrome was still stuck on the castle, so try a different browser if you are still stuck.
7:45 am central time. Finally got past the pink castle, signed in, got all my late July trip day park passes. Yay!
Just checked my email; anyone else get a random email from Disney with a $50 gift card?
Got one for 70 I think its the room cleaning fee
Got all of mine! It errors out if you try to make a park pass for someone under the age of 3.
I was successful. I recommend following Tom’s advice of always using private browsing or incognito mode when booking reservations.
Well… I’m in! My countdown ended and it took me right to the reservation system. I was able to get MK on 9/19 and DHS on 9/20. Aside from the headaches and lack of communication from Disney, the process was super easy once I got in. Good luck to everyone who’s still waiting. I hope you all get the dates you’re looking for!
Everyone keep trying! Got all my days for a August 10 day trip. Thanks goes out to TimC. Wasn’t for him I would still be looking at the castle. Hope everyone gets in and gets there days!!
Every time the countdown timer finishes for me I get the pink castle. This is fun!
OMG… have been one for an hour and 45 mints. Tried getting in another way while I left the pink castle on another page. That got me to the orbit timer, but after about 2 mints it changed to the site map. I keep trying over and over and only the site maps comes out. ANY SUGGESTIONS!!!!!!
Have you tried using the internet browser Chrome? I wasn’t able to get in on internet explorer but got in really quickly using chrome and have everything booked now.
Good luck
FYI to all, if are staying on property from date opening till Sept 26 and have annual or purchased tickets linked to your Experience app. You should have no problem getting in. If you don’t there will be isduesy
Can anyone help?? I’m logging into my account (finally…) I cannot find where to reserve parks. All my family members are added, we all have linked tickets…..no where do I see this calendar….
There should be an “Important Message” banner under the Plans and Tickets header with a “View Availability” button.
Hi, just in case anyone is still struggling I found that I could only get mine to work when using the browser Chrome. Also I was first trying to book with our 2 year old in the booking but that then crashed the site as he doesn’t have a ticket (doesn’t need one) so when I removed him from the bookings it let me finalise them. Good luck everyone!
I was able to use Edge (had Chrome and Edge up, but Edge was the one that worked)
I also had the best luck using the Google Chrome browser. Appreciate all the good info and commiseration from Tom and everyone going through the same thing this morning. Good luck to all still trying to get into the system!
What happens after counter goes to zero and you get the blank page?
1.5 hours later, Still looking at the castle
Now I’m getting a spaceship! I hope this is progress
Does anyone know how we are credited or park hoppers already purchased? Is this addressed once I log in to make my single day reservations?
I heard from other vlogs that park hoppers will be refunded.
We have ultimate tickets (UK) which have park hoppers built in, so I don’t know what happens then
I am so sick of Dismal Disney f-wording the park goers! I heard that even annual pass holders are unable to get in to make their reservations! I am so PO’d at Dismal Disney! As a show of solidarity, I think we should all agree to log off of Disney websites for the whole day. THEY DON’T GET TO TELL US WHEN TO MAKE RESERVATIONS! EVERYONE, COMPUTERS OFF!
Still nothing for me. Pink castle. Nothing new….
For those few able to get in or at least get a countdown – did you refresh or just hold tight?
Any updates?
I used this link: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/park-reservations/
It took me to the orbit countdown and I only had to wait 5 minutes on that page (after staring at the pink castle for a hour and a half). I was able to make my park reservations.
Thank you! I’m finally getting a countdown, though it keeps resetting. Better than a castle I guess.
OK just made my reservations, for those who want to know here is how it went:
Was stuck on the pink castle page from trying to sign in at about 705 ET, left that screen open and experimented with others.
That screen eventually took me to sign-in. Was able to sign-in and go to MDE.
On MDE there was a button advising I needed a park pass and a link to get park passes.
Clicked that link, and was taken to the orbit page with a countdown of 2:30. The countdown worked it’s way down, refreshed a few times, and eventually got to 0.
When it got 0 it took me to a page to create my party. From there everything worked wonderfully and I was able to make all my reservations.
Did you also need to select a time to arrive at the park or is it just by day blocks?
There was only 1 block of time available which looked to be the same as the park hours.
Once you make the reservation, is there anything else you need to do in order to double and triple check that you have the reservation, or should it automatically save to My Plans?
Thanks that helped. I am seeing the same.
8:40am EST – I was taking from the pink castle with “create-party” URL to the sign in page. I signed in and was sent back into orbit. URL still says “create-party”.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/park-reservations/create-party
Everyone keep doing their zen breathing!
I’m on that screen with pink castle..create party url after being in orbit…should I just wait and not touch anything?
I would just wait. My timer resets occassionally, but I’m now down to a 1:45, so fingers crossed it get in soon!
Katie,
I want to thank you so much!!!! Because of your link we got our passes. All other pages were not loading. Yours did and you saved the day. Thank you for being so kind and posting this link! Have fun on your vacation.
Try this everyone!
Right click on the make a park pass reservation button and select open Iink in incognito window. This should take you straight to the log in page. Once you log in you should be able to make reservations it worked for me!