Are Park Reservations Leaving Disney Parks Anytime Soon?
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“No More Reservations?” graphic featured in front of Cinderella Castle at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park Photo Credits: Jonathan Holt
Ever since reopening from the pandemic related closures, the Walt Disney Company has implemented a park reservation system that has both frustrated and confused many guests. The system has been a huge topic of debate in the fandom; however, the longer it stays, the more permanent it seems to get. Are the days of going to Disney Parks on a whim over, or will the park reservation system be leaving soon? Let’s talk about the future of reservations, and why they might be here to stay.
UPDATE (January 2023) : Park Reservations are now no longer required after 2pm except for at Magic Kingdom on the weekends.
Large crowds at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World Resort Photo Credits: Jonathan Holt
The reservation system first started off in 2020 as a way to manage park capacity in a period of time where the concerns of the Covid-19 pandemic were at a high. The system was introduced out of necessity; however, the massive benefits soon became obvious to the Walt Disney Company. Having precise guest attendance information, buying pattern data, and arrival times became crucial in day-to-day operations. The collection of this data allowed for the company to precisely predict staffing and stocking needs throughout the day, which in turn also increased efficiency and minimized profit margins. It also “really helps us sort of manage our price per day,” according to Bob Chapek (Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company). Since the launch of this new reservation system, Disney per capita profit at the parks has skyrocketed.
Now that the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic is settling, and the need for capacity caution is now nearly gone, what can we expect to see for the Disney Parks in regards to reservations? When asked about the performance of the parks division of the Walt Disney Company back in May of 2022 during the quarter two earnings report, this is what Christine McCarthy (Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Walt Disney Company) had to say.
“We continue to be pleased with the overall demand and attendance trends at our domestic parks. In fact, there were many days in the quarter where we saw demand exceed 2019 levels; however, we are continuing to control attendance through our reservation system, with an eye on delivering a quality guest experience.”
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run at Walt Disney World Photo Credits: Jonathan Holt
Disney’s big pitch for reservations at the park is all about improving guest experience. “We're controlling our attendance… using our reservation system to optimize the guest experience,” - Bob Chapek, CEO. And although that is true in-part, guest experience is just a surface level explanation for wanting to keep the system around. Ideally, reservations work in a similar way to FastPass, boarding groups, and now Genie+. The idea of offering a shorter physical wait in exchange for a virtual wait allows guests the ability to spend less time standing in line and spend more time (and money) going through gift shops and eating at restaurants. These systems are seen as win-wins in the eyes of Disney. They often receive better guest feedback as well as increased profitability at the parks. However, the reality is that these systems often lean much more in the favor of the parks. While FastPass (and Genie+) offer the ability to skip a handful of lines per day, they often increase the overall wait across the board at every attraction due to priority bias for each line. While you might wait less for three attractions during the day, you’ll be waiting longer in every other line throughout the rest of the day than you would have if FastPass were not an offering to begin with. While this is great for some guests who know how to use the systems, it’s a disadvantage for casual day guests. However, the effect for Disney is still achieved. Guest spend less time in lines, and more time spending money. With reservations its a similar effect. While reservations have a minimal effect for guests who love to research and plan their trips, it’s a disadvantage to casual day guests and other guests who prefer to not plan their trips as much. However, the reservation system is carefully designed to benefit Disney’s day-to-day bottom line. It allows for enough guests to enter the park where lines are full, but not too full that guests can’t experience an average of seven attractions per day. It has also been designed to allow for a perfect number of guests where food and merchandise expenditures are highly optimized.
“per capita guest spending at our domestic parks increased by over 40% versus Q2 of fiscal 2019, and by 20% versus Q2 of fiscal 2021, with increases across the board - on admissions, food and beverage, and merchandise.”
Cinderella Castle at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World Resort Photo Credits: Jonathan Holt
Inherently these are all good things for the parks. The better the parks do, the more investments we can see put back into them. However, it does raise the question of ‘how do these new found benefits affect the day to day operations of the parks’? Interestingly enough, it puts Disney in a tough spot for growth. With capacity being artificially capped according to average profit per capita, the only way to increase capacity and retain a maximum guest expenditure and profitability from staffing and stocking is to add more attractions and offerings to the parks. Notice how they now refer to attractions as “capacity”.
“…we will continue to expand with additional capacity, but some capacity that we just brought back in April were things like the character meet-and-greets at our domestic parks. And we also brought back in April our Nighttime Spectaculars at the Disneyland Resort.”
Peter Pan float in Festival of Fantasy at Disney's Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World Resort Photo Credits: Jonathan Holt
In regards to reservations allowing Disney to maximize their profits, CEO Bob Chapek had this to say:
“So that domestic yield strategy (reservations) has really structurally allowed us to increase that per-capita spending meaningfully without having to rely solely on raising ticket prices, and we don’t see any end in sight for that.”
Hopefully this is a sign that points to larger investments coming to the parks sooner rather than later. It seems as if the current leadership is focused more on optimizing this system instead of raising the price of tickets across the board dramatically, and if that’s the case, the only way to increase profits at a certain point is to add more capacity through new attractions and offerings.
Screenshot of Disneyland Annual Passes with Reservations listed as a feature
However with no “end in sight” for reservations, it seems as if this system is here to stay. Reservations have now been marketed as a feature for various tiers of annual passes. If you want to book more park reservations, the higher tiers allow you to book more. And in previous interviews Bob Chapek has stated that reservations will most likely be here past 2024, which is currently where the reservation calendar ends.
It might be time to finally say goodbye to visiting the Disney Parks whenever you desire, and start getting used to booking reservations long in advance. Otherwise, Universal and SeaWorld are just down the street with open doors to anyone who enjoys random visits to the parks. What are your thoughts on reservations? Do you see the potential benefits in the system, or does having to book a reservation frustrate you? Let us know your thoughts down below! Also be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up-to-date with all the fun theme park news that drops!
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