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Universal Orlando Resort just sent out a survey to all their annual passholders inquiring about how they’d feel if the resort implemented a park reservation system. This is a system that Walt Disney World, and other Disney Resorts, have been using for quite some time now. Let’s dive into this a bit more and see why Universal might be interested in incorporating this system inside of their own parks.

Park reservations are nothing new to the theme park community. In fact, Universal Orlando is the only major theme park that did not implement a reservation system back when the parks reopened from the pandemic related closure. Since reopening, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa have both removed their reservation systems; however, Walt Disney World has held strong with their reservation requirements - so much so that reservations are now being sold as a ‘feature’ for select levels of their annual passes. However, having no theme park reservations has been a big selling point for Universal Orlando in recent history, and with the amount of frustration it’s caused at the Disney Resorts, the lack of reservations have brought crowds to Universal that would normally choose to stay at Disney. So why adopt a system that has proven to be problematic for guests?

With the parks continually returning back to normal more and more each day, the need for reservations dwindles. So why would Universal be contemplating implementing this controversial system now? Some of these reasons are definitely the same as to why Walt Disney World has kept theirs around and has committed to keeping it until 2024 at the earliest. However, I believe that there might be another reason as to why Universal is considering park reservations. But first, let’s take a look at the benefits that Disney sees in it.

Park reservations have been a big success for Disney in the eyes of the board and its shareholders. The major benefit to requiring reservations is that it allows Disney to accurately predict and control crowd levels in the parks day-to-day. This means that they can accurately schedule staffing and order merchandising in the most cost-efficient way possible. Reservations bring the parks overhead down to its bare minimum, and that’s an attractive bonus to the feature. The other bonus is that it allows the parks to collect more in-depth data on guest’s visits and habits, which often reflect directly in the operations of the parks over the next fiscal year. With those two reason, and more, it's benefited the Disney corporation enough for them to ignore negative guest feedback about reservations and double down on them regardless.

Suggested Article: Are Park Reservations Leaving Disney Anytime Soon?

Universal has proven themselves to be a company that cares about guest feedback and is often listening to, and making changes for its community. So it is hard for me to see Universal Orlando Resort moving forward with the idea of implementing park reservations; however, there is one specific benefit to the reservation system for Universal that has my curiosity. Universal, over the past few years, has been experimenting with facial recognition software in its parks. Express pass lanes already use facial recognition software, and patents have been filed from Universal for the use of contactless park entry. This new form of entry would be able to recognize your face, associate it with a park ticket, and either allow or deny entry into the park accordingly. Park reservations would make that process a whole lot easier on the technology side. Making a reservation for a specific day and a specific park would allow a system to know precisely who is going to be entering the gates, which would dramatically decrease the bank of data the system would have to search through to identify each person correctly. If you’re not in the system for that day, you’re not getting in. It’s been rumored that this new system will first be seen at Universal’s Epic Universe when it opens in 2025.

However, like I stated earlier, Universal Orlando is a resort that truly cares about their guest feedback. With all the benefits that they see in a reservation system, I believe that it’s unlikely for Universal to institute a practice that has had so much negative guest feedback at other resorts around the globe. But the question is now for you! Do you think we’ll see Universal implement a system like this, and if so, would this bother you or be a welcome change? Let us know in the comment section! 

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