Disney World Officially Removes Hated Park Rule, Brings Back Beloved Offering

Today, January 9th, is a big day at Walt Disney World, as one park rule is finally disappearing, with another offering coming back, all-around affecting the Disney World vacation experience in a positive way.

When the pandemic shuttered Walt Disney World Resort for around two months, many awaited for the most magical place on earth to reopen. While some states took extra precautions during the pandemic, Florida chose to reopen as soon as possible in an attempt to heal their economy, which meant that Disney World was one of the first tourist destinations to reopen.

While guests were once again able to see Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom and ride Pirates of the Caribbean, things had to change. 

Due to social distancing, the theme parks had capacity restrictions to ensure that guests were not packed like sardines down Main Street, U.S.A. In order to do this with organization, Disney implemented their park pass reservation system. Now, guests not only had to buy their Disney ticket, but they had to allot it to a specific day and park. The catch with this was the capacity was so restricted that park pass reservations were selling out fast. Disney’s Hollywood Studios was the most popular park, selling out a month in advance at times, followed by Magic Kingdom, then EPCOT, then Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

While this solved the issue of having too many guests in the parks, it added another complicated layer to the planning process of a Disney vacation, and caused many upset guests as there were many who traveled in, bought a ticket, and did not know they needed a reservation until it was too late and they were being turned away at the gates of Magic Kingdom which was already at capacity. 

While park attendance is back to normal, and the pandemic is a nightmare of the past, Disney still maintained their reservation system — until now. As of today, theme park reservations will no longer be required for date-based tickets. So, if you buy a date-based ticket, you do not need to worry about booking a reservation to the park.

While this helps with guests traveling into Orlando, Annual Passholders are sadly not free just yet. As shared by Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) there are now “good-to-go” days for Annual Passholders, meaning some days a park pass will be required, while others will not need one. As a reminder, park pass reservations are not needed after 2:00 p.m. on any day, except for weekends at Magic Kingdom.

WDW Annual Passholder “good-to-go” days will start appearing on Thursday. Here’s an example calendar showing how those days will be represented with a green circle.

Reminder: A “good-to-go” day means an AP can enter any of the 4 theme parks that day without a park reservation.

WDW Annual Passholder "good-to-go" days will start appearing on Thursday. Here's an example calendar showing how those days will be represented with a green circle.

Reminder: A "good-to-go" day means an AP can enter any of the 4 theme parks that day without a park reservation. https://t.co/PEO5fLisVf pic.twitter.com/VFBaK49WjP

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) January 8, 2024

While this was likely meant to be a perk for Annual Passholders, it still requires the same amount of step to go on the My Disney Experience app and check to see if a reservation is needed or not that making a park pass reservation needs.

Disney wrote, “In 2024, resolve to be more spontaneous with “good-to-go” days for Annual Passholders! As Passholders prepare for their visits next year, we wanted to share more about how good-to-go days will work:

• On good-to-go days, Annual Passholders may enter the theme parks without needing a reservation (blockout dates will continue to apply like they do today).
• The theme park reservation calendar, Annual Passholder admissions calendar and My Disney Experience app will show days that are good-to-go. The first good-to-go days will be added to the calendars starting Jan. 11, 2024.
• Good-to-go days will be added periodically and may be released days or weeks in advance.
• With the return of all-day Park Hopper access, Passholders can enter another Walt Disney World theme park any time during park hours.*
• Annual Passholders may also continue to visit without a park reservation after 2 p.m. unless visiting Magic Kingdom Park on a Saturday or Sunday (blockout dates continue to apply).

While this may not be perfect, it certainly is a start to the return of normalcy.

Speaking of a return to normalcy, one offering and perk that is officially back in action as of today is the Disney Dining Plan. The Disney Dining Plan disappeared with COVID-19 but was always a popular offering for guests. Basically, the Dining Plan transforms your Disney trip into more of an “all-inclusive” experience. You will have to pay more upfront, but you will receive food and snack credits that you can use daily, so you don’t have to spend as much while on vacation.

Disney recently shared more news on the Dining Plan, including changes:

“The convenience and peace of mind of pre-paying for meals and snacks is right around the corner as Disney Resort hotel guests may once again purchase vacation packages with dining plans. You can choose from two popular options: Packages that include either the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan or the Disney Dining Plan. Both plans are a great value for families with young children!

For all the Disney foodies out there, dining reservations are open for booking for guests staying at Disney Resort hotels who purchase a vacation package with a Disney dining plan for arrivals in January through early February! You can book dining up to 60 days in advance, and as a Disney Resort hotel guest, you may book dining for your entire length of stay (up to 10 days).

Pro tip: We recently made it easier to check availability, so you can now see every available reservation for your selected location and date!

Here are some additional tips to help you get the most out of your dining plan:

• You may redeem meals and snacks at any time during your stay.
• You can see how many meals and snacks you have remaining in the My Disney Experience app.
• And don’t forget, using mobile order service in the app makes it easy to find quick and nearby dining options using your dining plan!”

As we have shared in the past, all-day Park Hopping is also back in action, and guests no longer need to wait until 2:00 p.m. to get from EPCOT to Magic Kingdom. 

Are you happy to see park pass reservations disappear? Will you be using the Dining Plan now that it’s back?