The Disney Park Pass reservation system — Disney’s new way to book a reservation for theme parks while Disney maintains limited capacity in the parks — went live on June 22nd for guests who currently have hotel reservations and park tickets.
While guests with upcoming resort stays and valid ticket media were able to book their park passes yesterday, Annual Passholders without a hotel reservation will be able to take advantage of their booking window starting June 26th.
Since this is a turbulent time with IT glitches and changing information, a lot of our DFB readers have had questions about their Annual Passes. And we are here to give you all the details you need to know before using your Annual Pass to book your next visit to the parks with the Disney Park Pass system!
Will you be able to make another reservation after the first day using your Annual Pass? Or, will you have to wait until after the initial three days are entirely used up?
Since the Disney Park Passes are an entirely new ballgame, the Annual Passes are going to have to be used in a different way. Now, Annual Passholders will only be able to book 3 park reservations at a time without a resort stay.
However, Passholders don’t have to wait until the end of the three initial days to book another reservation. The three day limit kind of works like the FastPass system! Guests can book an additional reservation for another day after using up one of their three allotted reservations.
So, as an Annual Passholder, you can hold three park pass reservations at a time, but as soon as you use one up, you can book another. Let’s say you booked July 11th, 12th, and 13th. Once you use your park pass on the 11th, you can then log into My Disney Experience and book a park pass for another date. After you use your park pass for the 12th, you can book another date. And so on, and so forth!
Read a FULL tutorial on how to use the Disney Park Pass system here!
Are Annual Passholders and regular ticket holders able to make reservations together?
Disney has stated that all guests must have valid park tickets when they are booking reservations through the Disney Park Pass system. However, different admission types have different block-out dates and limitations, so if the people in your travel party don’t have the same type of admission, you may need to make separate park pass reservations.
For example, you may need to make two different park reservations if you have both Annual Passholders and regular ticket holders in your party.
This means that, even if your group is synced in My Disney Experience, members of your party may need to book their reservations separately.
Here are all the details on booking reservations for your entire party!
Can you book a Disney Park Pass reservation past your original expiration date?
Since Disney is offering Annual Passholders the ability to have their passes extended or refunded, the original expiration dates on many guests’ passes are receiving extra days that correlate to the number of days the parks were closed. Although the passes may receive a new expiration date, Disney has stated that you can only book reservations through the Disney Park Pass system if you have an active ticket, or a voucher for a new annual pass or renewed annual pass.
Even if an Annual Passholder chooses to update their passes with extended dates, the system requires that the reservations are made with a purchased and unexpired Annual Pass. If your pass expires before your booking window and your expiration dates aren’t updated on your pass, booking will not be available through Disney Park Pass.
Want to go to Passholder Previews? This is when you can get a first look at a newly re-opened Disney World!
Will you be able to use the Disney Park Pass even if you haven’t activated your Annual Pass?
We’re glad to say that, YES, you’ll be able to use your unactivated Annual Pass to make reservations!
If you have a hotel reservation, you’ll can use your annual pass voucher to make reservations now. And if you are just visiting with your pass and do not have a hotel reservation, you’ll be able to make reservations for the parks on June 26th.
Read everything you need to know about unactivated Annual Passes and the Disney Park Pass here!
Does this mean it’s the end of spontaneous trips to Disney?
We know that things can be really confusing since Disney World vacations will be changing as we know them. Disney has put its guidelines in place currently as a way to limit the amount of guests in the parks as a health and safety precaution. Since there is a reduced amount of people able to enter Disney World, that means there will be less availability to visit.
While this will require everyone to plan their trips in a new way, it doesn’t necessarily mean the end to your spontaneous trips. Annual Passholders can still take a quick trip to Disney World if they’re able to snag reservations on the Disney Park Pass system.
However, it is important to note that Annual Passholders who live out of state will probably need to change their idea of a “spontaneous trip” when they come to the parks. Since there is a limit of three reservations at a time, guests won’t be able to book an extended vacation unless they are staying in a Disney World resort. (Annual Passholders who have a hotel reservation are able to book park passes for their “length of stay.”)
Still, Annual Passholders can have a great time with all the new entertainment (Character Cavalcades galore) that will be featured in Disney World when it re-opens!
Check out the full list of CONFIRMED Disney Resort re-opening dates!
Since this is an ever-changing situation, we will continue to update you as things evolve! Although this is the most up-to-date information, Disney has been adding more details and news to their re-opening plans that we will continue to add.
Here’s everything you should know about the Disney Park Pass system!
Do you have more questions about Annual Passes? Let us know in the comments below, and we will try to answer them!