Ahh the Disney Park Pass reservation system…many fans love to hate it!

The system was first introduced to help manage attendance in 2020 when Disney World reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, guests are required to “reserve” the park that they want to visit in advance, and if that park is already filled up for the day? Well, you might be out of luck. But is there a chance that Disney World could nix the controversial system in 2023? We’re looking at the evidence.

Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out in defense of the system and praised its benefits multiple times during his time leading the company, but now that we’ve got Bob Iger back in office, could things change?

Well, Bob Iger has been vocal with fans about his desire to exceed their expectations for the parks. In his holiday message to Disney World Annual Passholders, Iger even explicitly stated as such. This seems to be in contrast to Chapek’s focus on non-local families and non-Passholders.

But with the control that the Park Pass system gives Disney, it’s unlikely that they would give it up. It allows them to predict and control the number of guests in the park each day and monitor vacation trends more closely.

So if they don’t get RID of the system, could there be Passholder-friendly modifications? Right now the Park Pass calendar and availability is split up into three categories — ticket holders, resort guests, and Annual Passholders. If they threw all the availability together and everyone made reservations from the same “pot,” would it benefit Passholders?

In that case, it might open up more availability for Passholders, but then the problem that we would encounter is that there’s a Park Pass limit for each of the Annual Passes. Depending on your tier of pass, you can only make 3, 4, or 5 reservations at a time, so dates further in advance might fill up before Passholders even get a chance to reserve them.

The alternate option is to get rid of the Park Pass limit for Annual Passholders, but then those with passes could simply hoard all the reservations. 

Basically, each solution to the Park Pass system “problem” presents its own set of issues. Even though it might be inconvenient to reserve your visit in advance, changing the system might cause chaos. If Disney wants to update it at all in 2023, they’ll really have to think through all the consequences.

All in all, it’s possible that 2023 could hold some changes for the Park Pass system, but they might not be the changes that people are asking for. As with any change Disney makes, Park Pass updates would probably be controversial to at least one group of people.

Either way, we’ll keep you updated and let you know all the details to plan a successful trip!

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What do you think of the Park Pass reservation system? Tell us in the comments!

The post Will Disney World Get Rid of Park Passes in 2023? first appeared on the disney food blog.