Attention Annual Passholders! January 11th is an important day if you’re planning a trip to Disney World.

A LOT of changes have been happening at Disney World recently, and we know it can be difficult to keep track of them all. The Disney Dining Plan and all-day Park Hopping return on January 9th, several rides are closing for refurbishment this month, and you’ve got to watch out for some hotel pool closures as well. But don’t forget about the critical change happening on January 11th!

What exactly is happening on January 11th? That’s when Good-to-Go days start for Disney World Annual Passholders! Good-to-Go days are days when Annual Passholders can enter the parks without a Park Pass Reservation.

After the pandemic-related closures in 2020, Disney World started requiring Park Pass Reservations in addition to park tickets for guests to enter the theme parks so that they could better control capacity. Those Park Pass Reservations are going away for date-based tickets on January 9th, but Annual Passholders still need to make those reservations in order to visit any of the Disney World theme parks (since an Annual Pass is not a date-based ticket).

The exception to this rule used to be Bonus Days, but now Bonus Days are being replaced by Good-to-Go days. Basically, if a day is a Good-to-Go day, Annual Passholders don’t need any reservations to go to any park.

But what about blockout dates? Depending on which Annual Pass tier you have, there are certain blockout dates when you cannot enter any of the theme parks (usually around the holidays or other particularly busy times for Disney World). Blockout dates still apply to Good-to-Go days, so even if one day is “Good-to-Go” for some Annual Pass tiers, if your tier is blocked out, you cannot enter the parks.

Disney announced that they’ll start adding Good-to-Go days to the Annual Passholder calendar on January 11th, 2024. The 11th might not be a Good-to-Go day itself (we’ll have to wait and see!), but that’s when you’ll be able to see which days you can visit the parks without a park pass.

Some Annual Passholders have asked what will happen if they already have a Park Pass Reservation but then that day becomes a Good-to-Go day. Disney has announced that existing reservations on days that become Good-to-Go days will automatically be removed from your Park Pass limit, even though your reservation will still appear in your future plans. So you’ll be able to use that Park Pass Reservation on a different day!

Pretty easy, right? Disney said that Good-to-Go days will be added on a rolling basis, days or weeks in advance. It sounds like they might appear on short notice sometimes (just a few days in advance isn’t much heads up!), so make sure to keep an eye on the calendar when you have an upcoming trip.

This change follows another relaxing of Park Pass Reservations rules that arrived in April 2023, which allows Passholders to enter the parks without a reservation after 2PM, except for Saturdays and Sundays in Magic Kingdom.

If you’re an Annual Passholder, you’re probably already a pro at planning Disney World vacations. But why make it more stressful than it needs to be? Our friends over at Small World Vacations can help you plan your trip, finding you all the best deals and discounts along the way. The best part? Their services are FREE! 

We’ll keep watching for more updates from Disney, so stay tuned to DFB!

Click here to learn more about Disney World’s Annual Passholder program.

Are you a Disney World Annual Passholder? Let us know in the comments.

The post ALERT! January 11th Is a BIG DAY for Disney World Annual Passholders! first appeared on the disney food blog.