Looks like the park reservation system is here to stay.

[MillauFr]

I stated my point poorly. Yes, reservations are "controlling the crowds," but they are "controlling" them at a level that is crowded--way crowded.

I'm convinced they aren't setting the park registration limit at a level that assures guests of a smooth attraction-filled experience, "guest experience enhanced" visit. Instead, I think they are limiting attendance to the highest possible level their staffing can bear (and possibly to the limit the fire code allows).

And I don't think the reservation system has in any way been used to control prices. To the contrary, a primary focus that's been articulated by Disney to its investors is that they are working to INcrease the "spend per guest." The only ways to do that are to either sell guests more stuff or to charge more for the stuff you're selling them (or both).

Of course they are trying to increase profits. Why wouldn’t they?

 

[umichigan10]

I’m not surprised it’s here to stay, but it’s such a needless system. Disney has had incredibly in-depth forecasting tools for years. They don’t *need* reservations to do that work for them. It’s also so needlessly semantic because it seems like most days except break weeks and holidays you can get in most anywhere.

 

[k5xs]

Of course they are trying to increase profits. Why wouldn’t they?

Who here said they shouldn't? I surely didn't.

But a point I have made is that they may be harming goodwill and long-term revenue by focusing so intently on increased profits right now.

 

[Kennywood]

Why is this even necessary? Years ago, this system didn't exist. Yet, Disney was immensely profitable, the crowds were manageable, and guests usually had a wonderful time. The system wasn't broken, yet Disney seems intent on continually trying to fix it.

Based upon how many people enter the park, Disney knows exactly how many people are there. When attendance gets to a certain point, admit no more guests.

These "nickel and diming" practices Disney's implemented have got to be discontinued. Guests see these practices for exactly what they are - money grabbing.

 

[Miffy]

I think what it does for Disney is to be able to pre-position supplies (food, beverage, etc.) and staff/CMs to accurately match supply and demand.

If only they were actually doing this. I was at MK last week and the outdoor QS location opposite CHH (sorry, I don't know its name) didn't open until nearly 11 a.m. My sister and I were hardly the only parkgoers who'd wanted to purchase something there--in our case, Mickey pretzels--but they were closed. The only place open to buy food in that part of Liberty Square at 10 a.m. was a popcorn cart--with a long line, which I stood in since we were quite hungry.

Perhaps they are prepositioning supplies, but they don't have the CMs to sell them.

 

[umichigan10]

I also feel like them saying they aren’t at “full capacity” is them saying “our parks aren’t offering their full offerings” vs “we are capping the people we let in”. Because I truly don’t see how they’re limiting people who come to the parks given how busy they’ve been as of late

 

[BrianL]

I also feel like them saying they aren’t at “full capacity” is them saying “our parks aren’t offering their full offerings” vs “we are capping the people we let in”. Because I truly don’t see how they’re limiting people who come to the parks given how busy they’ve been as of late

RIght, while there is a cap, it feels like that cap is a bit higher than what the natural crowd levels would normally be. They may be holding to a limit, but it's pretty high.

 

[New Mouse]

Of course they are trying to increase profits. Why wouldn’t they?

Because smart business has a long term strategy that isn't built on milking the profits to the extreme.

 

[Alicefan]

Yes you definitely can - you can schedule at ANY park after 2pm and park hop over there.

Yeah but that's a bunch of garbage and no help at all if you walk in and make a loop and think, "this is awful, let's get out of here and come back another day." Which has happened to me many many many times. You're stuck there until 2pm, for no reason whatsoever like a prisoner of your own vacation. I know within an hour whether I'm going to stay put or want to find an emptier park. It's like being held captive after paying all that money to be there. It's an absolutely horrible procedure.

 

[Alicefan]

I don't think the reservation system is in any way controlling crowds. Disney has always had a process (probably a fire code requirement) of shutting off entry to the parks when capacity is reached. And our experience last month was that the system is allowing huge crowds.

I think what it does for Disney is to be able to pre-position supplies (food, beverage, etc.) and staff/CMs to accurately match supply and demand.

No doubt the logisticians and staffing people love the park reservation system. I hate it.

Yes, I went in February and never before in the 25 years I've been going, have I EVER seen the line for Haunted Mansion winding out by the river boat entrance. They are cramming people in to the gills and it's 100% MORE crowded because once you're in, you can't leave until 2pm. Back before this nonsense, we left and found another park, therefore we did all of the crowd controlling ourselves and guess what? IT WORKED BETTER! How are they not seeing this? It's not just overly crowded out of nowhere in January and February. People are trapped and not able to adapt for themselves to balance out the parks. It's a weird form of unconstructive control. They don't trust the public to think for themselves anymore? We used to do this job FOR them.

 

[Miffy]

Yeah but that's a bunch of garbage and no help at all if you walk in and make a loop and think, "this is awful, let's get out of here and come back another day." Which has happened to me many many many times. You're stuck there until 2pm, for no reason whatsoever like a prisoner of your own vacation. I know within an hour whether I'm going to stay put or want to find an emptier park. It's like being held captive after paying all that money to be there. It's an absolutely horrible procedure.

100% agreement here. I've done the exact same things many times in the past. Now it's impossible.

 

[Alicefan]

Who here said they shouldn't? I surely didn't.

But a point I have made is that they may be harming goodwill and long-term revenue by focusing so intently on increased profits right now.

Yes exactly. Everyone already knows the old cliche by now that businesses are out to make a profit. Everyone here loves to point that out. No duh. It's the fine balance here that's missing. If people are unhappy with said profit making experience, there will be no profit. You can't just aim to make more money. Should be common sense here. It feels like Disney is riding this high of people piling through the gates without them having to spend near as much money to get them in there. I'm hoping that people are smarter, and that this is just a big wave of people who had to postpone during the pandemic, and the tides will turn to give Disney a big swift kick in the pants!

 

[umichigan10]

RIght, while there is a cap, it feels like that cap is a bit higher than what the natural crowd levels would normally be. They may be holding to a limit, but it's pretty high.

I feel like the cap at this point is just the natural capacity number. Reservations make sense when you might hit that cap at the parks (Christmas etc) but other than that it just feels redundant and silly

 

[umichigan10]

Yes, I went in February and never before in the 25 years I've been going, have I EVER seen the line for Haunted Mansion winding out by the river boat entrance. They are cramming people in to the gills and it's 100% MORE crowded because once you're in, you can't leave until 2pm. Back before this nonsense, we left and found another park, therefore we did all of the crowd controlling ourselves and guess what? IT WORKED BETTER! How are they not seeing this? It's not just overly crowded out of nowhere in January and February. People are trapped and not able to adapt for themselves to balance out the parks. It's a weird form of unconstructive control. They don't trust the public to think for themselves anymore? We used to do this job FOR them.

I’m wondering if the January/February crowds were due to pent up demand as well. COVID numbers go down, people haven’t been traveling so everyone decided to travel during the “slow season”. Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s some truth to what you’re saying, but I think the ultimate reason for the crazy crowds is less to do with the reservations and more to do with peoples current travel habits

 

[Jrb1979]

A lot of what they are doing right now is what they have always wanted to do. If people actually hated what is going on they would stop going. With profits rising and parks full it tells me people don't seem too bothered by it.



The thing that gets me is all the complaints I see from the hardcores and you still keep going. The US alone has so many amazing parks to visit. Why not give them a chance.

 

[lockets]

Not only is it here to stay but a no show policy has crept in on the Disneyland side.
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2022...nforced-for-disneyland-magic-key-passholders/

 

[Weedy]

If you go back and look at the comments pre Covid one of the biggest complaints was how crowded the parks were.
Many people are still not traveling because of Covid and travel from Europe is no where near the pre Covid level.
So the parks are still crazy crowded. Imagine if Covid hadn’t hit.
There are people that comment all the time that they couldn’t get reservations (usually MK).
The reservation system is the only way to control that.
I’ve said for years the parks will become more like a cruise and you will book more “excursions” in advance of your trip.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Park reservations are kind of annoying, but it isn't that much different than FP+ that was making you pick your park ahead of time. I don't love the new hopping rule but its also not that big of a deal most days.

 

[x93nelson13]

Park reservations are kind of annoying, but it isn't that much different than FP+ that was making you pick your park ahead of time. I don't love the new hopping rule but its also not that big of a deal most days.

This is interesting. I hadn't really thought about that. With Fast Pass+, they at least had a general idea of where a majority, if not most, of their resort guests were going that day. Without it? A reservation-free customer could go anywhere, and they may or may not have Genie+, and even if they do they don't make the park plan known until 7 AM.

So this rezzie system is replacing that stream of data they used to get through FP+, kinda. You could take even one step further with resort guests needing to make 3 fast passes in advance, in one park. You're pretty confident that guest won't be hopping until after 2ish and their 3rd fast pass is spent. Hence the hopping rule.

I am sure this has already occurred to smart people. But thanks for bringing this up.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

This is interesting. I hadn't really thought about that. With Fast Pass+, they at least had a general idea of where a majority, if not most, of their resort guests were going that day. Without it? A reservation-free customer could go anywhere, and they may or may not have Genie+, and even if they do they don't make the park plan known until 7 AM.

So this rezzie system is replacing that stream of data they used to get through FP+, kinda. You could take even one step further with resort guests needing to make 3 fast passes in advance, in one park. You're pretty confident that guest won't be hopping until after 2ish and their 3rd fast pass is spent. Hence the hopping rule.

I am sure this has already occurred to smart people. But thanks for bringing this up.

Only difference with old FP+ was you could make all your FP for evening at say MK and then go to AK in the morning, but either way chances of hopping before 2 was still on the slimmer side. But yes with FP+ they did have a general idea of where people are and FP+ helped spread crowds out so people weren't all picking the same park everyday. FP really dictated often which park we ended up at based on when we could the ride and time we wanted. Sure there were the few that made no FPS, but most of those probably weren't staying on property either.

I know some hop a lot but we probably rarely hopped before 2pm, usually a park in the morning , back to hotel and then back to another park in the evening or something else.