New Strategy for Deciding Which Park on Which Days?

[gharter]

Glad we don't go until October.
Hopefully, by then, some of this will have changed.

 

[Robertfam08]

I am sure that no one has an answer yet, but what if I get a reservation to go to lets say Epcot in the morning, stay there until the afternoon, and then decide to go back to my resort room at the Beach Club to relax. At 6 pm I decide I want to take the short walk to get back into Epcot to spend some more in the park. Is this considered park hopping, or once I get my reservation, am I able to enter and leave the same park as many times as I want during the same day?

I had just read that someone was told by a cast member today that if you leave a park they cannot guarantee re-entry.

 

[HairyChest]

I had just read that someone was told by a cast member today that if you leave a park they cannot guarantee re-entry.

That would be crazy unless its to let others in which would be ok because that would mean you can park hop to other parks because people had left and weren't let back in. So in other words, doubt its true or theyd allow parkhopping.

 

[joyjoy]

I understand what you're saying - I really do - planning is fun. BUT, I'm looking forward to going with with the flow like back in the old days. Call me crazy.

I love planning, too. I planned THIS trip to death, but it's okay. We rescheduled for the 1000th time (seems like anyway) and we now have confirmation that our resort (Poly) and the parks will be kind of open when we go 18-25 August. It's going to be weird, with social distancing (weird but not terrible), masks, reduced hours, no parades or fireworks, all of that. BUT. We were at WDW in Sept 2017 when Hurricane Irma hit and all parks were closed for 2 days in the middle of our vacay. We were not refunded park ticket prices, but we had so much fun at the resort! Special character meet and greets, so few people, cast members were extra magical..... Disney is going to replace our usual magic with some different magic. I don't know what it is, but I cannot wait to find out!

 

[Magicinmy50s]

maybe dining reservations at Epcot will return to the cast members in little televisions by guest services!

Thank you for brining that up. it brought back an old fond memory of looking forward to making a reservation at a video kiosk In EPCOT. It is amazing the things I looked forward to back in the day.

i have enjoyed reading this thread. Thank you for starting it. I have been struggling to think through a strategy for rethinking or canceling my September Labor Day week trip planning strategy , so that I am ready at that 60 day out mark to deal with whatever Disney has presented by then to reserve with whatever the rules and options and features might be Available at that time, to maximize my opportunity. Reading and interpreting what is available... Trying to stay current ....
I like the view that some have shared that perhaps once you get past having a reservation to any park that particulate day, and hoping to get at least each park once on the trip is planning accomplishment enough this time around.
Thank you guys for sharing your thoughts on this!

 

[tzeitel]

Not too concerned about which park on which day as long as we get 2 days per park- might even drop an Epcot day for a 3rd MK day - and not the same park 2 days in a row. Something else I would like Disney to clarify is if we would be able to leave a park and go back in later - like if we go for lunch/rest outside a park.

I do worry that they will do timed or staggered park arrivals. Arrival day half our party will not be in until later in the afternoon but usually go to a park that day. All other days who knows if we would make it at a very specific time to the gates - taking my nieces and getting 3 girls (1 is mine and she gets ready before the crack of dawn when at Disney!) ready in the morning is not something I am used to

Booked 8/6-14 and have 8 day PH for 5 people. Would appreciate some sort of compensation for the hoppers we wont be able to use. Not even sure we will go but not cancelling yet.

 

[yulilin3]

So with the new park reservation system, no park hopping is allowed. On top of that it looks like AK is closing at 6pm , MK at 7pm, HS at 8pm, and Epcot at 9PM. What are your guys' plans for what days you will reserve which park?

I have a vacation booked the last 2 weeks of July and we are late risers and late park goers so epcot is going to be the place we will be the most but I had planned on going to the other parks in the morning, taking a midday break, and then having dinner at different places at Epcot originally. Now I am going to be reserving mostly EPCOT days and then pretty much just 1 day each at hs and ak and 2 at mk. One thing that I think is a blessing in disguise is Im usually one that wants to do EVERYTHING so Im always go go go. This will require me to slow down and enjoy my resort stay more because of the shorter hours with no hopping. I think I will find a new appreciation of the hotel aspect that I could never bring myself to do because of all the park hopping and extra hours.

Merged your thread to the existing one

 

[peaceluv&mickeymouse]

I had just read that someone was told by a cast member today that if you leave a park they cannot guarantee re-entry.

That would just be nuts. What if you need to go to your room to get medication or something, or whatever you need. Take care of a baby.. that is going a bit too far is you ask me.

 

[stephk1981]

That would just be nuts. What if you need to go to your room to get medication or something, or whatever you need. Take care of a baby.. that is going a bit too far is you ask me.

I agree, what if your toddler won't do stroller naps... that's one of the huge advantages of staying onsite. I guess at this point they can do whatever they want though in an effort to reduce capacity.......I don't know if the rumor of no reentry is true, but nothing would surprise me now

 

[PamNC]

I love planning, too. I planned THIS trip to death, but it's okay. We rescheduled for the 1000th time (seems like anyway) and we now have confirmation that our resort (Poly) and the parks will be kind of open when we go 18-25 August. It's going to be weird, with social distancing (weird but not terrible), masks, reduced hours, no parades or fireworks, all of that. BUT. We were at WDW in Sept 2017 when Hurricane Irma hit and all parks were closed for 2 days in the middle of our vacay. We were not refunded park ticket prices, but we had so much fun at the resort! Special character meet and greets, so few people, cast members were extra magical..... Disney is going to replace our usual magic with some different magic. I don't know what it is, but I cannot wait to find out!

I hope you have a WONDERFUL TRIP

 

[beercity]

We are totally driving to the parks. I just can't see myself on a bus in July. Maybe it won't be the normal terror it is now I don't think I really want to do the monorail either; I don't want to be stuck with others in an enclosed space for that long. Maybe the boats, ferries, and Skyliner, if one party/cabin.

We are renting a car for the first time even though we are staying on site. We will probably walk from Poly to the TTC and then take ferry to MK, but driving to all the other parks.

 

[PortieOwner]

Banning hopping is weird because hopping helps WDW smooth out crowds. For example: I'd hit MK until noon when it gets crowded, leave for lunch and a swim, then head to a quiet park in late afternoon.

They have me out of the busy park (MK) early, and out of all parks all afternoon.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

Banning hopping is weird because hopping helps WDW smooth out crowds. For example: I'd hit MK until noon when it gets crowded, leave for lunch and a swim, then head to a quiet park in late afternoon.

They have me out of the busy park (MK) early, and out of all parks all afternoon.

Yes, but it's a pain to keep track of capacity that way.
The morning here, the afternoon there, and the evening elsewhere: how do you register for that?!? And how do you enforce that people actually leave and not change their minds during the day.

 

[PortieOwner]

Yes, but it's a pain to keep track of capacity that way.
The morning here, the afternoon there, and the evening elsewhere: how do you register for that?!? And how do you enforce that people actually leave and not change their minds during the day.

Isn't WDW already tracking how many people are in the park? They know exactly how many come through the gate and they should know how many leave (even if they don't count exits at the gate they can easily get a close estimate by bus and monorail and ferry passenger counts for outbound trips. The place is a big data mining operation long before the current epidemic.

 

[Bete]

I would avoid MK and Hollywood Studios on the weekend. That's the extent of planning for now.

 

[wilkydelts]

I would avoid MK and Hollywood Studios on the weekend. That's the extent of planning for now.

I do not follow this logic. All parks are going to have limited capacity. The weekend should have no effect on that number.

 

[Epcot242]

We usually base our plans around EMH (not an issue anymore) and dining. We used to do an AM park and a PM park and plan accordingly. Now, we'll figure out what restaurants we want (or plan to make ADRs for) and then make a plan to be at that park for the day. Problem is, it looks like only some restaurants are open now so we're hoping more will open by August when our trip is planned. If they aren't then park reservations will probably just be whatever we can get.

As for not guaranteeing re-entry, that doesn't seem to line up with what we've heard so far (at least that's my hope). If that were the case you could assume that if I were to leave MK by noon, then a slot would open for one person and they could then enter the park, denying me re-entry. But then, if a person were to leave EPCOT later that same day, I could book a park reservation to go there at night. I mean, I'd be up for this and you'd think it would be do-able with the MB but it would probably be way too complicated. (I kind of view it as the same concept as checking FP+ throughout the day to see if people cancel their FP+ for a given ride.)

If it's true they won't guarantee re-entry then that would mean that they're allowing people without a park reservation for that day to enter, walk-ins basically. If I'm now going to get up early to simply get a reservation to be in a park and they're then going to allow someone to take my space if I leave for a mid-day break, then that would be a really poor way to handle this whole situation. If I book MK for a Monday, and no park hopping is allowed, I'd expect I'd be able to come and go as I please throughout that day.

 

[NLKim]

Legit, a couple of nights ago I swear I woke up every half an hour because I would dream of them opening the reservation window immediately and only leaving it open for half an hour so in my sleep deprived delirium I'd open my phone to Disney Parks Blog every time I woke up just to make sure I didn't miss it. The paranoia is real.

Guys, we need an announcement soon. I'm losing it.

I share your paranoia. For the past few days I have been checking my email and MDE as soon as I wake up to make sure I don't miss the reservation window opening. My trip begins at the end of July so I am definitely already in the 60 day window

 

[Bete]

I do not follow this logic. All parks are going to have limited capacity. The weekend should have no effect on that number.

The original poster is planning an October trip. I'm thinking the current limits to park capacity may change by that time with increased guests.

Second, even if capacity is still more limited I feel Epcot and Animal Kingdom may not even reach their limited capacity guest levels.

 

[micheleq]

My biggest concern is will all the rides and attractions be available? If I reserve two days at HS but ROTR isn’t running, then I don’t necessarily need that second day.

We’ve got five day tickets that I was going to upgrade to PH or DVC Gold APs originally, guess I got lucky and saved myself the upfront costs.