Last Updated on May 6, 2021 by Happily Ever Park Hoppers
If you have been to Walt Disney World prior to 2021 and are planning on going soon, there are a few things changes since your last visit. Here are all the things you need to know so you can plan your trip accordingly.
Park Reservations
Now due to capacity limitations, to enter any of the 4 Walt Disney World parks, you must have a park reservation.
In order to make a park reservation, you must buy your park tickets and have them linked to your My Disney Experience account. Then you can make reservations (either on the app or the desktop site) for the dates you wish to enter the parks.
Unlike other reservations, you can make your park reservations as soon as you have your tickets. You don’t have to wait for your window to open up. So, sometimes buying those park tickets as early as possible will be beneficial. Especially if you’re planning on traveling during the Holidays or school vacation.
Park Hopping
If you purchased a Park Hopper ticket, you can still park hop. Howerver, there are a couple things to note.
Park hopping BEGINS at 2pm. And in order to park hop, you must enter the park you made a park reservation for that day, prior to hopping to your next park. You DO NOT need to make a park reservation for any park other than that first initial park.
This is done to try and help curb park crowding if a specific park is already at it’s capacity limit.
Right now, Hollywood Studios is THE park and often books up first out of all 4 parks. So, if you were trying to get a park reservation for Hollywood Studios for 4/28 and all that was available was Animal Kingdom and you make a park reservation there… Don’t think you can cheat the system and just head to Hollywood Studios at 2pm. Nope. You HAVE to go to Animal Kingdom first and then Hollywood Studios.
And. If the park you want to visit IS at park capacity, you won’t be able to enter. You can ask a cast member as you’re exiting the park if they know if the park you plan to hop to is at capacity. But the best way to find out if the parks are at capacity you can call the Park Hopper Line at (407) 560-5000
Mobile Order
So Mobile Order isn’t a “new” service in the parks. But now, it is being used as the main way to purchase food from a quick service restaurant. If you head over to the My Disney Experience app you will be able to see what locations are Mobile Order only.
One important difference about Mobile Ordering now versus Pre-COVID, is that you have to select a window of time that you want to pick up your food. Some quick service locations may have immediate time slots available. But if you look at the screenshots above. See the time in the upper left-hand corner and the times that are available for pick-up, you will see there is a little bit of a wait for when you would be able to pick-up your order.
So this definitely something to be mindful of when you’re planning on eating at a quick service restaurant. It’s best to plan ahead and pre-order your meal, that way you don’t get stuck spending $50 on popcorn and pretzels….Which it’s always fun to have a junk food meal, but may not be what you had in mind.
Fast Pass+ & Advanced Reservations
Since the parks reopened after the closure, there are no more Fast Passes. This may or may not be good news to you. With capacity limits and the park reservation system, the Fast Pass+ system has been put on pause (with no word on if/when it will return). *Rider Swap and DAS (Disability Acess Service) ARE still in effect, just no Fast Passes.
The other change has been to the dining reservation window. Now, instead of making your dining reservations at 180 days in advance, you will make your Advanced Dining Reservations 60 days in advance. So be sure you know when your 60 day ADR is and remember to log on and snag those coveted reservations!
If any more changes occur, I will be sure to come back and update this post! If you have any questions about these changes, be sure to drop a comment and I’ll be happy to help!
Spreading magic one post at a time
Kristin