What’s Disney Doing with These Vacation Necessities?
The Walt Disney Company has just survived its most chaotic three-year run ever.
Now, fans are ready for the parks to return to the way they used to be. Thankfully, with Bob Iger back in charge, the odds are good that this will happen.
Photo: D23
Still, Disney fans remain understandably confused about several staples of park visits. So, what’s the deal with these beloved/hated Disney park features?
Disney Annual Passes
Woof. Just woof.
Photo: Disney
During/after the pandemic, Disney’s handling of the annual pass program has been the PR equivalent of the Mark Sanchez Butt Fumble.
First, Disney introduced new versions of the annual pass program at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Then, Disneyland fans realized that their annual passes didn’t guarantee them admission due to the new Park Pass requirement.
Meanwhile, Walt Disney World fans felt similarly and also despised that the new annual passes removed core amenities like PhotoPass.
Soon afterward, the lawyers got involved, causing Disney to stop selling out-of-state annual passes.
Photo: Disneyland
Somehow, the situation got even stupider last month. Disneyland suddenly announced that annual passes would go back on sale the following day.
Those sales lasted about 30 hours before park officials listed the annual passes as “sold out” again.
Photo: CNtraveler.com
So, fans of the Happiest Place on Earth could buy annual passes for less than a day and a half of the past calendar year.
I’m sure that makes sense to somebody somewhere, but it just makes me feel like this:
Even worse, we legitimately have no idea whether anything will change in 2023.
The recent switch from Bob Chapek to Bob Iger at least provides some hope on all the topics we’re discussing today. Nothing’s probably on the front burner, though.
Image: Disney
Annual pass sales are effectively found money for Disney. It makes no sense whatsoever that fans cannot buy them at the moment.
Disney Dining Plan
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
That’s pretty much the entire Disney fan community’s feeling on this topic.
Park officials hemmed and hawed during the early days of the pandemic. They didn’t want to commit to the return of the Disney Dining Plan.
Photo: Disney
At the time, Disney faced staffing issues at its restaurants and needed to pay bonus incentives to lure employees.
For this reason, Disney needed guests to pay full price for food. As you know the Disney Dining Plan provides a steep discount on food costs.
Photo: Disney
Eventually, Disney executives tried to kick the can down the road by promising the dining plan’s return in 2022.
I’m typing this in December of 2022. If the dining plan’s coming back this year, it’d better hurry.
Photo: Disney
I’m being facetious because we all know that’s not happening. For whatever reason, Disney punted on the idea without ever having the courage to admit it.
So, we’ve remained in the dark all year and have no real idea about what will happen in 2023.
Photo: Disney
Historically, Disney has launched the dining plan VERY early in January. In 2019 and 2020, you could book on January 2nd.
For this reason, if we don’t have the dining plan a month from now, I’ll have concerns about the entirety of 2023.
Photo: Disney
Disney Genie+
Park officials knew that Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ weren’t quite ready for primetime when they debuted in October 2021.
Instead, Disney used early guests as a kind of glorified best test group for the new virtual assistant and paid FastPass program.
Image: Disney
Over the past 15 months, tourists have told Disney all the many problems we have with both services.
To its credit, Disney has listened and adapted to the various criticisms. Well, okay, they haven’t done anything about the price, but the rest is improving.
Photo: Disney
In fact, Disney intends to fix one of my greatest frustrations with the system.
Currently, when you own a Disney Genie+ reservation, you must cancel it before you can book another.
The other day, I was at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and wanted to ride Slinky Dog Dash several hours earlier than when I made a reservation.
Photo: TheCoasterKings.com
In an absolutely magical moment, I noticed that there was Disney Genie+ availability right then!
However, I couldn’t adjust my reservation to the earlier date. Instead, I had to cancel one before I could book the other. And you know where this story is headed.
Photo: Disney
Sure enough, as I canceled the other Disney Genie+ booking, someone grabbed the immediate one. So, I was completely out of luck for the day.
Thankfully, Disney will reportedly update the system soon to allow for in-app modifications. Why it took 15 months for Disney to add that feature is up for debate.
Photo: Disney
Magical Express
“She’s dead, Jim.”
I keep saying this as a joke, but nobody wants to believe the reality of this matter.
Photo: Mears
Two years ago, Disney loudly and publicly divorced Mears Transportation, although they stayed together for the kids until New Year’s Eve 2021.
Do you know what else happened on New Year’s Eve 2021? Bob Iger left Disney “for good.”
(Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
So, I guess anything is possible here. Still, everything we know about the matter suggests that Disney wanted out of the airport transportation business.
When Mears struggled during the pandemic, Disney took that opportunity to get out of a toxic relationship. Now, we’re all the worse for it.
Photo: Disney
Magical Express is what I miss most about Disney vacations right now, and its replacements simply aren’t as good.
Sadly, we have no well-sourced hints that the system could return soon. The only ray of light I have for you is that Magical Express debuted only months after Iger arrived at Disney.
Photo Credit: DVDRentalStore.com
Maybe history will repeat itself?
Park Hopping
As a Park Hopper since puberty, I almost take Disney’s recent changes as a personal attack.
Photo:visitorlando.com
Since the parks reopened after the pandemic, Park Hopping has mostly involved quirky rules that don’t even make any sense.
Currently, guests can leave the place where they hold a Park Pass and enter another park at 2 p.m.
Photo: orlandoattractions.com
However, you MUST enter the first park. Otherwise, you cannot Park Hop.
This strategy works the opposite of what Disney should want.
Photo: Disney
Now, some guests check into the place where they have a Park Pass just to guarantee they can Park Hop later. That’s madness.
Thankfully, recent reports suggest that a more conventional means of Park Hopping will debut in 2023.
Photo: wdwnews.com
Presuming these reports are accurate, Disney will allow all guests to Park Hop at an earlier time, which is basically whenever they want.
This change may seem small, but it’s essential on some days. I vividly recall feeling trapped at Disney’s Hollywood Studios a couple of times due to the change.
Photo: Disney
On multiple occasions, the park was so crowded that even Muppet*Vision 3D required a 45-minute wait.
We wanted to bail, but we couldn’t Park Hop for another three hours! That’s just bad management by Disney right there.
Photo: Disney
Park Passes
We are all holding our breath and hoping that Park Passes go away forever.
As something created during the pandemic, they have officially outlived their usefulness for tourists.
Photo: Attractions Magazine
For Disney, Park Passes remain a convenient way to staff the parks efficiently, thereby shaving costs.
Given the absolutely universal loathing of Park Passes, Disney executives understand that the system shouldn’t remain forever.
Photo: Disney
Recently, a fake report went viral. Its subject matter was the elimination of Park Passes. That wasn’t the least bit, true.
However, more credible reports from park insiders suggest that Disney will dramatically overhaul Park Passes in the coming year.
Presuming these reports are accurate, a standard admission ticket alone will be enough to ensure theme park entry.
The system won’t work as smoothly for annual passholders, at least not at first. Management will need some time to acclimate to changing circumstances.
Image Credit: Disney
Still, signs point to a more tolerable form of the Park Pass system arriving in a matter of months.
