Changes in planning a Walt Disney World vacation
Have you been to Walt Disney World before? Planned your dinning 180 days in advance? Booked your Magical Express? Received your Magic Bands? Think you’re ready to go like you did 2 plus years ago? Think again. The pandemic and just over time things have changed in the way we plan and visit Walt Disney World. Here are somethings to know about before planning your trip.
If you want to enter any of the 4 theme parks you need to make a park reservation. Based on availability you can make these the day of, but it is best to plan in advance. If you have park hopper tickets, you will need to make a park reservation for the first park you plan on visiting, then after 2pm you may enter park #2. If they have reached capacity you will have to wait or pick a different park to visit. This has not happened very often, the inability to park hop, but something to be aware of.
2. Magic Bands are no longer included in your Walt Disney World resort stay. If you’re staying onsite you can pre-purchase a Magic Band at a discounted rate through your My Disney Experience account. The bands will be shipped to your home ready to be packed for your vacation!
3. Dining reservations can be made 60 days prior to check in. This is a change from the 180 days, and a change I welcomed! For one I found it hard to plan where you’d like to eat 6 months ahead of time, and secondly I found it hard to find a reservation when making a ‘last minute’ reservation. When you’re booking dining and staying at a Walt Disney World resort you can book reservations for your entire stay, under 10 days. If you’re off property you can book each dining reservation 60 days prior to when you’re wanting to visit that restaurant.
4. Beginning January 1, 2022 there will be no more magical express. This might be one of the hardest changes for me. I loved getting off the airplane and hoping on the Disney Magical Express. It made getting to my destination a little more magical and a lot more magical than renting a car and worrying about where to go. This was also a huge perk of staying onsite. As we move forward there will be other ways to get to your resort like Mears Connect. Mears is the company that ran the magical express, I expect to still have wonderful service, but will now be at an extra cost. Another option will be to use a ride share or even rent a car. If you plan on renting a car just note you will have to pay to park at any of the Disney resorts.
5. Extra magic hours are different. This has always been a perk for staying at a Disney World resort, but now a days it is not one park opened for an extra hour in the morning or evening hour each day, but all 4 of the theme parks. Each of the 4 theme parks will be open for an extra half hour each morning for all Walt Disney World resort guest. If there are evening extra magic hours those are for those staying at a deluxe or deluxe villa resort only. The wording is a little different as well the morning magic hour is called ‘Early Entry’ & the evening is called ‘Extended Evening hour’. Note the evening hour looks to be very limited, I have seen maybe one park per week with an extended evening hour so far.
6. No more fast passes. This was also hard for me to lose as a planner. I loved getting up 60 days in advance and making thought out fast pass plans. It was a great tool in the entire planning process. I had an entire system of making fast passes based on what each person wanted. But with that being said Disney has introduced a new way to cut the line: Genie+. I have not had a chance to use this yet, so the jury is still out. This will be an extra cost. You can add it to your package for a $15. per person per day you have tickets. Or you can add it for only the days you want to use it, when you’re in Disney. This works differently than old school fast passes and the fast passes we booked in advance. The best comparison I have is if you ever used Max Pass in Disneyland. You will be able to book your first Lighting Lane aka fast pass beginning at 7am. This is for most attractions, some select attractions will be an extra cost if you want lighting lane like; Star Wars Rise of Resistance. Like the Max Pass in Disneyland and like pre planned fast passes of the past you cannot overlap a lightning lane reservation. You can make your second lightning lane either after you have used your first one or after a 120 minute cool down period. When I get to test this out I will keep you posted!
What hasn’t changed in the world of Disney? One thing is the transportation, when you arrive at your resort. Once you are all checked in you won’t have to worry about how you’re getting around. The monorails are up and running, all of the boats are back, the buses have been busy driving people around & the newest mode of transportation the Disney Skyliner has been working well. Tell me what do you think of the changes?
