Disney had quite the news day last week with the drop of some very exciting updates coming to Disney in 2024. Here we will go more in depth on these updates and what they mean for your vacation.
No More Park Reservations for Date Based Tickets
Boy oh boy! This might be one of the most exciting announcements we’ve had in a long time. Since Walt Disney World re-opened after months of closure due to the pandemic in 2020, we have had to have theme park reservations. So not only did you need to purchase a ticket, but you then also needed to make a reservation to enter the park you wanted on that specific day. Now for date-based tickets you will be able to go to whichever park you like without a reservation. This will make planning your trip less strict on time and you can decide to go to which ever park you like that day. If you added on the Park Hopper option, you can start hopping at 2pm that day.
“Good-to-Go” Days for Annual Passholders and Cast Members
For annual passholders and cast members Disney will introduce “good-to-go” days. On these days APs and CMs will not need a park reservation to enter the park of their choice. If the day is not a “good-to-go” day, then the AP or CM will need a park reservation. Disney is keeping this system in place somewhat to help with crowd control within the parks.
Disney Dinning Plans Are Back!
Some folks are most excited about Disney Dinning packages coming back to the parks! A Dinning Package is a great addition to your Disney vacation. Think of it as pre-paying for your food. The packages come with credits that can be used at most food venders. There are different options to fit everyone’s vacations. Some allow for 1 or 2 sit down meals a day with 2 or 3 snacks as well. I didn’t see the value in a Dinning Plan until I used one. It really took off the stress of buying food while on vacation. It was nice to just go get a snack and not worry about the dollars I was spending or just enjoy the restaurant I was eating at and not really looking at those prices because I had basically already paid for my meal.
Early Entry and Extended Park Hours are here to stay through 2024
For all Disney Resort Hotel guests, the Early Entry Hours are here to stay through next year. Did you know that staying on property gets you more time in the parks?! Guests staying at Disney Resort Hotels get to enter the parks 30 mins before everyone else. That is a great head start to your day if you ask me! Also, for guests staying at Deluxe Resorts and Villas they will get the added benefit of extended park hours in the evening in addition to early entry in the morning. There are many perks of staying on property at Walt Disney World and this is one of the best perks if you ask me.
Advanced Genie+ Planning
There seems to be two camps of people when it comes to Genie+. People either love it or hate it. The system replaced FastPass and MaxPass after the pandemic and the rules a little bit different than the old systems. Disney had received a lot of feedback about their Genie and Genie+ systems. Most people complained about having to be on their phones more while in the park to make Lightning Lane reservations and purchases. It sounds like Disney is listening and they have said they are working on ways to allow guests to make their Lightning Lane selections before the day of their park visit. There are no specifics yet but it’s in the works!
Are you excited about these updates and changes coming to Disney Parks? It certainly feels like the parks are getting back to things we remember from before the pandemic. 2024 packages drop May 31st 2023! Send me an email at [email protected] for quotes or questions!