Unavailable ticket dates, limited park reservations and more: Why you should book your Disney World holiday trip ASAP
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It’s common knowledge that planning a vacation to Walt Disney World can be a complicated matter. Unfortunately for people looking to visit in the near future, things are getting even trickier as Disney seems to be tightening up booking availability.
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Multiple changes have recently dropped at Walt Disney World, starting with the suspension of sales for most of Disney’s annual passes, including the Pirate Pass, Sorcerer Pass and Incredi-pass, as shown in the screenshot from the Disney website below.
When Disney first introduced the new passes, it noted that it could suspend or pause the sale of passes in an effort to control attendance. It’s currently unclear when the passes will be available again, but it’s safe to assume it will likely be after the busy holiday season and into the new year.
To make matters more complicated for guests planning a Disney World vacation, select dates for single-park and Park Hopper tickets are currently unavailable for a handful of dates near the holidays. Those dates, a spokesperson for Walt Disney World confirmed to TPG, have been unavailable for a while now despite internet speculation that these changes occurred overnight.
Related: Tips for visiting Disney World at Christmas
A statement on the Walt Disney World website said, “As always, we remain very focused on providing a great Guest experience. As we continue to manage attendance using our theme park reservation system, certain tickets may be unavailable for purchase on select future dates, including upcoming holiday periods, based on reservation availability.”
At the time of writing, it appears that single-park tickets and Park Hopper tickets are unavailable for purchase for the following dates:
- Nov. 22
- Nov. 23
- Nov. 26
- Dec. 20
- Dec. 28
- Dec. 29
- Dec. 30
The calendar below reflects the current booking options available through the Disney World website.
Luckily for most people, the dates that are currently blocked off are mostly very busy days centered around the holidays, so chances are people planning to visit during these times already had their tickets reserved.
On the dates marked “unavailable,” no tickets can be purchased for any of the four Walt Disney World parks. It’s important to note, however, that on days with ticket availability, not all four of the parks themselves may be available as individual park reservations may have hit capacity.
As the screenshot shows below, on Dec. 19 — a day that is currently available to book tickets — both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom are unavailable for park pass reservations, though Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom are available. Note that for most of the days around and on Christmas, Magic Kingdom is not available at all.
The holiday season is one of the most magical times of the year to visit Walt Disney World, but it’s also the most complicated time to book and one of the busiest times of the year in the actual parks. If you’re looking to visit any park at Walt Disney World between now and the holidays, it’s probably best to make your reservations ASAP (and choose potential backup dates in case the ones you want are unavailable).
Featured image by Summer Hull/The Points Guy
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