What Do Disney’s Reservation System Changes Mean for Annual Passholders?

The Disney Park Pass reservation system has been in place since the Walt Disney World Resort reopened from its closure earlier in the pandemic, much to the disappointment of Guests who miss spontaneous trips to The Most Magical Place on Earth.

Since the theme park reservation system is likely here to stay, Disney recently updated the booking process with some changes that should make it easier for Guests to plan their trips to Disney Parks. While most of the recent changes will help all Guests navigate the Park Pass reservation system, there are some differences for Annual Passholders.

If you already have an Annual Pass at Walt Disney World (or are hoping to become an Annual Passholder when they go on sale again) you’ll want to keep reading to see what the latest updates to the system could mean for your next trip.

One of the biggest changes Disney made to the Park Pass rservation system is that reservations can now be modified on Disney’s official website, whereas in the past, Guests needed to cancel their reservations and rebook them. This is great news for most Guests visiting Walt Disney World, but unfortunately the modification feature is not available to Passholders when they are staying at a Disney Resort, so you may find that the only way to change your reservation is indeed to cancel and make a new one.

If this sounds confusing, it will be more intuitive when you login to Disney’s website to make or change reservations as it will only give you the options that are available based on your ticket/package type. We just wanted to give you the head’s up that some of the helpful reservation updates may not apply to you at this time.

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What about Guests who are booking reservations for themselves (an Annual Passholder) and their friends and family members with regular tickets? Thankfully the process of initially booking these reservations is not too confusing. As long as there is availability on both the regular calendar and the Annual Passholder calendar, you will not run into any issues and will be able to book for your entire party. If you do run into a problem, it is likely that one of the calendars is not showing availability for a specific ticket type.

Lastly, to avoid any major hiccups with your reservation process, you will want to make sure your entire party is linked in My Disney Experience. (Yes, this is indeed confusing where reservations are made on the website and not the app, but trust us, having everyone linked up every which way they can will make your trip easier.)

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This point was even true in the FastPass+ days, when one’s ability to make FastPass selections for their entire party was based on whether or not everyone’s tickets and profiles were linked properly. For reservation updates for Annual Passholders and day Guests, you will want to make sure you have the “Share All My Plans” option enabled for friends and family in your account.

Still confused? Don’t worry, it’s not just you! This Twitter thread by theme park journalist Scott Gustin may help clearly break down the new process if you still aren’t sure.

The last updates to the Disney Park Pass reservations system were only the most recent and will surely not be the last, so we will continue to monitor any changes and keep you updated here on DisneyTips. Best of luck planning!