Well, the much-awaited Disney Park Pass theme park reservation system went live yesterday — and it had some issues.
We’re Working On It
As Disney World resort guests with existing reservations became the first to access the Disney Park Pass system, there were apparently some serious glitches to deal with. Reports flooded in of lengthy wait times, inaccurate reservation limits, and falsely unavailable park days.
Let’s take a look at some of the glitches that guests encountered — and how to handle them for the next big Disney Park Pass day on June 26th (for Passholders without Resort reservations) or June 28th (for guests with just tickets).
Wait Times
First off, let’s talk about wait times to get into the site. According to the Tampa Bay Times, many people reported super lengthy wait times. We here at DFB were even stuck with some long waits! Our readers experienced this as well. We had commenters explain that they had spent HOURS waiting to get to the Disney Park Pass page by midday yesterday.
I have been on for over 4 hours, kicked out, I finally got into the calendar to see that all months are grey, you cant make any reservations. Im back waiting for orbit.
— Julie (@julieellen1978) June 22, 2020
Such an overload was likely due to high demand. In fact, we had issues accessing all sorts of pages on the Disney World site, even those completely unrelated to the Disney Park Pass. Since yesterday, wait times have apparently settled down. We haven’t heard nearly as many complaints about being unable to access the system.
Disney Park Pass Error Message
But, that doesn’t mean that these wait times won’t crop up again. Yesterday was just the first round of the Disney Park Pass opening. Those with existing resort reservations have access to the system now, but June 26th will allow Annual Passholders (without hotel reservations) to reserve and June 28th will bring existing ticket holders into the mix.
It’s definitely possible that these big release days will see extended waits and glitchy virtual queues once more. But fear not, dear reader! We have a few tips and tricks to improving your chances of making it to the Disney Park Pass screen.
Stitch, you dastardly little guy.
For one, folks reported that using Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox worked much better than Safari or Internet Explorer. Theme park journalist Carlye Wisel reported that, while using Safari, she got stuck on a blank white screen when she loaded in.
mine will load through all the way but do so to a blank white screen — I hear other people having this issue too!
— 🍭 carlye wisel (@carlyewisel) June 22, 2020
If you end up stuck in a waiting room for some time, try using an incognito browser and/or clearing cookies. This might give the site the clean slate it needs to load you in. Personally, after not getting anywhere with the system and hearing that others were getting their passes, we ended up having to log-in to the system through a back channel — by making a dining reservation at Disney Springs. Once we had logged-in, the system seemed to fix. So that seems to say that you could be in a virtual waiting room…or the system could just be booting you out and needs a re-set.
Just keep in mind, your wait may be long. If it’s too long, try to log-in and start over in another browser or another computer (that worked for one member of our team).
If these tips don’t work, remember to be patient and keep trying. Wait times and demand on the site WILL lighten up the longer the system is up.
Click here to learn more about the Disney Park Pass system!
Annual Passholder Limit Glitch
Still, the issues don’t end once you make it to the Disney Park Pass page. Though Annual Passholders without hotel reservations cannot access the Disney Park Pass system until Friday, Annual Passholders WITH hotel reservations got to make their theme park reservations yesterday. Unfortunately, a few of them ran into some glitches.
The official policy for Disney Park Pass for Annual Passholders limits them to three Park Passes at a time, UNLESS they have a Disney World resort reservation. The resort stay trumps the Annual Pass limit and allows Passholders to book for the length of stay — or at least it’s supposed to.
Screenshot From Disney World’s Website
Lots of Passholders reported yesterday via comments and social media that they were being limited to just three days, despite having an active resort reservation for longer. For some, the limit was longer than three, but the system was still cutting them off when they had more days left on their resort reservations.
I finally got in just by waiting on the castle screen for 2.5 hours but I now have a park “pass limit reached” error at 7 reservations. We have APs and hotel reservations. I was not able to get a park reservation for each day of the trip 🙈
— Alyssa (@alyssamurray) June 22, 2020
Shannon at @brbgoingtodisney explained on Instagram that her reservations were inexplicably capped at eight days and another Annual Passholder in her party was limited to two days. That certainly sounds like another glitch! Lots of folks ran into this issue, but it wasn’t the case for every Annual Passholder. Most of us here at DFB had no trouble booking through our resort reservations and didn’t run into any wonky limits, though one of our team did have a person in her Annual Passholder party who hit a “limit.”
Some Annual Passholders WERE able to get past the inaccurate caps and limits when they tried later in the day. So, if you had this issue and it hasn’t resolved, try again today. You may be surprised to see the cap lifted.
If you’re STILL having trouble, you should contact Disney. Some of our readers and other guests are reporting that they are getting an IT ticket through contacting Disney’s Website Support at (407) 939-4357. Disney may be able to personally fix your account. Just keep in mind, the phone lines are EXTREMELY busy right now so be patient and keep trying if this is what you need to do — and use our TIPS HERE!
Trying to get through to Disney and getting busy signals on the phone lines? Click HERE!
No Availability Glitch
The final glitch is a super strange one that seemed to affect a lot of Disney guests. Lots of folks were reporting that the Disney Park Pass looked completely booked up — all the way through the end of the year. This is definitely NOT the case. As of now, only a few days are booked up for only a few parks, so this is most definitely a glitch.
For some, the system is showing that parks are unavailable because they are outside of a guest’s specific booking window. For others, there’s a glitch that shows no availability for days they SHOULD be able to book. If you see this, make sure you check that you should be able to book a park reservation that day and take a look at the Disney Park Pass Availability Calendar to see what should be available to you (don’t forget that the Park Pass Availability Calendar has several “tabs” — make sure you’re looking at a tab that’s populated).
Lots of people saying they are seeing “no availability” for certain dates. This is related to likely system issues with linked tickets/reservations.
I can confirm *as of right now* NO dates are completely booked.
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) June 22, 2020
According to theme parks reporter Scott Gustin, Disney is aware of this issue and is working on a fix. You may also be able to repeatedly select the desired date until the available parks show up as they should. If they STILL won’t show, clear cookies or use an incognito browser and try again.
Click here to see what parks and days ARE booked up!
Disney has reportedly received contact about these glitches and is currently working through them. Some folks have seen success later in the day after running into glitches so don’t be afraid to give your theme park reservations another go. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help out with your situation!
Disney Park Pass Screenshot
Hopefully, the Disney Park Pass system will be running smoothly soon. We guess we’ll get an idea of how stable the system is with Friday’s Annual Passholder opening!
Click here to see our coverage of the technical difficulties with the Disney Park Pass!
Disney Park Reopening Details and Info
Click HERE for the All Latest Updates
Click HERE To See FULL LISTS of the Rides, Attractions, Shopping, Entertainment, and Restaurants Opening in Disney World!
TUTORIAL: How To Use Disney World's NEW Park Pass Reservation System
ALL Disney World Reopening Procedures
Disney World Hotel and Ticket Booking Information
We’re Visiting ALL the Reopened Disney World Hotels and Have All the Need-to-Know Details
We’re LIVE in Disney World's Magic Kingdom For the FIRST Time Since the Closures
We’re LIVE in Disney’s Animal Kingdom For the FIRST Time Since the Closures
We Got a FIRST LOOK at Disney World’s New Character Cavalcades and Entertainment!
Everything You NEED To Know About Wearing Masks in Disney World
Join the DFB Newsletter To get all the latest Disney Park Closure News Delivered Right to Your Inbox Click here to Subscribe
Did you deal with any of these glitches? Let us know in the comments!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Yesterday I could book my entire July trip but none of my December trip it kept saying I was past my limit. I logged on today and was able to book my entire stay in December without issues or waiting.
Hello. I successfully made all my park reservations for myself yesterday. Today, I needed to change one of my park day reservations, so I cancelled the one park day so I could change to another park. No problem in cancelling the one park day (no way to modify one park to another), but when I went back in to select another park for the day I cancelled, the system would not allow me to choose anything…all the parks were grayed out saying not available. Thanks for any help.
DOnna, I suspect you’ll be able to add a Park back in; we only know of a handful of days that are totally booked according to the calendar, and we know the grayed out calendars are a glitch for some folks. I suggest you keep trying, and if you don’t have any luck, give Disney a call/chat.
Amy, that’s great news!
I’m having the same issue everyone else is having. I can book only one day and the rest are grayed out until the end of the year. Been calling IT for two days to no avail. Tried chrome, incognito, deleting the one pass I was able to get and trying all over again….all to no avail.
I have Bay Lake/Polynesian resort reservations for Sept 19-26 for my husband and I (both AP) and my daughter’s family. I don’t have tickets for her family, so cannot get park passes for them. Any idea when resort reservation holders will be allowed to buy tickets/get park passes? I apologize if this question has already been answered.
I have my room reservations for October 2020 and am trying to get our park tickets purchased this morning but not having luck. You had said in a video that on the 24th lodging only guests could hop on to grab those park tickets, is that still the case? Is it just still glitching? I am on hold with Disney to get help but have been getting disconnected. thank you!
BG, Disney’s info says that new ticket sales for 2020 will restart later this summer — perhaps as soon as next week, but we’ll have to watch for that. New 2021 purchases can be made starting today.
Hi, Barbara! Disney says new ticket sales for 2020 will open “later this summer.” A reader yesterday (or Monday — my days are blurring) said Disney told her over the phone that these new ticket sales for 2020 could open as soon as next week. We will update as soon as we see them live, but you may want to have a tab open to check, too.
When does the reservations process “open” online. For example for June 22 did it open at midnight?
If you had a mnsshp ticket that was cancelled, then you need to book that date last – it’s a goofy issue, but lots of people reporting the same workaround: book all days except your mnsshp date and then book that date last.
Interesting, McDisneyFan! Thanks for sharing.
Tessa, it was expected to be live at 7AM, but it didn’t actually seem to be accessible until after 9AM. Since the system is now up, I’m not sure how the future releases (like APs being able to book on the 26th) will be handled. I’ll see if the team can find out.
Hi. I have a resort booking for 19 nights in March 2021 made through DVC. I want to buy an annual pass so as to make park reservations, but the system is not allowing me. Do you know when new annual passes can be purchased.
When I first tried booking my passes, it only let me book 7 of the 14 days (3 separate trips). When I tried later, I found I had no success going forward but when I booked them in reverse order, it worked. Good luck!
Thanks for the info, Toni!
John, from the info Disney has released, it sounds like 2021 ticket sales will resume June 28. Hopefully that will happen and you can get what you need.
I purchased 2-day park hopper tickets and reserved the first day for Hollywood Studios, and second day at Magic Kingdom. The first reservation is not showing on mydisneyexperience app. Does this mean we do not have a reservation anymore at Hollywood Studios? We go in May and I am desperately trying to figure this out because when I went back to try to reserve it again, the weekdays during our stay are all YELLOW (Not Avail.) 🙁 Appreciate if anyone has some information. Disney takes forever to email back.
thanks in Advance
D, reach out to Disney to see if they can double check in their system.