Disney World is changing all the time — just take a walk around the parks and you’ll see that pretty clearly.
©D23
But that means there are a lot of exciting changes on the horizon, and we’re hoping to hear a lot of updates at “Disney’s Biggest Fan Event of the year“. Destination D23 will take place in Walt Disney World at Disney’s Contemporary Resort from September 8th to 10th, and we’re expecting some big news — but there’s one announcement we’re really hoping Disney makes.
Disney’s ultimate fan event is coming up soon, and we’ve been speculating about what sort of announcements and news we might hear! At the D23 Expo, we learned about attraction opening timelines, new meet and greets, movie news, and more, so we can only hope this year’s event is just as exciting. But, there’s one announcement we’re crossing our fingers Disney makes — and that’s the end of park hopping restrictions.
Welcome to Disney World!
In case it’s been a while for you, Disney introduced the Park Pass Reservation System in Disney World and Disneyland in response to the global pandemic and the need to control overall park capacity. Park hopping wasn’t brought back right away, and when it eventually did come back, Disney put a staunch rule in place. After COVID-19 restrictions began lifting, many fans thought that park passes and park hopping rules would go away, but that wasn’t quite the case.
EPCOT
Park hopping in Disney World isn’t as easy as it used to be — in the before times, you could park hop at any point during the day no matter want (as long as you had the proper ticket to do so). Want to have breakfast in Magic Kingdom and then immediately go to EPCOT? No problem. But after the closures, Disney introduced a time restriction that meant guests couldn’t hop to their second park until 2PM or later.
Tower of Terror
Things have gotten a bit better in Disneyland. When park hopping first returned, folks had to wait until 1PM to switch to another park, but Disney updated that time to be a bit earlier and it’s now 11AM.
Pixar Pier at California Adventure
We know that park pass reservations will be going away for select Disney World guests in 2024, and we’ve seen updates made to park passes for Annual Passholders too. However, Disney executives have mentioned not wanting the system to go away entirely as it’s a way for them to track guests and manage the overall capacity in the parks on any given day.
As far as park hopping goes, though, Disney hasn’t really mentioned anything about getting rid of the time constraints. It’s certainly a big complaint among fans though, who miss the old days of being able to hop from one park to another willy-nilly. Whether or not we actually hear something at Destination D23 remains to be seen — but we’ll be looking out for updates.
Disneyland
We can’t wait to see what sort of news and announcements Disney makes at Destination D23, and we’ll be there for it all. Make sure you stay tuned to DFB if you want the latest updates and more!
9 HUGE Reveals We’re Hoping Disney Makes at D23
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Will you be tuning in to the Destination D23 livestream? Tell us in the comments.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
I wish Disney would bring back the service of delivering. guests purchases in the parks to their resort hotel, that was an excellent service that my family used all the time.
I’d like to see a return to the 180-day ADR window. We plan our vacations at WDW a year in advance. At 60 days out, we’re competing with a lot of folks for those dining reservations.
That would be a great change for sure…not sure if I’ll tune in…looking at the line-up, I’m not super impressed this year. Sounds like a lot of reminiscing-which I get considering the 100th anniversary. But they should ALWAYS be revealing new attractions/dates regarding park news IMO…
Boy, if they get rid of the park hopping restrictions, the magic will really be back; that would be so exciting! 😁