International guests have resorted to begging for tickets and park pass reservations outside the Magic Kingdom after being turned away.
One couple, who wishes to remain anonymous, reported having traveled to Orlando from Switzerland. Upon arrival at the Transportation & Ticket Center, they attempted to purchase theme park tickets and were turned away.
They crafted a sign reading “Looking for tickets and reservations” on a sheet of cardboard and initially stood outside the Magic Kingdom entrance, hoping to beseech other guests to assist them. However, Disney security Cast Members forced them to retreat to the parking lot outside the TTC.
Since the Walt Disney World theme parks reopened in summer 2020 after the unprecedented extended closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, guests have been required to obtain a ticket and a separate park pass reservation through an online system. Regularly ticketed guests, resort hotel guests, and Annual Passholders all have separate reservation availability. The reservation must be tied to an admission ticket, or guests will not be allowed to enter the park.
The capacity limitations enforced on Walt Disney World due to the pandemic have been removed, but executives, including CEO Bob Chapek and Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro, have stated that the reservation system is here to stay. Chapek cited the system as “the backbone” of operations.
UPDATE: Universal has attempted to give the couple free tickets to Universal Orlando Resort.
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Weird, so someone who didn’t have a reservation showed up and couldn’t get in? Shocking.
Why is this a story, and what does this have to do with being an international guest? Also, “international guests” appears to actually be “one woman incapable of following instructions before buying an expensive vacation”. I expect better, WDW News.
This is why both reservations and Chapek need to end!
Disney parks should not be about being turned away because you don’t have a stupid reservation. They should be about fun and not pre-planning every damn minute!
Do people not…plan their vacations? Especially if you’re coming from a different country. I feel like I’m seeing a lot of people complaining about not getting park reservations. But you should know they exist before going, right?
Why can’t an international traveler book a park pass and purchase a ticket the same as someone in the US? This seems like just a lack of planning. Why should someone in the parking lot give you a ticket because you didn’t read the website and plan?
My mom told me that it will last until things seemed safe enough. Plus they do help deal with croud control problems. After all it does help let people know how crowded the parks are.
How many people do they have with them? Are they there today?
I just don’t understand why the subject of this story couldn’t get a park reservation like everyone else? Am I missing something here? Could they not purchase tickets until they arrived? Were they “turned away” because they didn’t have a park reservation?
If this does show the magic of Disney is fading, nothing does. People who have crossed the ocean to come spend money with you should have some leniency. I hope Disney re-evaluates the leadership in place and gets the ship righted.
This is so trashy and selfish. The world doesn’t revolve around you! Why didn’t you prepare for the experience you seem so desperate for?
People need to research where they’re going ahead of time, especially if coming in from another country. That’s why sites like yours exist, for planning (and for other reasons)! I’ve even told my mom (a So Cal local) to not expect to show up at Disneyland and buy a ticket for that day to be admitted. That’s just how things are now, for many months thus far. I hope the lady got into the park eventually (and how did the fire at Epcot turn out the other night? Haven’t seen an update to how that resolved over the weekend/Monday) but she should have planned better, sorry.
Problem is that 99.99% of the tickets people have are non-transferable. There are virtually no paper tickets except for old, legacy, valid passes that people have kept from earlier vacations. I’m sorry this happened, but it’s incumbent on the visitor to know the rules before they invest in such a trip. :(
How sad, travelling all that way and not being able to get in to the happiest place on earth. I’m from the UK and will not travel now to Disney World as cannot rely on the parks being available when you travel. You have to remember there is a huge amount of planning you have to do to visit a Disney park and especially from overseas. It’s not worth the risk. Disney offers a 14 day pass to UK visitors but you cannot book all the days so I am not sure why anyone would go. feel Disney will notice fewer International visitors eventually. Such a shame. I wait for the day when the reservation system is removed. I’ve cancelled my Oct 2022 trip because of this. Another company who cares about their customers can have my thousands of pounds I would have given Disney.
Ummm she coulda bought a ticket w/ park hopper to one of the other 3 parks and then hop over after 2pm to magic this is silly and weird
What is even the point of this story? Person didnt know the requirements for entry before flying from Europe? The days of walking up to the gate and buying a ticket are long gone.
Why not do what every other international or US guest does and buy their tickets in advance?
Yep…you got it Bob! The reservation system is the backbone! This is just sad! Most people don’t know this is how things are at Disney parks now . Could you imagine coming all the way from another country let alone across the globe thinking you just buy admission tickets to a theme park and go in and enjoy to then only find out you are not going to The parks! This is ridiculous
Exactly! We came from Canada with a ticket for the 13th . When we arrived we realized we needed a reservation and it was too late. They told us we couldn’t go to any park!!! Why sell us a ticket we can’t use with no refund option.
We will no longer renew our annual passes.
Disney is catering to the left wing and wealthy.
Disney is totally disrespecting everyone else.
Cutting back on passholder benefits like the photos.
Raising the prices.
Charging guests to park at the hotel.
Changing Downtown Disney to Disney springs to appeal to the wealthy and bring in high priced shops.
Closing off half of EPCOT for construction and still charging full price.
Going into the political ring with a hard left battle when Disney should have stayed neutral.
Disney claims to be all inclusive but their political stance clearly states differently.
Disney has gone on a crusade that it should have never embarked upon.
Go back to being neutral.
It’s absolutely shameful that Disney have let it get to this.
I hope more people do this, in droves too.
Maybe paycheck will buck up and do what’s best for the guest instead of the shareholders for once.
It astounds me how many people are willing to throw around thousands of dollars without a smidgen of effort towards anything besides how they’re getting there.
I understand having a reservation makes sense from an operations pov, but as an international guest myself this system sucks. Not all international guests are as informed regarding changes in Disney or are simply not tech savy enough to know how to buy a ticket online. My dad for example would be one of the people standing in line hoping to buy 10 tickets for his whole family, he’s old school.
What nerve on these people! They really think that they are “Entitled”! NOT…We come first….
I know it is a heavily weighed topic, but even Cast Member’s who work at the parks, cannot get reservations. I know this may be trivial (especially to those who paid to fly thousands of miles away, room and board, and transportation), but this was once a very critical perk that drew workers to this company. Now Cast Members are fully blocked from parks, 3 months in advance, stuck to wait until the week (or even DAY) of to attempt admission into their workplace. Cast Members are the backbone of this company. They make magic. They influence a guests visit way more than the higher ups who control pricing. Cast Members are the reason guests continue to pay more money, even though more and more included amenities (RIP fast pass and magical express) are being removed. Yet they are constantly over worked, under paid, and under appreciated. The Cast Members make the parks worth visiting, they are the heart and soul of the parks. Not Bob, who cannot be bothered to see the working Cast while he walks the new company assets. Honestly, you can’t thank the ones making this new asset a success? I’m sure they feel VERY included.
this is a disgrace. when someone from Switzerland spends time and money to visit this place they deserve special consideration. I sometimes wonder why people decide to visit this declining cesspool of a corrupt country.
“They crafted a sign reading “Looking for tickets and reservations” on a sheet of cardboard and initially stood outside the Magic Kingdom entrance…”
They? You can’t tell that’s a woman standing there? Or are you not a biologist? 😳🤦♂️
It was a couple.
Ridiculous send them back to their country they are not wanted
It is so sad that “Disney” has become such a badly-managed-company. This is just another example of their terrible-customer-service.
As a former CM, I have something I’d like to say. Please stop claiming that Disney is using this reservation system for limiting crowd density. It’s only logical purpose, based on the fact that the parks are seeing significant crowds as before the system was implemented, is so the company can accurately predict their workforce requirements and not be over staffed. For example, if only 50% capacity has been reserved, they know they only need a certain amount of their normal workforce and won’t be sending people home partway into their shifts. It’s a great tool for cutting overhead and stopping people from getting angry that they are being sent home. I’ve been to the parks recently, and there is no way they are using the reservation system for the reported reason. It was not a holiday, but it was definitely overcrowded everywhere we went. Standing room only in most areas. It reminded me of the four major holidays of the mousepocalypse. Everyone in my group asked, “When did they stop the reservation system? I thought it was supposed to cut the crowds.” Several even went to the blue umbrellas to ask the guest services kids, against my wishes because I know they can’t and won’t say anything and are only employed to take the verbal lashings of guests.
Sorry European folks, Merica is closed. The basement dummy out front should’ve told ya.
Disney is screwing up on every level.
This CEO needs to go away.
Disney used to be a family friendly company, what happened?
This is not the first incident with the reservation system I’ve seen. This is certainly the most extreme, though. It’s a shame that Disney can’t think ahead and have some reservations set aside for situations such as this. I can’t imagine the feeling of traveling from another country and being turned away at the gates. Do better, Chapek.
Seriously, who flies in from Europe without any planning?
What a nightmare this is. Till the day we got there we were worried we did something wrong and wouldn’t be able to get in. Bring back the old physical tickets in hand so you know what you’ve got. Booking Disney is an added stress we don’t need. Plus the Genie or fast pass is horrible, some of those lines were as long as the general line. We went to Universal broke down and purchased the express the longest we waited was 10 minutes. Is Disney really worth the hassle?
Why does it have to be seperate? Why can’t your park reservation be your ticket or your ticket be your park reservation? What is the purpose of them being seperate? If it’s to accurately know how many guests are in the park or who is in the park so they can sell the guests data later on then everytime you make a park reservation you get your ticket? I’m just not getting the seperation.
Surmised the B.Chapek even knows the word “backbone.”