Disney World has rolled out the first wave of dates for Annual Passholder “Good-to-Go” Days, and to say that the effort is weak would be an understatement. There are a grand total of, drum roll please…, six “Good-to-Go” Days between now and February 1st. Six. When Disney World said that “Good-to-Go” Days would be replacing Bonus Reservations, they weren’t kidding. At this rate, “Good-to-Go” Days will be few and far between, basically erasing any perceived benefit of the system. We’re not impressed, let’s dive in.
First, if you don’t know what a “Good-to-Go” Day is, it’s basically a day when Disney World will not require Passholders to have a Disney Park Pass reservation to visit the parks. For more on the difference between a “Good-to-Go” Day and the old Bonus Reservation dates, check out our article below.
Now, back to today’s rollout of six whole Good-to-Go Days. What was Disney thinking? This should’ve been a layup, an exercise in easily obtained goodwill, but instead, it looks like a company completely unwilling to give up the grip it has on Passholders. Disney World looks like they’re scared of Passholders in a post-COVID world, and the Park Pass system is exhibit A.
Let’s take a look at the calendar again and ask some questions. Before we get to our questions, we’ll first acknowledge some of the potentially busier days ahead. The first is MLK Day, scheduled for Monday January 15th this year, I’m ok with the weekend not being Good to Go, but what is so important on Wednesday the 17th or Monday the 22nd, or the 25th, or the 26th, or the 29th, or the 30th, or the 31st, that Disney feels like Passholders could overwhelm the theme parks? See those green dots? That means that every single theme park has reservation availability, and I’ll be shocked to see any dates sell out save for the (potentially) busy holiday weekend.
Another indicator of how busy any given day might be is the date-based ticket pricing. MLK Day weekend is the most expensive of the remaining dates in January, and even some non-Good-to-Go Days are cheaper than some Good-to-Go Days. Make it make sense, Disney. In fact, in February (which has not been fully populated with Good-to-Go Days yet), just about every date is more expensive than January dates. Can we expect even fewer Good-to-Go Days in February? Prices continue to climb into March and mid-April, so will there be any Good-to-Go Days then? If there’s even one Good-to-Go Day, and there will be, then why isn’t just about every date in January or February circled?
The fact that there are six, seemingly random dates as the first wave of “Good-to-Go” days doesn’t scream “Less Planning, More Fun”, even though that’s what the Disney Parks Blog called this change. To be clear, the average guest isn’t going to memorize which days are Good-to-Go and which days require reservation. If you’re looking to “resolve to be more spontaneous” as Disney puts it, you’re going to have a very hard time. Practically, you’re still going to have to look at the Disney Park Pass calendar and very likely still make a Park Pass reservation on a day when availability is wide open. What’s the point?
Listen, as someone who visits the theme parks often, I fully understand that there are some days when the parks are bursting at the seams, and the experience that guests have is subpar as a result. As long as there is demand for a Disney World vacation, there is an actual need to be able to restrict the theme parks at some level during the busiest times of year. In a perfect world, just about every day would be a “Good-to-Go” day with the exception of the major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, Memorial Day, etc.). That said, there’s no reason why Wednesday, January 17th should be a reservations-required day, and the fact that it is should be embarrassing.
Just like other decisions before it, such as the unwillingness to drop Park Hopping restrictions for years after it was practically necessary, the initial rollout of “Good-to-Go” Days are a reminder that Disney execs don’t want to give up control over guest access to the parks. To be fair, Disney has dropped the Park Pass reservation system for date-based tickets, and that is a wonderful step in the right direction. However, to find out where we’re going, all we have to do is look back. If it were up to Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro (and it is), the Disney Park Pass theme park reservation system, and all the frustrations that it brings with it, will be “here to stay“. I certainly hope that Disney World rolls out a bunch more “Good-to-Go” Days and makes this opinion piece completely irrelevant, but I’m not holding my breath. Don’t even get me started on Disneyland.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
Glad somebody finally said it instead of the continual “Disney releases new Passholder Perk!” articles. This is dumb and not a perk.
Good article and spot on. The reality is the park reservation system is not needed at all. If their reasoning is to better understand and react to park guest numbers, then how does that work when you have no hopping restrictions. I can make a reservation for a park, go in and turn around and go out to another park, if I want. No tell me, what did that reservation tell the park? Nothing!! They have always had systems in place, even well before COVID, to accurately estimate staffing and resource needs based on guest number algorithms. This is 100% a control thing. Bottom line, resevation system needs to go, hopping back to normal (it is), and back to a one price unrestricted fast pass (similar to DL old fastpass). I have been going to WDW since 1973 and I have seen way more extremely crowded days that now and the old system worked perfect and it was free.