The Trials Of Getting A Disney World Park Reservation

We had plans to go to Walt Disney World in June to celebrate my son's graduation. Then the pandemic happened, Disney World closed, and we were like, "Um. Now what?"

Then it was announced that Disney World would open in mid-July and we were like, "Okay, we need to move our dates."

So we did. To August.

But we weren't done yet. It was announced that everyone had to make reservations for the Disney World parks, and oh, also no park hopping.

People were like, "What's the point of going then?" I asked my son what he wanted to do. I mean, this is HIS celebration trip. Some people get graduation parties: he wanted a trip to Disney World because he loves it there.

He said he wanted to go despite the changes. Some people are like, "But the pandemic and the the magic won't BE THERE!"

Okay, well, Disney has made masks a requirement and I know they'll help keep things safe. Also, you make your own magic.

Anyway.

It came time to make Disney Work park reservations on June 22nd. It started at 7 AM EST which mean 6 AM for me. I set my alarm, woke up, was confused, remembered what I needed to do, and logged on.

Only I got this pink castle:

I thought, "okay, cool, it's a few minutes before 6, maybe it'll click over to reservations."

It did not.

I got a bad gateway at one point.

Then I got the castle again.

Then I got this orbit waiting room.

Then I got a blue screen.

You see, reservations opened up for everyone who had a resort stay and tickets. So there was THOUSANDS of people trying to log in at once.

Finally, FINALLY, the orbit waiting room let me log in. But it said my password was incorrect and I was like:

Source

I went BACK to the orbit waiting room. I was able to log in again.

IT LET ME IN.

We arrive to Disney World on a Monday and I was able to make a different park reservation for each day we were there.

The park reservations look like this in the My Disney Experience App.

That's another step down! We did it! Will it be different to not park hop? Yes. But it'll be okay. It's also odd that the parks aren't open super late. When Tommy and I went last year, we stayed until midnight. But. We'll still have a blast. Because it's Disney World!

Still. It was crazy getting those reservations.

Also, if you do call a Cast Member during all of this, BE KIND. It's not their fault they can't do certain things. For example, tickets for 2020 aren't on sale yet. Do not yell at them. They are only passing on information. Remember that they are human beings. 

We are looking forward to our trip and yes, we'll be safe.