Walt Disney World again will allow guests to visit more than one theme park per day starting January 1, the resort announced today.
But the revived Disney Park Hopper option won't be the same Park Hopper of old. Annual passholders and ticket holders who purchase the Park Hopper option will still need to use the new Disney Park Pass reservation system to book a visit to the first park they intend to visit on a particular day. Guests will not have to make a reservation for the other parks they plan to visit that day, but they won't be able to switch parks until 2pm — at least initially.
Walt Disney World will post "Park Hopper hours" on the My Disney Experience app, so guests should check that before heading over to the second park of the day, as the start of park hopping may change later in the year.
Disney is not changing its park capacities at this time, so the availability of park hopping may change daily in response to attendance. The resort did away with park hopping when it reopened in July, limiting guests to one theme park per day in an effort to control attendance and thereby support safe physical distancing within the parks during the pandemic.
In other Disney World news today, the resort announced the return of three more restaurants: Woody’s Lunch Box in Disney's Hollywood Studios' Toy Story Land, on November 25, and The Magic Kingdom's The Crystal Palace on December 13 and Tomorrowland Terrace on December 17.
Note that The Crystal Palace will not offer character dining as it had in the past, and Tomorrowland Terrace is switching to a new menu featuring lobster rolls, fried shrimp, and fried chicken.
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I'm not sure what good this really does. When we park hop, it's usually early in the day (at or before lunchtime), not mid-afternoon, except when making a second or third hop. We have non-expiring park hoppers, and wouldn't use them given these current restrictions, so I'm not sure what the market would be for Disney to sell date-limited park hopping admissions with all the unknowns. If a guest does buy a park hopper right now for a visit in January, would they get a refund of the park hopping upcharge if the park they want to hop to at 2 PM isn't available?
I think Disney is making a mistake here by allowing park hopping with these limitations that can't be known until the day of. Perhaps they should do what Disneyland/DCA do with MaxPass or what UO does with their park-to-park upgrade and allow guests to add (or subtract) the park hopping upcharge (with no penalty or savings for pre-buying it) at the moment they want to park hop based on the park conditions at the time.
Get ready for Hollywood Studios to reach (reduced) capacity everyday!
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I guess they figure vaccine news might be more hopeful and numbers better in January. We'll see how it works as can understand the logistics of park hopping now rather messy.