10/1/2021 - Please tell me why I am wrong:

Walt Disney World
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Hello all,
Hope everyone is well. I have a thought that has been bouncing around in my head and want other like minded individuals to let me know if my concern is warranted or just nervousness.

On 10/1 I expect the park (at whatever capacity limit Disney sets) to be at capacity. Our current plan is to rope drop (5am style) and get all the merch we can before the lines get absolutely insane. We plan on walking around for a bit, enjoying whatever ceremonies may occur and then heading back to our room at Bay Lake to chill out for the Late morning to mid afternoon.

Where my issue comes in is the 2pm park-hopping time. I think that the other people with AK, HS, and maybe even EP reservations will immediately park hop into MK making the park 2 to 3-times more crowded than it is in the morning time.

SO… that leads me to my question. If my wife and I (who have MK reservations) chill at Bay lake from 11am to 4pm, IS IT POSSIBLE that we may be turned back at the gates if MK is now at/over capacity?

My wife thinks that because we have an MK park reservation we will not be turned away because our attendance has already been factored in.

Do you agree? Am I just worrying about nothing? Or do you also think Disney may not be prepared for the amount of park hoppers jumping over to MK on 10/1?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

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My wife have been discussing this. My thoughts are this…

Disney does not count when people leave. That means capacity is already allocated for you. If you enter the park, you are counted. After that, whether you come or go doesn’t matter. You have been counted toward capacity for the day and will be allowed back in since you have a PR.

I can’t guarantee this. Just my thinking.

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Correct. When the reservation system was initially announced, it was specified that you can leave and return.

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I think it’s unlikely that you will be turned away later in the day. They will close to hopping, well before they close to returning guest. :man_shrugging:

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If you have a park ressie you’ll be admitted. Hoppers may be blocked.

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Thanks to everyone for their replies! It all makes sense… but man. I just don’t trust the mothership. haha

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If it makes you feel any better, we are visiting AK on 10/1 and have no plans to hop to MK. :sunglasses:

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Ha. I get that.

But think of it this way.

When Disney “counts” people, they aren’t actually counting how many bodies are IN the park, they are counting how many people either are ALLOCATED to the park, or have, on top of those allocated, ENTERED the park.

As I mentioned, Disney does not count when someone leaves the park. They have no means to do so. The best they can do is assume that if a person enters a DIFFERENT park, that they are no longer in their previous park.

This means that if you have a part reservation for MK, you are pre-counted for that park. Whether you enter or not before 2:00, you are already promised a spot. You are “counted” in the numbers already. When you enter through the gate, they aren’t ADDING you, but it is more of a roll call. You are saying, “Here!” when you tap in…but you don’t actually add anything to the count, because it is your reserved park.

Now, when you lave, Disney doesn’t know it. But your spot is reserved already, so they can’t care. If you return later, you are simply saying, “I’m still here!” But it does nothing to change their numbers, because as far as they were aware, you had never left the park.

Think about if you were a smoker. Your only recourse is to find the smoking area OUTSIDE the gates of the park. If you left the park and then tried to reenter, they couldn’t deny you simply because you went to have a smoke!

As such, I believe they have a maximum number of hoppers they allow into the park ON TOP of the park reservations. Once they hit the maximum number of allowed hoppers, they are done for the day. But those who had previously entered the park or had reservations are still allowed back in, they are part of that count.

(The only thing I’m not sure is if Disney has a means to remove a count from the park hopper pool if they detect that such a guest has since hopped to a DIFFERENT park…but that doesn’t impact those with park reservations, regardless.)

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