@Nicky_S, when you have some time will you consider if they will ever cap park hopping? If the overall parks are capped, would it have to be a drastic shift in that attendance to close a park to park hopping? In theory, would that type of shift be possible?
The overall total attendance of all 4 parks would never increase due to park hopping but without counting every exiting guest, how would they determine a park needed to be closed?
They never have before. Not sure they are set up to now.
I donāt think they can count every exiting guest and adjust, because people who bought admission have the right to leave and return. Can you imagine the uproar if someone left to get something from their car and couldnāt get back in because they gave their spot away?
PR nightmare.
Seems more likely that thereās a set number of entrance slots that takes into account the park reservations plus a margin for potential hoppers.
I agree because that is the only system that makes sense.
Yep. That is what I have figured.
Like if capacity of a park is 25,000 and they have 15,000 park reservations, they could have up to 10,000 spots for hopping - but my guess is they might keep it at 8,000 or something so there is a little cushion. (All numbers randomly picked. I have no clue the actual numbers.)
I have been assured by 5 different CMs that if you have a PARK RESERVATION you can go in and out. They all also said that an ADR in a different park than your original reservation does not guarantee you entrance if your hopped to park is at capacity.
Do you think when you enter as a hopper they are hand counting you separately?
Given that your park reservation is tied to your MDE account, I think it would be fairly simple for there to be a program that recognizes park reservations and puts the hoppers into a separate ābucketā. Iām not a computer genius by any stretch of the imagination, but even I remember that an āIf X then Y; if A then Bā is pretty basic.
I think it would be pretty simple to code hopper passes to ping separately so they can track each pool.
Great minds!
Is this a time to remind both of you we are speaking about Disney IT? (Edited to add: that was a joke)
Back on the idea of an set aside amount for hopper- that will not/could not account for guests hopping to more than one park? They would always count as an increase but would never be subtracted when they left the park?
I feel like this is a math problem and I am missing a variable.
Pity they just canāt deduct post-2 pm ADRs from the park capacity if the party doesnāt have Park Res.
A Park Reservation, Advanced Dining Reservation.
You would think that would be possible since itās all held in our MDE, but ppl do change their minds a lot too.
I donāt think theyāre really tracking/limiting hopping that closely.
I think they have data/models that tell them that x% of people in the park leave by 2pm, so they know they can re-use those slots for hoppers. Iām sure theyāll still monitor total entries to validate assumptions, but I donāt think they have a fixed number of hopping slots in the afternoon.
This is a prime reason for Park Hopping.
So this just leads back to ADR hording. Make the ADR in the park you would like to hop into, and a backup ADR in the park where you have a Park Pass (or a restaurant not inside of a park).
The funniest jokes are rooted in reality
Would it be possible to be in MK and see availability for PH at EP, leave MK, only to arrive at EP and the park has reached capacity? Seems possible but unlikely, but with all the parks closing early and EP staying open until 9 or later, I would think a lot of people would try to hop to EP for dinner/evening. That would be maddening to give up travel time and then be turned away at the gate. Anyone heard anything about how this will work?
Well crap
If theyāre not requiring APRs for the second park, is Disney concerned about capacity at all?
Or has the popularity of Disney Springs in the evening convinced Disney that folks arenāt interested in the parks.
Itās not like thereāre fireworks or laser shows. Or plenty of good restaurants.
Bingo! This is my understanding too. And by āunderstandingā I mean guesswork with no inside information, just so weāre clear!
By now they know when lines start shortening in the afternoons and by how much, which gives them data on when people are leaving each park.
They can therefore set a general start time for park hopping.
If the lines at DHS take longer to start shortening today than they expect, then park hopping availability can be delayed until the lines each their ānormalā lower length.
Equally if lines start increasing beyond a certain point they can suspend park hopping.
I still want someone to test out whether a park reservation is still good for returning even after youāve gone to another park. But it is tricky because you need to test this on a day when a park is closed for park hopping, and then try to get back in to your reserved park.
Does my reply just above answer the question?
I really have no info but a hunch tells me Disney are simply using analysis of their data on wait times / length of queues to determine at what point they shorten enough to indicate people are leaving that park.
So then they have a benchmark by which to judge each day: if wait times arenāt reducing as expected, then they could delay park hopping.
Various reports say there was a rise / surge in wait times as park hopping started, which then reduced back down again. Now that increase might well āencourageā others to hop elsewhere, thus balancing out demand.