Fans waiting on Disney’s reservation system to leave may be very disappointed. On Wednesday’s Bank of America Securities conference call with Disney’s Josh D’Amaro and Christine McCarthy, hints were given about the program’s future. Disney executives seem intent on keeping the system in place.
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When asked how Covid 19 had permanently changed the parks, D’Amaro spoke about the reservation system saying, “We made sure every move we made was centered around a better customer experience… and that will never change. One of the things we did was cap attendance. We wanted to make sure that we didn’t end up in a situation where, on New Year’s Eve, for example, it was a kind of “show up as you want”. We wanted to make sure we preserved that customer experience, so we put a cap on that. We are and will continue to be very disciplined on seasonality smoothing. Ensure that we make full use of our assets. »
This alone may not seem like a permanent change, but as it went on it became very clear that this was not just a social distancing Covid measure. It may have started out that way, but it looks like they found some interest in keeping it in place.
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D’Amaro went on to say, “We have a reservation system in place. Obviously this was a big help to us when we were in Covid times and had to restrict our attendance considerably. But as we got out of it, we realized we could use this as a tool to better manage the available capacity for the customer experience we ultimately wanted to deliver. With that cap, so to speak, on our attendance, it allows us to have a much better return. Like a hotel would, like an airline would, when you set your capacity, you’re in a much better position to yield.
These comments lead we to believe that the reservation system is now an integral part of the Disney vacation. That sounds like bad news for rushed travelers and annual pass holders, but good news for visitors who don’t come as often and plan far ahead.
Lower park capacity means better weather. I remember the first trips I took after Covid. We felt like we had the parks ourselves which was absolutely fantastic. We never expect to experience anything like that again, but we can’t help but agree with D’Amaro that low attendance makes a Disney day better.
It is important to keep in mind that this is not a confirmed statement. This is purely what we take from D’Amaro’s statement. let us know what you think. Do his comments make the reservation system look like it’s here to stay?
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