Park Reservation Update: Limited Availability at Disney World for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

2 days ago in "MyMagic+"

Posted: Wednesday January 1, 2025 11:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney World's theme park reservation system shows limited availability for Annual Passholders and guests with non-dated park tickets in the coming days, especially at Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Annual Passholders

Magic Kingdom: Reservations are unavailable on January 1, 3, and 4, 2025
Disney's Hollywood Studios: Reservations are unavailable on January 3 and 4, 2025.
All other parks: Full availability.

Non-Dated Park Ticket Holders

Magic Kingdom: Reservations are unavailable on January 1, 2, 3, and 4, 2025.
Disney's Hollywood Studios: Reservations are unavailable on January 2 and 3, 2025.

Magic Kingdom Christmas Tree and holiday decorations

Strategies for Annual Passholders When Parks Are at Capacity

If your preferred park is at capacity, you may still be able to visit the park of your choice by following these strategies:

Use Park Hopper Benefits

Annual Passholders can visit another park during regular park hours (subject to capacity limitations), but specific steps are required:

Make a Theme Park Reservation: A reservation is required for the first park you plan to visit.
Enter the Reserved Park First: You must physically enter the park you reserved before hopping to another park.
Hop to Another Park: After entering your first park, you can hop to another park without needing a second reservation.

After 2:00 pm Rule: Annual Passholders can visit parks without a reservation after 2:00 pm. However, Magic Kingdom has restrictions on Saturdays and Sundays where this benefit doesn’t apply.

Monitor Reservation Availability

Plans change frequently during the holidays. Check the Theme Park Reservation Availability Calendar for cancellations that might open up opportunities to secure a spot.

Christmas at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Discuss on the Forums

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TheMaxRebo18 hours ago

The 7am can still go really fast and definitely not guaranteed but the 1pm one usually is open for quite a while Other then when they forget to do it I rarely hear of anyone shut out of the 1pm nowadays for Guardians, etc

TheMaxRebo18 hours ago

As long as it is a near certainty you get one as long as you are even remotely aware of it/the system I am fine with it and in some ways prefer it - which is how it is for things like Guardians now When Rise first opened and the VQ was done at 6am and you had to be in the park and it did feel like a true lottery and lots of people didn't get one, then I was not a fan

Fido Chuckwagon1 day ago

Yeah, I guarantee he didnt have a VQ at all. Even if they were “enforcing” they probably would have backed down if he had a VQ and missed it for whatever reason.

Starship8242 days ago

You can always try the 1 PM drop, it's almost always easier to get.

Cliff2 days ago

Wow,...for me, when I do get denied, it's usually really fast...no joke 3-5 seconds tops. I have two phones and I use the app on Version and AT&T (iPhone and S23 Ultra) Seems to be no difference. Strange. Again, my last try was Feb 2024 and it goes backwards from there (2023 all the way to first app roll-out) I'm always on International Drive and always on Saturday and Sunday mornings (never on week days) and I have maybe had a 1 out of 5 success rate over the years? I dunno, maybe my hit rate is an unlucky statistical outlier number that is not normal? There were many days when I was at Epcot and tried to ride Guardians but struck out on the 7am lottery but was determined to NOT pay extra to ride it. Fascinating...

Mr. Sullivan2 days ago

Just because you didn’t get a boarding group doesn’t make it a scam. It’s you vs. on average 45,000 other people. Not to mention the phones and wifi connections and all that play a part in it. Those odds aren’t always going to be in your favor. It’s just the way it is. I personally rather enjoy VQ. I wouldn’t be gutted if it went away, but it’s an easy system to make use of when you’ve taken the time to understand the quirks and particulars.

THEMEPARKPIONEER2 days ago

It would be a disaster or the shell size would have to be compromised, I’m used to here on Long Island they’ll launch large fireworks 100 feet from the crowd 😂😂😂😂

brideck2 days ago

I will say that it's pretty dependent on the responsiveness of your phone. On my old phone, the VQ refresh button came back promptly, so I was my group's designated VQ getter -- I would routinely get single-digit boarding party numbers at the 7 AM drop. My new phone is actually a little less responsive, so I can't reliably get through the refresh sequence in a timely manner, but other people in my group can, so we use their phones now instead. Try different phones ahead of time, see which one is the quickest to refresh, and stick with that.

networkpro2 days ago

They use to be geo location and turnstile locked, but now it's just limited to park reservation .

bmr15912 days ago

Nope. I consistently get them sitting on an airplane in New Orleans about to fly down.

Cliff2 days ago

Does VQ capture your GPS location and weight your lottery shot based on if you are staying inside the park or not? I never stay in the parks, I'm always out on International Drive. When refreshing, does the app favor certain hotels inside the property? How can 80 boarding groups be filled instantly on a constant basis at 7:00 & 3 seconds? It only takes less 3 seconds to fill 80 groups? Question for others: When staying "outside" the parks, are your VQ attempts also immediately rejected at the stroke of 7:00am? (on a regular basis)

JMcMahonEsq2 days ago

How stupid do you have to be to not be able to click a button on an app? 10-20 VQ seats? You realize with every VQ going back to Rise, each day there are usually at least 80 boarding group, with each boarding group being full of people that managed to work their phone and get into the VQ. I mean your either just talking out your butt, or purposefully being stupid as to how VQ works

DisneyFanatic122 days ago

I need to get out to Tokyo Disneyland! I’ll make it there someday, heard so many good things about it and they got Splash which is awesome. As for VQs in 2024, they went up and down in terms of availability, but I even snagged a few GotG VQs at 7/8pm (from the 1pm drop)! I refuse to buy Genie+, so VQs are the closest I’ll get to “skipping the line” nowadays

Cliff2 days ago

I don't know the metrics but I think they vary by ride and by park attendance (or expected attendance). In the past, I have tried to get Tron maybe 7 or 8 times and I hit it once in the morning. I have tried Guardians maybe 15 times and I have gotten a total of 2 morning lottery hits and 1 afternoon hit. Of all the virtual que's I have ever tried,...I dunno, 90% were failures only 3 seconds of availability. Granted, I stopped going to WDW as of Feb of 2024. So I can't speak for almost all of 2024. Maybe Virtual Que was MUCH better in 2024 then before that time. My entire 2024 WDW budget went to Tokyo Disneyland & Disney Seas this year. (I flew there specifically to ride "Splash Mountain" again) My entire 2025 WDW annual pass and hotel/food budget has now moved to Universal for the first time ever. So,..no WDW for me in 2025. (No reservations, no lightning lane, no virtual ques, no more headache) and I think I'm back to Tokyo in 2026 because I had so much fun in "their" Disney! (I think it's cheaper too! Single day park ticket is $65 dollars and those parks are stunning)