Over the past five years, Disney World has not only opened up new lands and attractions, but increased fees and removed perks that were once free or included. Disney starts this fee when it starts charging its resort hotel self-parking guests in 2018. The free one-time Magical Express bus to and from the airport for Disney resort guests was shut down at the end of 2020. Additionally, the free FastPass made Disney history when Disney Genie+ launched late. 2020.
Today, however, Disney surprised guests by eliminating not one but two fees. While this isn’t a return to “the way things used to be”, it’s a positive start with some additional sparks for the future.
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Free parking again for Disney resort hotels
Effective January 10, guests of the Disney World Hotel there will no longer be a charge for overnight self parking. Disney World hotel guests will continue to receive free parking at Disney’s four theme parks, a policy that was in place prior to this change.
Previously, guests had to pay a different nightly fee as specified by the resort. Self-parking used to cost $15 per car per night at value resorts, $20 at moderate resorts, and $25 at luxury resorts.
The list of reasons to stay at Disney properties is growing. In addition to being able to park for free, those who choose to stay at a Disney resort hotel can enter the park 30 minutes early, purchase a personal Lightning Lane ticket at 7 a.m. (instead of when the park opens), and stay later. choose night (for luxury resort guests only),
Featured photos are now free with Disney Genie+
There are over a dozen park attractions – including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Slinky Dog Dash and Frozen Ever After — snap a fun photo of you during your trip. Unfortunately, the only way to access car photos is to purchase each photo individually or purchase Memory Maker for unlimited photo downloads during your vacation.
Of course, both options come with a fee that can add $100 to the cost of your Disney World stay.
For example, Memory Maker has a flat fee of $169 for pre-purchase or $199 for purchase during or after your holiday. However, that includes photos along the way and those taken by Disney PhotoPass photographers throughout the parks.
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However, all of that will change over the next few months (exact dates have yet to be announced). Soon after, customers who buy Disney Genie+ Service to skip the queues on their Disney World trip will also have access to free digital downloads of all the photos taken during the trip for each day they purchase Genie+.
We agree that this means we can take home a free digital download of our screaming face on Tron Lightcycle / Run when it opens on April 4th.
Disney World’s annual passerby can soon enter the park without a reservation
Disney also announced that over the next few months, Walt Disney World’s annual passersby will be able to enter any of Disney’s four theme parks after 2 p.m. without registration. theme park reservations (except Saturday and Sunday at The Magic Kingdom).
An exact date will be announced soon.
Disneyland is changing too
It’s not just Disney World making changes that can save you money and improve your visit.
While the ability to visit multiple parks in one day with a Park Hopper ticket unfortunately hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic normal, it’s only one step closer to the west.
Starting February 4, Disneyland visitors with eligible tickets will be allowed to park starting at 11 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. Meanwhile, at Disney World, the parking time is still stuck, currently 2pm
In addition, at Disneyland, PhotoPass will now be made available to all visitors as part of that park’s Disney100 celebration. This means that the next scene where you scream on Space Mountain won’t cost anything extra to enjoy. There’s no fixed end date for the Disney100 celebration and this promotion, but our best guess is that it will at least last through 2023. Previously, PhotoPass came with a purchase. Genie+ at Disneyland.
Disney also announced that Disneyland’s annual tickets, called Magic Keys, will go on sale at different times of the year as inventory permits. The park is also increasing the number of days available each year with ticket prices as low as $104.
Related: This is the place to stay at Disneyland
A blip ‘bibbidi bobbidi’ or a change of course?
The removal of parking fees at Disney resort hotels is good news, as are several other factors in today’s announcement. The two-hour park move at Disneyland, for example, is at least a hopeful sign for a more normal future.
However, you generally still need a reservation to enter the park, and you can’t change parks until 2pm at Disney World. Not to mention, Genie+ has only increased in price in recent weeks. The $15-25-a-night reduction in parking fees at resort hotels hardly makes up for all the additional fees and price increases in recent years.
Is today’s flurry of good news a ‘bibbidi bobbidi’ hit on the larger Disney Parks route? Or, is this the moment when the tides are starting to shift, at least a little, away from the extra fees and complexities of a Disney theme park vacation?
We definitely wish one star for the latter.
Read on for more tips to help plan your next Disney vacation:
