A happy Disney-day to you, Marion! Welcome to planDisney! I would be happy to help you prepare for your May vacation! You've picked such a nice time to visit!
Your first question is a great one! It is a good idea to check theme park availability prior to booking a hotel and ticket package! To check park availability you will go to the
Disney Park Pass System Reservation Calendar on the Walt Disney World Resort website! This easy to use color-coded calendar will let you know which parks are booked and which parks have availability! Green means that all parks are available, yellow means that some parks are available, and gray is a color we don't get excited about because that means that there is no park availability. You simply click on a date on the calendar and you will see the specific parks listed below the calendar for that date! At the current time, Guests are not required to make Disney Park Pass reservations for Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park. You only need to make reservations for the four main theme parks!
Marion, when planning a visit to the Most Magical Place on Earth, I want to be fully immersed in the magic! I always stay at a
Disney Resorts Collection hotel! By staying on property I am within proximity to all of the theme parks. I can also rely on complimentary Disney Transportation to get me to all the places that I want to visit including the theme parks, Disney Dining locations, Disney Springs, and Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park! I also really enjoy having the occasional encounter with one of my favorite Disney characters which will only happen at a hotel in the Disney Resorts Collection!
To wrap up this answer to all of your planning questions, Guests are no longer required to wear a MagicBand during their Walt Disney World Resort vacations. For this reason, MagicBands are no longer complimentary with a Disney Resort vacation package. Guests are permitted to use a MagicBand from a previous visit or they can purchase a MagicBand. I still like MagicBands, so I purchase mine from
shopDisney.com or shop for a discounted band from the
My Disney Experience account after I book a vacation package. Guests can also receive a complimentary Key to the World Card from the front desk of their Walt Disney World Resort Hotel. This card will carry much of the functionality of a MagicBand. Finally, the Walt Disney World Resort is just beginning to introduce a new feature for mobile devices called
MagicMobile! This feature can be used for the same functionality of a MagicBand! More information will be coming soon!
I hope this information gets you a few steps closer to preparing for your May visit!
Hakuna Matata! Jonathan