Hello Mary Ann! I love planning Disney Dining experiences about as much as I love planning visits to the Disney Parks!
Guests with
Disney Dining reservations, in one of the Disney Parks, must have a valid theme park ticket and a
Disney Park Pass reservation in order to enter the park. However, it is not necessary to make an extra Disney Park Pass reservation in order to attend your dining experience. For example, if you have a dinner reservation at Crystal Palace, in Magic Kingdom Park, you can spend your day at Magic Kingdom Park, then head back to your hotel for an afternoon break, and still return to Magic Kingdom Park later that evening for your dining reservation (and to enjoy more park attractions)! You don’t need an extra Disney Park Pass to return to the park. Your Disney Park Pass is good from park open to park close!
The Walt Disney World Resort recommends that Guests with
Park Hopper tickets who want to make Disney Dining reservations in a theme park, do so in the theme park for which they have an assigned Disney Park Pass reservation. While you can make dining reservations for a park to which you plan on hopping, you won’t be guaranteed access to the dining experience if the park reaches capacity. Remember, at the present time Guests with Park Hopper tickets only make a Disney Park Pass reservation for the first park they plan on visiting.
Happy dining, Mary Ann! Don’t forget that you can make advanced Disney Dining reservations 60-days prior to your vacation arrival date!
Hakuna Matata! Jonathan