Hi Carmen,
Thank you for stopping by planDisney with your question! I am happy to talk with you about purchasing tickets for the Walt Disney World theme park and the theme park reservation system.
When you are
purchasing tickets for the Walt Disney World theme parks, you will go through a series of steps to purchase the correct ticket for how you want to experience your Walt Disney World vacation. You will be guided to select the number of days that you want to visit the Walt Disney World theme parks, as well as the start date for those tickets. You will also be asked if you want to purchase certain extras such as the
Park Hopper Option that will allow you to move from theme park to theme park on any given day, pending availability. If you wish to visit only
Magic Kingdom, you would be fine to purchase the Standard Theme Park Ticket with no additional options. This would allow you to visit one theme park per day of your Walt Disney World vacation.
As you go through this process, the website will prompt you to check if there are
theme park reservations available for the days you wish to visit at the theme parks you wish to visit. It is a good idea to check this first to be sure that you can head into the theme park that you want to each day!
Yes, you will need to make theme park reservations for each day you plan to visit a Walt Disney World theme park, even if you are a guest of a
Walt Disney World resort hotel. The only exception to this is if you made a 1-day ticket purchase. If you do this, the ticket purchase system will prompt you to indicate which theme park you wish to attend for your day, and will make the theme park reservation for you. Other than that, yes, you will need to make theme park reservations for each day to wish to visit a theme park.
So while yes, Walt Disney World resort hotel guests do need to make theme park reservations, do not forget that there are many other
benefits to staying at a Walt Disney World resort hotel. These include extended time in the theme parks with access to every theme park 30 minutes early every day! These extra 30 minutes are a great way to get a jump start to your day. You would be amazed how much of a benefit even just 30 extra minutes in a theme park can be when it comes to experiencing popular attractions.
I hope that this information is helpful for you, Carmen. Have a wonderful time planning your magical vacation, and please do feel free to come back to planDisney with any further questions.
~ Mona Leigh