Today during the Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference, Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke about the theme parks. He praised the Park Pass reservation system instituted by the domestic parks upon reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As he has mentioned before, the company saw the temporary closures as an opportunity to “reconceive the guest experience and increase return to the shareholders.” Chapek considers the reservation system the “backbone” of the operations and praised the increased yield it has produced.
While the reservations themselves do not turn over a profit, they allow the company to better allocate resources. By requiring every guest to have reservations, including Annual Passholders, Disney can know precisely how many people will be in each park each day. They use this information for a myriad of things, from Cast Member scheduling to food and beverage stock. With the “right mix of guests in the park,” Chapek said (referring to the mix of Passholders, Resort guests, and regular ticketed guests(, they can “control demand.”
Chapek specifically mentioned Passholder programs, noting that by rebooting the programs at both domestic parks to incorporate reservations, it allows them to know “who comes on what day.”
As Chapek has confirmed before, the Park Pass reservation system is here to stay.
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