If you’re planning a trip to Disney World during these dates in 2022, you’ll DEFINITELY want to plan ahead!

When the Disney World parks reopened following the 2020 closure, they introduced the Disney Park Pass Reservation System. With this new process, all guests are now required to make a reservation for their park of choice each day in order to get in. Now that the reservation system has been in place for nearly two years, we’ve got a pretty good idea of which dates are especially likely to sell out…so be sure to plan accordingly!

Okay, before we dive into the actual dates themselves, let’s pause for a small — but important — note. Keep in mind that since guests are making passes for individual parks, not Disney World as a whole, some parks are likely to have their reservations filled up more quickly than others.

In general, the two parks that have most commonly run out of Park Pass reservations first are Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. By comparison, EPCOT and Disney’s Animal Kingdom have tended to sell out less quickly. BUT, those trends are subject to change (more on that later), so once you have your vacay dates nailed down be sure to jump on all of your Park Pass reservations ASAP!

Now without further ado, let’s dive into those super coveted dates for Disney World Park Pass reservations!

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Holidays

As long-time Disney World fans may know, holidays have historically meant a big rush of guests in the parks. And now that the Park Pass System is in place, that also means reservations can be harder to snag!

If you have plans to travel to Disney World during any major holiday seasons in 2022 like the 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years, you’ll definitely want to grab your Park Pass reservations as soon as your trip dates are confirmed, as they’re likely to start filling up!

But the major holidays aren’t the only ones to look out for! Don’t forget to check the calendar for any smaller holidays too, especially ones that include a long weekend like Memorial Day and Labor Day, since lots of guests tend to take advantage of traveling during those dates as well!

If you’re planning to travel to Disney World around any holidays this year, large or small, make your park reservations SUPER early to ensure you get them locked down before they start to fill up!

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School Breaks

Just like lots of guests try to tie their trips into their time off from work, it’s also a popular strategy to plan a vacation during a time when the kids are out of school! The two school breaks that tend to have the biggest impact on crowds and Park Pass availability are Spring Break and Summer Break.

The Spring Break crowds have already descended on Disney World this year, and based on previous years, we can expect them to stick around through late April. Which means last-minute Park Pass availability will probably be pretty tough to come by for at least the next few weeks!

Summer Break season lasts a little bit longer than Spring Break season, which means the availability can be more hit-or-miss with people choosing to visit any time from early June to late August.

With that in mind, you’ll still want to snag those reservations ASAP to make sure you don’t get shut out of the parks by a wave of Summer Break crowds!

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Special Events

Now that we’ve covered official holidays and school breaks, let’s talk about Disney World special events that are likely to impact Park Pass availability!

And let’s start with one that we’re SUPER familiar with!

EPCOT Festivals

With the Flower & Garden Festival running from now through July 4th and the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival likely starting shortly after, it’s true that there’s alllllmost always a festival happening in EPCOT. But there are certain festival dates that can have a bigger impact on Park Pass availability!

If you plan to visit during the first day of an EPCOT festival, you may find Park Passes harder to snag, since lots of people like to be the first to experience an event!

And since lots of local guests like to visit the festivals during the weekend, you may find EPCOT is harder to find a Park Pass for on Saturdays and Sundays, especially if you’re using an Annual Pass like many other locals!

runDisney Races

Another popular event series that can draw out literally thousands of extra guests are runDisney races.

This year, the Springtime Surprise Weekend is set to take place from March 31st through April 3rd, 2022…

…and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend is scheduled for November 3rd-6th, 2022.

With so many people coming out to participate in the races, the Park Pass reservations are likely to fill up both during the weekend itself and the surrounding dates!

Grand Openings

Who doesn’t love a new Disney attraction?? Any time a new ride debuts, it tends to see a TON of immediate interest from guests.

And there’s one exciting new ride that’s set to open in EPCOT soon (remember how we said at the beginning that it might not continue to be one of the easier Park Pass reservations to snag?). The new Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster is currently scheduled to open May 27, 2022!

Some pass availability is already filling up for this time, so snag your pass if you are planning to ride this attraction on its opening day.

Another MAJOR new ride that’s being constructed in Disney World is TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom.

Disney hasn’t announced an opening timeline for this one yet (although we have spotted some testing), so no official word on whether this ride will open in 2022. But whenever an opening date is given, we’d be willing to bet that Magic Kingdom Park Passes will be booked up almost instantly for the opening and its surrounding dates!

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With the introduction of the Disney Park Pass System, planning ahead for your Disney World vacation is more important than ever. If you plan to travel during these popular times of the year in 2022, be sure to grab your Park Passes ASAP before the reservations fill up!

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Do you plan to visit Disney World during any of these times in 2022? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Hardest Dates to Get a Disney World Park Pass Reservation in 2022 first appeared on the disney food blog.