In your opinion, Do you think annual passes are coming back this month? Any intel out there?

[74Kilos]

They may read these boards, but truth is these boards represent, for the most part, careful planners that are already going anyway, or Disney fanatics. We may feel like they should take us into consideration, but the amount of extra money they can make by not offering the old AP program is much, much greater than the amount they’ll lose by some frustrated regulars deciding to forego a discounted trip.

I would imagine, while membership here is relatively robust, it barely moves the needle and could hardly serve as a bellwether for large scale strategic decision making. And with all the IP they've acquired over the past 10 or so years with Pixar, star wars, marvel the average guest likely already looks much different from 15 years ago.

 

[Jrb1979]

Any thoughts on whether the recently announced Florida-resident Weekday Magic tickets are an effort to steer locals into a different direction? i.e., don't offer APs (or charge a lot more for them) and then offer discounted tickets for weekdays. I'm guessing there will still be plenty of negative comments about this offering since most people work during the week, so they won't consider the discounted tickets to be useful to them. Plus, it appears that these tickets would average out to getting somewhere around a few week's worth of admissions for about the same cost as an AP.

They always have a FL resident deal for three to four days around now -- it brought folks during the slow times -- now that they came out with a weekday only deal, it sort of feels like they have too many passholders visiting on the weekends so they do not want to sell any tickets that allow SAT and SUN entry. If you look at it that way it would say that APs won't be returning for awhile. In Disney's defense they did say AP sales would be limited.

 

[Kazi7]

Another waiting for APs to come back. We still have active ones, but cannot renew until 2 months before they expire which is 1 month before our trip. Was hoping to get park passes long before that. May have to purchase regular tickets and convert when we can renew.
I don't expect to see APs come back for a few months. As long as attendance continue at its current level, they don't need to release APs.

My Gold pass expires in late April 2022 and I plan to renew to the Sorcerer's pass. We have a trip scheduled for early June 2022. When I talked to guest services last fall, I was told that I can renew my pass earlier than normal so that I may make park reservations. I was planning on renewing soon. I hope the info I was given is correct.

 

[Dis Dragon]

Get ready for a major price hike on the next release of AP sales. The artificial scarcity they're making is a great excuse to keep raising prices and since we don't know how long that sales window will be open people will be a lot less likely to hesitate on pulling the trigger.

 

[bbeagle]

Get ready for a major price hike on the next release of AP sales. The artificial scarcity they're making is a great excuse to keep raising prices and since we don't know how long that sales window will be open people will be a lot less likely to hesitate on pulling the trigger.

Yes, Disney is creating an 'artificial scarcity' because of a REAL problem with attendance being too high.

Disney's priority should be customers who book hotel rooms/DVC with them or take once in a lifetime or once every 5 year trips. Disney should not prioritize those whose entry price to the park turns into $10/trip as they go so often. Unfortunately, that should be discouraged unless the park can handle the crowds. It looks like they are doing exactly that with passes not valid on weekends and Christmas week, etc.

 

[CalifLynn]

I'd be happy if I could even buy a pass that was only valid on weekdays, or the lowest FL resident one...just did a Monday-Thursday trip and hoping for another trip in May. I'm only one state away from Florida, probably closer than some people who actually live in FL.

 

[Dis Dragon]

Yes, Disney is creating an 'artificial scarcity' because of a REAL problem with attendance being too high.

Disney's priority should be customers who book hotel rooms/DVC with them or take once in a lifetime or once every 5 year trips. Disney should not prioritize those whose entry price to the park turns into $10/trip as they go so often. Unfortunately, that should be discouraged unless the park can handle the crowds. It looks like they are doing exactly that with passes not valid on weekends and Christmas week, etc.

Understandable, also understandable - our family would be once a year because of ticket prices without AP, and no spending the extra 7-10k dollars every time on three trips a year because of AP. We stay on property, do an ADR at least once a day , and the enticement of lower gate prices every time we go is a hook to keep going back. I get they're trying to find a median between the "locals" crowding the park vs income, but it's a two edged sword for the out of state holders.

 

[Leight19]

Yes, Disney is creating an 'artificial scarcity' because of a REAL problem with attendance being too high.

Disney's priority should be customers who book hotel rooms/DVC with them or take once in a lifetime or once every 5 year trips. Disney should not prioritize those whose entry price to the park turns into $10/trip as they go so often. Unfortunately, that should be discouraged unless the park can handle the crowds. It looks like they are doing exactly that with passes not valid on weekends and Christmas week, etc.

What about those of us who spent $50k on dvc and were going to spend another $30k on new GFV this year but now will do something else with money? Without annual passes we have plenty of points for my family if only doing one trip a year so prioritizing day guests over AP backfired for Disney for our spending. The argument of disney not wanting locals coming for $10 a day costing them money also doesn’t hold up since locals are the only ones who can still get AP (and the cheapest option for AP at that).

The lack of AP could be explained by lack of availability in holidays but that should only explain top tier and if they don’t come back soon it’s just another calculated move to milk more money out of people who committed to trips months ago. To me the fact Disney told people for months to wait until on site to upgrade to AP in order to keep park passes and then cut AP sales at the most expensive day ticket time of year is bait and switch/ fraud.

 

[bbeagle]

What about those of us who spent $50k on dvc and were going to spend another $30k on new GFV this year but now will do something else with money? Without annual passes we have plenty of points for my family if only doing one trip a year so prioritizing day guests over AP backfired for Disney for our spending. The argument of disney not wanting locals coming for $10 a day costing them money also doesn’t hold up since locals are the only ones who can still get AP (and the cheapest option for AP at that).

What Disney really should do is include free passes for any day you’re at your DVC. Or allow any out of state DVC the same access to annual passes.

I have never understood such cheap annual passes for locals. All parks seem to do it. We had a park here locally where admission was $25. An annual pass was $50. Only 2 visits?!?!? And then they offered a crazy unlimited dining plan for $100 a year. a lunch, a dinner and a snack. And unlimited soft drinks. Well, guess what? That park became a babysitter all summer for local kids. The park took in a one time $150 from each kid, who was then there all day every day for 90 days straight. Park was packed, other visitors didn’t like it, park lost money as every kid just ate the food and never bought anything else. Park went bankrupt after year 2 of this.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Disney screwed up royally by selling annual passes while trying to keep a park reservation system that lets them not keep the implied promise that comes with an annual pass. The lawsuit in California has real teeth. I’m sure they suspended the program while they figure out what to do. I don’t think the current system of selling annual passes that advertise no blackout dates while effectively having blackout dates becuase of their stupid park pass system is tenable legally. This is doubly true because of their separate “pools” of reservations. The fact that the park wasn’t truly sold out when they blocked AP’s in California from getting reservations is absolutely going to bite them in the rear end. I don’t know who their in-house counsel is, but they screwed up.