The Current Disneyland Annual Pass Program Has Been Cancelled

[theluckyrabbit]

It doesn't. It prevents me from wearing a necklace that claims I have an AP. How did my post insinuate that not having an AP would prevent me from going?

Your post was clear to me. It would make me sad to wear an AP necklace right now. Maybe later it would bring back good memories, but not now.

 

[Mike_M]

Your post was clear to me. It would make me sad to wear an AP necklace right now. Maybe later it would bring back good memories, but not now.

I’ve held a DL AP twice in my life, my last one expired in feb of 2020. I now look back on that as something I’m grateful to have experienced.

I’m sure there will be some program in the future that restores that kind of access again. I just can’t imagine that they wouldn’t.

 

[tippity]

It doesn't. It prevents me from wearing a necklace that claims I have an AP. How did my post insinuate that not having an AP would prevent me from going?

Thanks for the clarification. You didn't explain that necklace said you were an AP member. I will bet that one day that necklace will be worth a lot of money, kind of like the old Ticket Books!

 

[tippity]

I LOVED my annual pass. It was a big part of my life. I understand the cancelation had to happen, but I am NOT happy with the message. If Disney doesnt know yet what will replace the AP, they should have said something to us AP holders to make us hopeful of a return to normalcy once they are allowed 100% capacity. The message I got from them is, the AP is not coming back in ANY WAY YOU REMEMBER IT and that’s a huge blow to people who live by the magic and were raised having Disney be part of their daily lives. I hope my assumptions are wrong.

My speculation is that AP's are not coming back. COVID has provided Disney with a perfect excuse to scrap the program. Maybe Disney's new membership will offer discounts on daily admission, but unlimited admission excluding blackouts is not going to return.
It will be interesting to see what the parks are like on slower days without AP's. I don't think it will transform the parks into ghost towns, since there are plenty of tourists year round.

I wonder if the DL will continue doing the holiday overlays on HM and IASW. The overlays were never implemented at WDW since most of their guests were out of towners and the attractions were shut down for long periods of time ( according to Jim Hill) . I have to think the same would be true for DL, if locals aren't able to visit as frequently as they once did.

I also doubt FP+ will return to WDW.

 

[helenb]

What about the Premier pass that includes WDW AND DL? Is that one being cancelled too?

 

[Mike_M]

What about the Premier pass that includes WDW AND DL? Is that one being cancelled too?

Thought I read somewhere that anyone with that one would be able to convert it to a WDW AP since that program is still running.

 

[midnight star]

What about the Premier pass that includes WDW AND DL? Is that one being cancelled too?

I believe it is ending on 3/31/21, and people will have the option to renew to a WDW-only pass.

 

[KPeterso]

What about the Premier pass that includes WDW AND DL? Is that one being cancelled too?

Premier Passholder here. All Premier passes will be expiring on 3/31. They have been extending them all this time, so most have gotten a lot of extra days (mine will have been good over 2 years when it expires 3/31). Premier passholders will have the option of renewing their passes to a WDW only pass only. I called earlier this week about my pass still showing a 2/6 end date and was told to give it a couple more days and then call back if not updated, but yesterday the pass now showed extended 3/31. They also took my information to have DVC call me so I can renew at the DVC Gold Pass renewal rate since I own DVC. I still have not heard back on that, but I have time to call DVC before the pass expires now.

 

[lily_belle]

Long term lurker here! I have received so much great advice & tips from these boards over the years so I thought I would pay it forward and post about my experience calling the AP line about my annual pass.

I've moved since I bought mine and my Mom's pass so I wanted to update my address just in case there were issues with the CC I used. Someone answered right away (so shocked I didn't have to be on hold!) and she looked up our passes, updated the address for both and then let me know how much each one of us would be getting back and she processed it right then. Not sure what that means as it still hasn't shown up on my CC. She was so nice and helpful though. For a bit more info - we upgraded our 5 day PH tickets to the Flex Pass in December 2019, used it the remainder of the trip then never got to use it again and we are receiving $527.50 back on each our passes. We had trips book for May 2020 and September 2020. I'm sad my first experience being an annual passholder was cut short but anxious to see what the new plans will be! We are just going to tuck our refunds away until we see what those are.

Hope this helps anyone else that's wondering about how it's all going to work.

 

[Evita_W]

I just got a survey about potential new offerings, it looks like there is always an option without blackout dates, but they are offering incentives to get one with blackout dates. Also talk of eliminating monthly payments and prices ranged from $399-$1,299 and even had a $399 option without blackout dates, but did not include parking.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I just got a survey about potential new offerings, it looks like there is always an option without blackout dates, but they are offering incentives to get one with blackout dates. Also talk of eliminating monthly payments and prices ranged from $399-$1,299 and even had a $399 option without blackout dates, but did not include parking.

Oh man I hope I get this survey. I always find the questions fascinating.

 

[Chickinvic]

I do get your point there. My hope as well is that some kind of balance can be found that preserves the spontaneity. I absolutely do not want FP+ or a permanent reservation system though.

I actually had the opposite experience over the last decade which is driving my perspective. I had some of the best trips of my life during the 2010’s. A big part of that I think was swapping my trips to mostly happen during the historically down periods. Avoiding summer, holidays, and other peak periods became my norm. I was even able to squeeze in an unplanned afternoon at Knott’s on one of them which I hadn’t done since I was a kid, due to lucky timing and significantly light crowds throughout OC.

We’ll see what happens.

I've never gone during the traditional "peak" times (well, not since the 80s anyways), and I've found the experience has gone downhill tremendously. Much worse crowds at times that typically would have been slower.

 

[StormyCA]

I just got a survey about potential new offerings, it looks like there is always an option without blackout dates, but they are offering incentives to get one with blackout dates. Also talk of eliminating monthly payments and prices ranged from $399-$1,299 and even had a $399 option without blackout dates, but did not include parking.

$399 with no blackouts? That's interesting. I wonder if that would be similar to the FlexPass, no blackouts but by reservation only.

 

[Dr. G]

I wonder how many days are included in a $399 no blackout option--probably not very many. I'd think it would have to be less than what one would get with the prior Parkhopper at that price or more.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

I'm from SoCal and have had a premium or premier pass to DL since 1999- as soon as I was old enough to get one. Disneyland in Southern California is a lifestyle. There is no dollar amount high enough that locals will not justify if you allow payment options. The higher you price it, the more obligated we feel to go to "get the money's worth". Those who truly can't pivot to Knotts and/or Magic Mountain APs but that's not due to a preference over Disneyland.

The AP program exploded in the late 2000s. No matter how much they raised the prices, folks paid. The consequences of the payment system became clear and overcrowding was the norm. My now out of state family switched to Premier and spent most trips in Orlando because being shoulder to shoulder or waiting 30 minutes for a corn dog isnt that fun it turns out.

I'm so sorry for all the young adults, families and seniors who use this as their a big source of entertainment. My 65yo uncle is transformed to a kid when he goes after work. As sad as it is, on top of a year of disappointments and cancellations, there must certainly be a way forward that meets the needs of both out of town visitors and locals, who are dedicated brand ambassadors everyday. Then again, there is the real possibility that Disney wants it 100% capacity at the highest possible margin and they've just figured out how to do it. As a shareholder, that's great, but as a parkgoer, I'll see you at WDW.

 

[Epicnemesis]

I just got a survey about potential new offerings, it looks like there is always an option without blackout dates, but they are offering incentives to get one with blackout dates. Also talk of eliminating monthly payments and prices ranged from $399-$1,299 and even had a $399 option without blackout dates, but did not include parking.

Hey! Don’t leave us hanging! More details! Bonus points for screenshots.

 

[MonocularVision]

Just got an email:

Subject: Your refund has been processed

Dear Annual Passholder, Thank you for your understanding as we work through this incredibly challenging and unprecedented time. Your pro rata refund has been processed to the credit card used to purchase your Annual Passport, or the most recent credit card used for payment towards your Passport, as applicable, but it can take approximately 7 to 10 business days to receive. This timeframe may vary from one financial institution to another. For more information on Annual Passport refunds, please visit Disneyland.com/PassportRefund. We encourage you to stay connected with the Disneyland Annual Passholders Facebook page as we plan to continue our Annual Passport communication and digital content with more special opportunities to come, until new membership offerings are announced. Again, thank you for your loyalty over the years and your continued support. Disneyland Resort Annual Passport Team​

Just checked my CC recent transactions and still don’t see anything, but they do mention it could take a few days.

 

[DLgal]

I wonder how many days are included in a $399 no blackout option--probably not very many. I'd think it would have to be less than what one would get with the prior Parkhopper at that price or more.

Well, it doesn't seem too far fetched. The Flex pass was around $600 but included a significant number of "good to go days." The other days required a reservation. I can see a $399 option with NO good to go days, and reservations required 365 days per year, with a max of either one or 2 reservations to be held at one time, within a 30 day window.

What I am surprised about is the highest price option being only $1299. That's not bad at all!

 

[BilboWaggins]

I wonder how many days are included in a $399 no blackout option--probably not very many. I'd think it would have to be less than what one would get with the prior Parkhopper at that price or more.

Well, the Flex Pass allowed 2 Reservations at a time, and it was last priced at $649. Perhaps a $399 pass would limit it to 1 at a time, although even that is a pretty good deal, all things considered. Perhaps it would eliminate the "Good To Go" days, which would make it difficult to guarantee yourself entrance on consecutive days.

 

[Evita_W]

$399 with no blackouts? That's interesting. I wonder if that would be similar to the FlexPass, no blackouts but by reservation only.

All options were reservations only, some options had the ability to make 2, 4 or 6 "Anytime Reservations" per year where you could make a reservation even if there were no reservations available for that date. Some of the options with blackout dates included blackout dates, there were varying levels of discounts, rewards programs, bring a friend tickets, some including free parking, some discounted park, some no parking option at all. There really were a lot of options they were looking at and were asking if you would still buy with no monthly payment option.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any screen shots (should have though), but here are some of the choices as I recall them:

• 1-5 day tickets
  • Up to 6 months to use, some with park hopping
• Passports
  • Option 1 - $1,199
    • Reservations up to 90 days in advance
    • Up to 6 reservations at a time
    • No "Anytime" reservations
    • No blackout dates
    • 10% discount on food and merchandise
    • No bring a friend ticket
    • Parking included
    • Photopass included
    • Option 1B - $399
      • Reservations up to 30 days in advance
      • Up to 2 reservations at a time
      • No Photopass
      • No Parking
      • Everything else was the same
  • Option 2 - $1,399
    • Reservations 60 days in advance
    • Up to 6 reservations at a time
    • Blackout dates - Holiday periods, one month in summer and some weekends
    • 6 Blackout date tickets per year
    • 4 "Anytime Reservations" per year
    • 50% off 2 tickets for friends/family per year
    • 50% Parking discount
    • 20% off food and merchandise
    • Includes:
      • Maxpass
      • Photopass
      • Dedicated entrance
      • Rewards program
  • Option 3 - $799
    • Reservations 30 days in advance
    • More blackout dates, particularly in summer
    • 2 Blackout date tickets per year
    • 2 "Anytime Reservations" per year
    • 25% off 2 tickets for friends/family per year
    • 30% off food and merchandise
    • Includes:
      • Parking
      • Maxpass
      • Photopass
      • Dedicated entrance
      • Rewards program

There was also all sorts of other mix and matching if benefits and pricing options, but it was quite clear, ALL pass levels required reservations and as near as I could tell there were absolutely NO "good to go" days at any pass level.