Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[DGsAtBLT]

The ironic part is there are some people that are traveling to get vaccinated adn have a vacation. Anecdotal but I personally know a few Canadian snowbirds that flew down to Florida from Canada and got vaccinated.

Yeah, we no longer claim them. Keep ‘em!

(These people traveling like this are noteworthy, to the point that the snowbirds who insisted on going were interviewed by major news outlets.)

 

[rpb718]

I swear, it's like we are getting the entire contents of what could have been a 10-year plan all at once. As if someone corporate said "Where do we want to be in 10 years and what do we want to continue to offer?" and they made a list with plans on how to incrementally implement. Then they through the plans away, said "Sorry folks - COVID" and did it now.

Not sure how to take the dropping the whole AP thing in CA with wording that something different would take it's place in the future. They could have said they were offering refunds for all outstanding and suspending selling APs until a later date. If they wanted to redo tiers they could easily do that while it remains APs. Be interesting what they replace it with and what it's called. I can't see how they could even think of doing something similar at WDW, but if the past year is any indication nothing is off the table.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1349832368329113601

"We want to thank Disneyland passholders for their understanding .... "

Disneyland passholders: well that is presumptive of you

 

[hereforthechurros]

I swear, it's like we are getting the entire contents of what could have been a 10-year plan all at once. As if someone corporate said "Where do we want to be in 10 years and what do we want to continue to offer?" and they made a list with plans on how to incrementally implement. Then they through the plans away, said "Sorry folks - COVID" and did it now.

Not sure how to take the dropping the whole AP thing in CA with wording that something different would take it's place in the future. They could have said they were offering refunds for all outstanding and suspending selling APs until a later date. If they wanted to redo tiers they could easily do that while it remains APs. Be interesting what they replace it with and what it's called. I can't see how they could even think of doing something similar at WDW, but if the past year is any indication nothing is off the table.

I feel like andyman warned us of such at some point last year.

 

[osufeth24]

I really hope this doesn't come to FL

While I didn't move to Orlando because of Disney, it did play a tiny role, and it's been such a huge help with my mental health over the past 2.5 years. I'd be devastated if they got rid of it. I can't afford to pay for tickets several times a year

 

[Eric Smith]

This strikes me as something that they had to do. There just doesn't seem to even be an internal estimate as to when DLR will reopen. Given the dire situation in CA right now and slower-than-anticipated vaccine rollout (combined with the Governor's reluctance/hesitancy re: reopening), there's just no way to know when DLR will actually reopen (and then when it will be able to operate at a "normal" capacity). I'm still confident DLR will reopen this year, but when is anybody's guess and from a financial perspective it's not feasible to extend passes for 16-18 months.

Plus, this will help limit attendance when they do reopen under a restricted capacity threshold; that was going to be a nightmare to manage with so many APs.

I also have no doubt that, as Disney said, some sort of AP-like program will return for DLR when it's feasible.

I agree, Disneyland may have to wait until the fall to reopen. It’s unbelievable.

 

[Mit88]

I really hope this doesn't come to FL

While I didn't move to Orlando because of Disney, it did play a tiny role, and it's been such a huge help with my mental health over the past 2.5 years. I'd be devastated if they got rid of it. I can't afford to pay for tickets several times a year

It Will. But I would guess the plan will be in place more for new members rather than outright cancelling existing members APs. And when those passes do expire, you’ll then have to choose from the options they now have.

 

[Mit88]

This seems like 65 years ago now

 

[rpb718]

This seems like 65 years ago now


View attachment 550190

Could still be true - they never did include the year.

 

[Disney Bobby]

I swear, it's like we are getting the entire contents of what could have been a 10-year plan all at once. As if someone corporate said "Where do we want to be in 10 years and what do we want to continue to offer?" and they made a list with plans on how to incrementally implement. Then they through the plans away, said "Sorry folks - COVID" and did it now.

Not sure how to take the dropping the whole AP thing in CA with wording that something different would take it's place in the future. They could have said they were offering refunds for all outstanding and suspending selling APs until a later date. If they wanted to redo tiers they could easily do that while it remains APs. Be interesting what they replace it with and what it's called. I can't see how they could even think of doing something similar at WDW, but if the past year is any indication nothing is off the table.

I agree. It's been a year this week since the last time we've been to WDW, the longest for us in decades, and I'm not sure I'm going to recognize the place on my next trip. It's not unique to Disney. Many companies are doing things that they knew were going to be unpopular and using the covid excuse to justify it. No matter how bad it gets, there are always people and companies willing to take advantage of even the worst situations. Look around and see who used the crisis to benefit themselves.

Also agree on the announcement. Why announced this and say that something else is coming in the future? Just wait to you figure it out and then announce.

 

[Disney Bobby]

I really hope this doesn't come to FL

While I didn't move to Orlando because of Disney, it did play a tiny role, and it's been such a huge help with my mental health over the past 2.5 years. I'd be devastated if they got rid of it. I can't afford to pay for tickets several times a year

Because they probably think you are going to be willing to spend whatever you spend on your annual pass to get less time in the parks. And if you spend more, that will be gravy for them.

Will definitely work the opposite for us. We go anywhere from 4 to 7 times as year and stay deluxe and often club level every time. That will likely drop to once a year like the good ole days if AP goes away. It's been a year since we've been now, and I think we have detoxed a little. All the changes all at once don't help. Guess we will see where it lands after everything shakes out post-Covid. Right now, I feel like Disney once a year or year and a half will be fine. The rest of our vacations can be spent other places. Kinda looking forward to doing some different things.

 

[jessiegirl1982]

Most people on this thread are WDW focused, but I am super pissed about losing my DL Flex AP. Not only did I spend 3 hours+ on hold last year to ensure they extended my pass, now I am going to have to face another hold as my card on file from 11/19 when I purchased my pass expired. I refuse to buy a single day ticket for $120+. It's not worth it... we were their ideal AP too.. we only went like once every 6 weeks, barely rode any rides, and spent lots of money on food and drinks. Plenty of AP's didn't, though, and I would specifically go on blackout days of the lowest tiered passes, as it was getting out of control. A blackout Saturday was less busy than a non-blackout Thursday, if you could believe it.. so I get that aspect of it, but I am still pissed over the whole situation. I just hope they give AP the first opportunity to buy whatever the new AP looks like. I am assuming it will be a variation of the Flex pass with reservations required and different tiers of that.

 

[Krandor]

Most people on this thread are WDW focused, but I am super pissed about losing my DL Flex AP. Not only did I spend 3 hours+ on hold last year to ensure they extended my pass, now I am going to have to face another hold as my card on file from 11/19 when I purchased my pass expired.

Did you get a new card from the same bank after the expiration? If so, you are fine. A refund can still be done to an expired card and the bank will apply it to the new card.

 

[MrsBooch]

I really hope this doesn't come to FL

While I didn't move to Orlando because of Disney, it did play a tiny role, and it's been such a huge help with my mental health over the past 2.5 years. I'd be devastated if they got rid of it. I can't afford to pay for tickets several times a year

After all of the hullabaloo they've gone through for extending, refunding, honoring and letting people renew - as well as buy new AP's for certain groups (if your whole fam has AP's and your kid turned 3, you can buy one, etc) I don't know if they would do this at WDW?

 

[jessiegirl1982]

Did you get a new card from the same bank after the expiration? If so, you are fine. A refund can still be done to an expired card and the bank will apply it to the new card.

Good to know thanks! Makes me feel slightly better!

 

[Chris Ehlers]

It Will. But I would guess the plan will be in place more for new members rather than outright cancelling existing members APs. And when those passes do expire, you’ll then have to choose from the options they now have.

Why do you think that when Disney is telling the Premier Pass holders they can renew with a Disney World AP? if that was the case they would really be screwing those folks if they got them to buy new passes only to cancel those as well

 

[Disney Bobby]

Who is making these decisions? Feels like its some exec's 13 year old daughter who spends 10 hours a day surfing twitter.

 

[Brianstl]

Why do you think that when Disney is telling the Premier Pass holders they can renew with a Disney World AP? if that was the case they would really be screwing those folks if they got them to buy new passes only to cancel those as well

I think they will eliminate passes at WDW, but won’t cancel the passes sold before the date of the announcement. The only reason they are canceling and refunding the Disneyland AP’s is because they have no idea when Disneyland will reopen. If it was open they would just let current pass holders expire out.

 

[Disney Bobby]

You are probably correct.

 

[Mit88]

A little ironic that this pin went on sale today at WDW. But as it states on the bottom, it’s a way of life. They’re fully aware that being an AP is more than just a subscription to their “service”. APs won’t go away, they’ll just be restructured, which would have happened eventually pandemic or not