AP dilemma

[jolynne28]

Thanks for all the replies. I spoke to two different cast members from the AP division, both very knowledgable and helpful. We basically have until our youngest turns 4 to grandfather him in, and as mentioned by lanejudy, we have one year from the date of purchase to activate that pass. We can buy him whatever tier we want, so technically we could purchase sorcerer, save $400, but then we'd lose access to the four days around thanksgiving and 2.5 weeks around christmas. Probably worth it, those are insanely busy times, but it does eliminate going when our kids our out of school for those holidays.

Or we can hold on to our platinums and wait for resident passes to become available again. They assured me that our platinums would always be honored, even past 2030, but who knows what would be available for our youngest by that point if we do that. Both also assured me that Fl resident passes are not going away, but those could be hollow words. So I'm leaning towards sorcerer and forgoing the few blackout dates to save some money. Then when we renew, dropping down to Pirate, which would save us another 1K a year as a family of 5 and working around the blackout dates for that tier.

 

[1lilspark]

I wonder if they will cut discounts etc for Florida residents in light of the current events?

I definitely think that with “things” going on that there will be big changes come June 2023…. I’m just hoping for tron to open before April 2023 “just in case”

 

[RoseGold]

OK, so maybe you can get whatever a platinum equivalent is in a few years. Maybe it matches the peak dates you want. Maybe you can also get one for your youngest kid. Big assumptions.

Even with that, I think it could be instructive to see what happened with the California Magic Key holders in October 2021. The passes had barely been issued, and all the weekend dates immediately booked up for AP holders. Disney has stopped doing this while the lawsuit is pending, but it's clear what is possible with APs and the bucket system. Since the lawsuit, November 2021, APs in WDW have had availability for the holidays and for Spring Break, but that might be the result of the pending lawsuit. I don't see that system sustaining.

Especially if you want to use the platinum pass for peak days, you need to think about what kind of plans Disney has to clamp down on APs once the lawsuit is over.

I'm an AP cheapskate too, and I have not been impressed with how Disney has handled the park reservations and APs. If these were my passes, I'd do it now and plan to use it now before the calendar looks like California's or the blackouts get worse.

 

[jolynne28]

OK, so maybe you can get whatever a platinum equivalent is in a few years. Maybe it matches the peak dates you want. Maybe you can also get one for your youngest kid. Big assumptions.

Even with that, I think it could be instructive to see what happened with the California Magic Key holders in October 2021. The passes had barely been issued, and all the weekend dates immediately booked up for AP holders. Disney has stopped doing this while the lawsuit is pending, but it's clear what is possible with APs and the bucket system. Since the lawsuit, November 2021, APs in WDW have had availability for the holidays and for Spring Break, but that might be the result of the pending lawsuit. I don't see that system sustaining.

Especially if you want to use the platinum pass for peak days, you need to think about what kind of plans Disney has to clamp down on APs once the lawsuit is over.

I'm an AP cheapskate too, and I have not been impressed with how Disney has handled the park reservations and APs. If these were my passes, I'd do it now and plan to use it now before the calendar looks like California's or the blackouts get worse.

I don't think I'm making any assumptions, I'm more working through our options. And our best option is probably to grandfather him in this year, then activate all passes on our next visit, which is currently scheduled for September.

I know everyone likes to speculate what will happen at WDW with AP's based on events at Disneyland. I won't even take a guess, but IMO property size and capacity alone makes the two destinations vastly different. At the end of the day, Disney's shareholders' profits will continue to drive their decisions, so we'll just enjoy what we have while we have it and not stress too much about how bad it could get for AP holders.

 

[sweetmama17]

Just be cautious on the blackout dates if you want to purchase a different pass. For example you will need an incredipass if you are going for Labor Day weekend.

We went to activate gold/silver passes over spring break. Was able to make all our park reservations based off of silver/gold passes in MDE. Arrived the first day to activate the passes at MK. They wanted $800 more to upgrade to sorcerer vs pirate since it was a blackout date (It was NOT a silver black out date that they have an active calendar for out a year). They kept trying to tell me that they were already doing me a favor by upgrading the silver to pirate and gold to sorcerer (um, these weren't expired vouchers 2030 expiration date).

It ended up working in our favor (I think) so they upgraded everyone to pirate/sorcerer vouchers and gave us separate 4 day tickets to use for the trip we were there for. So technically I have new type vouchers sitting in my account that actually say expiration of 2099. It makes me nervous though so we are going to go ahead and truly activate these next month. But it was a huge hassle and I would have still preferred to have all my long weekend trips vs the summer.

 

[jolynne28]

Just be cautious on the blackout dates if you want to purchase a different pass. For example you will need an incredipass if you are going for Labor Day weekend.

We went to activate gold/silver passes over spring break. Was able to make all our park reservations based off of silver/gold passes in MDE. Arrived the first day to activate the passes at MK. They wanted $800 more to upgrade to sorcerer vs pirate since it was a blackout date (It was NOT a silver black out date that they have an active calendar for out a year). They kept trying to tell me that they were already doing me a favor by upgrading the silver to pirate and gold to sorcerer (um, these weren't expired vouchers 2030 expiration date).

It ended up working in our favor (I think) so they upgraded everyone to pirate/sorcerer vouchers and gave us separate 4 day tickets to use for the trip we were there for. So technically I have new type vouchers sitting in my account that actually say expiration of 2099. It makes me nervous though so we are going to go ahead and truly activate these next month. But it was a huge hassle and I would have still preferred to have all my long weekend trips vs the summer.

I think sorcerer is good for any day but the 4 days around Thanksgiving and the two weeks around Christmas. I don’t see Labor Day or any other day of the year blocked for that pass. That’s also what the CM told me over the phone:

Glad they worked it out for you, I’m sure that was a frustrating experience.

 

[focusondisney]

Ok this is a good point, but the major issue is that we can't really do Pixie b/c it's weekdays only with school aged kids.

Oh, sorry. I’m not good at keeping track of the dates covered by the different passes. Good luck tho, hope you figure out the best plan without too much of a headache!

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I always thought you needed to activate annual passes within one year of purchase. Otherwise, they would expire from date of purchase.

Nope. The vouchers are valid for at least a decade. Or at least they were. They have dates on them

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I don't think I'm making any assumptions, I'm more working through our options. And our best option is probably to grandfather him in this year, then activate all passes on our next visit, which is currently scheduled for September.

I know everyone likes to speculate what will happen at WDW with AP's based on events at Disneyland. I won't even take a guess, but IMO property size and capacity alone makes the two destinations vastly different. At the end of the day, Disney's shareholders' profits will continue to drive their decisions, so we'll just enjoy what we have while we have it and not stress too much about how bad it could get for AP holders.

Those lumping the WDW AP issue with DL AP issues are making just as many assumptions if you ask me. They don't know the what the situation is.

WDW's AP have never looked like DL, never acted like DL, never operated like DL. I don't think they are going to now or in the future either. I'm not sure why so many are out to scare folks about it. Even the park reservations with WDW AP were not like the ones with DL AP. The options never looked so dire at WDW. I'm not letting the doomsayers get to me. DL's AP holders have been screwed over. I get they are angry. They should be. But if you ask me, they got screwed over before the pass reservation system even started. The black out dates even moved around on their AP at times. Something that didn't happed with WDW AP. But, as an out of stated AP holder, it was moot for me either way. Our AP have none. We don't have options for types of AP to purchase. Unless you count one with water parks as an option, LOL.

 

[DisneySyd]

Nope. The vouchers are valid for at least a decade. Or at least they were. They have dates on them

You’re right, that used to be the case. Unfortunately, the new vouchers have a one year expiry.

 

[cakebaker]

You’re right, that used to be the case. Unfortunately, the new vouchers have a one year expiry.

That certainly puts a stop to buying in advance before a price increase. I'm at least glad that the old vouchers are still good until 2030 or so- not sure what the exact date is on mine.

 

[RoseGold]

WDW's AP have never looked like DL, never acted like DL, never operated like DL. I don't think they are going to now or in the future either. I'm not sure why so many are out to scare folks about it. Even the park reservations with WDW AP were not like the ones with DL AP. The options never looked so dire at WDW. I'm not letting the doomsayers get to me. DL's AP holders have been screwed over. I get they are angry. They should be. But if you ask me, they got screwed over before the pass reservation system even started.

To me, the writing is on the wall. Disney used the bucket system to black out the CA AP holders almost instantly just a few months ago. They stopped that in California, and maybe also in FL, maybe because of the lawsuit. To me, Disney's intentions with APs and the buckets are obvious. Who knows what will happen with the lawsuit?

Maybe that kind of behavior will never make it over to FL? If it does, I would guess it is aimed straight at the peak dates that matter for the Incredipass.

I'm not worried Disney will black out my AP on random June Tuesdays, but if I cared about the utility of the Incredipass, Disney's very recent behavior would absolutely matter to me. Disney has done a lot of things that people didn't expect and that they have never done before. Targeting APs in California is a very obvious one.

 

[jolynne28]

Those lumping the WDW AP issue with DL AP issues are making just as many assumptions if you ask me. They don't know the what the situation is.

WDW's AP have never looked like DL, never acted like DL, never operated like DL. I don't think they are going to now or in the future either. I'm not sure why so many are out to scare folks about it. Even the park reservations with WDW AP were not like the ones with DL AP. The options never looked so dire at WDW. I'm not letting the doomsayers get to me. DL's AP holders have been screwed over. I get they are angry. They should be. But if you ask me, they got screwed over before the pass reservation system even started. The black out dates even moved around on their AP at times. Something that didn't happed with WDW AP. But, as an out of stated AP holder, it was moot for me either way. Our AP have none. We don't have options for types of AP to purchase. Unless you count one with water parks as an option, LOL.

Thanks, I agree with your perspective, even though I tend to lean on the pessimistic side when it comes to WDW now. To say I’m unimpressed with the direction they’ve taken the park experience is an understatement. But I have small kids that adore the experience, we can afford to budget for it now, and I want to enjoy it while we can.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

There’s a lot of assumptions in here about what happens to tickets you haven’t activated years from now. Sure, right now they would allow this into incredipass. But if that pass is “sold out” in the future, they could just send you back to sams for a refund.

Or — the future passes could be worse than what you bought. A good example is the DVC gold pass that added the painful thanksgiving blackout. And of course, the California APs, which just showed no availability, sorry!

Disney has shown they are willing to change the rules and are clamping down on APs in many ways. I would not sit on thousands of dollars in tickets hoping things improve for APs in the future.

If the AP lawsuit in California goes in Disney’s favor, I think we all know what those buckets will be used for. I’d want an incredipass now, while Disney is allowing access and it is actually useful to get in during peak dates.

If the AP lawsuit in California allows Disney to mark unavailability to passholder buckets and deny park reservations while still allowing ticket sales for the same day, we should all add chunks of cash to our Disney budget for tickets in addition to the cost of any level of annual passes.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

To me, the writing is on the wall. Disney used the bucket system to black out the CA AP holders almost instantly just a few months ago. They stopped that in California, and maybe also in FL, maybe because of the lawsuit. To me, Disney's intentions with APs and the buckets are obvious. Who knows what will happen with the lawsuit?

Maybe that kind of behavior will never make it over to FL? If it does, I would guess it is aimed straight at the peak dates that matter for the Incredipass.

I'm not worried Disney will black out my AP on random June Tuesdays, but if I cared about the utility of the Incredipass, Disney's very recent behavior would absolutely matter to me. Disney has done a lot of things that people didn't expect and that they have never done before. Targeting APs in California is a very obvious one.

That kind of behavior has already happened multiple times in Florida. It happened on Mother’s Day most recently. I triple checked what I was seeing on the Incredi-pass and Sorcerer availability.

In their Q2 report yesterday, they lauded the reservation system as a management tool to give them the right mix and increase profitability per capita regarding the park guests. They said it was a 40% increase in spending per capita over 2019.

 

[jolynne28]

That kind of behavior has already happened multiple times in Florida. It happened on Mother’s Day most recently. I triple checked what I was seeing on the Incredi-pass and Sorcerer availability.

In their Q2 report yesterday, they lauded the reservation system as a management tool to give them the right mix and increase profitability per capita regarding the park guests. They said it was a 40% increase in spending per capita over 2019.

I don’t understand what the bucket system is at DL. But I’m assuming you’re saying that there were no park reservations available on Mother’s Day for AP’s, yet you could make a reservation if you bought a ticket?

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

I don’t understand what the bucket system is at DL. But I’m assuming you’re saying that their were no park reservations available on Mother’s Day for AP’s, yet you could make a reservation if you bought a ticket?

Yes. FYI I was talking about Disney World. But Disneyland has had the same problem. There is currently a lawsuit in California over it. There is a whole thread called AP sales under forums > Disney Vacation Club > Mousecellaneous. In addition to the blockout dates for each pass tier, Disney has decided that with the park reservation system, ticket holders and ticketholders or passholders with resort reservations draw from a different park reservation availability bucket than annual passholders. Therefore, Disney controls how many spots are available to passholders on any given day. So, there are days when passholders have exhausted their bucket and Disney is still selling tickets for the same day to ticketholders -- months in advance, weeks in advance, day before or day of. It happens. After the Nielsen v. Disney lawsuit was filed it appeared passholders were given more availability but lately that same problem has been observed again.