The Current Disneyland Annual Pass Program Has Been Cancelled

[Epicnemesis]

There are a lot of wishful thinkers in here if they think this will lead to a change in Disneyland when things return to normal and annual passes return.

You have almost 10% of the country within a day trip of the parks. The annual passes will return when their normal capacity returns, and with them, the AP crowd levels.

The only thing that will change is that the grandfathered passes/addons are going away.

If I were a betting man I would say there will be three tiers:

Reservations required for every day; 2 reservations up to 30 days in advance

Reservations required on weekends/select days (flex pass).

Signature pass; go every day.

The reality is that Disney NEEDS AP holders to go to the parks during normal operations. Tourist demand just isn’t there 365 days a year to keep the parks humming. They need the$25 dollars per car, the food purchases, the seasonal merch purchases, etc.

I’m hoping that they implement reservations for the passes moving forward and that it is a fairly high threshold. The flex pass was great because the threshold was high enough that you rarely had blackout dates, and yet they still essentially were able to limit people from “overusing” their passes. It would be a great way to keep the parks at an 8/10 which I think Disney would try to target.

 

[ButterflyKisses77]

I am utterly devastated. No words.

Same

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Not a pass holder, but I can see the biggest frustration being APs were strung along for so long it seemed like DL was comiited to stay with them. It seemed like there would be some kind of "pass holder previews" or something of that nature. I certainly anticipated that would occur as non-locals waited to safely travel to CA.

I think Disney could have sued over the restrictions, I think the sad news about LA hospitals made that not feasible to go that route. So I think they had to turn another direction, now by the time DL opens many people will be vaccinated and ready to travel by plane.

I am sure they have been queasy and know they are taking a large risk here.

 

[Evita_W]

I am good with this. We are/were APs a few years ago and then this year (of course). I think the biggest hit will be those Southern CA grandfathered in with their APs in the lower brackets that were discontinued a while ago but they got to keep since they were grandfathered in... some parking perks, and special calendars for Southern CA residents. Will be interesting to see what happens. Hoping it makes going more bearable then it had been the last couple years when it was severly over packed.

I think these pass levels that still keep getting grandfathered in are a large part of why there were issues and that this move will finally allow Disney to completely eliminate them. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney modified the program to allow for say 10 admissions anytime over the course of a year or two years and you could add additional admissions (maybe in 5 day increments in this scenario) at a discounted price.

We have had annual passes for a long time as well and even I will say something needed to be done about crowd levels as of late.

 

[MillauFr]

Signature pass; go every day.

I highly doubt they will offer an unlimited option. If they do the price will have to be far higher than the $100 per month they were charging.

 

[Gaugersaurus]

There are a lot of wishful thinkers in here if they think this will lead to a change in Disneyland when things return to normal and annual passes return.

I feel the same way, eliminating APs doesn't change the parks max capacity, walkway size, ride throughput, etc. Yes making it less accessible to locals will reduce crowds but only to an extent.

 

[starry_solo]

I am (was?) a Premier Annual Passholder...long-story-short, I had 13 months remaining as of March, 2020. They want to convert the pass to WDW pass and reimburse the difference...no good! I won't be in FL until October 2021. I would have been better off buying a 5-day.

Anyway, THIS IS THE SADDEST THING EVER!

I guess they knew how much us passholders are chomping at the bit to just about attend every day possible!
I MISS DISNEYLANDDDD!!!

see if they will issue you a non-expiring platinum WDW AP? Assuming you go for more than two weeks?

 

[ButterflyKisses77]

I wonder how they will handle refunding monthly payment plan folks that put a large down payment on their passes? My friend did that since she had a lot of gift cards stored up. She just texted me freaking out that it won't get refunded to her since she was monthly...but she only had her AP for a few months. Yikes, these types of scenarios are going to be a headache for CMs!

Exactly. I put down $750 on a Signature pass and was only able to go once before the parks shut down.

 

[SherylLC]

see if they will issue you a non-expiring platinum WDW AP? Assuming you go for more than two weeks?

oooo, there's an idea! I had two 1-week stays planned which made the Premium make sense. With shut downs and cancellations, I'm down to a single week which means I've spent way too much for WDW park admission. I guess I need to plan another trip, but who knows when things will be back to some degree of "normal"?

I know that DL has to make alternate plans for accommodations into the parks...the pent up demand will be crazy!

 

[VandVsmama]

Today is a lousy day if you are a AP holder. I feel for everybody in that situation. SO disappointing when they've all been yearning to go back to DL once the pandemic restrictions are lifted.

At the same time, if you compare the DL AP community to the WDW AP one, I bet you $50 that DL probably has a higher total # of AP holders who live within easy driving distance of the parks. I bet that WDW AP holders also have a higher % of them being from out of state and/or a 3 or more hour drive away.

The die hard Disney lovers who are now former AP holders will probably buy regular DL park tickets once ticket sales resume.

 

[sjmac42]

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney modified the program to allow for say 10 admissions anytime over the course of a year or two years and you could add additional admissions

I am wondering the same myself, maybe the “new membership offerings” will be along these lines. Maybe a membership will simply allow you to purchase days at a reduced rate? Or just offer a guaranteed reservation on certain dates, park entry extra but who knows, Disney probably isn’t completely sure.

In any case, none of my dozen or so multi day trips have ever been disrupted by AP’s, locals, visitors or anyone else. Parks are certainly busy but only reach capacity a few days per year and it’s easy enough to anticipate and work around that (went to the Queen Mary instead on one Veterans Day that DL reached capacity, great day). So I hope whatever the new AP/membership system is, it allows those who want to return to do so.

 

[Zurezo]

Do we think when APs return they will not allow them to be paid off on monthly plans? To me that was always the thing that kept the park so busy.

I remeber reading that the average car had 1.3 people in it and people only stay for an average of 3.2 hours. This puts a huge strain on opps and this is why I see them not brining back the pay per month, but what do I know.

 

[joseph821]

Do we think when APs return they will not allow them to be paid off on monthly plans? To me that was always the thing that kept the park so busy.

I remeber reading that the average car had 1.3 people in it and people only stay for an average of 3.2 hours. This puts a huge strain on opps and this is why I see them not brining back the pay per month, but what do I know.

Yes. If I were a betting man, the monthly plans for CA residents or anyone will not be back. It will be pay upfront for everything.

 

[Zurezo]

Yes. If I were a betting man, the monthly plans for CA residents or anyone will not be back. It will be pay upfront for everything.

I agree with you. It would also help them with an influx in cash when they do open back up.

 

[DLRcandyrain]

To be a fly on the wall of that meeting/discussion...I really wonder what is up their sleeves for future planning. They have ALL the data for DLAP spend rates, visit rates, flex pass data, everything. This was a very calculated move, the loss of goodwill to them was worth it, and I want to know sooo bad what comes next.

I also think that they realized they could not contractually meet their obligations to premiere pass holders going forward, and instead of a continued pause, it would be cleaner to just refund and start over. I always had trouble squaring reservation demands vs guaranteed access, and this was one way to do it.

 

[Lm3js]

Our timing for finally breaking down and getting annual passes was impeccable. At least we got one trip out of them before the parks closed last year. Sigh..

Same! We got ours Thanksgiving 2019 as the last day of our vacation. We live in SF so the next available time we were able to use them was early March 2020...right before the shutdown. I was so excited to FINALLY be an AP holder!

 

[StormyCA]

Personally, I think TPTB have been wanting to dump the AP program (as it existed) for a long time. It had become too multi-level and too unwieldy with different levels and blockout calendars. They've been putting bandaids on it and shuffling levels around for a long time now. Covid reopening restrictions gave them the perfect reason to do it with a 'minimum' of outrage or disappointment.

Now they can start fresh with completely new offerings and a level playing field, with no having to grandfather in any passholders at the 'old' levels.

 

[MillauFr]

Now they can start fresh with completely new offerings and a level playing field, with no having to grandfather in any passholders at the 'old' levels.

Agreed. It would be great if they scrapped everything and started fresh.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it I'm sure the new system will reward guests that spend more money at the parks. Pretty much how the airlines moved to reward their biggest spenders rather than people who flew many flights.

 

[DLRcandyrain]

Agreed. It would be great if they scrapped everything and started fresh.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it I'm sure the new system will reward guests that spend more money at the parks. Pretty much how the airlines moved to reward their biggest spenders rather than people who flew many flights.

oh this will be a revenue boon to Disney, no doubt. I suspect they have the research that it would be more profitable to scrap the existing/convoluted AP system.

What will be rough is paying the day rate while experiencing 8–9/10 crowds, which someone else here mentioned.

I may have been a bit naive initially thinking crowds would be better managed...I mean, they will be, but an 80% full park = $$$$. DLR will have more responsive levers to get there.

“Park at 60%? Quick, run the SoCal spring promo. Park at 90%? Let’s hold off.” APs lock in DLR and leaves them in a less dynamic position.

 

[Kender]

Personally, I think TPTB have been wanting to dump the AP program (as it existed) for a long time. It had become too multi-level and too unwieldy with different levels and blockout calendars. They've been putting bandaids on it and shuffling levels around for a long time now. Covid reopening restrictions gave them the perfect reason to do it with a 'minimum' of outrage or disappointment.

Now they can start fresh with completely new offerings and a level playing field, with no having to grandfather in any passholders at the 'old' levels.

They didn't have to grandfather anything before. They did previously grandfather most things (SoCal, parking, PhotoPass), but there's precedent for them not: Premium. They allowed people to finish it off that had it, but it was not renewable. It was just gone. They wouldn't even let me renew it despite having a mailed ad telling me I could. Even buying a Premium voucher just resulted in being given a Sig+.