News Disneyland cancels Annual Pass program

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I would actually be fine doing something like this...I still enjoyed the studio tour and a couple of the live shows. I could probably meander through Potter land every trip (have not been there yet) as well. That being said, too much of a road trip for us. It's been many years since we've been there and we had the same buy a day, get the year thing...went twice.

Traffic is the major factor that keeps us away also, there’s quite a few things I really enjoy at USH, it’s just not worth the time and aggravation of 4 hours of round trip traffic for a half day of fun in the park.

If we could make the drive in 30 minutes we’d spend a half day there on more of our Disney weekends, unfortunately there’s just no easy way to get there.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I've been thinking about the "membership" program that Potrock said they would be using in the future. This makes me think they might be looking to dust off an oldie but goodie, The Magic Kingdom Club:

For those not familiar with the program, it was a discount membership program used primarily at companies as a perk. Yesterdayland has a good write up on it. But it makes me think they might be trying to revive this old program, which I wouldn't be opposed to as it provided some good discounts back in the day prior to APs.

I was a proud card carrying member of the Magic Kingdom Club. Ah memories.

 

[TP2000]

10 things to know about the end of Disneyland’s annual pass program – Orange County Register (ocregister.com)

>>1) What if I don’t want a refund? Can I keep my annual pass? Can I renew my pass?

Disneyland’s AP program is over as we know it.<<

It's not "over". We call it sunsetting. Try and keep up.

 

[TP2000]

We “bought” USH APs one year, I put bought in quotation marks because it was a “buy a day, get a year” promotion, and ended up going twice the whole year. I enjoy USH but can’t ever see myself going more than once or twice a year, there’s just not enough to do.

US Hollywood isn’t even in the same league as Disneyland, WDW, or US Florida.

I lump Universal Studios in with Sea World; it's fun about once every 5 to 10 years.

But now that my youngest out-of-town relatives are advancing through their 20's, I doubt I'll ever return to Universal Studios again. The last time I went a few years ago, it was fun, but that Harry Potter Land was kind of the highlight and yet also a one-and-done thing. There was that little Gadget's Go Coaster roller coaster with a big chicken, where you got a beautiful view of the trash dumpsters behind the Waterworld Stadium.

Unless they start letting the tram tour go through Lucille Ball's dressing room again and they bring back the Airport '77 stunt show, I doubt I will ever return to Universal Studios now. No matter what screen-based ride for the latest second-tier animated hit they come up with.

I will say though, whoever is running Universal Studio's Twitter account is brilliant!

 

[TP2000]

Disneyland vloggers aren’t relatively popular compared to other kinds of YouTubers, but even so, ones like Fresh Baked and Justinscarred make tens of thousands per year. The most popular parks vlogger is TimTracker, he makes a cool six figures off of YouTube alone, and Disney often gives him free tickets because they like the exposure.

Most people don’t realize or can’t fathom that Disney likes the vloggers.

I don't doubt it.

I just wish many of them would learn to shave their neck if they are going to try and grow a beard on camera.

 

[Tamandua]

If only Universal Studios Hollywood was like Universal Studios Florida... sadly it’s not.

We “bought” USH APs one year, I put bought in quotation marks because it was a “buy a day, get a year” promotion, and ended up going twice the whole year. I enjoy USH but can’t ever see myself going more than once or twice a year, there’s just not enough to do.

US Hollywood isn’t even in the same league as Disneyland, WDW, or US Florida.

I used to appreciate USH because the annual passes were so cheap. Buy a day, get a year. Of course it wasn't Disneyland, but I found myself spending a lot of time there in the early 2000s. It seemed like after they built Harry Potter world, they suddenly decided their passes were worth a lot more, and I didn't see the value anymore. Of course, ever since they closed Back to the Future it has hardly seemed worth the trip, but I guess people in general feel like universal took a big step up with Harry Potter and the Simpsons area, neither of which are particularly interesting to me. I do enjoy HHN when I can make it. They should just do that all year.

As a parent with young children, I realized the hard way when we took our kids that there's almost nothing for them to do there. My kids wouldn't even go on the minions ride. They only played on the minions playground. After that we went home because the was nothing for a 2 year old and a 4 year old to do. They need to build something like fantasy land or camp snoopy to get parents with young children to come.

 

[flutas]

Yes.

Tho, that doesn't diminish that there are an extra 4M bodies in that park as compared to 10 years ago. Doesn't matter if it's the same family six days in a row, or an APer who visits 20 times on disparate days. The park is that much more crowded.

Yeah, I was just saying that 4m increase shouldn't be something you base a statement off of anymore, since they nuked APs.

Basically if 3.9m of that 4m increase were APs, then DL may be seeing a drastic loss of revenue from streams other than tickets, though may see a slight increase in ticket sales coinciding with that.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Yeah, I was just saying that 4m increase shouldn't be something you base a statement off of anymore, since they nuked APs.

Basically if 3.9m of that 4m increase were APs, then DL may be seeing a drastic loss of revenue from streams other than tickets, though may see a slight increase in ticket sales coinciding with that.

True.

But the situation they're in now is that when they open and use a reservation system, that reservation system can't handle 3.9M APers all wanting to come back right away.

Once the reservation system is no longer needed, they'll introduce some sort of membership discount program... one that won't get out of control like the current AP program did.

 

[Stevek]

I was a proud card carrying member of the Magic Kingdom Club. Ah memories.

we used to get them every year. Wish I could find them, confident my parents threw them away over the years.

 

[NobodyElse]

I was a proud card carrying member of the Magic Kingdom Club. Ah memories.

If I recall correctly, that's how we got our "DisneyNews" magazines, right?

 

[Disney Irish]

If I recall correctly, that's how we got our "DisneyNews" magazines, right?

Yep, I remember reading those as a kid and dreaming about going to DL.

 

[Disney Irish]

So I have an honest question. We know there is going to be pent up demand once DLR reopens for at least a couple months. But lets say crowds don't go away after the initial demand, what then? Can't blame it on the AP boogeyman anymore. So what would everyone say is the reason at that point? Just curious.

 

[el_super]

Basically if 3.9m of that 4m increase were APs, then DL may be seeing a drastic loss of revenue from streams other than tickets, though may see a slight increase in ticket sales coinciding with that.

Maybe... I think right now it's fair to say that food capacity hasn't scaled with the massive increases in people. Star Wars just replaced the capacity of the old BBQ, and beyond that I can't even think of the last restaurant built at DL. Rancho in 2000? About 20 years ago?

But that too could just be an indicator that too many passholders were coming in and not buying food.

 

[Travel Junkie]

I've been thinking about the "membership" program that Potrock said they would be using in the future. This makes me think they might be looking to dust off an oldie but goodie, The Magic Kingdom Club:

For those not familiar with the program, it was a discount membership program used primarily at companies as a perk. Yesterdayland has a good write up on it. But it makes me think they might be trying to revive this old program, which I wouldn't be opposed to as it provided some good discounts back in the day prior to APs.

IMO, a future membership may include more than theme park admission or discounts. The Disney bundle membership would include Disney + along with discounts on theme parks, DCL, Aulani, ETC. It allows Disney to leverage all of their offerings and entice fans to engage in all aspects of the business.

 

[mickEblu]

IMO, a future membership may include more than theme park admission or discounts. The Disney bundle membership would include Disney + along with discounts on theme parks, DCL, Aulani, ETC. It allows Disney to leverage all of their offerings and entice fans to engage in all aspects of the business.

Could be. But I doubt these discounts would be all that enticing or any greater than the promotional discounts they have offered to non members in the past.

 

[Stevek]

So I have an honest question. We know there is going to be pent up demand once DLR reopens for at least a couple months. But lets say crowds don't go away after the initial demand, what then? Can't blame it on the AP boogeyman anymore. So what would everyone say is the reason at that point? Just curious.

I don't expect the pent up demand to go away for a couple of years. If the APs are gone, it can really only be a function of people buying more day tickets whether that's former APs or vacation visitors. I think you can still absolutely blame a portion of the historical crowds on APs. If post AP the crowds are still high, so be it...it's just a shift in ticket buying behavior.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don't expect the pent up demand to go away for a couple of years. If the APs are gone, it can really only be a function of people buying more day tickets whether that's former APs or vacation visitors. I think you can still absolutely blame a portion of the historical crowds on APs. If post AP the crowds are still high, so be it...it's just a shift in ticket buying behavior.

The problem is that DLR has a built-in demand no matter what ticket medium used. APs were just an easy scapegoat in my opinion. We'll see if that demand remains now that APs are gone.

 

[Disney Irish]

IMO, a future membership may include more than theme park admission or discounts. The Disney bundle membership would include Disney + along with discounts on theme parks, DCL, Aulani, ETC. It allows Disney to leverage all of their offerings and entice fans to engage in all aspects of the business.

Maybe, I don't know if I see them lumping D+ into a theme park membership program.

 

[flutas]

True.

But the situation they're in now is that when they open and use a reservation system, that reservation system can't handle 3.9M APers all wanting to come back right away.

Once the reservation system is no longer needed, they'll introduce some sort of membership discount program... one that won't get out of control like the current AP program did.

To clarify my statement a bit more...

That 4m "guest" number most likely isn't unique guests, it's the number of clicks through the turnstiles.

So 1 AP'er going every day to both parks would count for 730 of the visits alone. So it will be interesting to watch attendance figures for the future.

I'm not arguing that the reservation system could handle that number, but the plans back in July for reopening didn't cancel APs, and had the same issues that they would have now. Quoting the internal plans from oh so long ago.

Magic Morning, Extra Magic Hour, FASTPASS service and Disney MaxPass will be unavailable until further notice to help manage capacity and promote physical distancing. Certain other attractions, restaurants, experiences and offerings will be modified or unavailable, will be limited in capacity and will be subject to limited availability or even closure. Offerings are not guaranteed.

Annual Passports - If you have an Annual Passport, your theme park reservation is for the park that you selected. If your Annual Passport is not blocked out for either park, your theme park reservation is for the first park you will visit for the day. You may enter the other park later that day after 1:00 PM.

Hotel Reservations - Theme park reservations for tickets associated with a Disneyland Resort hotel stay can be made up to 60 days in advance and can be reserved for a date up to 5 days prior to your resort arrival. Please note that children younger than age 3 do not need a theme park reservation or admission and may accompany you on your visit. Theme park reservations are limited, and availability is subject to capacity. Park admission is not guaranteed.

Any Passholder who is a "no-show" for 3 reservations in a 90-day period will be unable to make a new reservation for the next 30 days.

Theme park reservations for Annual Passports can be made up to 14 days in advance and you can hold up to 2 reservations at a time.

Theme park reservations for tickets can be made up to 60 days in advance.

I think realistically Disney saw this as the opportunity to kill off APs and all grandfathered add-ons, while maintaining some good will by being able to blame COVID for it.

 

[CaptinEO]

Most people don’t realize or can’t fathom that Disney likes the vloggers.

The vloggers encourage the exact behavior Disney wants in a consumer: enthusiastic and blind excitement in buying all things Disney.

New cupcake WOW! New gingerbread house OMG! Special Beauty and the Beast rose cup NO WAY!

Now I will say, the vloggers post shutdown have gotten very real and honest and their content is actually unique now. Before it was a dozen people doing the same thing showing the same items at the same location.