News Walt Disney World to resume sales of Annual Passes (New sales resume April 20, 2023)

CntrlFlPete

Well-Known Member
I don't get why there's a $200 down payment on even the lowest rank pass, ( yes i know to make money ) but most company's its 10%, but this is turning out to be not most companies , doesn't matter to me as from the uk, but $200 is a bit much, they don't ask you to pay 40% up front for Disney Plus, ( not yet anyway LOL ) be carful Mr C, your not being very fair IMHO.

I think some of it is that they like to advertise it as 'less than $15 a month' -- then small print/statement about 'with initial deposit'
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
I don't get why there's a $200 down payment on even the lowest rank pass, ( yes i know to make money ) but most company's its 10%, but this is turning out to be not most companies , doesn't matter to me as from the uk, but $200 is a bit much, they don't ask you to pay 40% up front for Disney Plus, ( not yet anyway LOL ) be carful Mr C, your not being very fair IMHO.
I totally get it…to ensure those buying are willing to contribute a certain amount of costs up front

Disney knows how to read its people…and their wallets
 

LuvtheGoof

Grill Master
Premium Member
I have a friend who owns DVC who goes down at least twice a year...they stopped seeing the value to APs, so they don't purchase them anymore. She also said they'd never buy Genie+ or Lightning Lane access.
So they pay more for regular park passes? We're undecided on the Genie+. We'll wait and see what people report about how it's working. We won't be buying the individual attraction access stuff.
 

LuvtheGoof

Grill Master
Premium Member
I don’t think that at all…

i’m just saying that it ends up being a large increase and some with more restrictions. How many DVC owners know that they appear to have eliminated the DVC discount? But I hope I’m wrong there…it seems that way but I haven’t seen it confirmed??

and “those of us” is ME….by the way. But not from St. Augustine…it was an unexpected 16 hour haul for me back yesterday.

I can use and annual pass and still be aware of how they have lowered value…the human brain can multitask. It’s possible.
Fair enough. I do wonder if enough DVC owners complain to DVC about not getting even a 10% discount, that it may happen in the future. Or maybe DVC is already negotiating with TWDC about a discount, and it may happen before Sept 8th. Or you could be absolutely correct that TWDC no longer cares about some of it's most loyal customers - those of us that bought into DVC.

So the new APs do at least have a 20% discount on food, but it remains to be seen at which restaurants that it will be good for, so that does help the value a bit. Same with the merchandise discount. I was really hoping that they bring back the TiW, as that always saved us a ton of money. Of course, that's probably why it will never come back.

So as long as the AP costs less than us buying regular park tickets, and we get some discounts on top of that, it's still a good value for us. Of course, it's just my wife and I, so different than a family with 4 kids. Value for us is completely different than a lot of folks.
 

LuvtheGoof

Grill Master
Premium Member
I don't get why there's a $200 down payment on even the lowest rank pass, ( yes i know to make money ) but most company's its 10%, but this is turning out to be not most companies , doesn't matter to me as from the uk, but $200 is a bit much, they don't ask you to pay 40% up front for Disney Plus, ( not yet anyway LOL ) be carful Mr C, your not being very fair IMHO.

I totally get it…to ensure those buying are willing to contribute a certain amount of costs up front

Disney knows how to read its people…and their wallets
I wonder if the down payment is nonrefundable, so that if people cancel after a month because they don't like it, then Disney still made some money from them.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Fair enough. I do wonder if enough DVC owners complain to DVC about not getting even a 10% discount, that it may happen in the future. Or maybe DVC is already negotiating with TWDC about a discount, and it may happen before Sept 8th. Or you could be absolutely correct that TWDC no longer cares about some of it's most loyal customers - those of us that bought into DVC.

So the new APs do at least have a 20% discount on food, but it remains to be seen at which restaurants that it will be good for, so that does help the value a bit. Same with the merchandise discount. I was really hoping that they bring back the TiW, as that always saved us a ton of money. Of course, that's probably why it will never come back.

So as long as the AP costs less than us buying regular park tickets, and we get some discounts on top of that, it's still a good value for us. Of course, it's just my wife and I, so different than a family with 4 kids. Value for us is completely different than a lot of folks.
I think very few of the DVC owners realize they don’t get the $100 or so off anymore…

I also believe they haven’t addressed renewals…

Most - me included - had an initial “it coulda been worse” reaction. Disney has ingrained that in us.

and it could be worse. But this is a substantial price increase and is culling the herd.

I expect huge regular ticket increases after the covid dust settles as well. This is all one connected thing.

they don’t have enough ride capacity…so thinning out does cover for that. And when people get used to it…they’ll ramp the sales back up again. If chapek isn’t as dumb as he looks.

people believed King Bob I when he said they want to “lower attendance”….
Never true…realigning it and then selling more at higher yield per?….
…there you go

and I’m not sure they are guaranteeing 20% discounts…I think it will be more in 10% range that DVC and AP currently have.

tables was way better…it would have saved me probably another $200 or more this past week…

…but it’s gone. 0.01% chance we’ll see that again
 
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CntrlFlPete

Well-Known Member
Fair enough. I do wonder if enough DVC owners complain to DVC about not getting even a 10% discount, that it may happen in the future. Or maybe DVC is already negotiating with TWDC about a discount, and it may happen before Sept 8th. Or you could be absolutely correct that TWDC no longer cares about some of it's most loyal customers - those of us that bought into DVC.

So the new APs do at least have a 20% discount on food, but it remains to be seen at which restaurants that it will be good for, so that does help the value a bit. Same with the merchandise discount. I was really hoping that they bring back the TiW, as that always saved us a ton of money. Of course, that's probably why it will never come back.

So as long as the AP costs less than us buying regular park tickets, and we get some discounts on top of that, it's still a good value for us. Of course, it's just my wife and I, so different than a family with 4 kids. Value for us is completely different than a lot of folks.
They've listed the dinning and such. I believe the only one hitting the 'up to' 20% is for a cup of coffee or something.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/passholder-benefits-and-discounts/
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
They've listed the dinning and such. I believe the only one hitting the 'up to' 20% is for a cup of coffee or something.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/passholder-benefits-and-discounts/
I assumed that but didn’t look.

everything was 10% except merch…which has an 80% or more markup…

see how “magic” works?

ill also remind food was raised 200-300% over 15 years with the “dining plan” (wait till you see the price of that when it slides back in…)

“double magic”
 

donsullivan

Premium Member

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
The 'up to' language is often about the third party operated restaurants throughout the property. They may not all sign on to offer the same level of discount that Disney might choose to offer at their locations.
True…but the current levels are low for Disney operated restaurants…

…they could raise them…but if their goal is to not increase annual pass sales - Which it clearly isn’t - then there is no real reason to incentivize it more.
 

pharmd

New Member
Man. I renewed before the announcement my Weekend Select. Looks like the new equivalent tier surpasses that esp with being open availability during the Summer and possibly Bonus reservations. I probably would call to cancel my pass to get the new one, but that would cancel my Remy Epcot Passholder Preview on 9/23 lol! Overall that one is a better value with more days for like only a 40 dollar difference
 

GimpYancIent

Well-Known Member
I totally get it…to ensure those buying are willing to contribute a certain amount of costs up front

Disney knows how to read its people…and their wallets
Eh, I believe Disney is losing sight and beginning to misread people. A condition that is worsening by the day. Short term $$$$$$ / greed can cause temporary blindness or at least fog up future vision plus clarity of thought.
 

dizneeboy

Active Member
Bolded statement EXACTLY! I could afford to buy the new passes, but I'm not going to. We've had a good 3 year run, but there are a lot of other destinations out there we haven't tried yet. We're out of state APs, so for 4 APs + Photopass it is ~$6000. We could do at least 3 other vacations with that amount of money! We drive down from GA, stay at Windsor Hills, and rarely do sit down meals because A) They take forever and B) the food is just food, not worth what it costs. With these Covid early closing hours, we've eaten better food for 1/2 the price at the Logan's Roadhouse on 192! We got our last AP's value when we went right after re-opening. These last few trips with long lines and no fastpasses, coupled with the latest and greatest announcements, have made me at peace with giving up or APs. Yes, we'll miss it. Yes, we are "that Disney family" to everyone we know. But Disney's asking for a lot right now pending that most of the special things that make Disney Disney are completely gone - shows, streetmosphere, characters, parades.
Same here. Have been an out of state premier passport holder here for the past several years. My AP ended in Feb 2020 and I didn't renew with the uncertainty of everything. Took my first trip back last week. Spent 5 nights at the boardwalk, bought a 5 day park hopper, and had an amazing trip. Low standby waits, popping over to food and wine for a bite to eat occasionally at a different booth each time, rode RotR all 3 times I tried for a boarding pass but essentially rode everything across the 4 parks multiple times. All around great trip that really felt like the good ole days before Fastpass and social media ruined it all ; ) I tuned 50 a couple weeks ago and while I think I've aged well in general, I dont think I can say the same thing for WDW anymore. I'll be back occasionally for a refill but I suppose that's what all this was about. I think they want someone to drop in once in awhile and pay full price. Mission accomplished.
 

scottieRoss

Well-Known Member
I have to say that a lot of people are over reacting to all of this
When I got my first AP,
--There was no Memory Maker. That is only the last few years. We look at the ride pictures and do maybe one photographer per trip so it is a complete nothing burger to us. But 99 bucks for the who year or a hundred plus per trip, if we want it we will add it on.
--Before buying DVC, there was no choice but premier or premier plus for a Texas resident. So nothing has changed there, either Incredipass or Incredipass with Water Park add on.
Now that I have DVC, the Sorcerer Pass is where I will land, like my Gold Pass before. There never was a discount for DVC for this, Yes it has gone up 200 bucks, but what at Disney or outside of Disney has not gone up this year. Universal is not 625 for their top 2 park pass.
And after this year, there is a discount for renewing my Sorcerer pass. Right now it is 719.

Many like to complain about the "nickel and diming' and I say yeah. I prefer an unbundled price so I can get the benefits I want. I do not want Water Parks, I do not want Photo Pass, and I most certainly do not want Genie+ included. I will use it when I feel I need it and then I want the least people using it as possible. Do not charge me for these benefits, let me pay the minimum ... admission to the parks and a few discounts I might use. Just like the cable bill, I do not want packages and price breaks. Give me just what I need.
 

Dan Deesnee

Well-Known Member
I get that they raised prices but 900 bucks for DVC members is still a great deal for that pass. Annual passes are meant for people that want to go a lot so even if someone went 15 days over 2-3 trips they're still saving a ton of money.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
I get that they raised prices but 900 bucks for DVC members is still a great deal for that pass. Annual passes are meant for people that want to go a lot so even if someone went 15 days over 2-3 trips they're still saving a ton of money.
True…you can bleed the “value” out of it…

but the previous iteration at that price had no blackouts…
 

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