Are changes coming to Florida passholder program?

[Seanual757]

We had to upgrade I mean I have 4 annual passes and 5 starting in March of next year. Our passes increased an extra $500ish because of the photo pass (I agree it should be optional). Disney starts to limit what we can go to I will really consider selling my DVC's and drop the passes and head to Universal. My DVC's are new enough with enough years 49 and 50 I will make my money back.

Keep the crap up Disney and you will start to see more and more leave, and just when the economy takes that big down turn so will Disney's profits and what it looked like after 9/11 will look like a wish.

 

[pax_65]

For almost 20 years, our plan has been to buy APs and have a big family trip 11 months apart so we can get two trips on one AP. Many times we'd throw a mini-trip in there (since we had the APs anyway, why not do a long weekend here and there?). In recent years, the price of the AP keeps going up and the value you get from the pass keeps going down. That, along with my long list of issues with WDW recently, is changing our vacation mentality so that we're now going to WDW once every 2 years or so - so it no longer makes financial sense to get the AP. If they limit which attractions I can visit with the AP, it's hard to imagine a scenario where I'd ever get an AP again - so it's unlikely the frequency of our visits would ever return to what it once was.

 

[LAKid53]

Disneyland does the same thing with California residents, it's just a perk of living in the state? Disney is in it's own city (basically) so I don't think it has anything to do with Florida legislature. I believe its just to encourage locals, Universal does the same thing as well.

And years ago, either October or November was Florida Resident month and tickets were discounted that month.

It's sad to see Disney potentially slamming those guests (locals...and not just Orlando, but those within a 2-3 hour drive) who can support the parks when events (like spiralling economies...Brazil, etc.) prevent others from visiting. Thinking back to 2008.

That survey question and the potential ramifications reminds me that Anaheim ended one of the Southern CA passes a couple of years ago, in an attempt to control crowds.

Never understood why companies think it's a good business plan to mistreat loyal customers. If we didn't live in Florida within a 4 hour drive, I know we wouldn't visit as frequently as we have - nothing to do with cost, but convenience. And we always stay on property.....

 

[ford91exploder]

And years ago, either October or November was Florida Resident month and tickets were discounted that month.

It's sad to see Disney potentially slamming those guests (locals...and not just Orlando, but those within a 2-3 hour drive) who can support the parks when events (like spiralling economies...Brazil, etc.) prevent others from visiting. Thinking back to 2008.

That survey question and the potential ramifications reminds me that Anaheim ended one of the Southern CA passes a couple of years ago, in an attempt to control crowds.

Never understood why companies think it's a good business plan to mistreat loyal customers. If we didn't live in Florida within a 4 hour drive, I know we wouldn't visit as frequently as we have - nothing to do with cost, but convenience. And we always stay on property.....

It's because out of touch managements think their best customers 'will always come, no matter what'. It's why I shut my wallet to Disney.

 

[dreamfinder]

Blocking whole MONTHS to parks when a new attraction comes out, however rare that is, is absolutely insulting to AP owners as if they shouldn't be included in being able to try the new ride comes out. Even a whole week would be bad, although maybe by putting out this survey they're trying to get people to bargain and be satisfied with the idea of a week block out

I seem to recall this being a fairly common thing at DLR. If you ever read any the reports on some of the sites that include weekly updates on DLR, when they talk about crowds they always say things like "APs have 2 days before block outs begin." or "Next Weds is the first say for APs to go w/o block outs".

I think you're right in that it wouldn't have much effect. 7DMT still has long wait lines years after it opened, so what good will keeping AP's away for a few months do? non-AP's will just ride it 4 times LOL.

Which is fine. They don't want to completely get rid of lines (believe it or not press about huge lines usually helps build hype) but they want to get those 7 hour waits Frozen opened with, down to 4 hours. Non APs won't ride it that many more times, but they would hope to help spread the load to more non APs instead of tying up rider throughput on a multiple repeat guest. Just like how the passes block the busiest times of the year. Those AP holders can buy a pull priced ticket or more expensive pass if they want to, otherwise they are kept out of the parks to allow for rider slots for fully paying guests.

I'm not so much interested in the black out concept as I am with the fact they may black out individual rides. Block FP+ distribution? Ok, not a huge deal as long as they allow for AP holders staying on property to book them. But otherwise it sounds like the start to the return to the ticket system, where you need the admission for each ride.

 

[LAKid53]

It's because out of touch managements think their best customers 'will always come, no matter what'. It's why I shut my wallet to Disney.

Then why are you on a Disney fan forum, if you've shut your wallet to Disney? I gather your statement means you don't visit WDW or any of the other parks?

 

[ford91exploder]

Then why are you on a Disney fan forum, if you've shut your wallet to Disney? I gather your statement means you don't visit WDW or any of the other parks?

I've been a Disney fan for a very long time even to the point of buying DVC before it was a thing, I'm not a fan of how the parks are being RUN these days and the only way change will be effected is if Disney fans stop visiting, we are in many respects our worst enemies because we keep on visiting no matter how much Disney cuts or raises prices.

In New England there is a chain of grocery stores (Demoulas/Market Basket) which paid decent wages/benefits to employees and treated them well, There was a boardroom coup where the CEO and his team were ousted and replaced with the traditional "employees are the rungs on the ladder to success, dont be afraid to step on them" type of management.

Well - the customers organized a boycott and the chain almost went out of business, Finally they capitulated and sold the company back to the original management team and once again it's thriving business.

If Disney fans did the same to the Parks and Resorts unit - I think we would see some changes which were positive for the guests instead of the management's pay packets.

 

[LAKid53]

I've been a Disney fan for a very long time even to the point of buying DVC before it was a thing, I'm not a fan of how the parks are being RUN these days and the only way change will be effected is if Disney fans stop visiting, we are in many respects our worst enemies because we keep on visiting no matter how much Disney cuts or raises prices.

In New England there is a chain of grocery stores (Demoulas/Market Basket) which paid decent wages/benefits to employees and treated them well, There was a boardroom coup where the CEO and his team were ousted and replaced with the traditional "employees are the rungs on the ladder to success, dont be afraid to step on them" type of management.

Well - the customers organized a boycott and the chain almost went out of business, Finally they capitulated and sold the company back to the original management team and once again it's thriving business.

If Disney fans did the same to the Parks and Resorts unit - I think we would see some changes which were positive for the guests instead of the management's pay packets.

I see your points, but in a state that saw over 100 million visitors last year, of which close to half probably visited WDW, that's a tall order. TDO management is going to need to see sustained declines in park attendance, and not just at WDW, before those changes you'd like to see come to fruition. And my concern as a Florida resident? The impact a sustained decline in WDW attendance and corresponding revenues would have on both the Orlando metropolitan area and the general Florida economies.

 

[pax_65]

Then why are you on a Disney fan forum, if you've shut your wallet to Disney? I gather your statement means you don't visit WDW or any of the other parks?

Speaking for myself, I'm a huge fan of what WDW was - and I hope one day it will return to be like that again. I haven't shut my wallet to Disney but they are getting a LOT less of my money these days. In 2017 I'll spend 3 days in Disneyland instead of my usual 14ish days in WDW.

 

[Mike S]

I seem to recall this being a fairly common thing at DLR. If you ever read any the reports on some of the sites that include weekly updates on DLR, when they talk about crowds they always say things like "APs have 2 days before block outs begin." or "Next Weds is the first say for APs to go w/o block outs".

I believe they're referring to the lower APs there. This change would seem to affect ALL APs.

Which is fine. They don't want to completely get rid of lines (believe it or not press about huge lines usually helps build hype) but they want to get those 7 hour waits Frozen opened with, down to 4 hours. Non APs won't ride it that many more times, but they would hope to help spread the load to more non APs instead of tying up rider throughput on a multiple repeat guest. Just like how the passes block the busiest times of the year. Those AP holders can buy a pull priced ticket or more expensive pass if they want to, otherwise they are kept out of the parks to allow for rider slots for fully paying guests.

I'm not so much interested in the black out concept as I am with the fact they may black out individual rides. Block FP+ distribution? Ok, not a huge deal as long as they allow for AP holders staying on property to book them. But otherwise it sounds like the start to the return to the ticket system, where you need the admission for each ride.

Fully paying guests? Over all our collective time as APs on these forums do you know how much business we've probably given Disney through both ourselves and suggestions to others we know? A ton, and because we're local we're always here through thick and thin. Stabbing us in the back should be the very last thing on their mind.

 

[fosse76]

New York residents have IDNYC as program to get discounts on stuff in the city just for being a New York resident, so it's not uncommon for local tourist areas to have discounts for their surrounding communities.

That's a new program, and it is completely different. IDNYC is a free ID card designed for people who do not have any other form of picture ID, it's not a discount program per se. The discounts were added as an incentive for New Yorkers to get the ID, and there are many restrictions.

 

[fosse76]

Basing it on new attractions and basing it on attendance projections are one in the same. New attractions drive attendance, simple as that. The only difference is we'd be talking about park-specific attendance rather than resort-wide attendance.

No, they aren't. A new parade or nighttime show isn't going to see any significant increase in attendance, and not every new attraction is a headliner, so those new attractions won't have significant impact on attendance either. Disney is considering an option that the market clearly isn't buying into, so I don't know why you keep defending this.

 

[JWG]

Let's be clear that this just appears to be another step in the direction of how "unimportant" AP holders are to WDW. WDW is structured to cater to the infrequent once in a lifetime vacationer who stays on-site and spends oogles of money in hotels, food, merch, and experiences. AP's only diminish the experience for those folks by taking up space.

No secret Disney has decided they will trade bodies for fewer higher paying bodies at WDW. At some point AP holders will have to determine if the value is still there for the price, and if not, Disney will have to decide if losing the AP holder is worth the change. Based on the price of AP's at DL, I don't see this trend reversing for FL.

 

[jakeman]

Then why are you on a Disney fan forum, if you've shut your wallet to Disney? I gather your statement means you don't visit WDW or any of the other parks?

He's here for the performance art.

 

[ford91exploder]

Let's be clear that this just appears to be another step in the direction of how "unimportant" AP holders are to WDW. WDW is structured to cater to the infrequent once in a lifetime vacationer who stays on-site and spends oogles of money in hotels, food, merch, and experiences. AP's only diminish the experience for those folks by taking up space.

No secret Disney has decided they will trade bodies for fewer higher paying bodies at WDW. At some point AP holders will have to determine if the value is still there for the price, and if not, Disney will have to decide if losing the AP holder is worth the change. Based on the price of AP's at DL, I don't see this trend reversing for FL.

Disney is forgetting that it's those AP holders who saved WDW's bacon in 2001 and 2008, Next time well... Hope the 'one and done' crowd is feeling generous.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Is this any different than how the program works now? Different tiers of pass have different amounts of blocked dates? Lower tier passholders are blocked during periods of peak demand?

Noooooooope.

 

[Disorbust]

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger told analysts in May executives are willing to sacrifice some attendance. Revenue has still risen, because guests are spending more on average.

I think this sums it all up whether you are an AP holder or a repeat guest, they could care less.

 

[MrPromey]

Blocking whole MONTHS to parks when a new attraction comes out, however rare that is, is absolutely insulting to AP owners as if they shouldn't be included in being able to try the new ride comes out. Even a whole week would be bad, although maybe by putting out this survey they're trying to get people to bargain and be satisfied with the idea of a week block out

Not like we get to do new attractions in a practical sense, anyway. We've ridden 7 Dwarfs Mine Train once since it opened and it was entirely due to a Fastpass+ glitch that put them on our account. (After riding, I'm glad I didn't ever try to do the two hour wait. I'd have been angry getting off it.) Otherwise, unless you book in advance for a room so you can get your faspasses 60+ days in advance, good luck getting them for the new thing. it'll probably be years before we ride the refurbished Norway attraction. An hour+ in line for a ride less than 5 minutes long isn't practical with a young child.

 

[21stamps]

And years ago, either October or November was Florida Resident month and tickets were discounted that month.

It's sad to see Disney potentially slamming those guests (locals...and not just Orlando, but those within a 2-3 hour drive) who can support the parks when events (like spiralling economies...Brazil, etc.) prevent others from visiting. Thinking back to 2008.

That survey question and the potential ramifications reminds me that Anaheim ended one of the Southern CA passes a couple of years ago, in an attempt to control crowds.

Never understood why companies think it's a good business plan to mistreat loyal customers. If we didn't live in Florida within a 4 hour drive, I know we wouldn't visit as frequently as we have - nothing to do with cost, but convenience. And we always stay on property.....

We were all busy having heart attacks realizing what our homes were now worth in 2008..lol.

Ok, not entirely.. I did still fit in F&W, and Fantasy Fest, and a few out of the country trips...actually that was a great year to do almost anything, except sell a home. Can we get all of those deals back? Without a recession?

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Not like we get to do new attractions in a practical sense, anyway. We've ridden 7 Dwarfs Mine Train once since it opened and it was entirely due to a Fastpass+ glitch that put them on our account. (After riding, I'm glad I didn't ever try to do the two hour wait. I'd have been angry getting off it.) Otherwise, unless you book in advance for a room so you can get your faspasses 60+ days in advance, good luck getting them for the new thing. it'll probably be years before we ride the refurbished Norway attraction. An hour+ in line for a ride less than 5 minutes long isn't practical with a young child.

So in a way, this "new rule" would be redundant, since many locals wouldn't stay on property, they couldn't get a fastpass at 60 days out, so the system already takes care of keeping locals off new rides.