News Disneyland cancels Annual Pass program

[el_super]

All the surveys that Disney has sent out say otherwise. None of the options presented included a program that only allowed access to discounted tickets. Every single option presented with an Annual Pass.

Yeah I know, and I still stand by what I said. I don't think they intended to blow up the whole program, just to introduce some minor restrictions. The biggest issue they had with the program was lack of flexibility, which is something they introduced with the tiered pricing of the one day tickets. They need to find a way to add that flexibility to a new system that doesn't just mean granting immediate entry to the parks like the old APs did.

It's also pretty clear right now that they need to figure out a way to push locals back to DCA without giving them access to Disneyland. A market based rate for discounted admission does that.

 

[chadwpalm]

Quick question concerning legacy AP discounts, but now that the parks are open again, do you know if they are still discounting with the APs just like they been doing with DTD?

Yes.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/discounts/

Edit: Sadly for me my trip isn't until the first weekend in June and my Legacy AP expires May 31st.

 

[AJFireman]

Edit: Sadly for me my trip isn't until the first weekend in June and my Legacy AP expires May 31st.

Discounts and access to benefits will be extended until the new Membership program is announced. This per the Disney website .

Disneyland Resort Legacy Passholder Discounts

We’ve recently introduced a new way to validate and process your applicable <a href="/news/legacy-passholder-program/" target="_self">Legacy Passholder discounts</a> based on Passport type when shopping or dining at select locations throughout the Disneyland Resort.

disneyland.disney.go.com

 

[chadwpalm]

Discounts and access to benefits will be extended until the new Membership program is announced. This per the Disney website .

Disneyland Resort Legacy Passholder Discounts

We’ve recently introduced a new way to validate and process your applicable <a href="/news/legacy-passholder-program/" target="_self">Legacy Passholder discounts</a> based on Passport type when shopping or dining at select locations throughout the Disneyland Resort.

disneyland.disney.go.com

Thanks! I saw that page but didn't read to the bottom. Good to know!

 

[mickEblu]

The $600 flex pass was a sweet deal. I’m expecting something to come back for $200-$300 more.

 

[AJFireman]

The $600 flex pass was a sweet deal. I’m expecting something to come back for $200-$300 more.

I agree my only concern was that once it became more popular how hard would it be to get reservations.

 

[mickEblu]

I agree my only concern was that once it became more popular how hard would it be to get reservations.

Right which is why I think the price will go up and you’ll probably have more blackouts at that price tier. But yeah that pilot year was a steal.

 

[chadwpalm]

The $600 flex pass was a sweet deal. I’m expecting something to come back for $200-$300 more.

As a vacationer, the 2-days over 60 days window was killer for me. If I wanted to do more than two days I had to hope the third day didn't fill up and reserve it after the first day was over.

I doubt I'd buy an AP again (unless I felt it was a good deal) since I rarely go to the parks more than once or twice a year. I got the flex pass in hopes to spread out my cost over the year and maybe book an extra trip or two over the year. If I broke even I would have been happy. I at least still had the discounts.

 

[fctiger]

They aren't bringing back the Annual Passes, and they've been careful not to say that they are. They are creating a new product and seem to like emphasizing the idea of a "membership/loyalty" program.

My guess is that they will offer something like D23, where you pay an annual fee for the privilege of buying discounted ticket media. Past that, the experience will be the same of having to navigate the reservation system to get a day in the park. There's a lot of pros in a system like this, since it will give them tremendous flexibility. They can leverage technology to vary the ticket prices based on market feedback just like an airline changes seat prices. That means they can eliminate all the silly "tiers" of the old annual pass system and level the playing field for discounts and perks. No more blockout dates, no more blockout date tickets: just pay a fair price per entry.

Maybe like an airline frequent flyer program, you can get miles or points toward rewards like a free churro or a special loyalty program night.

You know what I mean. Even the President in the podcast called them annual passes. Whatever they are called or operate, clearly they are meant to get you in the park a lot more than what is being offered now and that's all most of us care about. We'll just have to see how it's done of course.

 

[fctiger]

All the surveys that Disney has sent out say otherwise. None of the options presented included a program that only allowed access to discounted tickets. Every single option presented was an Annual Pass.


The Annual Pass will return, but with more restrictions (have to make a reservation each visit) and options to add benefits to your pass ala carte.

Yeah the competition is just too high not to have a more traditional AP program. Again, the DL President called them Annual Passes. They may operate differently but I think it will still get you in the parks when you want to go, you just may have to plan ahead more which I'm guessing most people did anyway unless they showed up every week.

IDK, but this entire conversation is just odd to me. Even now, APs are still part of every Disney park worldwide today. There is absolutely nothing different from how they operated before outside of having to reserve times in advance given everything. The only issue with DLR was because the amount of APs they had and because it was the ONLY park that has been shut down for so long (all the other parks opened up within six months of closures, at least temporarily), they knew they had to do something more drastic. And yes, it's probably going to be up to a year before normal capacity is implemented again so they have to make serious changes, especially for a park that relies so much on locals.

My guess is if DL opened up sometime last year, nothing would've changed in terms of APS outside of not selling new ones for awhile like they did at WDW. Again, all of this is just common sense given everything. But once everything goes back to a more normal situation, it would be business as usual again, just with more restrictions maybe.

 

[fctiger]

Yes.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/discounts/

Edit: Sadly for me my trip isn't until the first weekend in June and my Legacy AP expires May 31st.

Thanks! Yeah I assumed it was the case, but you know what they say about assumptions!

And it's already been said, no matter when your original pass expire they will still give you discounts pass that (my pass didn't expire until July). I was told that by a CM at DTD last month. At the time, I didn't know that would be permanent obviously but I did think at least through the end of the year or until they created a new program.

 

[mickEblu]

Yeah the competition is just too high not to have a more traditional AP program. Again, the DL President called them Annual Passes. They may operate differently but I think it will still get you in the parks when you want to go, you just may have to plan ahead more which I'm guessing most people did anyway unless they showed up every week.

IDK, but this entire conversation is just odd to me. Even now, APs are still part of every Disney park worldwide today. There is absolutely nothing different from how they operated before outside of having to reserve times in advance given everything. The only issue with DLR was because the amount of APs they had and because it was the ONLY park that has been shut down for so long (all the other parks opened up within six months of closures, at least temporarily), they knew they had to do something more drastic. And yes, it's probably going to be up to a year before normal capacity is implemented again so they have to make serious changes, especially for a park that relies so much on locals.

My guess is if DL opened up sometime last year, nothing would've changed in terms of APS outside of not selling new ones for awhile like they did at WDW. Again, all of this is just common sense given everything. But once everything goes back to a more normal situation, it would be business as usual again, just with more restrictions maybe.

I agree. I think people are letting their wishful thinking get in the way of logic. Locals aren’t going to keep buying park hoppers all year. This is a novelty thing because of the pent up demand and the fact that we re all just itching to get out and spend money. Take me for example, with no AP I’m going to go on my 2 day trip in a few weeks (staying off site) and probably one more time this year to get my fix again/ check out Avengers Campus. In the meantime I’ll be using my USH AP that I just bought here and there as it’s 10 minutes away from my house.

Side note: the draw of Avengers Campus wasn’t even strong enough for me to postpone my trip 2 weeks.

 

[mickEblu]

As a vacationer, the 2-days over 60 days window was killer for me. If I wanted to do more than two days I had to hope the third day didn't fill up and reserve it after the first day was over.

I doubt I'd buy an AP again (unless I felt it was a good deal) since I rarely go to the parks more than once or twice a year. I got the flex pass in hopes to spread out my cost over the year and maybe book an extra trip or two over the year. If I broke even I would have been happy. I at least still had the discounts.

Right. I don’t think the flex pass was made with vacationers in mind. Wouldn’t a 3 day pass be better for a vacationer?

 

[chadwpalm]

Right. I don’t think the flex pass was made with vacationers in mind. Wouldn’t a 3 day pass be better for a vacationer?

Probably. I've done that a few times. In the last few years before the pandemic, I usually did a two-day summer trip and a one-day solo Christmas trip. I will probably go back to doing something similar once things get back to normal again.

 

[fctiger]

I agree. I think people are letting their wishful thinking get in the way of logic. Locals aren’t going to keep buying park hoppers all year. This is a novelty thing because of the pent up demand and the fact that we re all just itching to get out and spend money. Take me for example, with no AP I’m going to go on my 2 day trip in a few weeks (staying off site) and probably one more time this year to get my fix again/ check out Avengers Campus. In the meantime I’ll be using my USH AP that I just bought here and there as it’s 10 minutes away from my house.

Side note: the draw of Avengers Campus wasn’t even strong enough for me to postpone my trip 2 weeks.

I don't understand this odd obsession of wanting the DL APs eliminated? It's so weird to me. And I only say that because it seems to just be this park alone and no other park, including other Disney parks where there is so much scorn over a program that's been around for decades now in most major park worldwide. Sure I get people hate that they can fill up the park to a ridiculous level, but again that's because Disney simply ALLOWED it. Believe it or not, you can still have APs and still manage the crowds better at the same time, I don't think it has to be one or the other? Now they can do that and even have the excuse to do that. Hopefully they will. I just don't think it will be permanent regardless what they do in the interim, but we'll see.

But the competition is just too high to NOT have them at all. Again, there is this odd thinking that because it's Disneyland, it's going to just bring people in droves just because and that's not realistic when you have parks literally several miles from you to compete with. Yes, attendance wise, it will always be on top, the question is it enough for Disney and we know the answer to that; at least in normal times. We're going to get KBF APs this month. Never got them before. But for $100 (and monthly payments to boot) it's just really hard to pass that up. Is KBF Disneyland. of course not. But when your AP cost literally less than a single day of what it cost to get into DL, that is going to naturally drive people away from DL. Now one park alone isn't going to do a whole lot. But when you have a half dozen parks with AP programs then after awhile it's going to have an affect. Maybe not the first few months because DL is the biggest priority for most, but eventually once that demand is met after doing it a few times and no AP program to bring them back.

And Disney clearly knows that.

I was thinking of getting USH APs too. But KBF is closer to us and we'll see how often we do that first before I think of getting another. And now that we know APs are coming back to DLR, I'm wiling to wait it and see what that is before getting passes to some place else.

 

[el_super]

I don't understand this odd obsession of wanting the DL APs eliminated? It's so weird to me. And I only say that because it seems to just be this park alone and no other park, including other Disney parks where there is so much scorn over a program that's been around for decades now in most major park worldwide.

It isn't really an obsession as much as it's just reality. It's gone. They eliminated it. Of course there is a lot of history and background available that leads up to that decision and why it made sense, but it doesn't mean there is a desire to see it eliminated or have people barred from the park.

Sure I get people hate that they can fill up the park to a ridiculous level, but again that's because Disney simply ALLOWED it. Believe it or not, you can still have APs and still manage the crowds better at the same time, I don't think it has to be one or the other? Now they can do that and even have the excuse to do that. Hopefully they will. I just don't think it will be permanent regardless what they do in the interim, but we'll see.

Yes you can have APs and control crowds, but essentially what they're saying here is that the old system didn't work and needed to be replaced. Offering different levels of access at different price points only gets you so far, and continually doing blanket price increases or eliminating the sales or certain passes didn't go far enough to fix the problems. they need more flexibility with their system and that's what they're seeking in reimagining the program.

Eliminating the program, and potentially alienating a million fans, wasn't something taken lightly, with the intent of just bringing it back later.

 

[fctiger]

It isn't really an obsession as much as it's just reality. It's gone. They eliminated it. Of course there is a lot of history and background available that leads up to that decision and why it made sense, but it doesn't mean there is a desire to see it eliminated or have people barred from the park.




Yes you can have APs and control crowds, but essentially what they're saying here is that the old system didn't work and needed to be replaced. Offering different levels of access at different price points only gets you so far, and continually doing blanket price increases or eliminating the sales or certain passes didn't go far enough to fix the problems. they need more flexibility with their system and that's what they're seeking in reimagining the program.

Eliminating the program, and potentially alienating a million fans, wasn't something taken lightly, with the intent of just bringing it back later.

I'm talking about before it was eliminated. It was this constant drumbeat of wanting it gone for so many people. I just never understood why OUTSIDE of the crowding issue. And as said, that could've been controlled long ago and even in high seasons the park is still crowded, AP Or not.

And honestly I think most people understood why it was eliminated because as said the situation was out of Disney hands. You can't have a million people paying around $1,000 for passes they can only now use some of the time. That just wasn't going to work. I imagine a lot of people were going to cancel their APs anyway given the circumstances but you would still have many who kept them.

We're not really disagreeing. I think this is a good thing overall. But there are still people who seems to hate the idea bringing them back in ANY form is bad. Or the strange belief they weren't coming back when Disney literally said the day they got rid of them, they were coming back, just in a different form. I think some just assumed it would be a year (or even years) from that happening. Even I didn't think they would come back until next Spring the earliest. But the fact they announced they are coming even before the parks officially opened again tells you everything you need to know. They need these passes, so people have to stop kidding themselves. Every theme park does, especially parks that have a high local base and DLR has one of the highest. It's not WDW, it will never be WDW.

Even the DL President said the only reason why they aren't coming back sooner is because they only received all the data from the surveys they sent out only recently (I got one and filled it out as well). So I do think they will still be APs in the way we think of APs, but yes more restrictive, DEFINITELY more expensive lol and maybe just a cap on the number they sell. Again, they could've done that for the last 30+ years. And my guess is even if they do that, it won't be forever.

 

[flynnibus]

I don't understand this odd obsession of wanting the DL APs eliminated? It's so weird to me. And I only say that because it seems to just be this park alone and no other park, including other Disney parks where there is so much scorn over a program that's been around for decades now in most major park worldwide.

Because of the uniqueness of the combination of the local demographic combined with the site. The AP impact is not as material at the other parks.

The combination of the 'unlimited use' and the visiting patterns lead to untenable situations for the park. And other guests suffer at the same time because of it. That's why people have an interest in changes to the AP program.

It's not people trying to say 'No more APs' - they are trying to say no to some of the principals some have come to assume from the AP program.. like unlimited uses, or belief that they should have garunteed access, etc.

You can have a 'discount admission' program without giving up the cow too.

I'm sure Disney will come back with a program that will ensure they will be able to control crowds on dates they want WITHOUT a blackout calendar posted a year prior.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm talking about before it was eliminated. It was this constant drumbeat of wanting it gone for so many people. I just never understood why OUTSIDE of the crowding issue. And as said, that could've been controlled long ago and even in high seasons the park is still crowded, AP Or not.

Because as they say 'power corrupts'. The program created a bunch of entitlement in people - and brought out traits and behaviors that were off putting to alot of people. Or the kind of stuff this level access allows to flourish... like the stupid social clubs. Or the kind of behaviors that were growing in the limited merchandise areas, etc. All areas were the 'unlimited' aspect of the AP was contributing to the problem.

 

[fctiger]

Because of the uniqueness of the combination of the local demographic combined with the site. The AP impact is not as material at the other parks.

The combination of the 'unlimited use' and the visiting patterns lead to untenable situations for the park. And other guests suffer at the same time because of it. That's why people have an interest in changes to the AP program.

It's not people trying to say 'No more APs' - they are trying to say no to some of the principals some have come to assume from the AP program.. like unlimited uses, or belief that they should have garunteed access, etc.

You can have a 'discount admission' program without giving up the cow too.

I'm sure Disney will come back with a program that will ensure they will be able to control crowds on dates they want WITHOUT a blackout calendar posted a year prior.

No, trust me, there were certainly were some of that. There have been posters here who said they never wanted it back but I know they are in the minority. And I'm not just talking about this site obviously. I was part of MC for a loooong time before I came here and there it was debated literally weekly for years. It just got tiring to hear after awhile (that's not why I left though).

But yes, I do agree its probably because these sites, especially DLR are driven by locals more than anything. I go to the Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai boards since I go to all those parks as well and its very different there since it's a lot less people who post and no one seems to be a local to any of those parks including myself.

But as far as APs and being 'unlimited' that's how every AP in every theme park works, right? This is kind of my point, there is almost this inherit resentment over it which I don't understand. I mean, KBF also has an unlimited AP. You can go every day the park is open, just not valid for Knott's Scary Farm. And it's only $101 WITH payment plan on top of it. I have not seen a SINGLE post anywhere that people suggesting KBF is 'giving up the cow', it's appeasing the locals too much, it makes the park too crowded and on and on. No one seems to care at all in fact.

Of course I partly understand why, because they don't personally go to KBF that often if ever, or spend 10 hours a day talking about it, even when living in a different country or state. Some people come to boards like this every day even though they physically go to the park, any of the parks, once a year at best. So obviously there is a big loyalty factor few parks get outside of Disney,. So I get it. But regardless, DL is not doing ANYTHING differently than every theme park out there. Nothing! The only difference is there is a subset of people who seem to believe they should operate the parks that is better for THEM to visit. That's what it comes down to. Yeah we would all love that, but that's just not the way businesses works, especially the theme park business where (up until a year ago) cramming as many people in for a price they can live with was the business model...and most likely will be again.