News Disneyland cancels Annual Pass program

[fctiger]

Yeah I would be fine with an all flex pass system. That would be the better way to go. I like the alternate black out date idea as well.

For me, if we can at least get in the park 20 days a year that includes summer and at least 1 or 2 Saturdays a month, I would be up for anything. But I was talking to a good Disney friend yesterday who is a hardcore park goer and had APs for over 20 years straight. I can tell how disappointed they are APs aren't coming back or at least not being able to go whenever they want. But he would go several times a week, usually after work. But he also lives 15 minutes away from the park, so going to the park was like second nature to them.

I have another friend who isn't going to go the parks at all until an AP program is reinstated because they had a pass for over 30 years now and the idea of paying $100 a day is nuts to them when they paid that a month and could most or all month. I think THOSE types of people it's going to be a very hard adjustment.

But I think most people who just go maybe once or twice a month and usually plan ahead when they do go will be fine IF the new program gives you the option to go when you want, but more limited. But the days of just showing up whenever you want to are probably gone for at least a year or so if not forever. End of the day, I think that's all they are really trying to change along with reducing crowds.

I think a discount program can work, but I just don't see a lot of people really wanting to do it. I think that would be for much smaller minority of people. That said, maybe you can simply do both?

 

[flynnibus]

Every time we venture out of our Disney fandom bubble we find new adventures that ultimately result in less of our money ending up in Disneys pockets, we are diehard Disney fans so they’ll always get a portion of our spending (we still plan to visit the Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong parks and DL Paris is our favorite park so it’ll continue to be our ”base” for European vacations) but that portion seems to be decreasing yearly as the prices continuously rise and other destinations become an equal priced alternative.

I totally agree with you. Besides the cruise ships, Disney is more about a hobby than a premium vacation for me anymore.

 

[Stevek]

I totally agree with you. Besides the cruise ships, Disney is more about a hobby than a premium vacation for me anymore.

Agreed. We are only doing Disney World this year because a) the girls haven't been there in 10 years and begged me and b) we just want a Disney experience. It's definitely not a premium vacation though. We're saving that for Hawaii next year. Since giving up our APs several years ago, we've ventured out and tried many different places and will continue to do so moving forward. We were almost going to Disneyland out of obligation anymore, not desire.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

We're saving that for Hawaii next year.

Go snorkeling with the turtles, this one must have been almost 5 feet long, one of the coolest experiences of my life. Absolutely amazing.

 

[flynnibus]

Go snorkeling with the turtles, this one must have been almost 5 feet long, one of the coolest experiences of my life. Absolutely amazing.

try this for fun

 

[truecoat]

How is 12 visits a year considered unfettered or unlimited use?

It's just a 12 day pass.

 

[Stevek]

Go snorkeling with the turtles, this one must have been almost 5 feet long, one of the coolest experiences of my life. Absolutely amazing.

we did go snorkeling at molokini off Maui many moons ago. Lots of fish, don't remember seeing any turtles though I do remember an area along the Maui coast that did have a snorkel with the turtles activity.

 

[Stevek]

try this for fun

We didn't go that far but we did swim with dolphins in Puerto Vallarta while on a Disney Cruise back in like 2008. Very cool experience.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Which is fine. Hopefully the new system will make the parks more manageable from a guest experience perspective.

I have been imagining what the new membership program will be for DLR.
I imagine there will be levels; all levels will have blackouts and require park pass reservations.

Except for the highest level.

I imagine this level will have no blackouts, no park reservations needed and free parking

And the price will be double or triple the price of the best pre pandemic DLR annual pass.

 

[Stevek]

I have been imagining what the new membership program will be for DLR.
I imagine there will be levels; all levels will have blackouts and require park pass reservations.

Except for the highest level.

I imagine this level will have no blackouts, no park reservations needed and free parking

And the price will be double or triple the price of the best pre pandemic DLR annual pass.

Which is totally fine...if they want to make the park accessible 365 days a year to only those that have the disposable income or crazy vloggers that are willing to take a 2nd on the house, so be it. Anything that makes the parks more manageable and enjoyable is fine by me. If the new program isn't a value for me, I'll go once or twice a year like I always did growing up.

 

[flynnibus]

Which is totally fine...if they want to make the park accessible 365 days a year to only those that have the disposable income or crazy vloggers that are willing to take a 2nd on the house, so be it.

If they have that much money - why give it away? Let them pay per use - why give them a discount?

 

[CaptinEO]

I have screens of about 20ish different pass options from the survey they sent out a few months ago (my friend shared it with me).

From those options there will be no such thing as one pass with everything. One pass would do higher merch discounts, one would have higher food discounts, some had parking discounts, some had free parking, some had discounted tickets for friends.

Some passes would have less blockouts but you couldnt have as many reservations at a time. Some would have more reservations but you couldn't make them as far in advance as the other passes.

Some had Maxpass, others didnt.

My point is, there was no pass that had all the good benefits in one.

I'd take this time to really think about what you value most in a pass. For someone that eats a lot of in park food you will favor the one with higher dining discounts. For people like me that only go if parking is included, I'll get an option with included parking. For someone who buys a lot in the parks, they can get the merchandise based pass.

 

[Stevek]

I have screens of about 20ish different pass options from the survey they sent out a few months ago (my friend shared it with me).

From those options there will be no such thing as one pass with everything. One pass would do higher merch discounts, one would have higher food discounts, some had parking discounts, some had free parking, some had discounted tickets for friends.

Some passes would have less blockouts but you couldnt have as many reservations at a time. Some would have more reservations but you couldn't make them as far in advance as the other passes.

Some had Maxpass, others didnt.

My point is, there was no pass that had all the good benefits in one.

I'd take this time to really think about what you value most in a pass. For someone that eats a lot of in park food you will favor the one with higher dining discounts. For people like me that only go if parking is included, I'll get an option with included parking. For someone who buys a lot in the parks, they can get the merchandise based pass.

Believe those were all shared here as well at some point. They were just surveys to see what type of response former APs would have to various options. It's unknown if any of them will truly ever be part of what is released.

 

[CaptinEO]

Believe those were all shared here as well at some point. They were just surveys to see what type of response former APs would have to various options. It's unknown if any of them will truly ever be part of what is released.

That's true, but it's our only hard evidence at this point of what may be in the works.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

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.

this is an excellent post...hadn’t thought of it this way before.

its awful a terrible idea of it comes to pass

 

[Disstevefan1]

Which is totally fine...if they want to make the park accessible 365 days a year to only those that have the disposable income or crazy vloggers that are willing to take a 2nd on the house, so be it. Anything that makes the parks more manageable and enjoyable is fine by me. If the new program isn't a value for me, I'll go once or twice a year like I always did growing up.

Totally agree. I (was) a WDW AP for the last 13 years or so. Due to COVID I did not renew. I suspect there will be similar changes to the WDW AP program. If the new programs are not a value.... I really like Universal and Seaworld

 

[Stevek]

Totally agree. I (was) a WDW AP for the last 13 years or so. Due to COVID I did not renew. I suspect there will be similar changes to the WDW AP program. If the new programs are not a value.... I really like Universal and Seaworld

And we have Knott's here though I don't get nearly the enjoyment I do at Disneyland...but for $100 Knotts AP, may be hard to pass up.

 

[Nirya]

That's true, but it's our only hard evidence at this point of what may be in the works.

Those are more used to gauge what things guests prize - Universal and Knotts have similar things in their surveys - and are designed so that the people analyzing the data can figure out which specific perks are more coveted by guests. Like, if most surveys show that guests favor passes that feature discounted or free parking, then Disney will be likely to include that in their new offering. As-is, it's only a data point of various ideas that the company is willing to consider.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

And we have Knott's here though I don't get nearly the enjoyment I do at Disneyland...but for $100 Knotts AP, may be hard to pass up.

It’s too bad Universal Hollywood isn’t on par with Universal Florida. We got “buy a day get a year” APs a few years ago and only used them twice, the Hollywood park just isn’t a realistic alternative to DL, I think Disney needs to be more careful in Florida though, if they go too far Universal Florida is a very valid alternative.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I think Disney needs to be more careful in Florida though, if they go too far Universal Florida is a very valid alternative.