News Disneyland Cancels Its Annual Pass Program - Theme Park Insider & OC Register

[the.dreamfinder]

Guys, I think they’re gonna do it. It’s in really poor taste, but they’re really gonna increase ticket prices in the middle of a pandemic/recession.

 

[DrAlice]

Who are our mods these days? I think we need a thread merge.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

It’s like a million voices suddenly cried out in terror - and were suddenly silenced.

And THEN, it’s like a million WDW Annual Passholders suddenly shut up.

And THEN, it’s like a million tried to renew their WDW AP’s.

 

[TP2000]

I am fascinated by what their plan is here.

Me too! This is going to be so interesting to watch play out later in 2021 and into 2022.

We've talked in the past about how the AP program was a devil's bargain for the DLR, as it provided a steady source of income for the "locals park", but it also created the entitled "AP culture" that has been a source of frustration for the company. In order for this to work, This could be a good thing....IF the options make sense. My guess is that they'll offer something closer to the Flex Pass going forward, where you have to reserve days that you want to go in advance, but if the single-day costs don't also come down as a result, my guess is they'll see massive losses as people just don't show up.

Yes, the old system hasn't been sustainable since 2012 when DCA was reborn. They tried to fiddle with it, not just by hiking prices that never seemed to deter anyone, but by changing the soft product in the park operation (parades, dance parties, night entertainment, etc.).

But the difficulty was that the hard product of the park operation (parking, transportation, dining capacity, viewing capacity, walkways, attraction capacity) was not changed and not able to accommodate the crush. No matter how many cutesy Tweets they sent out trying to get AP's to go to some unused corner of the property, the results year after year were messy and tragic.

This Covid crisis is the perfect opportunity to put the AP genie back in the bottle. They have the rare opportunity for a complete do-over for the 21st century.

Let's hope they don't screw this up! The worst thing they could do is panic 30 days after the new Resort concept reopens to low crowds and start selling AP's in a panicky rush. AHORA!

 

[TP2000]

Who are our mods these days? I think we need a thread merge.

Agreed. I just realized there are two threads. We need a merging lane.

 

[mickEblu]

I’m guessing the new program will be different tiers of flex passes. The more expensive the pass the more advance reservations you can make and less blackouts. Maybe the expensive passes can book dates earlier then the cheaper passes too. Advanced reservations will really be the new “blackouts” when weighing options. Some of the cheaper passes will probably have DCA only days where you can’t park hop.

Capped visits don’t seem likely. They want to control capacity, not stop people from going. I wonder if there will be one ultra expensive pass that don’t require reservations.

 

[Nirya]

Oh yeah, Disney is DEFINITELY going to try to raise prices when they come back by pretending it's a "boutique experience". They're going to get killed for it.

My honest prediction is the AP program comes back in a year.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

I'm going to predict that vaccines are required for entry.

 

[ayyylmao]

I'm going to predict that vaccines are required for entry.

I think that this is something that would be fun to speculate on.

How would they do this?

They would have to partner with every single medical partner and business that is offering vaccines in order to get data from them and actually verify that the person got the vaccine. That isn't feasible to do at any point in the next year (let along maybe ever).

They could require people to show an actual vaccination card when they register for tickets and / or show up to the park.

This will create a huge black market for fake vaccination cards.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

I think that this is something that would be fun to speculate on.

How would they do this?

They would have to partner with every single medical partner and business that is offering vaccines in order to get data from them and actually verify that the person got the vaccine. That isn't feasible to do at any point in the next year (let along maybe ever).

They could require people to show an actual vaccination card when they register for tickets and / or show up to the park.

This will create a huge black market for fake vaccination cards.

the airlines have already started up "vaccine passports" on an app, dont see why that can't become a common app for every business that wants to join.

 

[mickEblu]

I think that this is something that would be fun to speculate on.

How would they do this?

They would have to partner with every single medical partner and business that is offering vaccines in order to get data from them and actually verify that the person got the vaccine. That isn't feasible to do at any point in the next year (let along maybe ever).

They could require people to show an actual vaccination card when they register for tickets and / or show up to the park.

This will create a huge black market for fake vaccination cards.

I find it very frightening to speculate on

 

[oceanbreeze77]

I find it very frightening to speculate on

whether its disney or not, and whether we like it or not, there WILL be places that will require vaccines for entry.

Will disney require it?? Who knows? But its clear they are trying to optimize their system for capacity, and this is something they may consider

 

[ayyylmao]

I find it very frightening to speculate on

I agree.

As someone who can't wait to get the vaccine...... unfortunately some people love the idea of a vaccine passport - it'll let them legally discriminate on people they don't like.

 

[Zorro]

I have to admit that potentially seeing a lethal blow to the local "treat the park like a mall hang-out" mentality is fine with me. There won't be any tears shed if the likes of Fresh Baked and Justin Scarred can only go to the parks as often as the rest of us non-locals. On the other hand, you would have to be a Pollyanna Whittier to believe that somehow the park will revert to a ca 2000 atmosphere with a true off-season and relaxing days. Unless the analytics show that the "pack 'em in like sardines" approach isn't the most profitable, then expect to find the park as crowded as always when it reopens. Still, I have to admit that I'm somewhat hopeful in that anything at this point has to be an improvement for the non-local.

 

[ayyylmao]

Fresh Baked and Justin Scarred can only go to the parks as often as the rest of us non-locals

Don't worry. They'll have multiple AP's registered to fake drivers licenses

 

[VJ]

"Disneyland is your land... as long as you can spend at least $200 per day on admission alone. If not, tough." -Walt Disney

 

[DrAlice]

On the other hand, you would have to be a Pollyanna Whittier to believe that somehow the park will revert to a ca 2000 atmosphere with a true off-season and relaxing days. Unless the analytics show that the "pack 'em in like sardines" approach isn't the most profitable, then expect to find the park as crowded as always when it reopens. Still, I have to admit that I'm somewhat hopeful in that anything at this point has to be an improvement for the non-local.

Agreed. I had my 5 minutes of joy from this news and then realized that the overcrowding problem is only a problem for guests, not Disney. Just look at WDW: it's mostly out-of-towners and there is nothing uncrowded about that place.

 

[VJ]

the overcrowding problem is only a problem for guests, not Disney.

Just like eBay scalpers are only a problem for guests, not Disney. They don't care who buys what in what quantity and what they do with it afterward as long as they get their money.

 

[mickEblu]

I have to admit that potentially seeing a lethal blow to the local "treat the park like a mall hang-out" mentality is fine with me. There won't be any tears shed if the likes of Fresh Baked and Justin Scarred can only go to the parks as often as the rest of us non-locals. On the other hand, you would have to be a Pollyanna Whittier to believe that somehow the park will revert to a ca 2000 atmosphere with a true off-season and relaxing days. Unless the analytics show that the "pack 'em in like sardines" approach isn't the most profitable, then expect to find the park as crowded as always when it reopens. Still, I have to admit that I'm somewhat hopeful in that anything at this point has to be an improvement for the non-local.

I agree mostly but still find it hard to believe we will see them packed in like sardines again in a Post Covid world. I’d imagine they want to change the perception of their parks so when the next inevitable scary Chinese virus comes knocking they won’t have to shut down for 2 years again. Don’t get me wrong, I still think there will be very busy days but perhaps nothing like those New Years Eve and Christmas week crowds ever again.

 

[CaptinEO]

As an out-of-towner that's never had an AP, I'm all for killing the current program IF it results in a program that leads to lighter crowds. I realize that's a big if.

I feel for all of you that will have to re-think your DL experience. Also, I wonder what will happen to guests like Peter Tu. He's just as much a part of the DL experience as anything else.

Me too! APs, especially once payment plans came about as well as Youtube worsened Disneyland. This is great news. I'm a local too but I think this will make the park better.