Disneyland halts annual passholder payments during coronavirus closure - OCR/SCNG

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

>>
2020 at 3:24 p.m. | UPDATED: April 2, 2020 at 4:14 p.m.

Disneyland will halt annual pass payments for passholders who have paid for a full year and those on the monthly payment plan while the Anaheim theme park remains closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The change to the annual passholder payment policy was posted as update to the Disneyland website.

“Our annual passholders are some of our most loyal guests, and we stand ready to help during this incredibly uncertain time,” according to the Disneyland website.

Disneyland had angered passholders by continuing to charge its most die-hard fans who use the annual pass monthly payment plan and refusing to defer payments while the Anaheim theme parks remain closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy change seeks to undo the potential damage to the company’s cherished brand loyalty.


Disneyland passholders who have paid in full for their annual passes can receive a partial refund for the theme park closure period.

“Information will be provided soon on how to choose this option,” according to the Disneyland website.

Effective Sunday, April 5, Disneyland will automatically stop and waive all upcoming monthly payments while the theme parks are closed and retroactively refund payments made between March 14 and April 4.

“Payments will resume on the passholders regularly scheduled payment dates once the parks reopen,” according to the Disneyland website.
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Once again, please do not discuss COVID-19, lets focus on this decision, and the AP holders.

Note, Edited to provide the OCR's updated info
 
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flutas

Well-Known Member
Paid in full and you can have the dates extend OR get a refund. I'll let the dates extend.

Monthly payments keep the same expiration date it seems.

Monthly payments default to same expiration, but you can (somehow?) request to go to the extended dates and pay later.
 

fctiger

Well-Known Member
Wow this is unexpected. We pay monthly and have a few months left. We had no problem of paying though so it was fine either way. But if they don't charge us, that means we keep our original expiration dates??? That would suck because I have feeling this park is not opening until end of June/early July and ours ends first week of July. That doesn't make sense if so.
 

fctiger

Well-Known Member
Kind of stupid for the AP crowd to complain about anything but I guess it’s a good decision for the time being.

I think in this regard, its understandable. You have people who literally can not go to the parks now, lost their jobs and now forced to pay money to something they literally can't even use and where that money can go to other things. It's one thing if the parks were just shut down, its another when you're now out of a job as well. Yes if you already paid in full then it may seem unfair but no one is suggesting NOT to pay, just simply delay the payments when the park opens again and hopefully by that time most people will be back at work themselves. Disney had every right to keep charging people but this was the right thing to do.

And its nice that they are willing to give people a refund from this point on. That was something they didn't have to do at all. I imagine many will be taking it, especially if this drags on for months. And lets be honest a lot of these people probably don't want to step foot near a theme park when it does reopen.
 

MK-fan

Well-Known Member
Wow this is unexpected. We pay monthly and have a few months left. We had no problem of paying though so it was fine either way. But if they don't charge us, that means we keep our original expiration dates??? That would suck because I have feeling this park is not opening until end of June/early July and ours ends first week of July. That doesn't make sense if so.
If your pass expires while the park is still closed, you can leave it at that and not owe anything or You can choose to pay for the remaining months. It would exactly pick up where your AP left off And you’d pay on the same date as you always have in those extended months.
 

fctiger

Well-Known Member
If your pass expires while the park is still closed, you can leave it at that and not owe anything or You can choose to pay for the remaining months. It would exactly pick up where your AP left off And you’d pay on the same date as you always have in those extended months.

Oh OK great!! Yeah I prefer to do that because we still want to go whenever it opens (although probably not right away ;)). I guess I should click on the link lol. But are you saying we basically don't have to pay anything now? Or can we just keep paying regularly now as an option?

Edit: Ok I get it now, ALL payments are at full stop until the park opens again and you can decide if you want continue paying for the remaining months when it does reopen. That sounds like a fair deal! And save me a few hundred dollars for at least a few months.
 
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Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OK, you have 2 types of AP holders on the payment plan.

Long time AP holders, when they renew, are offered 12 equal monthly payments. For them, it is no difference. Either you keep the same expiration date, and don't have to make the monthly payment, with a refund of the March payment, depending on your payment date. Or you opt to keep making them, and get an new expiration date, equal to the days closed added to the original date.

Now, for locals, it depends if you need money now. For those that come a few times a year, well, you need to decide which option matches your calendar better.

Now, for those who just got an AP recently, your best bet is to keep making the monthly payment, and here is why.

You had to pay $179 as a down payment, then the balance was spread over monthly payments. So since the monthly payment is less than 1/12th of the total cost, by extended the expiration date, you are taking full advantage of the down payment. Of course, if you are in financial problems, then the question is, does losing $15 a month, per AP holder, offset the need for money...
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If you are even close to asking yourself that question you shouldn't have an annual pass or even be going to an amusement park.

To be fair, if you are a single person, working in the Resort Area and making serious tips, until the shutdown happened, I can understand why they would want to postpone payments.

I am just discussing the options available.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Kind of stupid for the AP crowd to complain about anything but I guess it’s a good decision for the time being.

Agreed.

I only wish the TDA Communications team could break out of their bland and meaningless Legal Approved Talking Points and say something real and genuine like...

"This is an unprecedented time. We had no plan in place to accommodate Annual Pass monthly payments during a global Pandemic and national emergency like this when the parks had to be closed. Because we had no plan for this current unprecedented situation, we continued to charge monthly payments on Annual Passes in March, per the legal agreement and payment processes we had in place for over a decade. We had to make some changes to those payment processes and it took some time, but we now have a system in place that allows us to not charge Annual Passholders their monthly payments for the time being until the parks can reopen. We appreciate our Annual Passholders as some of our most passionate guests, and we look forward to welcoming them back to the Disneyland Resort later this year when it is safe for us to reopen."

Just off the top of my head, of course. :cool:
 
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Mark_E

Active Member
I bought my flex pass on January 26th and had two amazing layovers (I'm a UK based flight attendant) at the parks. In fact, I was in Anaheim on another layover just last week and it was so strange to have it all closed off.
The option to get a refund for the period the park is closed seems to be the best option to me, and I'll be interested to see how it works. Part of the plan when I bought the pass was to use it in August for the family holiday, but I don't see the parks being open by then, and even if they were I'm not sure i'd be able to travel to the USA for leisure.
 

fctiger

Well-Known Member
I bought my flex pass on January 26th and had two amazing layovers (I'm a UK based flight attendant) at the parks. In fact, I was in Anaheim on another layover just last week and it was so strange to have it all closed off.
The option to get a refund for the period the park is closed seems to be the best option to me, and I'll be interested to see how it works. Part of the plan when I bought the pass was to use it in August for the family holiday, but I don't see the parks being open by then, and even if they were I'm not sure i'd be able to travel to the USA for leisure.

Yeah I have a few friends in this boat as well, who just pay for an AP for a vacation and stay like a week and try to make another trip before it expires. One from Australia bought a pass last August and was planning on coming in July to use it one last time, but I don't think that's going to happen now. I think he was resigned to the fact he wasn't going to be able to use it again after he used it once for five days. Haven't talk to him yet but I imagine they may look into this now.
 

Ismael Flores

Well-Known Member
Wow this is unexpected. We pay monthly and have a few months left. We had no problem of paying though so it was fine either way. But if they don't charge us, that means we keep our original expiration dates??? That would suck because I have feeling this park is not opening until end of June/early July and ours ends first week of July. That doesn't make sense if so.

I was just discussing this with a friend, his pass also expires on last week of June we were wondering if they have anything in regards to renewals. He is afraid to let his pass expire because he is grandfathered in and is allowed to continue having parking. Will they allow people to renew their passes if the parks are still closed or if not will they still honor those that are grandfathered in and are still allowed to continue having parking.

He would prefer to renew continue paying and have them extend the pass that he has now and then the renewed pass. Of course that would probably change his renewal date to sometime in October for 2021 if they took into account the approximate 3 month closure for the existing pass and whatever extra time it would be closed in June
 

Ismael Flores

Well-Known Member
Here is an interesting question that a coworker just asked me. His family had a reunion at the beginning of the year and bought the so-cal tickets that gave them three days of use till May 21, 2020. They had it planned to do multiple visits wih the ticket since they had till that date. They did one outing and had planned to do a two day weekend and stay at the Disneyland hotel but then the parks closed. Has Disney said anything about those tickets that people bought and did not get to use? will they be extending the date of use?

I would think that they would appreciate the foot traffic soon after they open and whatever revenue people with these tickets might leave at the resort.


(for disclosure purpose i am not breaking stay at home orders, my work place is registered as an essential government contractor)
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
One more thought, most paid the lower fee for the AP, prior to the price increase. Making current payment and extending the expiration date locks in that lower rate.
 

fctiger

Well-Known Member
I was just discussing this with a friend, his pass also expires on last week of June we were wondering if they have anything in regards to renewals. He is afraid to let his pass expire because he is grandfathered in and is allowed to continue having parking. Will they allow people to renew their passes if the parks are still closed or if not will they still honor those that are grandfathered in and are still allowed to continue having parking.

He would prefer to renew continue paying and have them extend the pass that he has now and then the renewed pass. Of course that would probably change his renewal date to sometime in October for 2021 if they took into account the approximate 3 month closure for the existing pass and whatever extra time it would be closed in June

You probably know this now but it looks like you do have two options. A youtuber went through it and even called the resort to verify but basically if you do want to extend your pass once the park reopens you can and just keep paying once the park opens again. I assume they will make this clear but according to him people have to actually call the resort on that number listed in the letter, at least for now. There is absolutely no rush lol, I'm guessing you can do it anytime between now and before the park opens again, especially since no one is paying anything until then. I'm definitely going to extend my pass seeing I still have 3 and a half months on it. Even if they manage to open next month (NOT holding my breath), it will get me all way through the summer now.
 

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
Does this mean all the APs I planned on being blocked out during our trip will be unlocked if by some miracle they open before the end of June? Or would that only be APers who had expired near this time so they get extended into summer? Black out dates should still apply once they reopen?
 

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