Disneyland New "Flex" Annual Pass

[flynnibus]

They could easily move to a hybrid model..

Off-season times you could call 'unlimited admission' days - you can request an admission for those days w/o consuming any of your admissions. Disney could be very liberal with how many they allow in via this model.
Regular-season times you could call 'regular admission' days - you can request an admission and it would deduct one from your 'bank' of admission credits. Disney could be liberal to limiting based on the day of the week how many they allow in via this model
Peak-season times you could call 'limited admission' days - and Disney could charge more admissions for that day, and limit how many they give out

Then simply sell APs based on how many admissions you want the pass to enable.. admissions expire after 12 months. Sell them in tiers designed to upsell people to the next tier.

No more blackouts... no more uncontrolled hoards... no more garunteed access.. but you still get a huge discount on entry.

 

[chadwpalm]

Of the next 4 Saturdays, 3 are fully reserved. I think this pass is definitely now more popular than it used to be and its value may be degrading for those that use this as a weekend pass.

Now it's the next 4 Saturdays that are booked. I was about to plan another weekend trip in April, but I may have to just take a couple days off work and go on Mon/Tues instead of Sat/Sun.

Scratch that. That's spring break season and will probably be packed on weekdays too. Gonna have to put more thought into this.

 

[mickEblu]

Of the next 4 Saturdays, 3 are fully reserved. I think this pass is definitely now more popular than it used to be and its value may be degrading for those that use this as a weekend pass.

Slightly. The smart move (for now) is just to book Saturdays every time they become available... even if you are not sure you want to go that day. Then just cancel it and get a reservation for the following Saturday when that date becomes available. Sunday’s rarely book up.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Of the next 4 Saturdays, 3 are fully reserved. I think this pass is definitely now more popular than it used to be and its value may be degrading for those that use this as a weekend pass.

It was kind of inevitable. Hard to believe there’s people/suckers out there that fell for this pass.

 

[mickEblu]

It was kind of inevitable. Hard to believe anyone fell for this pass.

It worked great for me. I pretty much got everyday I wanted this year except maybe once when I slept on making the reservation. All for 1/2 the price of a Signature Pass. But then again that was the Pilot year. I even forgot to make a reservation once on a Sunday and had no problem getting in as the day wasn’t booked. Anyway, let’s see what happens going forward. Also worth noting that parking adds up.... for most people. We went to the park with my Signature pass holder sister often.

Not really sure what you are basing your opinion on but mine is on first hand experience.

 

[chadwpalm]

It worked great for me. I pretty much got everyday I wanted this year except maybe once when I slept on making the reservation. All for 1/2 the price of a Signature Pass. But then again that was the Pilot year. I even forgot to make a reservation once on a Sunday and had no problem getting in as the day wasn’t booked. Anyway, let’s see what happens going forward. Also worth noting that parking adds up.... for most people. We went to the park with my Signature pass holder sister often.

Not really sure what you are basing your opinion on but mine is on first hand experience.

I'm with you. I got the Flex as well and I went for three days (would have been 4 if not for rain) in November, two days in January, looking to book another three day trip sometime in the next few months, and one more in October. I feel like I've gotten my money's worth and haven't had any issues booking days. If you get them right when they are first available they are usually open. March and April are spring break months which could account for busier than normal Saturdays, as well as the opening of RotR.

Not sure yet if I'll renew for next year or take a year off. After the down payment my monthly payments are $37, but will jump to $54 if renewed. The 8% increase was kinda killer, but between that and the booked Saturdays it seems like this pass is gaining popularity.

 

[aquamanalaska]

It was kind of inevitable. Hard to believe there’s people/suckers out there that fell for this pass.

I love I get to see what days my Flexpass is blocked out, it tells me what days to avoid because it is so busy. My feeling is it sucked more when I paid for a Signature Pass. All the same days are available for to go to the park with the Flex as it is with the Signature and I got to keep an extra $650 in my pocket.

 

[Kram Sacul]

I love I get to see what days my Flexpass is blocked out, it tells me what days to avoid because it is so busy. My feeling is it sucked more when I paid for a Signature Pass. All the same days are available for to go to the park with the Flex as it is with the Signature and I got to keep an extra $650 in my pocket.

Good for you. For me it would be a disaster because I would have to plan ahead and wouldn’t get much out of it. In the end it’s still the illusion of getting more for less but actually not.

 

[aquamanalaska]

Good for you. For me it would be a disaster because I would have to plan ahead and wouldn’t get much out of it. In the end it’s still the illusion of getting more for less but actually not.

Yes if you are not a planner this is definitely not a pass for you. No illusion here I read the fine print and received the opportunity to enter the parks the same amount of days as I would have if I had bought the Sig Pass, but at a considerable savings.

 

[cmwade77]

It was kind of inevitable. Hard to believe there’s people/suckers out there that fell for this pass.

It has been working great for us, in fact this isn't even an issue, as our next trip we want to primarily do DCA as we want to do food and wine, so while Disneyland is full, DCA is still available and that works. The last time I had that happen though, I was able to get Disneyland the night before.

I really think we will eventually see all APs switched to a reservation systems, something like:
Value Pass - 180 Blackout Days, all other days by reservation only

Value+ Pass - the 180 reservation only days from the Value pass will be good to go days, with 90 blackout dates and 90 reservation only dates

Flex Pass - 45 black out dates, 45 reservation only dates and the rest good to go

Signature Pass - only blacked out during the holidays and 20 reservation only dates

Signature+ Pass - all days are good to go, except the two weeks around the holidays will be reservation only (similar terms would apply for the premiere pass) and ability to make up to 4 reservations at a time instead of two for all other levels.

This would allow Disney to have a much better feel of traffic and adjust staffing levels accordingly.

 

[cmwade77]

Good for you. For me it would be a disaster because I would have to plan ahead and wouldn’t get much out of it. In the end it’s still the illusion of getting more for less but actually not.

Another reason it works for us, is if a day does t have any same day (or at least a day or two before) availability, it is a day I would rather not be going anyway, as it will be extremely crowded and not a very fun trip anyway.

 

[DavidDL]

Wife and I have been loving our Flex passes for this new year so far. We've been going an average of twice a month and have only had one day that we were thinking about going fill up on us. But we're flexible so we just booked the weekend right after. I guess that's where it gets it's name! We've also seen days that were full open up the night before and snagged those last minute for some unplanned time in the parks.

Side note; they missed an opportunity to put Elastigirl on the front of these passes!

 

[cmwade77]

I'm with you. I got the Flex as well and I went for three days (would have been 4 if not for rain) in November, two days in January, looking to book another three day trip sometime in the next few months, and one more in October. I feel like I've gotten my money's worth and haven't had any issues booking days. If you get them right when they are first available they are usually open. March and April are spring break months which could account for busier than normal Saturdays, as well as the opening of RotR.

Not sure yet if I'll renew for next year or take a year off. After the down payment my monthly payments are $37, but will jump to $54 if renewed. The 8% increase was kinda killer, but between that and the booked Saturdays it seems like this pass is gaining popularity.

For me, I can work with the booked Saturdays, as I can always book in advance, my issue is the massive reduction in entertainment as of late, which is a big part of why we go. Then add in that Knott's is dramatically increasing their entertainment and doing it with quality at a much lower price point and taking a year or two off from Disney until they realize they need the entertainment may not be such a bad idea.

The only issue is that we are currently grandfathered into being able to adding parking to our flex passes and we would loose this ability.