Disneyland "Sunsetting" annual passes, WDW next?

ColdSarsaparilla

Well-Known Member
The AP's wording, like, "The Florida theme park said..." and "The announcement comes as the Disneyland California theme park halted its annual pass program entirely." is certainly interesting. It certainly sounds as if they know something we don't.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
The AP's wording, like, "The Florida theme park said..." and "The announcement comes as the Disneyland California theme park halted its annual pass program entirely." is certainly interesting. It certainly sounds as if they know something we don't.
It's the other way around: We know something they don't, namely, that WDW has stopped selling new APs long ago.
 

Kingoglow

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand why people are acting like this is news about WDW?
Well, because it WDW is in the AP headline and it is in the thesis of the article. The question revolves around what MisterPenguin stated, do we know more than the respected reports at the Associated Press? They didn’t have any new facts in their piece but the headline defiantly reads as something much more permanent than we were lead to believe. and given the shocking news about DL, I think passholders have reasons to be concerned.

We say things like, ‘this would never happen to WDW’ and this thread has a dozen reasons why ( the fans think) it makes no sense but DL fans said the exact same thing about their annual passes. I can defiantly see Disney removing APs from WDW, all of them, but especially FL rate passes. Pass holders may not believe it, but it could happen.
 

James J

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Well, because it WDW is in the AP headline and it is in the thesis of the article. The question revolves around what MisterPenguin stated, do we know more than the respected reports at the Associated Press? They didn’t have any new facts in their piece but the headline defiantly reads as something much more permanent than we were lead to believe. and given the shocking news about DL, I think passholders have reasons to be concerned.

We say things like, ‘this would never happen to WDW’ and this thread has a dozen reasons why ( the fans think) it makes no sense but DL fans said the exact same thing about their annual passes. I can defiantly see Disney removing APs from WDW, all of them, but especially FL rate passes. Pass holders may not believe it, but it could happen.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
I think - to bring the DL news up again - that some significant changes are coming to the passholder program in the future. Something will be offered at DL but it could be very different. It’s possible and even likely that any such changes will be copied or at least partially adopted at WDW as well. So I think it is possible that the lack of new AP sales at WDW could be at least partially related to rolling out such a new product.

they can allow current holders to continue as is without bringing on additional APers. They can be grandfathered in until the end of their passes. Then they can choose to sign up for the new system or not. Just my thought...
 

TiggerDad

Well-Known Member
Well, because it WDW is in the AP headline and it is in the thesis of the article. The question revolves around what MisterPenguin stated, do we know more than the respected reports at the Associated Press? They didn’t have any new facts in their piece but the headline defiantly reads as something much more permanent than we were lead to believe. and given the shocking news about DL, I think passholders have reasons to be concerned.

We say things like, ‘this would never happen to WDW’ and this thread has a dozen reasons why ( the fans think) it makes no sense but DL fans said the exact same thing about their annual passes. I can defiantly see Disney removing APs from WDW, all of them, but especially FL rate passes. Pass holders may not believe it, but it could happen.
Defiantly =/= definitely
 

DomVF07

Active Member
AP late to the party like....
1DF1708F-9DCE-4451-8E9E-807B60F5B2AD.jpeg
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Well, because it WDW is in the AP headline and it is in the thesis of the article. The question revolves around what MisterPenguin stated, do we know more than the respected reports at the Associated Press? They didn’t have any new facts in their piece but the headline defiantly reads as something much more permanent than we were lead to believe. and given the shocking news about DL, I think passholders have reasons to be concerned.

We say things like, ‘this would never happen to WDW’ and this thread has a dozen reasons why ( the fans think) it makes no sense but DL fans said the exact same thing about their annual passes. I can defiantly see Disney removing APs from WDW, all of them, but especially FL rate passes. Pass holders may not believe it, but it could happen.

none of that is the point. The point is nothing is new from last week to this week. They have not been selling new AP’s, only renewing old ones. I presume the AP have not been paying attention and think this is new.
 

DCBaker

Premium Member
Strange reporting coming out of the Associated Press today.
First time buyers for Disney World annual passes out of luck

The facts being reported are all true of the current state of AP's at WDW. IT is just... odd that the Associated Press would post this.

Story has been updated -

"In Florida, Walt Disney World reopened in July after nearly four months with new rules in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 including mandatory masks and social distancing. The Florida resort implemented a moratorium on new annual passes last summer, though it will honor those from existing passholders."

 

1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

Well-Known Member
As I keep telling you folks, no one ever talks about it, they just do it. Disneyland got rid of their APs just a sudden announcement. It will happen to Disney World too. Once the new membership has been announced then Disney World's will go away and covert to that program too. It will be company wide. Why else do you think they wont sell any more but just renew for the time being? Also when they replace the People Mover it will be sudden with no prior discussion.
 

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
As I keep telling you folks, no one ever talks about it, they just do it. Disneyland got rid of their APs just a sudden announcement. It will happen to Disney World too. Once the new membership has been announced then Disney World's will go away and covert to that program too. It will be company wide. Why else do you think they wont sell any more but just renew for the time being? Also when they replace the People Mover it will be sudden with no prior discussion.
They stopped APs at Disneyland because there are over 1.5 MILLION AP holders just in CA. Meaning those that could potentially want to visit at any time without notice. Even with a reservation system this would block out days for months when capacity is going to start around the 20% threshold. APs WILL be back at DLR, and in a mostly unchanged fashion. Meaning - the blackout dates will probably increase on some of the lower passes.
 

tirian

Well-Known Member
Exactly. I was there in late June and early July and it was very telling.

I think the wording of this and other recent press releases are extremely poor and show how rushed these decisions were.

It would also appear that Disney fired their best copywriters.
Disney fired its best marketing staff long ago. Now the company appears to use a wheel of Magical Pixie Phrases.

As the company shifts its priorities across all divisions, not just marketing, we’ll continue to see pointed statements from former Imagineers, animators, and leaders about the need for quality. It didn’t take long for Joe Rohde to join the voices of caution.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Disney fired its best marketing staff long ago. Now the company appears to use a wheel of Magical Pixie Phrases.
Well.. It appears they have now fired their mediocre marketing staff as well. 😂

That press release about “sunsetting” the AP’s is really really bad on so many levels. I’m not talking about the decision to cancel AP’s... I’m talking about how it was handled and worded from a marketing and branding perspective.

I know I know I’m being an “armchair” marketer now...
 

tirian

Well-Known Member
Well.. It appears they have now fired their mediocre marketing staff as well. 😂

That press release about “sunsetting” the AP’s is really really bad on so many levels. I’m not talking about the decision to cancel AP’s... I’m talking about how it was handled and worded from a marketing and branding perspective.

I know I know I’m being an “armchair” marketer now...
As several peanut gallery blogs and vlogs have pointed out: the most offensive bit of Disney PR usually isn’t the decision itself, regardless of how bad or shortsighted the decision may be. The most offensive part is the way Disney treats the public like ignorant morons.

“We canceled MDE because our guests now have an abundance of options!”

“We’re sunsetting the AP program and will develop an exciting new solution!”

I wish someone in mainstream travel media would call out Disney for its pandering. Twenty years ago, someone might have done that; but after Iger shut down the LA Times for publishing an opinion he didn’t like, Disney now controls much of the travel and movie critics through fear. (The recent Yahoo News story is a high-profile exception.)
 

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