The fact that I can’t buy an annual pass is absurd

MrConbon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Florida resident here. I have been a passholder for years. My silver pass initially expired back in September but I didn’t want to go to the theme parks during that time period so I chose not to renew my pass.

Now there’s no way for me to buy an annual pass? I live 15 minutes away and used to go weekly so it isn’t feasible for me to buy a standard ticket every time I want to go to the parks. I was told by support that I had to renew my pass within 30 days which makes sense if I want the renewal discount but now there’s just no way for me to buy one?

Universal and Sea World are adding benefits to their annual passes to entice people to buy them while Disney is outright banning the sale. Especially nowadays when local crowds make up a larger percentage of the park crowds, I can’t fathom why Disney is choosing to lose out on money.
 

nickys

Premium Member
Florida resident here. I have been a passholder for years. My silver pass initially expired back in September but I didn’t want to go to the theme parks during that time period so I chose not to renew my pass.

Now there’s no way for me to buy an annual pass? I live 15 minutes away and used to go weekly so it isn’t feasible for me to buy a standard ticket every time I want to go to the parks. I was told by support that I had to renew my pass within 30 days which makes sense if I want the renewal discount but now there’s just no way for me to buy one?

Universal and Sea World are adding benefits to their annual passes to entice people to buy them while Disney is outright banning the sale. Especially nowadays when local crowds make up a larger percentage of the park crowds, I can’t fathom why Disney is choosing to lose out on money.
Have you tried calling?

They are allowing some people to renew / buy new APs. Certainly those those who had APs that expired during the closure period can get them, even if they opted to cancel them. Whether that also applies to people whose APs expired since the re-opening I’m not sure. The only way to find out though is to call.

I’m pretty sure the reason is that they cannot provide what the AP “promises” - entry to the parks at any time except blackout dates. With park reservations and hopping permitted only of capacity permits, you cannot currently do that.
 

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
My family of three were Platinum APs for the last 13 years. Our last one expired Aug 2020. We needed the freedom of the platinum so there were no blackouts and we could literally go when we wanted as I still work for a living and need to be able to go on the weekends.

The park pass reservation system does not work for us because we simply do not know when we will be able to go ahead of time.

Even after the pandemic is over, I have a bad feeling that when APs come back, I will be paying what I used to pay for a Platinum that will be a AP that requires reservations and has blackouts..

Lets see what happens...
 

Giss Neric

Well-Known Member
Florida resident here. I have been a passholder for years. My silver pass initially expired back in September but I didn’t want to go to the theme parks during that time period so I chose not to renew my pass.

Now there’s no way for me to buy an annual pass? I live 15 minutes away and used to go weekly so it isn’t feasible for me to buy a standard ticket every time I want to go to the parks. I was told by support that I had to renew my pass within 30 days which makes sense if I want the renewal discount but now there’s just no way for me to buy one?

Universal and Sea World are adding benefits to their annual passes to entice people to buy them while Disney is outright banning the sale. Especially nowadays when local crowds make up a larger percentage of the park crowds, I can’t fathom why Disney is choosing to lose out on money.
Are you inquiring or are you just ranting? Ain't the goal here is to get validation from other people if your case is really the case? You went from asking questions to making conclusions.
 

AshaNeOmah

Well-Known Member
My family wants to visit 3-4 times between mid-2021 and mid-2022, after missing the entirety of 2020. We're 600 miles away, so not Florida, but close enough for an easy 8-10 hour drive. Every trip has to be planned ahead, with an on-site hotel, so park reservations wouldn't be a problem for us.

Since I refuse to buy 20+ total days of tickets for 4 trips individually, my 'first' trip keeps getting pushed back until I can buy APs. It was New Year's, then Spring Break, but that has now passed until early Summer. If I can't ensure an AP by mid-April, it'll get pushed to the 50th in October, and keep going until I can.

I'm not sure how many out-of-state residents buy Platinum Passes, but I've had probably 7 or 8 of them in the past 15 years. With the park reservation system, it might actually make more sense to offer them out-of-state first, since we can't just 'show up'.
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
They dont want ap coming in, brining in meals, not buying anything, just riding a few rides then leaving
Right now they don't and I can't say I blame them. It's ski season and trying to get tickets to mountains has been very limited. Annual passes are sold but typical things like stamp cards and all are not happening. I am sure the APs will be back someday, but right now Disney doesn't want to deal with them. On top of that, considering all the complaining I saw from AP owners when the world was in lockdown, it is probably not in their interest to have to deal with that headache(refunds, extending months ect) and the less of them the better should they ever have to shutdown for a few weeks or more again.
 

NickMaio

Well-Known Member
Florida resident here. I have been a passholder for years. My silver pass initially expired back in September but I didn’t want to go to the theme parks during that time period so I chose not to renew my pass.

Now there’s no way for me to buy an annual pass? I live 15 minutes away and used to go weekly so it isn’t feasible for me to buy a standard ticket every time I want to go to the parks. I was told by support that I had to renew my pass within 30 days which makes sense if I want the renewal discount but now there’s just no way for me to buy one?

Universal and Sea World are adding benefits to their annual passes to entice people to buy them while Disney is outright banning the sale. Especially nowadays when local crowds make up a larger percentage of the park crowds, I can’t fathom why Disney is choosing to lose out on money.
WDW wants tourist money, not AP money.
There is a HUGE difference.

Remember that when you can actually renew, they don't really value you as a customer.
 

AshaNeOmah

Well-Known Member
WDW wants tourist money, not AP money.
There is a HUGE difference.

Remember that when you can actually renew, they don't really value you as a customer.
Which is why they should open APs to out-of-state visitors. We spend just as much (maybe more) as the one-time tourist, since we only get to really pick up merchandise we absolutely love a few times a year. I usually set aside several hundred per family member in stuff, not counting the food and snacks.

It makes financial sense, but could you imagine the outrage?
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Which is why they should open APs to out-of-state visitors. We spend just as much (maybe more) as the one-time tourist, since we only get to really pick up merchandise we absolutely love a few times a year. I usually set aside several hundred per family member in stuff, not counting the food and snacks.

It makes financial sense, but could you imagine the outrage?
I thought you could buy APs even out of state, no or just if you have DVC?
 

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