News Walt Disney World Annual Pass price changes effective October 16 2018

[MAGICFLOP]

That would be interesting if they limited the number of annual passes.

After thinking about it for awhile, perhaps this means that if they sell a lot of AP's they won't renew them, but will sell you a new AP again.

Boiled down to: NO renewal Discount.

 

[HauntedPirate]

That would be interesting if they limited the number of annual passes.

With that wording, it seems to be the direction in which they are heading.

 

[CTC]

Going again next summer in August. I am glad I bought the MYW tickets from Undercovertourist. They still have some available.

 

[Lensman]

You guys have never thought why does Disney need AP's at all? As far Orlando which is geared to long stay out of FL tourists why on earth give the locals a deal when the parks are filled almost year round?

You mean the FL resident AP's right? The non-resident AP's are obviously geared towards out-of-state tourists who come down a couple times a year for long stays or several times a year for shorter stays, right?

In both cases, I wonder if Disney is finding that some passholders are coming "too often" and aren't making "enough" ancillary purchases to be sufficiently profitable? Not excusing or blaming these passholders. I would probably be one of these people if I were local.

BTW, I too have wondered about the role that the FL resident passholders play in the WDW customer mix. And I am worried for them being displaced by "more profitable" customers. And this concern isn't entirely unselfish, I've occasionally thought that I might retire to the area and become a vlogger as my retirement gig. It strikes me as more fun than gardening or tai chi, and would keep me mobile and active.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

You mean the FL resident AP's right? The non-resident AP's are obviously geared towards out-of-state tourists who come down a couple times a year for long stays or several times a year for shorter stays, right?

In both cases, I wonder if Disney is finding that some passholders are coming "too often" and aren't making "enough" ancillary purchases to be sufficiently profitable? Not excusing or blaming these passholders. I would probably be one of these people if I were local.

BTW, I too have wondered about the role that the FL resident passholders play in the WDW customer mix. And I am worried for them being displaced by "more profitable" customers. And this concern isn't entirely unselfish, I've occasionally thought that I might retire to the area and become a vlogger as my retirement gig. It strikes me as more fun than gardening or tai chi, and would keep me mobile and active.

I think this is often overstated or misstated.

First, many FL AP’s belong to people in FL who are not in “day trip” distance unless they want to do something nuts like drive up for dinner and drive right back home late at night. All of Fort Lauderdale/West Palm to the Keys and the panhandle, Naples, etc.

Second, when you don’t have to buy park tickets every time, you can spend that money on $200 dinners for two instead of $50 dinners. You can spend it on tours/upcharges. You can upgrade your hotel.

Also, if I buy a 3 day ticket, I’m going once for 3 days, and I’ll have less money on that trip after buying those tickets.

But when I buy an AP, I want to “get my money’s worth” and may take several trips like that. I’ve seen everything so I appreciate certain upcharges and splurges.

Disney makes a lot more money on me when I have an AP vs when I don’t!

YMMV.

 

[RustySpork]

I think this is often overstated or misstated.

First, many FL AP’s belong to people in FL who are not in “day trip” distance unless they want to do something nuts like drive up for dinner and drive right back home late at night. All of Fort Lauderdale/West Palm to the Keys and the panhandle, Naples, etc.

Second, when you don’t have to buy park tickets every time, you can spend that money on $200 dinners for two instead of $50 dinners. You can spend it on tours/upcharges. You can upgrade your hotel.

Also, if I buy a 3 day ticket, I’m going once for 3 days, and I’ll have less money on that trip after buying those tickets.

But when I buy an AP, I want to “get my money’s worth” and may take several trips like that. I’ve seen everything so I appreciate certain upcharges and splurges.

Disney makes a lot more money on me when I have an AP vs when I don’t!

YMMV.

Your spending $200 on 4-5 dinners on top of your insignificant $339 weekday select pass pales in comparison to the average visitor who spends upwards of $20,000 on their week at POP Century! Don't you know how much less important you are to the mouse?!

Spoiler

/s

 

[ppete1975]

I think this is often overstated or misstated.

First, many FL AP’s belong to people in FL who are not in “day trip” distance unless they want to do something nuts like drive up for dinner and drive right back home late at night. All of Fort Lauderdale/West Palm to the Keys and the panhandle, Naples, etc.

Second, when you don’t have to buy park tickets every time, you can spend that money on $200 dinners for two instead of $50 dinners. You can spend it on tours/upcharges. You can upgrade your hotel.

Also, if I buy a 3 day ticket, I’m going once for 3 days, and I’ll have less money on that trip after buying those tickets.

But when I buy an AP, I want to “get my money’s worth” and may take several trips like that. I’ve seen everything so I appreciate certain upcharges and splurges.

Disney makes a lot more money on me when I have an AP vs when I don’t!

YMMV.

Good point but I think you might be in the minority. You are probably the person who will still buy AP's. The person they are trying to get rid of Ap's for (In my opinion), are the people who bring in their own food, never spend money on souvenir's, and might even use Disney as a baby sitter for their kids. Also most people wont look at it as Ill spend that money on nicer food, nicer hotel or a splurge, they will spend the same for those items or go off property. And then they can complain at Disney, and say "IM AN ANNUAL PASS HOLDER!!!"

 

[RustySpork]

Good point but I think you might be in the minority. You are probably the person who will still buy AP's. The person they are trying to get rid of Ap's for (In my opinion), are the people who bring in their own food, never spend money on souvenir's, and might even use Disney as a baby sitter for their kids. Also most people wont look at it as Ill spend that money on nicer food, nicer hotel or a splurge, they will spend the same for those items or go off property. And then they can complain at Disney, and say "IM AN ANNUAL PASS HOLDER!!!"

I don't think I've ever met an annual pass holder that brought in their own food, and didn't spend money on souvenirs. This seems like a myth. Even the people that I know who have the least cost AP still spend tons of money in the parks, probably more than they'd like to admit. They may have lunch outside of the parks, but they still buy treats on property and have all of the latest Disney bags and shirts.

I'm also not sure who would use Disney as a baby sitter, do you have any idea how long it takes to get in and out of that place?! Maybe sending kids to the parks while they go dine at a resort, but they'd still be spending money.

I think you have a very distorted view of passholders.

 

[kong1802]

I don't think I've ever met an annual pass holder that brought in their own food, and didn't spend money on souvenirs. This seems like a myth. Even the people that I know who have the least cost AP still spend tons of money in the parks, probably more than they'd like to admit. They may have lunch outside of the parks, but they still buy treats on property and have all of the latest Disney bags and shirts.

I'm also not sure who would use Disney as a baby sitter, do you have any idea how long it takes to get in and out of that place?! Maybe sending kids to the parks while they go dine at a resort, but they'd still be spending money.

I think you have a very distorted view of passholders.

I'll say that we brought our food about half the time over the last year.

We spent about $200 on souvenirs throughout the entire year.

We stayed on property about half of our visits - using a third party for better rates most of the time.

Never ate at one buffet, sig, or TS.

We did buy too much alcohol, though...

We also did do one Halloween party.

We did that so that we could have the Premier Pass. Disney would probably prefer, profit margin wise, that we downgrade our pass and spend the difference on the above things. But we wont, as we don't see value in prixe fix, character buffets, bubble wands, or fenced in views with frosting.....

 

[RustySpork]

I'll say that we brought our food about half the time over the last year.

We spent about $200 on souvenirs throughout the entire year.

We stayed on property about half of our visits - using a third party for better rates most of the time.

Never ate at one buffet, sig, or TS.

We did buy too much alcohol, though...

We also did do one Halloween party.

We did that so that we could have the Premier Pass. Disney would probably prefer, profit margin wise, that we downgrade our pass and spend the difference on the above things. But we wont, as we don't see value in prixe fix, character buffets, bubble wands, or fenced in views with frosting.....

That's exactly my point. Even if you were bringing your own food some times, you're still spending money in the parks and at the resorts. There are probably very very few annual passholders that buy a pass and then don't spend another dime in the parks.

Personally, I've spent tens of thousands on food and souvenirs over the years. The polo that I'm wearing right now is a parks shirt that I spent over $50 on.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'll say that we brought our food about half the time over the last year.

We spent about $200 on souvenirs throughout the entire year.

We stayed on property about half of our visits - using a third party for better rates most of the time.

Never ate at one buffet, sig, or TS.

We did buy too much alcohol, though...

We also did do one Halloween party.

We did that so that we could have the Premier Pass. Disney would probably prefer, profit margin wise, that we downgrade our pass and spend the difference on the above things. But we wont, as we don't see value in prixe fix, character buffets, bubble wands, or fenced in views with frosting.....

Yeah...but I’m gonna guess you are the outlier here.

Remember what the annual passholder represents: those that LOVE Disney...

And all that entails including throwing cash around.

I’d guess 90 times out of 100

 

[Virtual Toad]

Don't forget that Florida resident APs were also the ones who historically helped all their out-of-state friends and relatives plan and execute their own WDW vacations... often staying onsite with them and guiding said friends and relatives through the mayhem of the parks to make sure they had a great time. Many of us were really ambassadors for the brand. Those friends and relatives returned home with glowing reviews of their vacation, spreading the word to their friends, etc. etc. etc. We spent a fortune in the process but I guess the word fortune is extraordinarily relative.

I use past tense because at more than $600 a pop for the privilege of having passes with blackout dates, we and many others have stepped away from the table. Resort parking fees and absurd price/value on dining were also deal killers.

We let our passes expire, took the kids to Washington DC this summer and had an amazing time for a lot less money. Got a great deal on Legoland APs this week-- four passes for half of what a SINGLE WDW AP with blackouts would cost us-- and are looking forward to visiting a park where customers are still appreciated and absurd advance planning is not required.

I understand what WDW is doing and as long as there are millions of potential customers out there flooding the parks, they can continue to aggressively raise prices and decimate quality. They will have to burn through several decades of first-time/one-time visitors before they run out of customers and goodwill. Iger and company will be long gone before any real damage to the bottom line becomes a reality.

 

[kong1802]

That's exactly my point. Even if you were bringing your own food some times, you're still spending money in the parks and at the resorts. There are probably very very few annual passholders that buy a pass and then don't spend another dime in the parks.

Personally, I've spent tens of thousands on food and souvenirs over the years. The polo that I'm wearing right now is a parks shirt that I spent over $50 on.

Good point. Anecdotally, looking around, there were probably only 1 or 2 families sitting around eating PB&J's like us...

And we probably spent more in the parks than I want to remember......

But I'm not downgrading our pass and turning around and spending more on upsells. But as @Sirwalterraleigh points out, we are probably more of an outlier than the typical AP fam.

 

[ppete1975]

I don't think I've ever met an annual pass holder that brought in their own food, and didn't spend money on souvenirs. This seems like a myth. Even the people that I know who have the least cost AP still spend tons of money in the parks, probably more than they'd like to admit. They may have lunch outside of the parks, but they still buy treats on property and have all of the latest Disney bags and shirts.

I'm also not sure who would use Disney as a baby sitter, do you have any idea how long it takes to get in and out of that place?! Maybe sending kids to the parks while they go dine at a resort, but they'd still be spending money.

I think you have a very distorted view of passholders.

Its my opinion based on years of people watching.

I think we both might have a distorted view.

Yours might be on the middle to top end of the AP population (the ones they want to keep), mine based on the lower end of the AP population (that they might want to remove), the same people who buy them with credit cards, and shouldn't really be buying them. I understand that's a bleak view but in todays society it an accurate view of parts of the population. There is a growing amount of people who also pay for their vacations entirely from credit, and go more and more in debt every year, but we are getting off topic.

 

[RustySpork]

Its my opinion based on years of people watching.

I think we both might have a distorted view.

Yours might be on the middle to top end of the AP population (the ones they want to keep), mine based on the lower end of the AP population (that they might want to remove), the same people who buy them with credit cards, and shouldn't really be buying them. I understand that's a bleak view but in todays society it an accurate view of parts of the population. There is a growing amount of people who also pay for their vacations entirely from credit, and go more and more in debt every year, but we are getting off topic.

If you're people watching though you aren't seeing if the guests you're watching are driving down from Kentucky with a cooler full of sandwiches and buying tickets at the gate, or if they're locals coming from down the street with their APs.

I don't think my view is as distorted as you might think, I literally know dozens of locals with APs from all walks of life and none of them are as you describe.

You're definitely on point about people who pay for their vacations entirely from credit though.

 

[JoeCamel]

You guys have never thought why does Disney need AP's at all? As far Orlando which is geared to long stay out of FL tourists why on earth give the locals a deal when the parks are filled almost year round?

If they are thinking the APs are not needed any longer then they have developed memory loss. Who saved them after 9/11?

 

[RustySpork]

If they are thinking the APs are not needed any longer then they have developed memory loss. Who saved them after 9/11?

We're only valuable to them when they need us. When they don't, they put us out in the back where nobody can see us..if they let us in at all.

 

[kong1802]

If they are thinking the APs are not needed any longer then they have developed memory loss. Who saved them after 9/11?

I'd also say the local FL Ap's prop up the F&W as well......maybe too well?

 

[RustySpork]

I'd also say the local FL Ap's prop up the F&W as well......maybe too well?

At least three (probably $80+) visits to get the "free stuff", each.

 

[Kman101]

Good point but I think you might be in the minority. You are probably the person who will still buy AP's. The person they are trying to get rid of Ap's for (In my opinion), are the people who bring in their own food, never spend money on souvenir's, and might even use Disney as a baby sitter for their kids. Also most people wont look at it as Ill spend that money on nicer food, nicer hotel or a splurge, they will spend the same for those items or go off property. And then they can complain at Disney, and say "IM AN ANNUAL PASS HOLDER!!!"

I feel like we think they put a lot of focus on this kind of thing but I really don't know that they do as much as we think they do.

I mean you have lifestylers buying the latest cupcakes and snacks and giving them free publicity daily. APs aren't going away. And there's no way they do away with a renewal discount. But these prices are a slippery slope. I've been OK because I go with the weekday pass. I'm now starting to have that internal debate with myself. I went a lot last year, not as much this year (no major particular reasons, just different things going on).

I also have a hard time believing they open Star Wars Land the week before Christmas. But stranger things have happened I suppose. I do agree with @HauntedPirate that we see at least two increases next year.