News Walt Disney World to resume sales of Annual Passes (New sales resume April 20, 2023)

[Dayma]

The short answer is: It depends.

If your package price was dependent on purchasing a room and tickets, you'd no longer qualify for that package price and your new price would be subject to whatever current room rates are. This new room rate may or may not be cheaper than what you originally paid.

If your package price was simply the prevailing room rate at the time you booked plus tickets, you should be able to modify the reservation and remove the tickets.

Thanks for explaining this!

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Further - if passes are still available when you take your vacation you should be able to upgrade the tickets.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Thanks for explaining this!

Glad that helped.

There's also the possibility that if you bought APs on April 20, you could look into availability of an AP-discounted room for your stay. I don't know if the AP would be linked to your DME account right away - it may need to be activated before it shows up - but it may be worth looking into.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Hello all. Not sure if this has been asked yet. I went through a lot of the history and did not see it.

We are considering an annual pass, but also have a trip fully booked in September 2023. If we get the annual pass , can we get credited for the future September purchase? We did the whole package deal so it's hard to tell how that would work. Thanks!

You should look online and maybe call WDW about this. (I suggest looking online first, but without an AP you can't see AP rates.)

One option is to modify your tickets to AP's once you are at WDW. that you can do, so long as your tickets are not fully used up. In other words, do it mid-trip, not the last day of your trip. Do it AFTER you use the tickets at least once. Also, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW the price difference between your tickets and the cost of AP's. CM's have often quoted me inflated prices!

Since your trip is in September, then - as of now (4/10) you paid either a $200 deposit (=package), or the cost of 1 night. (=room only). You should also have gotten a confirmation email with details, or at least it has a link to the fine print.

If you bought a package, and the new deal you want is a package, then WDW will usually be able to just convert it to the package with the lower cost.

If you want to go from a room only booking to a package (or package to room only), then WDW typically has to charge a new deposit, then refund the old. It takes about a week for it to show up only your credit card. BECAUSE IT TAKES A WEEK - if your statement closes that week, the refund MIGHT show up on your NEXT MONTH's BILL. but many (most?) credit cards will now deduct a refund from the amount due on the current month's bill, but I'd call your credit card to verify. Some cc's make it clear that a credit has been applied to your balance, others try to hide it.

I'm not sure what happens though if you bought trip insurance.

You can always get a WDW package, even if no tickets. I think WDWTC calls it a 'base package." If you call WDW Travel- the CM's usually TRY to push you into a 'package' (instead of a room only booking.) the last time I had to really insist 3 TIMES that I wanted a 'room only' booking before they'd book my stay as room only.

If you are getting AP's then you may well be able to get the room with an AP discount, which is almost always a better discount than the WDW package deals. the only thing is, I don't know if they have released AP discounts for fall. the exact room you want, might not be available. To get the AP rate, you might have to look into a different room, different hotel or maybe evena split stay (part of time at one hotel/part at another). In some cases, you might end up with a better room (for same price) as an option. You really have to look/call to find out what is available.

this far out though, you should be able to modify your September stay.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Thanks for explaining this!

It is more detailed though than the prior answer you got from pp. I've rebooked many stays.

I think you'll end up paying a lower price. The AP discount usually beats every other discount WDW offers, though some hotels are excluded, and the discounted rooms do get booked.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I remember our "gold" pass back in the day for DVC was about $350 per person. Granted that was 10 years ago. But big difference now. It is literally $1000 more for the two passes we renew each year.

I remember my first Universal AP. On the way out of the park, I asked the cost of converting my two-day park hopper to an AP.

It was under $15.

THAT was a no brainer, IMO.

Not only that, but we immediately qualified for the Universal AP hotel discount, which knocked quite a bit off the cost of their hotels!

Just after that day came the time period when we gave Universal a lot more $ annually than WDW.

Universal is also very good with their 10% food/merchandise discount applying to just about every location, too. WDW's food/merch discounts only apply some locations.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

You can get any wdw Hotel for 25% off after next week…and the discount improves in the summer

Depends.

The current 25% offer is not 25% off, it is "'UP to 25% off."

One REALLY has to look carefully at the specific pricing for the room and the specific dates, as the actual %off varies by quite a bit. for some dates/hotels, the discount is only about 1%.

I looked at Poly, and the discount was only around $15, I think. I also looked at some of the other deluxes for specific dates. For a week stay, some days were discounted 25%, but other days were not, even though the week was entirely in the 'discount period.'

Also, the price difference between 'standard view' and 'pool view' has jumped. It used to be like a $10 upgrade.
July 4th rack rates:
Standard at AKL = $565*
Pool = $637 ($72 more)*
Savanna = $808 rack. ($243 more)*

*These are rack rates.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Depends.

The current 25% offer is not 25% off, it is "'UP to 25% off."

One REALLY has to look carefully at the specific pricing for the room and the specific dates, as the actual %off varies by quite a bit. for some dates/hotels, the discount is only about 1%.

I looked at Poly, and the discount was only around $15, I think. I also looked at some of the other deluxes for specific dates. For a week stay, some days were discounted 25%, but other days were not, even though the week was entirely in the 'discount period.'

Also, the price difference between 'standard view' and 'pool view' has jumped. It used to be like a $10 upgrade.
July 4th rack rates:
Standard at AKL = $565*
Pool = $637 ($72 more)*
Savanna = $808 rack. ($243 more)*

*These are rack rates.

Not an exact science…the point was discounts seem to be on the rise.
Meaning demand is on the decline. It’s pretty much a 1:1 scenario

 

[networkpro]

Glad that helped.

There's also the possibility that if you bought APs on April 20, you could look into availability of an AP-discounted room for your stay. I don't know if the AP would be linked to your DME account right away - it may need to be activated before it shows up - but it may be worth looking into.

You can register your exchange certificate on DME.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I remember my first Universal AP. On the way out of the park, I asked the cost of converting my two-day park hopper to an AP.

It was under $15.

THAT was a no brainer, IMO.

Not only that, but we immediately qualified for the Universal AP hotel discount, which knocked quite a bit off the cost of their hotels!

Just after that day came the time period when we gave Universal a lot more $ annually than WDW.

Universal is also very good with their 10% food/merchandise discount applying to just about every location, too. WDW's food/merch discounts only apply some locations.

I had the sea world/busch gardens for $99
Universal was $109

And discovery cove was 50% off…regular price was $99 in the Low season.

Those were the days, Edith

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I had the sea world/busch gardens for $99
Universal was $109

And discovery cove was 50% off…regular price was $99 in the Low season.

Those were the days, Edith

Sea World is still cheap. I got the “Fun Card” this year that only has blackout dates on Christmas Eve/day, New Year’s Eve/day, and maybe Easter eve/day, for $95 discounted off of $125. Granted, that tier has no food/mercy discounts or free parking, but still a screaming deal compared to WDW.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Not an exact science…the point was discounts seem to be on the rise.
Meaning demand is on the decline. It’s pretty much a 1:1 scenario

No no, everything is fine, don't you listen to Bob and Josh? I mean, the CFO herself said some mumbo jumbo about the company was satisfied with “future bookings and interest” or some such nonsense in October. Surely she said that with valid data to back it up… didn’t she?

 

[Jrb1979]

No no, everything is fine, don't you listen to Bob and Josh? I mean, the CFO herself said some mumbo jumbo about the company was satisfied with “future bookings and interest” or some such nonsense in October. Surely she said that with valid data to back it up… didn’t she?

They don't lie during shareholder calls. Just like that $17 billion is being spent

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No no, everything is fine, don't you listen to Bob and Josh? I mean, the CFO herself said some mumbo jumbo about the company was satisfied with “future bookings and interest” or some such nonsense in October. Surely she said that with valid data to back it up… didn’t she?

Well if she lied…J Edgar Hoover would show up in zombie form and throw her in San Quentin…

That’s why nobody in a name tag can lie and we have to trust them

 

[flynnibus]

Personal experiences aren't particularly the best to extrapolate data unless you have a large sample size, which you do, so I don't know, I just don't quite get what's so elite about delta's base coach over competitors that justifies spending 2-4 times more on.

Yet you do the same

I also get from the tone of your posts you may travel solo?

 

[Zummi Gummi]

I’m very curious how long these will last. Do we think this is going to be a Disneyland situation where if you aren’t in the queue the moment it drops you’ll be out of luck? How long do we expect these to be on sale for?

 

[Touchdown]

Well DL magic keys have been available since Jan. You just had to buy the most expensive one.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I’m very curious how long these will last. Do we think this is going to be a Disneyland situation where if you aren’t in the queue the moment it drops you’ll be out of luck? How long do we expect these to be on sale for?

I really think they will sell out quick.

The good old days of just being able to purchase an WDW or Disneyland AP any time we wanted is over.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’m very curious how long these will last. Do we think this is going to be a Disneyland situation where if you aren’t in the queue the moment it drops you’ll be out of luck? How long do we expect these to be on sale for?

I’m guessing quickly. But it depends on how bad their forecasts look - one would think?

I really think they will sell out quick.

The good old days of just being able to purchase an WDW or Disneyland AP any time we wanted is over.

Then they’re not actually annual passes anymore. It’s a promo/gimmick.
But you’re probably right

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I really think they will sell out quick.

The good old days of just being able to purchase an WDW or Disneyland AP any time we wanted is over.

i don’t think it’s an accident that wdw announced all passes back on sale at the same time Disneyland did. They can’t leave money on the table forever.

Limiting passes is limiting revenue AND sending customers to Lmotts and Universal. Eventually a business can’t justify that decision.