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

[Sirwalterraleigh]

As another DVC member, I agree that we usually eat in the parks or at resort dining locations. Most DVC rooms are studios that only have a kitchenette - small fridge, small microwave, coffee maker, and a small sink. There's not a lot of room to store refrigerated food and no way to cook anything that can't be microwaved. Even when booking a 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom villa, we rarely make out own meals. With the recent added costs - car rental over DME, paid FastPass, increased APs, and PhotoPass becoming an upcharge for APs - it's becoming more likely that we're going to eat more meals in our room. Our most recent trip was our first time renting a car down there and stopping at Target for groceries was very easy. We only ended up getting water and Gatorade plus enough food for 1 lunch and a couple quick breakfasts on days we had early starts, but that might become a lunch, a dinner, and breakfast for most of our stay now that we're being squeezed on multiple fronts. I'm sure we won't be the only ones, either. Will it make a noticeable dent? I have no idea. It might just make it easier for others to get dining reservations, but at least we'll be saving some money. And we'll also be reviewing blackout dates before deciding what to do with our APs. If we can downgrade then we will.

The blackouts are the weird thing about this whole thing…

I don’t get dumping the spring blackout and adding thanksgiving at all…unless what I thought about the Crowd calendars shifting is correct?

it’s weird…it’s like they want them just for Florida residents…while still discouraging Florida residents?

eliminating all federal holidays from the lower passes is a big deal not getting play either

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We took a sky liner trip to Riviera just for fun one day and weren’t impressed at all. It was just so sterile and generic looking. I have no desire to ever stay there.

The problem with the last 2 DVC “additions” is just what you’re saying: the prices and points fail when compared to the older ones and it’s hard to hide that.

why use more points for “copper creek” than VWL? And why more for caribbean customs house DVC than boardwalk?

just doesn’t play…Disney trying to attempt to make you not see what is there

 

[ToTBellHop]

The blackouts are the weird thing about this whole thing…

I don’t get dumping the spring blackout and adding thanksgiving at all…unless what I thought about the Crowd calendars shifting is correct?

it’s weird…it’s like they want them just for Florida residents…while still discouraging Florida residents?

eliminating all federal holidays from the lower passes is a big deal not getting play either

Again, Easter is late next year. If you look at park ticket prices, they want more for Thanksgiving and Christmas than any time next March or April, so they are expecting diffuse Spring Break crowds. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a one-off.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Again, Easter is late next year. If you look at park ticket prices, they want more for Thanksgiving and Christmas than any time next March or April, so they are expecting diffuse Spring Break crowds. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a one-off.

“Spring break” is not attached to one religious holiday anymore…they only do that in one area of the country at this point…so the crowds are “diffused” at this point…

it’s also not nearly as crowded as I had seen it in the past…they’ve been hitting the prices heavy there for years:

thanksgiving is I believe a deterrent for Florida residents…who have done the “long weekend” routine for a long time when when it wasn’t particularly crowded.

 

[ToTBellHop]

“Spring break” is not attached to one religious holiday anymore…they only do that in one area of the country at this point…so the crowds are “diffused” at this point…

it’s also not nearly as crowded as I had seen it in the past…they’ve been hitting the prices heavy there for years:

thanksgiving is I believe a deterrent for Florida residents…who have done the “long weekend” routine for a long time when when it wasn’t particularly crowded.

Honestly, we went Christmas week 2019, and the crowds weren’t awful. For better or for worse, effectively placing surge pricing on tickets and resort stays has leveled out the crowds considerably.

I was just trying to provide context for Spring Break’s removal. Crowds are certainly higher around Easter when it falls around March 30/April 1 since many school districts do still align with Easter so Good Friday isn’t an orphaned day off, and pushing K-12 Spring Break closer to college Spring Break condenses crowds. I live in CT and they do still take Easter into account when planning Spring Break because they like Good Friday to be attached to the week off, if possible.

Easter is so late this year that they are expecting a considerable drop-off at the parks the day after Easter. Usually the week before and after Easter see some degree of a spike.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Honestly, we went Christmas week 2019, and the crowds weren’t awful. For better or for worse, effectively placing surge pricing on tickets and resort stays has leveled out the crowds considerably.

I was just trying to provide context for Spring Break’s removal. Crowds are certainly higher around Easter when it falls around March 30/April 1 since many school districts do still align with Easter so Good Friday isn’t an orphaned day off, and pushing K-12 Spring Break closer to college Spring Break condenses crowds. I live in CT and they do still take Easter into account when planning Spring Break because they like Good Friday to be attached to the week off, if possible.

Easter is so late this year that they are expecting a considerable drop-off at the parks the day after Easter. Usually the week before and after Easter see some degree of a spike.

My point…and I live in New Jersey…is there are Catholics in high numbers only in the northeast (don’t tell them…they won’t believe you even if the numbers are indisputable). That is of course not including the growing Latin populations.

but most of the country isn’t tied to Easter that much…and school calendars have morphed…and more people pull (highly recommended) anyway….

I’m just surprised they actually took the blackouts out….which blurs the message a bit.

I don’t think they want APs…they are pushing people to a really expensive top level in many cases…and restricting Florida to none of the good travel windows.

 

[ToTBellHop]

My point…and I live in New Jersey…is there are Catholics in high numbers only in the northeast (don’t tell them…they won’t believe you even if the numbers are indisputable). That is of course not including the growing Latin populations.

but most of the country isn’t tied to Easter that much…and school calendars have morphed…and more people pull (highly recommended) anyway….

I’m just surprised they actually took the blackouts out….which blurs the message a bit.

I don’t think they want APs…they are pushing people to a really expensive top level in many cases…and restricting Florida to none of the good travel windows.

I agree that this is meant to limit APs. They’ve been very clear that APs are not a priority in recent years.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

The problem with the last 2 DVC “additions” is just what you’re saying: the prices and points fail when compared to the older ones and it’s hard to hide that.

why use more points for “copper creek” than VWL? And why more for caribbean customs house DVC than boardwalk?

just doesn’t play…Disney trying to attempt to make you not see what is there

At least Riviera is a new building, even if it is overpriced. Copper Creek? Literally just a remodel of existing rooms and some cabins most people will never be able to afford. The cabins look amazing, but the main building rooms are just a refurb that look like they come from an HGTV fanatic who forgot what resort they were designing rooms for. I toured them with my wife and we were both unimpressed. Even the hallway leading to the rooms feels off. It's a jarring difference from the rest of the building to go from feeling like you're at a mountain lodge to feeling like you're in an apartment complex that could literally be anywhere.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I agree that this is meant to limit APs. They’ve been very clear that APs are not a priority in recent years.

But they’re trying to do it three ways…charge more and restrict Florida residents…poop on DVC more than DVC is willing to accept (from what I’ve seen so far)…and just basically tell the non-DVC out of state former AP holders “we don’t want you…you’re gonna bleed””

 

[pdude81]

We are DVC and have had APs for many years. We don't cook on vacation. We eat at the parks and different resorts every trip, so spend a lot on food and beverage. We aren't local, so that probably makes a difference. About the only off-site place we eat is at Waffle House for breakfast on a few days while we are there. We will be getting the Sorcerer Pass as we would never go during Thanksgiving or the last 2 weeks of December anyway. When we visit in December, it's always the first 2 weeks. We also won't miss the Photopass, as that isn't something we have used in years. We don't care to go to the water parks either. Not crazy about the price increase (we always had the Gold Pass), but it's still a lot cheaper for us than buying separate park tickets.

Similar here. I know there are plenty of families who hang at the resort and get groceries to save money, but I don't go on vacation to work and cook meals. For every family that cooks I think there is at least one that is doing at least one table service a day plus snacks/quick service.

 

[pdude81]

The problem with the last 2 DVC “additions” is just what you’re saying: the prices and points fail when compared to the older ones and it’s hard to hide that.

why use more points for “copper creek” than VWL? And why more for caribbean customs house DVC than boardwalk?

just doesn’t play…Disney trying to attempt to make you not see what is there

Copper creek has the same point chart as VWL for studio-2BR. It's the cabins and grand villas that they went crazy on since they didn't exist before. That's why it's nearly impossible to get a studio at CCV without a waitlist or early in the owner window. I expected them to add a few points a night for being inside the main building, but by not doing so they ended up selling out the resort very quickly.

 

[pdude81]

It's funny just how quickly we forgot about the Genie+ and IAS upcharges when they have this huge increase for AP sales. It's just odd that they put two bad news items out rather quickly in succession.

What I'm really unsure about is why they didn't keep some sort of DVC discount for the top level pass, given that very few DVC members visit more than 2 or 3 times a year compared to a local who could use the Incredipass dozens of times. How do they plan to keep increasing the point costs every year if they have no exclusive benefits?

 

[LuvtheGoof]

But they’re trying to do it three ways…charge more and restrict Florida residents…poop on DVC more than DVC is willing to accept (from what I’ve seen so far)…and just basically tell the non-DVC out of state former AP holders “we don’t want you…you’re gonna bleed””

So you think that more DVC owners are cheap and unwilling to buy into the higher price? If you are talking about the owners that may only go once a year or two, then I would agree, and bet that they weren't buying APs in the first place. For those of us that go 2-3 times every year for 9 days, it's still a no brainer to buy the Sorcercer Pass, unless the water parks or photopass are important. They might pause on that, or they might shift dollars to pay for it.

I have to agree that they are really hitting the non-DVC out-of-state owners really hard.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

So you think that more DVC owners are cheap and unwilling to buy into the higher price? If you are talking about the owners that may only go once a year or two, then I would agree, and bet that they weren't buying APs in the first place. For those of us that go 2-3 times every year for 9 days, it's still a no brainer to buy the Sorcercer Pass, unless the water parks or photopass are important. They might pause on that, or they might shift dollars to pay for it.

I have to agree that they are really hitting the non-DVC out-of-state owners really hard.

I have a friend who owns DVC who goes down at least twice a year...they stopped seeing the value to APs, so they don't purchase them anymore. She also said they'd never buy Genie+ or Lightning Lane access.

 

[Mark Dunne]

I don't get why there's a $200 down payment on even the lowest rank pass, ( yes i know to make money ) but most company's its 10%, but this is turning out to be not most companies , doesn't matter to me as from the uk, but $200 is a bit much, they don't ask you to pay 40% up front for Disney Plus, ( not yet anyway LOL ) be carful Mr C, your not being very fair IMHO.

 

[RSoxNo1]

With Genie/Fastpass being an additional cost now, there is incentive for a regular guest not to “waste” time they paid for the Genie pass with a sit down restaurant. That’s the question I have, does charging for fastpass replace most guests being willing to spend 1.5-2 hours a time or two a day at a table service restaurant when a few front of the line passes were free?

I think you're absolutely going to see many guests make different decisions fueled by Disney's nickel and diming.

$15 per person per day for Lightning Lane access, $32 per person round trip on the Mears shuttle, all of that adds up.

If people are used to spending $5K for their vacation, they may not be able to magically increase their budget. So that might mean the demand for value resorts increases, or more people stay off property and rent cars. The problem is, today's Disney company looks at things on a shorter term basis and when the calendar changes to October, they know that no matter what they do their numbers are going to look better year over year. It's going to be a few years before Wall Street catches up to the underlying issues here.

 

[pdude81]

I don't get why there's a $200 down payment on even the lowest rank pass, ( yes i know to make money ) but most company's its 10%, but this is turning out to be not most companies , doesn't matter to me as from the uk, but $200 is a bit much, they don't ask you to pay 40% up front for Disney Plus, ( not yet anyway LOL ) be carful Mr C, your not being very fair IMHO.

It's $110 for the cheapest one day ticket IIRC, so they don't want you going for 5 days and then not paying the rest of the bill.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

At least Riviera is a new building, even if it is overpriced. Copper Creek? Literally just a remodel of existing rooms and some cabins most people will never be able to afford. The cabins look amazing, but the main building rooms are just a refurb that look like they come from an HGTV fanatic who forgot what resort they were designing rooms for. I toured them with my wife and we were both unimpressed. Even the hallway leading to the rooms feels off. It's a jarring difference from the rest of the building to go from feeling like you're at a mountain lodge to feeling like you're in an apartment complex that could literally be anywhere.

They did “copper creek” because they overcharged the rack at wilderness lodge and occupancy was falling to 50% at times…

COPPER CREEK is born

I like to point that out…the truth matters

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So you think that more DVC owners are cheap and unwilling to buy into the higher price? If you are talking about the owners that may only go once a year or two, then I would agree, and bet that they weren't buying APs in the first place. For those of us that go 2-3 times every year for 9 days, it's still a no brainer to buy the Sorcercer Pass, unless the water parks or photopass are important. They might pause on that, or they might shift dollars to pay for it.

I have to agree that they are really hitting the non-DVC out-of-state owners really hard.

I don’t think that at all…

i’m just saying that it ends up being a large increase and some with more restrictions. How many DVC owners know that they appear to have eliminated the DVC discount? But I hope I’m wrong there…it seems that way but I haven’t seen it confirmed??

and “those of us” is ME….by the way. But not from St. Augustine…it was an unexpected 16 hour haul for me back yesterday.

I can use and annual pass and still be aware of how they have lowered value…the human brain can multitask. It’s possible.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Similar here. I know there are plenty of families who hang at the resort and get groceries to save money, but I don't go on vacation to work and cook meals. For every family that cooks I think there is at least one that is doing at least one table service a day plus snacks/quick service.

I’m Right there…

The kitchen is for home. I wanted Disney hotels when I bought DVC many moons ago…not air bnb

and I’ve gotten them. We do get/bring some supplies and I’m more selective in restaurants now…the list has dwindled.

a lot more springs now. Can’t see myself ever going to a Biergarten or an ohana or a yachtsmans again….and many more