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

[monothingie]

The calendar is very close to wide open. This makes sense to Disneyland but not to Disney World.

Thanksgiving week didn't really fill up until last week. The last two weeks of December look to be on the verge of selling out for all categories of park reservations.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I can definitely see part of this being my fault. It’s just these passes have been out for 2 MONTHS. I didn’t think they would pull the plug so soon on these. It’s definitely a baffling decision. It’s not like the calendar has limited availability like Disneyland’s does (besides a few days) so this comes off as a move targeting people that want to upgrade their long holiday tickets.

I went on regular tickets twice in 2021…and I don’t do that.

i “did my part” as a loyal fan…but ultimately screwed myself.

we are rewarding bad behavior…this is - I would bet knowing how they use data first hand - why they can alter, withhold, or flat out revoke the Annual passes now…

dudes like you and I are maintaining our 2005 booking habits…the cart is pulling the horse.

and a lot of it is due to the perceived “supply”…Bob allowed the parks to lag and normal attendance to outrun comfort.

…and still the Praets laud him for it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Thanksgiving week didn't really fill up until last week. The last two weeks of December look to be on the verge of selling out for all categories of park reservations.

Seems very “customer friendly”, doesn’t it?

no doubt based on “guest satisfaction” surveys

 

[castlecake2.0]

This

Preemptive? Leaving room for more resort guest tickets? Can’t imagine why Disney would refuse money for no reason, there’s gotta be something.

 

[ryguy]

In my dealings with the Disney company over the last 45 years anything that has/had perceived value from guests at some point gets watered down and/or/eventually eliminated.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I don’t quite understand the outrage. At some point they’ll need to limit the amount of passes available, the parks don’t have limitless capacity. Disneyland had to do the same. Why keep selling passes if people are going to have trouble booking reservations?

My outrage is over people being lied to. You don’t advise people to wait to upgrade a ticket to an AP and then remove that option. There are people who sat on hold for 6 hours only to be told they should upgrade later and now can’t. That is simply awful customer service that would not have occurred with proper training for phone line CMs.

I’m not upset for people who are looking to buy a new AP today and who have not already tried to purchase one. Disney was clear that they could pause sales. I’m only upset for people who were told not to upgrade.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don’t quite understand the outrage. At some point they’ll need to limit the amount of passes available, the parks don’t have limitless capacity. Disneyland had to do the same. Why keep selling passes if people are going to have trouble booking reservations?

The outrage is a pass should be an actual pass…which they are now not really close to due to alterations. This one is really testing the resolve of the most loyal customers. People take comfort in knowing “it’s there”.

people book Hotels, pay for pricey flights, alter schedules….having to hit “windows” to buy tickets not to be activated until later is really a push. Dumping a lot of money on Disney upfront being restricted is ballsy even for them.

Also…and ahem…some warned of this 10 or more years ago…this is Iger not reinvesting in the parks to drive price coming home to roost. Nobody can argue the experience is better now…it sucks more and more. And then they let an idiot take over…

disney is under bad management…it’s time for true fans to start thinking about withholding business and tanking stock price. We have no real recourse. Paying a ton for “maybe good enough” is not doing TWDC any favors.

 

[brettf22]

If I’m Universal, I’m starting an ad campaign about my lack of a park reservation system, and availability of my APs.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

In my dealings with the Disney company over the last 45 years anything that has/had perceived value from guests at some point gets watered down and/or/eventually eliminated.

Really since the mid-90s…which is also when the stock market started to become detached from actual performance and returns…

not a coincidence.

 

[monothingie]

Preemptive? Leaving room for more resort guest tickets? Can’t imagine why Disney would refuse money for no reason, there’s gotta be something.

They aren't refusing money. They are fine-tuning who is allowed in the parks during the busiest time of the year to make sure they are the ones that will spend the most once inside the parks.

There's a reason why the park reservations system is here to stay past covid. It allows them to make operational decisions like this to maximize revenue.

Just wait until you see what they'll do with Genie++++++++++.

 

[castlecake2.0]

My outrage is over people being lied to. You don’t advise people to wait to upgrade a ticket to an AP and then remove that option. There are people who sat on hold for 6 hours only to be told they should upgrade later and now can’t. That is simply awful customer service that would not have occurred with proper training for phone line CMs.

I’m not upset for people who are looking to buy a new AP today and who have not already tried to purchase one. Disney was clear that they could pause sales. I’m only upset for people who were told not to upgrade.

Got it, didn’t know that was happening in regards to upgrade option.

Really feels like they are panicking and making rash decisions for short term gains. Not a good look.

 

[castlecake2.0]

The outrage is a pass should be an actual pass…which they are now not really close to due to alterations. This one is really testing the resolve of the most loyal customers. People take comfort in knowing “it’s there”.

people book Hotels, pay for pricey flights, alter schedules….having to hit “windows” to buy tickets not to be activated until later is really a push. Dumping a lot of money on Disney upfront being restricted is ballsy even for them.

Also…and ahem…some warned of this 10 or more years ago…this is Iger not reinvesting in the parks to drive price coming home to roost. Nobody can argue the experience is better now…it sucks more and more. And then they let an idiot take over…

disney is under bad management…it’s time for true fans to start thinking about withholding business and tanking stock price. We have no real recourse. Paying a ton for “maybe good enough” is not doing TWDC any favors.

I understand better now. I don’t have a huge knowledge of the AP world. Not a good look. Makes it look like they’re panicking. Things are becoming way too hard to just book a vacation. I’m not hugely bothered by genie+ because it’s all “optional”, but the initial booking of a vacation is getting way too complicated.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I understand better now. I don’t have a huge knowledge of the AP world. Not a good look. Makes it look like they’re panicking. Things are becoming way too hard to just book a vacation. I’m not hugely bothered by genie+ because it’s all “optional”, but the initial booking of a vacation is getting way too complicated.

The situation is I can call wdw central or DVC right now…and offer to pay $6,000 for my 4 for a ticket that I don’t want to activate until June…

and the response is “I’m sorry…we don’t see a need to do that”

paraphrased but 100% true.


it really doesn’t get more bad taste than that.

 

[danv3]

If I’m Universal, I’m starting an ad campaign about my lack of a park reservation system, and availability of my APs.

They certainly have a more pro-customer attitude these days.

Disney on the other hand is aggressively and explicitly anti-customer. They could not care less what their guests think. They run the parks business as though it is invincible...and so far they've been proven correct.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Keeps the daytrippers out

 

[ToTBellHop]

They certainly have a more pro-customer attitude these days.

Disney on the other hand is aggressively and explicitly anti-customer. They could not care less what their guests think. They run the parks business as though it is invincible...and so far they've been proven correct.

That’s the problem. They do this and demand is still off the chart!

 

[Touchdown]

Keeps the daytrippers out

But they are also angering their DVC customers, and turning away people like me who are out of state and buy an AP every few years (I currently have one, so not me personally.) Disney is dangerously close to killing the golden goose here, us out of state fans are a lot of free marketing and we help people plan their trips. If word gets around that even we aren’t going to Disney now, on top of the current high prices, they could suddenly see a real drop in demand. All at a time when international travel is going to be suppressesed. I’m not surprised they did this in Anaheim but I’m shocked they just did this out East. I’m not usually an alarmist but I think this could really blow up in their faces and cause long term damage.

 

[Touchdown]

That’s the problem. They do this and demand is still off the chart!

Is it though? Or does it artificially appear to be because Disney refuses to fully reopen the parks and bring back everything that was available in March of 2019?

 

[ToTBellHop]

But they are also angering their DVC customers, and turning away people like me who are out of state and buy an AP every few years (I currently have one, so not me personally.) Disney is dangerously close to killing the golden goose here, us out of state fans are a lot of free marketing and we help people plan their trips. If word gets around that even we aren’t going to Disney now, on top of the current high prices, they could suddenly see a real drop in demand. All at a time when international travel is going to be suppressesed. I’m no surprised they did this in Anaheim but I’m shocked they just did this out East. I’m not usually an alarmist but I think this could really blow up in their faces and cause long term damage.

Mistreating DVC members is foolish. DVC is a cash cow for the company and they need to convince people to buy direct.

 

[CJR]

But they are also angering their DVC customers, and turning away people like me who are out of state and buy an AP every few years (I currently have one, so not me personally.) Disney is dangerously close to killing the golden goose here, us out of state fans are a lot of free marketing and we help people plan their trips. If word gets around that even we aren’t going to Disney now, on top of the current high prices, they could suddenly see a real drop in demand. All at a time when international travel is going to be suppressesed. I’m not surprised they did this in Anaheim but I’m shocked they just did this out East. I’m not usually an alarmist but I think this could really blow up in their faces and cause long term damage.

Don't you have to go after a certain point, use it or lose it? Technically, you can go to other places, but it defeats the purpose of a Disney timeshare.