Any idea when we can buy WDW annual passes?

[afan]

DL still has the monthly payment plan; it's only for California residents though.

Yes but at one point they took it or the socal aps or something away.

 

[midnight star]

Yes but at one point they took it or the socal aps or something away.

They took away one of the SoCal passes but it’s still available for renewal if you don’t let it expire.

 

[Doug Olsen]

But they’re more concerned about then having to refund APs again should any other changes occur to their operating schedules. Even if you know what to expect, if they were to start closing certain parks on certain days or any other new changes, they would have to offer refunds again, and that’s not something they want to do right now. They’ll wait to see what happens during the fall and probably through the end of the year before selling them again.

Because for every person like you who would buy them today and be fine with any changes that could occur in the future, there are probably 5 people who would buy them and then look for a refund. And they just don’t want to deal with that.

I'm not sure I fully understand this. If they're forced to shut down again (or have rolling closures etc.) they will likely have to deal with whatever AP's are already in existence so they wouldn't be immune to addressing these issues.

If they sell new ones then they'll have to deal with those too. But they also would have taken in the revenue for them. So any refund will almost certainly be a prorated amount of the money that the sale of that AP brought in to begin with.

Obviously it adds to the man hours needed and phone line congestion to some degree. But you'd think a company desperate for new money would be willing to take $500-1200 per person now. They do it with a hope/expectation that no refund will have to be issued because their distancing procedures are working, or even if they do, they'll never be refunding beyond what someone paid and in almost all cases less than what they paid.

There's plenty of potential reasons they could've halted AP sales for now, but the refund issue isn't something I get. Not trying to be combative, or say you're wrong because none of us really know.

 

[skeeter31]

I'm not sure I fully understand this. If they're forced to shut down again (or have rolling closures etc.) they will likely have to deal with whatever AP's are already in existence so they wouldn't be immune to addressing these issues.

If they sell new ones then they'll have to deal with those too. But they also would have taken in the revenue for them. So any refund will almost certainly be a prorated amount of the money that the sale of that AP brought in to begin with.

Obviously it adds to the man hours needed and phone line congestion to some degree. But you'd think a company desperate for new money would be willing to take $500-1200 per person now. They do it with a hope/expectation that no refund will have to be issued because their distancing procedures are working, or even if they do, they'll never be refunding beyond what someone paid and in almost all cases less than what they paid.

There's plenty of potential reasons they could've halted AP sales for now, but the refund issue isn't something I get. Not trying to be combative, or say you're wrong because none of us really know.

My thought with it, is they have a known quantity of APs now, and know that those with them have already opted against a refund. So the odds are they would opt against another one (or at least only a small percentage would). Whereas once they start selling them again, and if they were forced to refund again, it’s an unknown and could be a large number of refunds.

 

[tlmadden73]

APs will be back at some point. But I imagine that Disney would like to start selling less of these in the future. Translation- possibly a very big increase in price.

I disagree .. it could take YEARS before Disney is back up to pre-COVID attendance .. so until then they will need to start to draw people to the parks .. and APs is a DARN good way to do it. Take a small "hit" on the ticket price but get people who want to take SEVERAL trips a year to spend money. I know when I had an AP .. I had two trips planned .. but ended up taking 3 (and almost 4).

I would think that an AP holder that makes 2 trips of 5 days each makes Disney more money than a 1 trip for 10 days. Especially if they have it on site.

 

[Devil13]

I disagree .. it could take YEARS before Disney is back up to pre-COVID attendance .. so until then they will need to start to draw people to the parks .. and APs is a DARN good way to do it. Take a small "hit" on the ticket price but get people who want to take SEVERAL trips a year to spend money. I know when I had an AP .. I had two trips planned .. but ended up taking 3 (and almost 4).

I would think that an AP holder that makes 2 trips of 5 days each makes Disney more money than a 1 trip for 10 days. Especially if they have it on site.

Agree 100%. Coming from the Boston area that's exactly how we operate. Have 2 trips planned out every year and then end up going at least 1, if not 2, other times if the flights get cheaper, kids schedules loosen up, etc.

To compound that fact, we're thinking of escaping the lockdown for a quick trip in October. I have no APs anymore, due to the way I was forced to chose. We'll be staying at Universal for the first time ever, and only going to Disney Springs since I no longer have any 'ties' to Disney. I assume I'm not the only one.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Unfortunately, I think because Sony wanted refunds disney probably will not sell new ones until they do not have to worry about giving money back. I am glad we chose to keep our AP even though we did not get use of them this year.

 

[Krandor]

I disagree .. it could take YEARS before Disney is back up to pre-COVID attendance .. so until then they will need to start to draw people to the parks .. and APs is a DARN good way to do it. Take a small "hit" on the ticket price but get people who want to take SEVERAL trips a year to spend money. I know when I had an AP .. I had two trips planned .. but ended up taking 3 (and almost 4).

I would think that an AP holder that makes 2 trips of 5 days each makes Disney more money than a 1 trip for 10 days. Especially if they have it on site.

Once disney get to the point where they really want to increase attendence and are not worried about more changes/shutdowns then APs will come back but I think we're looking at 6 months or so at least.

 

[randumb0]

No AP's until they can increase attendance

 

[Epcot82Guy]

This is where they are being really short-sighted in my opinion. At least for residents. I recently moved to Orlando. I would easily be spending a fair bit of time in the parks, buying food and the like - especially at Epcot. Their numbers aren't good and aren't near capacity. I agree that full AP sale suspension makes sense. But, this would be a great time to offer a more limited offering - like an Epcot-only pass. Or single-park Florida resident pass at a lower price (i.e. slighlty lower - making the "full" AP worth more once it's offered). But, Universal and Sea World are courting their passholders, and Universal has seen a massive increase. Disney is really starting to gamble on this price point they have, and I hope they learn a bit of a lesson if it burns them.

 

[tlmadden73]

This is where they are being really short-sighted in my opinion. At least for residents. I recently moved to Orlando. I would easily be spending a fair bit of time in the parks, buying food and the like - especially at Epcot. Their numbers aren't good and aren't near capacity. I agree that full AP sale suspension makes sense. But, this would be a great time to offer a more limited offering - like an Epcot-only pass. Or single-park Florida resident pass at a lower price (i.e. slighlty lower - making the "full" AP worth more once it's offered). But, Universal and Sea World are courting their passholders, and Universal has seen a massive increase. Disney is really starting to gamble on this price point they have, and I hope they learn a bit of a lesson if it burns them.

This .. the non-DIsney parks are trying to encourage guests to come (and try and eat into market share) by offering APs, offering discounts, holiday events and such. Granted those parks NEED to do that because they have always been behind Disney ..

I read how Universal is seeing increases in attendance, especially on weekends. (Not sure of the actual numbers though)

Disney definitely can afford to NOT to offer APs and discounts because they have the larger market share by far, but the longer this goes on, the longer this may hurt them.

Watching the DisUnplugged podcast yesterday, Pete thinks the same thing -- that Disney should be "courting" their Annual Passholders .. and their local fans more since it is pretty obvious that out-of-state guests aren't coming (as much) and that will probably just decrease over the fall months as kids are back in school (in one way or another).

 

[Epcot82Guy]

This .. the non-DIsney parks are trying to encourage guests to come (and try and eat into market share) by offering APs, offering discounts, holiday events and such. Granted those parks NEED to do that because they have always been behind Disney ..

I read how Universal is seeing increases in attendance, especially on weekends. (Not sure of the actual numbers though)

Disney definitely can afford to NOT to offer APs and discounts because they have the larger market share by far, but the longer this goes on, the longer this may hurt them.

Watching the DisUnplugged podcast yesterday, Pete thinks the same thing -- that Disney should be "courting" their Annual Passholders .. and their local fans more since it is pretty obvious that out-of-state guests aren't coming (as much) and that will probably just decrease over the fall months as kids are back in school (in one way or another).

Agreed. And, I think Pete was saying that as well. The fact I (and others) would be willing to pay these prices - and they literally won't sell them or any type of passes like that is crazy. The only option is paying $50 a day to buy those 4 pack tickets. That's not sustainable for people. IMHO of course!

 

[erinch]

In order to get 10 days in te parks when we go in 3 weeks, we will be paying almost the cost of an AP. Ouch.

 

[tlmadden73]

In order to get 10 days in te parks when we go in 3 weeks, we will be paying almost the cost of an AP. Ouch.

And that may be why Disney doesn't want to sell Annual Passes anymore.

They probably want guests to come on one BIG trip .. instead of 3-4 little trips.

Shrug ..it just all depends how the next few months go I guess. Already there is talk of the reservation system being "here to stay" and they will need to figure out how to manage that with APs that WANT to go whenever they want without needing a reservation.

 

[rteetz]

And that may be why Disney doesn't want to sell Annual Passes anymore.

They probably want guests to come on one BIG trip .. instead of 3-4 little trips.

Shrug ..it just all depends how the next few months go I guess. Already there is talk of the reservation system being "here to stay" and they will need to figure out how to manage that with APs that WANT to go whenever they want without needing a reservation.

I don’t know if disney doesn’t want to sell them anymore but they want to change how they look. I think APs come back but I think when they do they are structured differently especially if the park reservation system is here to stay.

 

[Devil13]

I can't hate this enough

Seems like they are dead set on taking taking away most things I like about having an AP.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

I don’t know if disney doesn’t want to sell them anymore but they want to change how they look. I think APs come back but I think when they do they are structured differently especially if the park reservation system is here to stay.

Like a come in anytime option you can add on to the pass for a fee

 

[tlmadden73]

I don’t know if disney doesn’t want to sell them anymore but they want to change how they look. I think APs come back but I think when they do they are structured differently especially if the park reservation system is here to stay.

Right .. you figure there is some happy medium of number of reservations an AP holder can get that is greater than 3 but less than "infinite"

Not everyone will be happy, but I would think anything over 3 .. and allowing park hopping would make most AP holders happier than they are now.

I just want some way to get more value out money spent on the ticket price -- again. Basically a "discount" for knowing you are going to go and keep going back. I wouldn't expect "no-expiration" tickets to come back (though that would be nice), but APs were about the last thing of having a "discounted" ticket left. .

MOST companies gladly offer bulk discounts. Disney (because they had the attendance numbers) backed away from that over the last 6 years. I am wondering if they will need to do that again to bounce back after the pandemic.

 

[Devil13]

The problem is with the diminished offering is that I would expect a lower price.

Take away my ability to show up whenever I want and my ability to park hop, among other things that may be the result of these changes, but don't expect me to pay the same $1200+ per person for it like I was.

Edit to add: If you take away too much you also take away my desire to make the trip.

 

[mrsap]

The problem is with the diminished offering is that I would expect a lower price.

Take away my ability to show up whenever I want and my ability to park hop, among other things that may be the result of these changes, but don't expect me to pay the same $1200+ per person for it like I was.

Edit to add: If you take away too much you also take away my desire to make the trip.

Your avatar hurts my eyes. Here I’ll give you one you can change it to: