Are you considering not renewing your Annual Pass?

[PamNC]

I used to have an AP every year in the 90's and early 2000's. After my divorce, I stopped. Then, the prices went bezerk and I remained a non-AP holder until last year in 2021. I bought my first in a loooong time in september while I was at Animal Kingdom. I got a fantastic bonus from my job and took the plunge. I've used it I guess a lot - 15 days in the parks. I am considering not renewing for many of the reasons mentioned here but I'm reluctant because nobody knows if they will offer them again. I'm out of state. Perhaps if I were in Florida and closer to the parks it would be a no-brainer, but I'm not even sure if that would tip the scales. I'm unhappy with the money grabbing, park reservations, hopping restrictions. Don't get me wrong I still love WDW, I just don't know if I want to shell out over 1000 bucks again. Mine renews 9/8 so I'm going to keep considering. How long after your expiration date can you renew?

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[BorderTenny]

Well, if you are a New York resident and not a DVC blue card member, then your only option would be the Incredi-pass.

I'm a Florida resident.

Edit: Didn't realize location was on my profile. Unfortunately, I don't see any way to update it.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[Marionnette]

How long after your expiration date can you renew?

30 days following expiration. Renewals will be dated to expire year after the original expiration date (i.e. If your pass expires 9/8/3022, your renewed pass will expire 9/8/2023 regardless of when you renew.)

 

[ellbell]

Mine expires on September 1st. I won't be renewing. As a Canadian passholder it just isn't worth it anymore. On property rates are too high, airfare and gas are going up so getting there is harder, the park passes make planning a last minute long weekend trip impossible, the nickel and diming to death and the impending recession make that pass a luxury. I've been 2 or 3 times a year for a week or 2 every trip every year since 2017. In 2023 I won't be going at all and my next trip is in 2024 and we will be staying off property and spending a good portion of our time doing things other than Disney

 

[IsThatYouTigger]

I did not plan on renewing at all because my grandson (who I travel with the most turned 3 and I could not buy him an AP) but my eldest daughter renewed mine and hers. We are locals and for the past 17+ years we go at least once a month and before Covid we took 2 two week long trips every year. 2 weeks over 4th of July and the 2 weeks from Xmas to NYE. We haven't been able to justify either of those 2 week long trips since re-opening.

Anyway, over the past couple of months every time we go into the pack we end up talking about how we shouldn't have renewed because the quality is going down. Bathrooms are dirtier than I've ever seen them (unflushed toilets and tissue all over the floors) paint and decorative trimming falling and chipping off. Trash around the park on the ground and in bushes/flower beds. We we're in Magic Kingdom on Monday for the 4th and I think that day is the straw that broke the camels back for us (combined with Chapek's extension) . We decided after this year we wont be renewing. Between reservation system, hopping restrictions, price increase, lack luster discounts for APs, and overall park visit quality there is just no value in having an AP anymore. Once we started comparing our Disney day's to days we go to Busch Gardens, Seaworld, Legoland I knew that we weren't long for Disney anymore.

So, we wont be renewing. Our plan is to renew our Legoland APs and add Universal APs again (grandson will be tall enough for everything and Uni gives us the feel Dis use to give us) once our Disney APs expire this time.

Did you try to buy your grandson an annual pass and they wouldn’t let you? I really hope that’s not the case because they should have allowed you to purchase one. Kids aging into needing a ticket are like the only ones who are able to purchase an annual pass. We have annual passes and our son turned 3 in May. We were able to very easily purchase a voucher for him to make park reservations for our first trip after he turned three. We activated it in June. He has a different expiration date than we do, but we will make it work. We did all this at International Gateway. I always find their guest relations to be the most helpful and knowledgeable.

If we weren’t local and dvc we would probably not be renewing, but for now we’re hanging on by a thread. I find myself thinking the same things you do about the parks.

 

[Airb330]

Mine expires on September 1st. I won't be renewing. As a Canadian passholder it just isn't worth it anymore. On property rates are too high, airfare and gas are going up so getting there is harder, the park passes make planning a last minute long weekend trip impossible, the nickel and diming to death and the impending recession make that pass a luxury. I've been 2 or 3 times a year for a week or 2 every trip every year since 2017. In 2023 I won't be going at all and my next trip is in 2024 and we will be staying off property and spending a good portion of our time doing things other than Disney

This is very similar for us. Expire 10/22 and we are not renewing. We have 3 NE days left from some old passes that will last us 1-2 trips.

2023 we aren’t going at all. Disney felt safe with COVID even before we were vaccinated. We went in fall 2020 and January 2021 and 2 times since vaccinated. Now they pretend it isn’t around. Why not keep the buses ventilated? COVID isn’t the reason though, we’re just burnt out of it honestly. It’s crowded, it’s expensive, we don’t care for G+ touring style, airline prices are OUTRAGEOUS ($700 from Philly?!) and the food quality has decreased. We just need a break! We will be back. We love Disney and own DVC but the break will be best for us. We planned points so we can do a family trip in a 2 bedroom and prokbsky also Aulani in 2024.

Also side note, the DVC pirate pass sorta doesn’t work for us now. They’ve blocked out *all* holidays now including smaller ones like Memorial Day. We were fine with the old DVC pass and even the 2021 pirate pass but the 2022 date blocks are a no go. $800-900 for this pass isn’t worth it for us and day passes are expensive too. Future 2024 trips will likely be 3-5 days with 1 park day.

We used to love 3 day trips using our non expiring passes. Longer trips aren’t our thing so really not sure where this will all take us. Maybe we sell DVC in 3-6 years. I really hope not but the current direction the company is taking doesn’t work with our style of vacation: rest/pool, 3-4 hours in the park, dinner and then fireworks or nighttime show.

Seems like a lot of us are feeling this way.

 

[CarolynFH]

DVC pirate pass sorta doesn’t work for us now. They’ve blocked out *all* holidays now including smaller ones like Memorial Day. We were fine with the old DVC pass and even the 2021 pirate pass but the 2022 date blocks are a no go.

DVC members aren’t eligible for the Pirate pass. The only DVC pass is now the Sorcerer AP, and that is blocked out for only a few days around Thanksgiving and a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Years. It is not blocked out for Easter, Memorial Day or any other holiday. You have to call DVC MS to renew into a Sorcerer AP, cannot do it online.

 

[ain0004]

We let ours go. The numbers didn’t add up. Now I did cringe at my 3700 bill for 10 day park hopper for family of 5. Knowing j could have renewed cheaper. But we are simply not going. I plan on blowing all our points on a grand villa. And saying goodbye to Disney word for the next several years. I will rent out my points if needed or take w cruise. We will have 2 in college and 1 in travel ball. I just don’t spending the money.

 

[Richie248]

I'm up for renewal soon and I'm on the fence. My last visit in May was less than stellar....have one more trip planned for August. Will see how that goes... Not holding my breath that things will be better.

 

[PamNC]

Not sure if anyone feels this way... I bought mine 9/8/2021 and I've visited a total of 15 days so "technically" I've made it worthwhile. BUT, I find myself thinking "I need to go again and get my money's worth even more"! It's like a race to see how much I can go LOL. Even though my passes are basically prepaid by buying the AP last year, there is still a lot to pay for - hotel, transportation via driving or flying, food... so I'm spending even more money than I normally would. I'm not sure it's "safe" for me to have an AP because of this. Kind of gives me this fake excuse to keep visiting. I'm a 9 hour drive away so that's too easy. I don't know ... still on the fence. Enjoying this discussion.

 

[ak517]

Not sure if anyone feels this way... I bought mine 9/8/2021 and I've visited a total of 15 days so "technically" I've made it worthwhile. BUT, I find myself thinking "I need to go again and get my money's worth even more"! It's like a race to see how much I can go LOL. Even though my passes are basically prepaid by buying the AP last year, there is still a lot to pay for - hotel, transportation via driving or flying, food... so I'm spending even more money than I normally would. I'm not sure it's "safe" for me to have an AP because of this. Kind of gives me this fake excuse to keep visiting. I'm a 9 hour drive away so that's too easy. I don't know ... still on the fence. Enjoying this discussion.

I just did this this past weekend. I had some DVC points that were expiring and found a Boardwalk view studio so I had to go! Grateful for my annual pass in these instances. I am on a Pirate Pass as a Florida resident which does work perfectly for me right now as I don’t have children and have a flexible work schedule. So I’ll be renewing before my expiration. At some point we’ll be moving away from Florida, and I’ll have a harder decision to make about renewing for the out of state Incredipass due to cost and less flexibility to use it with added airfare, etc. We’re DVC resale so ineligible for the Sorcerer, but a future renewal may be contingent on how we choose to use our DVC in the future.

 

[Gentry2004]

The math on AP's (for out of staters/non DVC) is just not as good as it used to be. It used to be if you took two 1-week trips 51 weeks apart (say, the first week of July one year and the last week of June the next year) you'd break even or come out slightly ahead with an AP, even without hoppers. Then if you made it down for any weekends in between it was just bonus. The breakevens are a little trickier now, plus room discounts are less frequent and there's also Genie+/ILL.

The math is totally different if you are a FL resident/DVC.

 

[js]

DVC members aren’t eligible for the Pirate pass. The only DVC pass is now the Sorcerer AP, and that is blocked out for only a few days around Thanksgiving and a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Years. It is not blocked out for Easter, Memorial Day or any other holiday. You have to call DVC MS to renew into a Sorcerer AP, cannot do it online.

Hi. I planned on renewing my Sorcerer Pass in October when Im at Disney since mine expires in November. Im Blue DVC. Can I renew at guest services in the parks?

 

[CarolynFH]

Hi. I planned on renewing my Sorcerer Pass in October when Im at Disney since mine expires in November. Im Blue DVC. Can I renew at guest services in the parks?

Yes, you can renew in person at GR outside and inside the parks, as well as at DS. Just need your MagicMobile pass that shows DVC Y and your photo ID.

 

[wfjny]

Well, since I started this, this was our decision:

We renewed, but it was completely an economic decision. We have a family trip planned next spring. So, I did the math:

Disney Sorcerer Pass Renewal - $764 plus tax (about $815 total)

5-Day Disney Theme Park Ticket with Park Hopper Option at UT ($643.84)

Difference was $170. Parking being $25 a day, that makes the difference $45.

We will be staying off-site, so the 5 day is also in line with the 5 days of reservations we would need. The prices I mentioned were per person, but we have three passes. We will probably have at least two cars on that trip, so the math still holds.

Of course, to make it really "worth it" we would have to make another trip in the next year. However, I do not think that will be an issue.

It also made one other thing easier. That trip next April is now "pre-paid" as we have already given the money for the house to the family member that is planning the trip, and our park passes are now done. Kinda helpful because who knows what the prices for anything will be like next year. All I need to worry about is food and fuel. If we do a Disney dinner, well, we will get the AP discount. However, I think most meals will be back at the house we are renting.

It also means if my wife and I want to go into the parks for a sixth day without the rest of the families (perhaps a EPCOT dinner date), we would have that option.

What I did not include in the savings, we bought three passes. As they were purchased from Disney, I was able to buy them with Disney Gift Cards. So, I purchased $2500 worth of Disney Gift Cards at Target for $2375. Another $125 in "savings"...

 

[Akck]

We went ahead and renewed our Sorcerer passes on Monday. The cost comparison to tickets made it worthwhile. We would’ve had to buy 3 separate tickets to cover the trips we have planned at a cost of about $3,400. The AP cost was $1,716 for the two of us, which includes one photo pass. It’s likely we won’t renew again as we have no trips planned in 2024.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Our only option is Incredipass and we renewed because it’s unclear if a) APs will be offered again and b) there might be a price hike that might impact the current cost.

We only have 1 trip currently planned post-renewal (our Labor Day trip is in this current pass window) but the discounts have made it worth it to have, and we’re also hoping as AP holders for a TRON preview It’s also nice to have the option to go down whenever, even for a quick weekend - we were able to join several friends’ planned trips in the past year thanks to our passes and cheap hotel rates.

 

[wfjny]

Our only option is Incredipass and we renewed because it’s unclear if a) APs will be offered again and b) there might be a price hike that might impact the current cost.

We only have 1 trip currently planned post-renewal (our Labor Day trip is in this current pass window) but the discounts have made it worth it to have, and we’re also hoping as AP holders for a TRON preview It’s also nice to have the option to go down whenever, even for a quick weekend - we were able to join several friends’ planned trips in the past year thanks to our passes and cheap hotel rates.

Yeah, so, I guess the cheap hotel rates are gone, at least for now. In 2020 I was able to get the new TRU hotel by the convention center for $62 a night. Yes, less than $200 total for three nights. Must have stayed there 5 times between 2020 and 2021. In a brand new hotel (we were there opening night). Same hotel, this weekend, $163 a night.

I tried not to let the fear of not being able to get an AP again really cloud my decision. But yes, much easier to justify the Sorcerer pass with DVC than the Incredipass due to the lower price point.