Locals opinion on new AP's?

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

I've been reading the threads on new AP's and most of the responses are from people who live more than an hour away from the parks. I can understand the frustration people who have to travel to Disney, but what about the people who live close by? Obviously nobody wants to pay more than they used to for something but I am beyond excited for the return of AP's! I moved to the Orlando area last year from Southern California where I had been a Disneyland AP holder for 10 years. I've been eagerly awaiting the day when I would have the chance to become an AP holder to WDW. I've been utilizing the Florida resident ticket offers but having an AP even with the big price increase will save me money and allow me to go more often.

So just wanted to get some other locals thoughts and maybe even see if anyone else is excited that WDW is finally selling AP's again.

 

[Kimpossible1]

Yes, I am excited too! I live 10 minutes away and recently quit as a CM. I'm happy I will be able to finally go back!

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Also very excited. We were passholders from 2012 to fall 2019. We decided to take a one year break and then, well, I don't need to refresh anyone's memory about what happened next. We would have been purchasing new AP's again in September of 2020 but couldn't. Wanting to go, and not being able to has me in a position where I don't care what Disney took away, or how much the new AP's costs, just let me in, lol.
I really miss going and would literally pay almost anything to get back. I can hardly wait to become to a Pirate, lol.

 

[Feralpeg]

Not excited. It was already difficult, as a local, making either fastpasses or dining reservations when you don't already plan months in advance. Without advanced planning, you have no idea where to go and do. Most of the good reservations have gone to those who have their window open way in advance of those who live here.

Not much fun to get there to stand around. Being spontaneous was a great deal of the fun. Now the tickets are so expensive if you want no black out dates. Many cast members are not happy that they work all those hours to be blacked out.

I've had AP's for years, we are done. Unless Universal gets greedy, we'll keep those passes, but I won't pay for advanced reservations for Disney.

I wonder how many of you excited about this are single or how many have families you'll be paying for.

 

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

Not excited. It was already difficult, as a local, making either fastpasses or dining reservations when you don't already plan months in advance. Without advanced planning, you have no idea where to go and do. Most of the good reservations have gone to those who have their window open way in advance of those who live here.

Not much fun to get there to stand around. Being spontaneous was a great deal of the fun. Now the tickets are so expensive if you want no black out dates. Many cast members are not happy that they work all those hours to be blacked out.

I've had AP's for years, we are done. Unless Universal gets greedy, we'll keep those passes, but I won't pay for advanced reservations for Disney.

I wonder how many of you excited about this are single or how many have families you'll be paying for.

You make some good points. I definitely agree with dining reservations. Being local means you usually don’t plan visits that far in advance unless you have family or friends visiting. Using the walk up lists works sometimes but that’s hit or miss

Your point about families vs singles is valid as well. It can add up real fast if you’re a family with multiple kids vs buying passes for just one or two people

 

[SusanDK]

I'm disappointed at the price of the new "Incredi-Pass" which, at $1299, is significantly more expensive than the previous Platinum Plus while excluding the Water Parks and photos that used to be included at that tier, not to mention FP+. However, I think perhaps the Sorcerer at $899, plus a $99 add-on for water parks, golf and mini-golf, might be a good sweet spot. The only black-out dates are half of Thanksgiving week and two weeks at Christmas which we avoid due to crowds.

I'm disappointed that they have not announced an add-on for Genie+ on the APs and assume they will wait to see how Genie+ is working before they decide whether or not to offer an add-on for AP holders. I'm also disappointed, and surprised, that there is no more Epcot after 4 AP for locals. We would sometimes drop the full AP for a year and just get Epcot After 4 because we liked the concerts, entertainment, and walking around there, and then maybe after a year or two, would get full APs again if we were ready to go back to the other parks. Maybe this is also a wait-and-see for Disney and they'll consider adding it back in after they see how things shake out. But it was nice because there were no black-out dates so we could still do weekend concerts whereas if we tried to save money by buying the lower level APs, the black-out days were prohibitive.

I do wonder if Disney is trying to reduce crowds by raising the prices as much as they have. It had gotten very crowded all the time in recent years. I was at AK just over a week ago and it felt crowded to me, even though TouringPlans claimed it was a level 1. We were at Epcot Friday evening and it was also rated a level 1, but wasn't exactly empty. There were still a lot of high-traffic congested areas. So maybe Disney is doing exactly what they want which is to raise the prices so much that they minimize crowds, cut costs by eliminating a lot of former perks, entertainment and attractions, yet still keep the profits as high as ever.

 

[1lilspark]

As a current AP I think for me it will depend on weather the wait times will be unbearable if you don’t $$$ for lightning lane access

as of now barring a price increase between now and April I’ll be paying roughly $273 more than my current pass

 

[OKW Lover]

We have had AP's since the late 80's. We have been locals now for 7+ years. We still enjoy going to WDW and will continue to buy our AP's. Since we go on a shim, and when we have friends in town on vacation, we buy the no-blackout pass.

 

[EveV]

I was hoping, despite knowing, that the reservation systems would go away, and our Platinum Pass would go back to giving us free run of the park (ie. no reservations, unlimited park hopping at any time). So while I'm not thrilled for getting less and paying more... we live so close we will get the Incredible-Pass. As for restaurant reservations, we just book out the holidays way in advance buy staying on-property for some of those more popular times or scooping up the reservations as people are cancelling and run over. It's not ideal, but we love it so we pay for it.