Flex Pass Superthread: Disneyland Resort Introduces New Annual Passport that Combines Value and Flexibility

I don't see who they are marketing this to. It sounds like a really bad idea. Almost seems like a scam with their hinky reservation system.
Many of my friends who didn’t renew at SoCal or Deluxe are talking about buying this. It just seems like everyone wants to see how available reservations are... but if it turns out you can pick up reservations days or weeks in advance (which seems likely with cancellations), I think this pass could be very popular.
 
Many of my friends who didn’t renew at SoCal or Deluxe are talking about buying this. It just seems like everyone wants to see how available reservations are... but if it turns out you can pick up reservations days or weeks in advance (which seems likely with cancellations), I think this pass could be very popular.
The great irony, of course, is that if few people purchase the flex pass in the beginning, then it should be relatively easy to get reservations. The ease of getting reservations could then inspire a great number of other people to purchase the pass, thereby making reservations more in demand and difficult to get, defeating the reason they bought the pass in the first place!
 
I'm still wondering why they decided to do this pass. If it is in response to Deluxe and Socal passholders not renewing..then why didn't they just change the block out structure? Also, I wonder if this is the "next step" in restructuring the passholder system? I wonder if other pass levels could have reservation dates added to theirs if they are blocked out?
 
The great irony, of course, is that if few people purchase the flex pass in the beginning, then it should be relatively easy to get reservations. The ease of getting reservations could then inspire a great number of other people to purchase the pass, thereby making reservations more in demand and difficult to get, defeating the reason they bought the pass in the first place!
Yuuuuup. It’s certainly the most interesting thing they’ve done with the AP structure in recent years.
 


this may have already been answered... my understanding is that you get two reservations within 30 days. If you reserve both Disneyland and DCA on the same day does that count as two? Seems like it would discourage park hopping.
 
this may have already been answered... my understanding is that you get two reservations within 30 days. If you reserve both Disneyland and DCA on the same day does that count as two? Seems like it would discourage park hopping.
No. Disney spokesperson said it is by the day. One reservation is one day even if you are able to book both parks.
 
I'm still wondering why they decided to do this pass. If it is in response to Deluxe and Socal passholders not renewing..then why didn't they just change the block out structure? Also, I wonder if this is the "next step" in restructuring the passholder system? I wonder if other pass levels could have reservation dates added to theirs if they are blocked out?

I'm with you. I think it is a first step toward bigger annual pass changes down the line.
 


I'm still wondering why they decided to do this pass. If it is in response to Deluxe and Socal passholders not renewing..then why didn't they just change the block out structure? Also, I wonder if this is the "next step" in restructuring the passholder system? I wonder if other pass levels could have reservation dates added to theirs if they are blocked out?

This is part of a long process that will eventually see the elimination of unlimited annual passes. In the future they will roll out different passes each with a allotment of points. All passes will be required to make reservations. The points needed for each day will dynamically change based on the level of demand.
 
This is great for people with flexible schedules. It's perfect for our family. My husband is a dj that specializes in weddings and we homeschool our kids. So work and school schedules are opposite and more flexible for us than most. Anyone who works weekends or is retired could really use this option.


This is why we have had the Signature AP's for the last 2 years because we could only do MOSTLY WEEKENDS rather than weekdays !!! :teacher: Although my husband has at least 5 or so years left until retirement so perhaps if the FLEX pass does well by then this might be good for us down the road!!! :rolleyes1
 
My comment back a page or two was copied from FB in response to a question about reserving both parks for one day as one reservation. It said that both parks can be reserved and it is only one reservation. I think why it would depend on the day is that one park may sell out faster than another or one park may be a reservation day where as the other is a good to go day.

If a reservation is both parks, how can one "sell out" faster than the other? No one will know which park will have the greater guest load until that day. Even when people purchase non-hopper tickets in advance, Disney can't know which park they will actually use on each day. So I'm really puzzled how this concept of reserving a day at both parks will work.
 
If a reservation is both parks, how can one "sell out" faster than the other? No one will know which park will have the greater guest load until that day. Even when people purchase non-hopper tickets in advance, Disney can't know which park they will actually use on each day. So I'm really puzzled how this concept of reserving a day at both parks will work.
It could be there are a certain number of reservations per park and that number isn't the same. For example, the summer at Disneyland/DCA. Maybe they will have 1,000 spots for Disneyland every day but 2,000 spots for DCA? If you get your reservation in early you could get one for both parks. Otherwise you would only be able to get one for DCA.

The video they showed had the option to search for "Disneyland" "DCA" or "both parks". If you click on each one, it could show a different calendar of available days. If you are willing to forgo Disneyland entirely one day, maybe you will then be able to at least visit DCA.
 
My family goes for 5 days in July or early August because that is when most of the APs are blocked. It's been a pretty reliably great time to go with long park hours, few refurbs and very reasonable crowds. Now Flex Pass is messing with me and my summer time mojo. Oh well, it couldn't last forever. Many on this thread have suggested that all but the very top tier APs may evolve into a reservation based system. We'll just have to see how this all shakes out. There will be some new way to optimize a visit once we learn the ins and outs of the new structure.
 
What's the current rules for upgrading a 2 day/1 park ticket to this new pass? We're going on June 4th and 5th and are thinking about upgrading before we leave on the 5th, will that work?
 
What's the current rules for upgrading a 2 day/1 park ticket to this new pass? We're going on June 4th and 5th and are thinking about upgrading before we leave on the 5th, will that work?
As long as you upgrade before the end of that day, you should be good!
 
I have another question about upgrading -- we are thinking about going for Veteran's Day weekend or the Saturday, Sunday, Monday before Thanksgiving. We would buy 3-day hoppers and get Maxpass and would consider upgrading those tickets to this new annual pass. If I understand the regular upgrade rules correctly:

(1) If we bought the tickets through Disney with Maxpass, the full value, including the Maxpass cost, would be credit toward the upgrade;
(2) If we buy through a 3rd party and buy MaxPass daily, the Maxpass amount wouldn't be credited and we may or may not get credit for the current gate price vs. the discounted price we paid through the third party.
(3) Since those weekends are "by reservation" times with the FlexPass, I assume we would need to wait until after entering the park on the 3rd day to upgrade. If we enter the park before upgrading, and upgrade mid-day, will we be able to re-enter the parks even if there are no "reservations" available that day? I'd like to realize at least some of the 10% dining and merchandise discount on that first trip.


An adult 3-day hopper with Maxpass is $400 (or $324 is the cheapest I see through a third-party+ $45 for daily MaxPass), so as long as we could visit for another 3 days in the course of the year, it seems like this would pencil out for us.

We're in Northern California and have lots of banked Southwest reward points, so it would be easy enough for us to make SW flight reservations and then cancel if it turns out we can't get reservations or, in a worst case scenario, we can drive for a weekend. My kids are school age though, we makes it hard to go midweek.
 
I have another question about upgrading -- we are thinking about going for Veteran's Day weekend or the Saturday, Sunday, Monday before Thanksgiving. We would buy 3-day hoppers and get Maxpass and would consider upgrading those tickets to this new annual pass. If I understand the regular upgrade rules correctly:

(1) If we bought the tickets through Disney with Maxpass, the full value, including the Maxpass cost, would be credit toward the upgrade;
(2) If we buy through a 3rd party and buy MaxPass daily, the Maxpass amount wouldn't be credited and we may or may not get credit for the current gate price vs. the discounted price we paid through the third party.
(3) Since those weekends are "by reservation" times with the FlexPass, I assume we would need to wait until after entering the park on the 3rd day to upgrade. If we enter the park before upgrading, and upgrade mid-day, will we be able to re-enter the parks even if there are no "reservations" available that day? I'd like to realize at least some of the 10% dining and merchandise discount on that first trip.


An adult 3-day hopper with Maxpass is $400 (or $324 is the cheapest I see through a third-party+ $45 for daily MaxPass), so as long as we could visit for another 3 days in the course of the year, it seems like this would pencil out for us.

We're in Northern California and have lots of banked Southwest reward points, so it would be easy enough for us to make SW flight reservations and then cancel if it turns out we can't get reservations or, in a worst case scenario, we can drive for a weekend. My kids are school age though, we makes it hard to go midweek.
If you know you're going to upgrade then buy the tickets with MP, otherwise you'll forfeit that $45 per person you will spend.
 
I'm still wondering why they decided to do this pass. If it is in response to Deluxe and Socal passholders not renewing..then why didn't they just change the block out structure? Also, I wonder if this is the "next step" in restructuring the passholder system? I wonder if other pass levels could have reservation dates added to theirs if they are blocked out?
I really think that Deluxe should be able to reserve any blackout dates, except the two weeks at Christmas and Signature should be able to reserve the two weeks of Christmas given this new pass level can reserve all but the two weeks of Christmas. All no blackout dates as currently scheduled would become good to go dates for that level pass.

I think this would increase predictability of crowds for Disney and allow for people to buy into different levels of good to go days. If they did go this route, chances are anything lower than the flex pass would disappear though or there might be one level with no good to go dates and more complete blackout dates.
 
We are from Utah and have 5 day tickets for our trip in August and we were planning on upgrading to Deluxe passes the last day of our trip. We will be back the last week in October for another 5 days and all but one of our days are good to go. This pass will work great for us and save us quite a bit of money. Hopefully getting on right at the 30 day mark will help us secure the one reservation day we need.
 
I have a feeling this is the pass for me. :dogdance:

We are from Utah and have 5 day tickets for our trip in August and we were planning on upgrading to Deluxe passes the last day of our trip. We will be back the last week in October for another 5 days and all but one of our days are good to go. This pass will work great for us and save us quite a bit of money. Hopefully getting on right at the 30 day mark will help us secure the one reservation day we need.
I'm actually genuninely happy these passes are going to work for you! (I'm a Premier AP since I also do WDW, so it makes sense.) No matter how much I would love the crowds to go down, I also love Disney in general, so if this helps more people experience and enjoy it, then that is good for me!
 

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