Summer blackout days lifted for case members?

[Tinkerbell19672]

I had to stop looking.

About an hour ago I logged in and could get a Oga's reservation for 8:30 tonight. Then I saw RSR was 20 minutes. 20 MINUTES!!

It’s crazy! I saw it down to 7 minutes this afternoon with fast passes still available

 

[Jperiod]

I keep wondering if they'll do an EMH on the opposite days for on-site rooms only, similar to what they started when Carsland opened. I'll be super bummed if lower passes are unblocked.

 

[Epek]

I think the difference here is that you renewed your pass, knowing those were the parameters of the pass. If they unblock lower level passes now, after they have blocked them and people have bought more expensive passes to overcome the planned blocked times, then Disney is changing the rules on people after they have already bought the more expensive pass. I don't have a pass, but I think the changes you are talking about were not done retrograde to an existing pass that you had already purchased; please correct me if I am wrong!

It depends on when you renew your pass vs when the calendar comes out. I was completely blindsided. Not sure why the higher passes would get preferential treatment? Plus, it’s in the terms and conditions that the calendar can change, so why would those with a higher pass get to be upset that more people are allowed to come? I mean, we’re allowed to be taken advantage of, but not those who pay more? Interesting.
I’m just sick of all this pitting one type of AP against another. Like, oh no, keep those dirty lower level ap’s out, they chose their fate, but sure, give discounts to the general public and they can come. What is that? Why can’t we all get a little perk?

 

[fly girl]

It depends on when you renew your pass vs when the calendar comes out. I was completely blindsided. Not sure why the higher passes would get preferential treatment? Plus, it’s in the terms and conditions that the calendar can change, so why would those with a higher pass get to be upset that more people are allowed to come? I mean, we’re allowed to be taken advantage of, but not those who pay more? Interesting.
I’m just sick of all this pitting one type of AP against another. Like, oh no, keep those dirty lower level ap’s out, they chose their fate, but sure, give discounts to the general public and they can come. What is that? Why can’t we all get a little perk?

The higher passes get preferential treatment (on days allowed in) because they paid more!

I personally don’t feel anyone on here is saying lower AP’s are bad. You chose the AP that best suits you. Some jumped up tiers this year because of the summer blockout dates. They weighed the huge cost vs. park entry dates, and decided to go for it. I’m not sure what difference in cost is, but I can bet it was substantial. So yeah, if I paid all that extra so I could go during the summer then Disney lifted days to AP’s who were initially blocked I’d be mad. I wouldn’t be mad at AP’s, but mad that I wasted all that extra money. I’d feel cheated. I could’ve bought my regular AP, but I went up and spent a lot more only to find out my usual AP is now allowed to get in.

Put it into a different scenario - Fast Lane at other parks. Say I spent and additional $270 for my family to get the Fast Lane Plus for all the attractions (ex. I paid more for the plus to ride Steel Vengence at Cedar Point because regular Fast Lane doesn’t include that ride.) I got my wristband, ready to go. I hop in the Fast Lane Plus line for Steel Vengeance to see those who purchased the regular Fast Lane being allowed in. Why did I pay more if they are letting regular Fast Lane in?

That’s how I see it from the outside.

The top tiers aren’t “better”, they just paid more for more access. They paid a premium for a specific reason. And if that reason is now undermined, what was it for?

 

[agamble]

Hope they don’t unblock any AP’s! That may spell doom for us Flex pass holders and reservations this summer.

I liked the idea someone had of Disney allowing APs one day of their choice to visit during the blockout period rather than just letting everyone in all summer.

 

[DLgal]

It depends on when you renew your pass vs when the calendar comes out. I was completely blindsided. Not sure why the higher passes would get preferential treatment? Plus, it’s in the terms and conditions that the calendar can change, so why would those with a higher pass get to be upset that more people are allowed to come? I mean, we’re allowed to be taken advantage of, but not those who pay more? Interesting.
I’m just sick of all this pitting one type of AP against another. Like, oh no, keep those dirty lower level ap’s out, they chose their fate, but sure, give discounts to the general public and they can come. What is that? Why can’t we all get a little perk?

The blackout calendar has always gone out a full year, so it doesn't matter when you renew, you will know what the entire year will look like FOR YOU when you renew.

We paid $350 MORE x3 this year to upgrade my husband and sons from Deluxe to Signature passes last August JUST BECAUSE we wanted to be able to visit Disneyland park over the summer. So, we shelled out an additional $1050 for the summer park access that these passes allow. If they now change the rules and go "nevermind, come on in Deluxe AP holders!" then we will have spent $1050 for nothing. I already had a Signature AP for the parking and better discounts, so having 3 more didn't offer any additional benefit.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

It is shocking what they get for rooms at DLR. I had a garden view room at the Contemporary with a gorgeous view of Bay Lake for $375 a night with an AP discount over Spring Break. WDW hotels are far more reasonable and you get free round trip transportation to the airport.

I’ve stayed at GCH and Paradise Pier. I can’t justify the expense anymore.

I've always thought that the on-site hotels were a bit overpriced, but if you managed to snag a discount they were worth it. I was able to stay a couple of times many years ago that way. Now, I'm shocked that they get anyone to pay their exorbitant prices. On our last trip, we stayed at a hotel right across the street on Harbor Blvd. for 4 nights for hundreds less than it would have cost us to stay at GCH for just ONE night. That's insane. Especially when you consider that for many families, they are spending almost all of their time in the parks, not in their rooms. Just think how much how more that whole trip would have cost me if we'd stayed at GCH for 4 nights. It would have been a difference of thousands of dollars. Is the decor nicer? Absolutely. The pool better? I'm sure it is. Would EMH have been nice? Of course. But are those perks worth thousands of dollars when my main goal is to be in the parks anyway? Definitely not. If the hotels right across the street on Harbor aren't your cup of tea, there are more up-scale options nearby. Disney has effectively priced out regular middle class families, which is fine if that's their goal, but it's kind of sad.

 

[mamapenguin]

I've always thought that the on-site hotels were a bit overpriced, but if you managed to snag a discount they were worth it. I was able to stay a couple of times many years ago that way. Now, I'm shocked that they get anyone to pay their exorbitant prices. On our last trip, we stayed at a hotel right across the street on Harbor Blvd. for 4 nights for hundreds less than it would have cost us to stay at GCH for just ONE night. That's insane. Especially when you consider that for many families, they are spending almost all of their time in the parks, not in their rooms. Just think how much how more that whole trip would have cost me if we'd stayed at GCH for 4 nights. It would have been a difference of thousands of dollars. Is the decor nicer? Absolutely. The pool better? I'm sure it is. Would EMH have been nice? Of course. But are those perks worth thousands of dollars when my main goal is to be in the parks anyway? Definitely not. If the hotels right across the street on Harbor aren't your cup of tea, there are more up-scale options nearby. Disney has effectively priced out regular middle class families, which is fine if that's their goal, but it's kind of sad.

I agree with you completely and we do stay either on Harbor or Katella depending on availability now. A wise family enlightened us while chatting in the SR line for RSR. If we stayed off site we could afford to visit DLR more often. That was the first and last time we stayed at PPH. That was 2014.

 

[DaveNinja]

The blackout calendar has always gone out a full year, so it doesn't matter when you renew, you will know what the entire year will look like FOR YOU when you renew.

We paid $350 MORE x3 this year to upgrade my husband and sons from Deluxe to Signature passes last August JUST BECAUSE we wanted to be able to visit Disneyland park over the summer. So, we shelled out an additional $1050 for the summer park access that these passes allow. If they now change the rules and go "nevermind, come on in Deluxe AP holders!" then we will have spent $1050 for nothing. I already had a Signature AP for the parking and better discounts, so having 3 more didn't offer any additional benefit.

You paid $1050 more to be guaranteed you can go to DL in July. Deluxe (or lower) pass-holders cannot currently plan a trip for July and expect to get into DL. If they open more days for Deluxe APs to visit DL, it would be a last minute thing and many could not go.

 

[Niebz]

The blackout calendar has always gone out a full year, so it doesn't matter when you renew, you will know what the entire year will look like FOR YOU when you renew.

We paid $350 MORE x3 this year to upgrade my husband and sons from Deluxe to Signature passes last August JUST BECAUSE we wanted to be able to visit Disneyland park over the summer. So, we shelled out an additional $1050 for the summer park access that these passes allow. If they now change the rules and go "nevermind, come on in Deluxe AP holders!" then we will have spent $1050 for nothing. I already had a Signature AP for the parking and better discounts, so having 3 more didn't offer any additional benefit.

We are in the exact same spot x 2 so $2000 extra spent for our family of 6 to get signature passes. We are coming from Canada so the sole purpose of spending that much was to go this summer, we don’t get to go throughout the year aside from February which isn’t blocked out anyway. If it changes and they allow deluxe annual passes in for the summer I will be devastated. It’s nothing against the lower level passes at all but I will have wasted all that money for nothing which was extremely difficult to come up with in the first place.