Annual pass changes coming........

[ZephyrHawk]

Bleeping heck!!! That is a 50% price increase on the TIW!!! Who increases cost by 50% on anything overnight?!?

Now I'm going to have to sit down for some serious number crunching. TIW is no longer worth it just for my little 3 person family, now I have to figure out if its even worth it when I start treating all our extended family members to dinner!

 

[hamilkm]

If some is able to upgrade one pass for the photo benefit, but doesn't have to upgrade the rest please report back.

I did this today! I know when it is time to renew we will all have to do it but I upgraded only mine that expires in April for $101 and have been enjoying the photo pass benefits all day! Town hall at MK said I was the first person to upgrade this morning, lol!

 

[tinkerhon]

Received this email from Disney just now. Not very helpful.

Thank you for being a Walt Disney World® Passholder!

Today we are introducing a new portfolio of Passes that has been designed to offer a wider variety of options and entitlements to best fit the needs of our Passholders. As a valued Guest and frequent visitor to Walt Disney World Resort, we want you to be among the first to know about these program enhancements.

Rest assured that your current Pass has not changed and your existing benefits will remain valid through your Pass's expiration date. When it is time for you to renew, you will have a new set of Pass options that offer great flexibility and value to enjoy our Walt Disney World Theme Parks, and even some new benefits!

Please remember, your current Pass has not changed and your existing benefits remain valid through your Pass's expiration date. And because you're an existing Passholder, when your Pass does expire, you will be able to purchase any of these new Pass options at a special Passholder renewal rate – of up to 15% savings†!

The upcoming year will be an exciting one at Walt Disney World Resort, with new Star Wars™ experiences at Disney's Hollywood Studios® and new nighttime entertainment debuting at Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park this spring. We sincerely hope you are enjoying your current experience, and will continue to join us for another year as a valued Walt Disney World Passholder.

Sincerely,
Your Walt Disney World Passholder Program Friends

Received the same --- ok, so if I understand this --- our renewal price (btw, I still don't understand why they no longer have a children's price --- I am paying the same amount for a 4-yr old that can't go on as many attractions as an adult) --- anyway --- so, the renewal price for his ticket is $86 more-- ( non- Florida--- regular AP) , and the perk is the Photopass ?

 

[mieuxmew]

so pretty much disney wants to make current annual passholders to pay an extra 120 or so to be able to go to the park during christmas and easter

Gold pass is only available to Florida residents and I believe DVC members. Everyone else can only purchase platinum and platinum plus APs, so no option to save $120 by accepting the Christmas/Easter blackout.

Universal Studios at least offers non-FL residents the option of purchasing the Power Pass (black out dates)

 

[DebbieB]

I agree 100% ... The voucher I have was bought with no blackout dates. We should get Platinum.

From what I just read, we'll get the old pass. No blackout dates but no photo pass.

 

[DebbieB]

Gold pass is only available to Florida residents and I believe DVC members. Everyone else can only purchase platinum and platinum plus APs, so no option to save $120 by accepting the Christmas/Easter blackout.

Universal Studios at least offers non-FL residents the option of purchasing the Power Pass (black out dates)

I'm happy about that since I don't travel at those times.

 

[dmetcalfrn]

From what I just read, we'll get the old pass. No blackout dates but no photo pass.

I called DVC as we have vouchers to activate this week and they said no black out dates or photo pass.

 

[LoverDisney]

I'm confused on this as well - we've already purchased the memory maker and the 2 DVC AP vouchers. I'm going to be ticked if we have to upgrade to one of the new APs and then it turns out I didn't need the memory maker. I'd rather keep my DVC non premium voucher (no blackout dates) and my memory maker for vs being forced to upgrade and then having to argue with Disney to get the memory maker that I bought previously refunded.



Has anyone gotten confirmation of this? I've tried to call DVC MS and the hold was over 30 minutes, so I gave up.

Last week I bought the annual pass with my DVC membership so I called since we have a trip next month. The CM told me that I could upgrade to a Gold Pass once we arrive to Disney which will include the Photopass. It will only be an extra $20+ per person. The blackout dates will not apply to us so this is a great deal.

 

[mom2rtk]

so pretty much disney wants to make current annual passholders to pay an extra 120 or so to be able to go to the park during christmas and easter

Or they might be hoping you stay home to make room for someone purchasing a brand new ticket.

 

[emilymad]

If some is able to upgrade one pass for the photo benefit, but doesn't have to upgrade the rest please report back.

I thought I read somewhere that you don't get the Friends and Family feature of Memory Maker. So if one person upgraded then that person's band would need to be scanned for the pictures to appear. This makes sense to me since they specifically reference Photopass and not Memory Maker.

 

[roadtripper]

ARGH! Just bought 2 DVC APs yesterday for DH and me. Was waiting for some new Disney gift cards to come in to purchase DS'. Our trip begins--wait for it--on December 17th! SO now I have to buy DS the Platinum AP or he will be blacked out. I think I will have a PhotoPass person follow us around all weekend so that we can get our money's worth from that "free" perk. Totally didn't need that extra expense right now.

 

[khertz]

Don't know about meals but I upgraded today and my ride photos are definitely included. Also my mom who did not upgrade had scanned her band at a couple of our photo pass stops earlier in the week and I was able to download those with no problem as well. She has her own account and we are only friends.

That's good news! Thanks for the report.

 

[wilkeliza]

Just as others pointed out if you bought a voucher you will recieve the old pass so no blackout dates but also no photopass and if the voucher you had is for an AP that did not get free parking you won't get that either. You will get what perks were offered for the vouvher you got. That is why the AP section still has the information for the now discontinued passes as people either pre-bought them or will have then for at least a year to a year and a half if that makes sense.

 

[mieuxmew]

Last week I bought the annual pass with my DVC membership so I called since we have a trip next month. The CM told me that I could upgrade to a Gold Pass once we arrive to Disney which will include the Photopass. It will only be an extra $20+ per person. The blackout dates will not apply to us so this is a great deal.

If you upgrade to the gold pass, doesn't the gold pass have black out dates?? I would ask for a CM to put the "no black out dates" for your gold AP in writing, as by definition, the gold AP has black out dates. Just my 2 cents....

 

[SarahInMN]

Don't know about meals but I upgraded today and my ride photos are definitely included. Also my mom who did not upgrade had scanned her band at a couple of our photo pass stops earlier in the week and I was able to download those with no problem as well. She has her own account and we are only friends.

Thanks for the info - I fail to understand why Disney cannot role out information with their changes i.e. what the differences are between AP PhotoPass and Memory Maker? It is incredibly frustrating that they role out changes but fail to define the changes.

Last week I bought the annual pass with my DVC membership so I called since we have a trip next month. The CM told me that I could upgrade to a Gold Pass once we arrive to Disney which will include the Photopass. It will only be an extra $20+ per person. The blackout dates will not apply to us so this is a great deal.

Thanks for the info! We already have the DVC AP vouchers + a pre-purchased Memory Maker: it now may come down to what the AP photo pass is vs memory maker in terms of do we upgrade or not. Granted, we go again in January and it would be nice to not have to purchase Memory Maker again for that trip.

 

[mom2rb]

I bought 4 DVC APs last night when I read that changes were coming. DH thought that I was being paranoid, but now he is happy. This year we are going Dec. 11-18, 2 days into the blackout dates. Saved us $600. Since we are going back in June and DH are going again in Oct. for our 20th anniversary. I think that I will upgrade my ticket for Photopass. Normally the blackout dates wouldn't apply to us but with my boys' college finals schedules, we can't go until Dec. 11th.

 

[RachaelA]

But what if you bought a voucher pre February increase. So I paid $485ish without taxes for my DVC voucher. So it's not worth the $529 old price. If I activate it (and actually enter a park with I) and then immediately go to guest services can I then just pay the $20 to get the new gold pass with the photo option? Or will I have to pay the difference between $485 and $549?

 

[joelkfla]

If you upgrade to the gold pass, doesn't the gold pass have black out dates?? I would ask for a CM to put the "no black out dates" for your gold AP in writing, as by definition, the gold AP has black out dates. Just my 2 cents....

I think by "don't apply" the PP meant they are not planning on visiting during the 4 blocked out weeks.

 

[TJA]

Blockouts in general... Easter Sunday yes.

Longer blockouts: March 6-27 next year for a short list of restaurants. Are those the only ones you were planning on? If it doesn't work it doesn't work, but I hope you've actually run the numbers.

I also hope the restaurants you're going to have the ap discount for the meals you're having there.

Additional Block-out dates: These select locations are subject to the following block-out dates, 1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey’s, ‘Ohana (Dinner Only), Cinderella’s Royal Table, LeChefs de France, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, and Le Cellier Steakhouse: November 22-28, 2015 and December 20-26, 2015; March 6-27, 2016; May 29- June 18, 2016; November 13-27, 2016; December 19-25, 2016

Thanks for info bumbershoot. No, I have not actually run the numbers, but I can see by the blockout dates that our entire Easter trip is blocked out from the TiW discount for 4 out of our 6 ADR's. We'll just wait until after our current card has expired and think about it more at that time.

 

[feezle]

My pass expires this month. We are taking a couple years off. They have priced us out.