No more photos on AP's at Disneyland

[Sherry E]

Don't they already do this pretty much..same pass I mean. I renewed online so just have my same grainy horrible picture.
I had heard a rumor that they were maybe working toward having payment plans available for all APs..not just for those who live in California..maybe this could be a precursor to that being implemented? ( I hope)

nunzia - I wondered the same thing (about the photo thing being a precursor to AP changes).

I don't think I heard that AP payment plans were being considered for everyone, necessarily - at least not in the traditional sense of payment plans as they exist now, where it's done solely as a convenience to the customer - but the rumor that I heard was something about how the whole set-up of the AP system may be changed, and that Disney is considering turning it into a "monthly membership" sort of thing. That could mean a couple of things.

This could either mean that all people will automatically be billed/charged monthly for an AP - like I pay for my Sirius radio/subscription monthly or my Internet/cable bill - OR it could mean that we would only pay to have an AP for the months we want/need an AP. In other words, if this was how it worked, if you think you'll be making a trip to DLR in October and December, you could buy an AP just for those months....and then not have a bunch of wasted months on the AP that never get used. Kind of a 'buy as needed' scenario.

I'm not sure which one of these routes DLR will take for the AP, or IF they will change its structure at all. Those were just the things that popped in my mind when I read about the possible monthly scenario,

 

[CMHusband]

Don't they already do this pretty much..same pass I mean. I renewed online so just have my same grainy horrible picture.
I had heard a rumor that they were maybe working toward having payment plans available for all APs..not just for those who live in California..maybe this could be a precursor to that being implemented? ( I hope)

I don't see that happening. Here's why. If you are a local and you pay the down payment which is ONE DAY PARK PRICE - then you might use the pass once or twice in the first month, but if you don't pay your contract then they cut you off.

Now, If you are NOT a local, you could theoretically.. buy an annual pass on a contract and pay the ONE DAY PRICE. Then...use the pass for the next 10 days in a row on vacation from say, Minnesota and then go back to Minnesota and never pay another dime. Its nearly impossible for them to enforce the contract out of state - and they can't cut you off, because you "ain't" coming back for three years anyway. So that's why they don't sell contracts to out of state guests.

 

[MAH4546]

This is a pilot program and will only be in limited affect. It has not been decided whether this will become permanent. I hope not.

 

[smile4stamps]

To me doing a month by month contract does not make much sense. Either that or it will be much to costly to make sense at least for me. If they did it where you only had to purchase it a month at a time I expect it would cost more than the current 6day pass so once you pay for 2 months it is well over the cost of even the premium AP.

I would like to have them offer 7-10 days passes though. I am going with my friend for a week trip an would love to get a seven day pass so we could go in for a few hours our first day but since that is not possible we will likely hang out in DtD. Since she will most likely not be able to return in the next year an AP does not make sense for her.

 

[nunzia]

I don't see that happening. Here's why. If you are a local and you pay the down payment which is ONE DAY PARK PRICE - then you might use the pass once or twice in the first month, but if you don't pay your contract then they cut you off.

Now, If you are NOT a local, you could theoretically.. buy an annual pass on a contract and pay the ONE DAY PRICE. Then...use the pass for the next 10 days in a row on vacation from say, Minnesota and then go back to Minnesota and never pay another dime. Its nearly impossible for them to enforce the contract out of state - and they can't cut you off, because you "ain't" coming back for three years anyway. So that's why they don't sell contracts to out of state guests.

Great points..I thought I had read that it could be implemented like a contract..auto out of your account/charged to your card..and can't stop without some sort of huge fee..like a phone contract. I don't know. I think they'd sell alot more, and then people would just keep it up since that's easier than dealing with stopping and stuff, but it might be too much trouble. I have an account where I put a monthly 'payment' for my AP already, then when it's due I just pay the whole chunk.
Where did I see this?? Miceage? I'll look and see if I can find how they thought they'd get around the people cancelling thing..

 

[ArchOwl]

Seems like Disney could make it really difficult for you to stop payment on your "membership"/annual pass. I mean phone companies do the same thing and they can enforce contracts across state lines. But it does put Disney in the uncomfortable position of being a debt collector in some cases. That could be weird.

 

[bumbershoot]

The biggest reason they are doing this is once you buy a pass, they wont need to give you a "new" pass next year. when you renew, upgrade etc, you'll just keep you same pass - maybe get 3-5 years out of it. This will cut down on huge printing expenses and its "greener" in that they are throwing away less plastic every year.

*They* aren't throwing away plastic; the AP holders are, and that's IF they throw it away instead of scrapbooking it.

And since they didn't make us change pictures when we renewed, we could have easily used the same cards...

Does this mean you have to get your hand stamped if you want to park hop?

FWIW, we once had to have our hands stamped even with APs. Columbus Day weekend, they'd had DL close b/c of capacity the day before, so as we *entered* DCA (DCA!) they made us stamp our hands just in case we wanted to hop later... Also had the experience while leaving DL in early March once (I was leaving-leaving so didn't get it, but they told us we HAD to if we wanted to come back that day). Just having the AP doesn't preclude you from hand-stamping depending on capacity...

 

[nunzia]

ahh..here it is..the Mice Age article from January..here is the part relating to APs..now..I know this is all rumor, but it's where I had seen the payment plan thing for all idea:
<<<The other Annual Pass change brewing for 2011 is to stop marketing the concept as an “annual” pass, and instead refer to it as a “membership” so can they change the billing rules. Instead of entering in to a contract that has a specific end date one year out, the membership plan would act more like a health club membership where Disneyland charges you monthly dues endlessly until you tell them you want to cancel it outright. Of course the mouse will wrap this new concept in an environmentally friendly green message, and try to explain that it’s kinder to the earth to keep your same card year after year instead of issuing you a new one each year with an end date on it. Not only would this change to an open-ended membership plan likely rake in more money as fewer people fall off the wagon at the end of 12 months, but it would also allow them to save a bundle in labor and processing costs by nearly shutting down the always-crowded Annual Pass Processing center.

The savings increase further for TDA in 2012 as new turnstiles are installed and they move to membership cards that no longer have your picture on them in place of a biometric scan of your finger conducted in a few seconds upon first use of the pass out at the new turnstiles. Those biometric scans are impossible to fool as they permanently assign an identity to only one person on the planet, whereas the current system using a grainy picture given a cursory glance by a harried ticket taker is subject to abuse and fraud. The Disneyland Resort is changing folks, and while 2010 was a winner of a year that brought us World of Color, a new vibe for DCA and lots of plywood construction walls, 2011 is the year we’ll see more fundamental changes in the way the Resort plays host to all of us.>>

Al Lutz..MiceAge


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[CMHusband]

Here it is, It was rolled out today.

 

[funatdisney]

I went to DL yesterday with my friend. She ended up getting a AP. She got the new card which I really like. They took her picture, but did not print her picture on the back of her card. Here is what the cards look like without the picture:


EDITED: PHOTO REMOVED

 

[CrazyDuck]

I went to DL yesterday with my friend. She ended up getting a AP. She got the new card which I really like. They took her picture, but did not print her picture on the back of her card. Here is what the cards look like without the picture]

You should probably remove your info from that picture... it is not hard to counterfeit a card if you have all the info there and a CR80 printer! Then all I'd have to do is beat you to the gate!

 

[Disney Dreams]

You should probably remove your info from that picture... it is not hard to counterfeit a card if you have all the info there and a CR80 printer! Then all I'd have to do is beat you to the gate!

Was just posting the exact same thought! Please, for your friend's sake, edit or remove the photo.

- Dreams

 

[Armadillo4]

My AP expires (or was going to expire) on April 29. I renewed online on April 3 to try to beat the change in card designs. It was a nice try, but the Disneyland CMs were on to me lol. I got my new AP in the mail today. It's the new design with no photo on the back. I was hoping to hold onto the with-photo version for the convenience of *not* having to show a photo ID for discounts, but I'll adapt. In the big picture, it's not a huge issue. And 3 or 4 years from now, we'll be reminiscing and telling stories about: "remember when we used to have our pictures on the backs of these passes?"

 

[iheartdisney]

Grrr, i HATE the finger scanners at WDW, they never want to work right! But, if it is for all tickets and NOT just APs, it will certainly put an end to selling off the second day of those 2-fers!

 

[funatdisney]

You should probably remove your info from that picture... it is not hard to counterfeit a card if you have all the info there and a CR80 printer! Then all I'd have to do is beat you to the gate!

Thanks. I was in DL today and just looked that it was removed.

Mods thanks for taking of it for me.

 

[Aurora&Prince]

WDW uses fingerrpints now that is why they no longer require a picture. That is why the premire passports dont have pictures either (because they are associated with WDW)...well thats what the CM told me anyway.

It wouldnt surprise me if they stopped putting pictures on APs. They dont look at them much, they only use the one in the system when you scan in.

Not to mention VISA got mad at them for having them use the APs as a valid photo ID, especially when pictures are outdated, washed out, and barely legible in my opinion (at least mine used to).

 

[cmwade77]

Great points..I thought I had read that it could be implemented like a contract..auto out of your account/charged to your card..and can't stop without some sort of huge fee..like a phone contract. I don't know. I think they'd sell alot more, and then people would just keep it up since that's easier than dealing with stopping and stuff, but it might be too much trouble. I have an account where I put a monthly 'payment' for my AP already, then when it's due I just pay the whole chunk.
Where did I see this?? Miceage? I'll look and see if I can find how they thought they'd get around the people cancelling thing..

There would be an easy way around this, basically, just use a prepaid card, then they could close out the card after their trip.

The other thing to remember is that they take the first payment within 2-3 days, so it is not just the first month's payment that they would have to make.

All of that being said, I think they should look at how Sea World does monthly payments. When you first get the pass, you pay 1/12 of the price (your first month's payment), then you pay 11 more payments. After that the pass becomes monthly. If you stop making the payments, they first cut you off, then they will go after you for the remainder of the year's price. In addition, if you need to they will let you change the date that they take the payment each month, which Disney does not allow.

I think the finger print system should be used, it does put a stop to the reselling of extra days on the multi-day passes and such.

 

[Pirate Speedy]

I was just at DL this week and upgraded my 5 day Parkhopper to a AP on Wednesday night at about 10:30 PM and I got the new pass pictured in this thread, I got to use my $20 DVC discount and applied the full value of the pass. I asked about them adding fingerprinting to DL and he said "not for at least 10 years that's a east coast thing and we have no interest in it" but of course that is just one CM thought.

When you go though the turnstiles your picture still shows up on their Screen and she did look at it and looked up at me, the picture on their screen was a good digital picture.

the best part of the pass is that you have your own personal Photo Pass # on the back of the AP, I did try it out but I did not go to the picture center to look at the picture.

Also when I went to the world of Disney in DTD and used the AP for the discount I was asked for picture ID, not sure this is going to be the norm but she did say it was the first time she had see the Pass. I was also asked for Picture ID using my DVC id for a discount for counter service.

 

[Disney Dreams]

...the best part of the pass is that you have your own personal Photo Pass # on the back of the AP, I did try it out but I did not go to the picture center to look at the picture....

Hi Speed!

Hope you had a great time at DLR this past week. Congrats on the AP! Have you tried entering the number into the photopass website? I don't think anyone has reported back on using that feature of the newly designed APs. Curious to hear if it was seamless.

Also, you mentioned going to WDW (yay!!!). If you haven't already done so, you may want to price out the cost of upgrading to a Premier AP. Depending upon how long you are going to be at WDW it could pay off. With DVC (double yay!), it would be interesting to price out the discounts and see which gives you the better overall benefit, pricing-wise. The premier could really save you money though.

Congrats on DVC and the upcoming trip to WDW,
Dreams

P.S. Just realized the countdown on your ticker. Are you going for Christmas?!? If so... Woohoo! Such a beautiful time to be there!

 

[Pirate Speedy]

Hi Speed!

Hope you had a great time at DLR this past week. Congrats on the AP! Have you tried entering the number into the photopass website? I don't think anyone has reported back on using that feature of the newly designed APs. Curious to hear if it was seamless.

Just logged on and added my AP Photo pass to my account and the 2 pictures are there

Also, you mentioned going to WDW (yay!!!). If you haven't already done so, you may want to price out the cost of upgrading to a Premier AP. Depending upon how long you are going to be at WDW it could pay off. With DVC (double yay!), it would be interesting to price out the discounts and see which gives you the better overall benefit, pricing-wise. The premier could really save you money though.!

We are going for 15 days so the cheapest MYW pass for 15 days is $499 and the DVC Annual Pass is $399 which gives you a years use and parkhopping! But the DVC Premium Annual Pass is only $504 whice adds the Water parks and Disney Quest and if we wanted to do any 2 of those it pays for itself. for me having a DL AP means upgrading to the Premier Passport is $391 so the only question is for the kids is it worth the extra $196 for them to get Premier Passport and have almost a year to visit DL which is about the cost of a discounted 5 day pass.

Congrats on DVC and the upcoming trip to WDW,
Dreams

P.S. Just realized the countdown on your ticker. Are you going for Christmas?!? If so... Woohoo! Such a beautiful time to be there!

Yes Christmas and NYE at Bay Lake Towers Lake view