Am I the only who thinks Disney / DVC is screwing us on Annual Passes?

[twinklebug]

I will not be able to par-take of the new PAP deal also due to timing. Do I feel cheated? Not in the least. I wouldn't expect Disney to market a limited time offer and extend it just for me. I think you and I are both fortunate to have been able to take advantage of the $399 deal last year. There were a number of folk here who couldn't due to timing.

The upside: the PAP would bring out the cheap in me and I'd be less likely to take my son and friends over to the "other parks" next year

You are suffering from Claire Bilby syndrome. Claire was head of DVC from Aug 2011 to end of Jan 2013, during which time DVC adopted the $399 PAP, added a number of other decent discounts, and generally seemed to be actually trying to treat the members like they were special. She left for a new position at Disneyland Paris and many suspected she was moved for being too nice to the members. We now have smiling Ken Potrock at the helm, who talks a great story but produces little (and some things are even starting to disappear). Kind of reminds me of Jim Lewis.

too nice? Nah, she convinced many of us to spend more than we would have otherwise and created a sense of good-will on the part of DVC toward members while doing so. She's a very clever manager.

They moved Claire to Disneyland Paris as they needed her there. She did a good job, we miss her, but I don't think any of us have a "Claire Bilby syndrome" going on. Ken's doing what he knows how he knows.

 

[londonderrydisneyfan]

I'm kind of glad we can't take advantage of this discount. We planned to take a year or two off from DVC/Disney and it would have been much harder to do if we got a great deal on tickets.

 

[Jkpark]

Can someone help me with the activation rules. Is it Jan 2015 for WDW, DLR or premiere pass? Also - how late can I wait to activate and still make FP+ selections? I took this year off from our DLR AP because we have a Disney cruise and a WDW trip planned. WDW is late September. We were heading back to DLR in December and were likely going to do APs for following year. So considering buying DLR passes now and activating in December - or buying premiere and activating in September. Can I use vouchers for FP+ and still not activate until first day in the park? The difference for my family of 4 with my work discount on WDW tickets is just over $100 to have premiere - which also means better discounts and no DLR blackout dates...

 

[Deb & Bill]

I appreciate the effort of DVC Management to get us some discounts on passes. I have three AP passes/vouchers right now, so we'll be using those.
I just don't want to spend the money right now and we won't be going until after April.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Can someone help me with the activation rules. Is it Jan 2015 for WDW, DLR or premiere pass? Also - how late can I wait to activate and still make FP+ selections? I took this year off from our DLR AP because we have a Disney cruise and a WDW trip planned. WDW is late September. We were heading back to DLR in December and were likely going to do APs for following year. So considering buying DLR passes now and activating in December - or buying premiere and activating in September. Can I use vouchers for FP+ and still not activate until first day in the park? The difference for my family of 4 with my work discount on WDW tickets is just over $100 to have premiere - which also means better discounts and no DLR blackout dates...

You can link the voucher to your MDE and be able to make FP+ selections.

The specials all seem to have the January 2015 activation deadline. The Deluxe DVC AP is not part of this special so it would not have that deadline.

 

[tjkraz]

We were heading back to DLR in December and were likely going to do APs for following year. So considering buying DLR passes now and activating in December - or buying premiere and activating in September.

That's definitely possible with the Disneyland Passports. The WDW PAP vouchers and DL Deluxe pass vouchers have to be purchased by April 30 2014 and activated by January 31, 2015.

As for the Premier, until proven otherwise there are no vouchers for that pass. Since its introduction, it can only be obtained in-person at a WDW or DL ticket location. There is no online purchase option, no telephone option and no voucher.

Unless Disney has recently introduced some advance purchase alternative for the Premier, the only option appears to be to buy in-person by April 30, with the pass active as of the purchase date.

 

[Jkpark]

Hmmm - that is too bad. May still take advantage of the DLR pass as I am excited they are finally offering us more than $20 off

 

[WilsonFlyer]

It didn't work for my wife and daughter last time because we already had activated passes. This time it's going to work great because of current expiration dates.

Sometime it does and sometimes it doesn't.

I'm not sure how Disney can "screw" us on tickets anyway. They don't owe us any sort of discount. I'm happy for the ones I get, whether I can take advantage of them or not. Why? I was an AP holder long before DVC so my family is/was going to buy APs anyway. It's a win for me any way you look at it as long as we have it at all.

 

[Dean]

Let me clarify before I get a bunch of threatening posts and replies

I mean they should just allow the date of purchase a year from that point to activate and not necessarily minimize the activation time.

Here is why...We go down once a year however last year we went twice and in 2014 we are going three times. Every time we go I drop $2,000-$3,000 over a 5 day period.

If they were able to give more time to go I would go more often but in this case I will now only go 1 time and not visit parks the entire time which saves me a boat load of money but not good for disney.

Anyway I know disney could care less about just one person but I do think they are losing about $10,000 on my this year because the passes are not flexible

I get it that you're upset that a perk you were able to use before doesn't work out for you this time. IMO there's no reason to be upset with DVC management or Disney but it's reasonable to feel disappointed it didn't work out. The reason for the dates and timing is really irrelevant. It won't work for some including myself for either last time or this time. One of my mantra's is that someone else's gain is not necessarily my loss.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

I have the reverse problem--these PAPs fall directly into our lap... we had planned to use our 10 day non exp park hoppers purchased last year in anticipation of our 3 trips with a few park days each. We will be at WDW on Saturday, just in time to get the PAPs, and we can ice our 10 day non exp. and have a year of wild park abandon.

Instead of carefully budgeting days, I can go for an evening of EPCOT shopping... *quivers*

I understand that the limitations mean that not everyone will be able to use the deal; but we definitely don't feel screwed, because it is a tailor-made offer for us.

***

Also now WDW is getting $1000 extra in ticket $ that they would have had to wait for otherwise!

 

[Garthilk]

I realized that with an AP, you're going to have to visit X number of days to break even on the pass. If you didn't have enough points to do X days, then you'd have to get a hotel room if you were from out of the area. There is also the slim chance that people would add on to their contracts so they had enough points for the magical X number.

 

[TagsMissy]

Sorry OP I think it's you.. this is a short term deal, just like any other retailer has 'sales' or 'promos' that are short term. Unfortunately this time around it doesn't work for you but nobody is getting screwed. Yeah it sucks if the dates don't work but such is life, can't always get what you want.

The last $399 deal didn't work for me ((I thought!)) so I didn't buy it, ironically it would have been perfect for me in the end as we're getting two trips out of regular DVC AP Oh well, I wasn't screwed by Disney on this it was the luck of the draw of how things ended up panning out.

 

[DougandBeth]

Tagsmissy I appreciate the post and we are definitely going to have to agree to disagree. Any intelligent business person knows when a deal is good it's being offered and benefits everyone. A bad offer has restrictions and is only good for some and not others.

Therefore in my opinion it's a bad offer because not everyone can take advantage of it. I run a multi million business and offers we put out apply to every and all customers. We never restrict them and quite frankly our business is growing at record paces.

Thanks all

 

[keishashadow]

We were thrilled to be able to purchase the discounted PAPs, activated 6/12 and will get four trips out it. Haven't run the numbers yet on the new offer, especially as to DL, but appears we will pass.

just wondering if the timing is a strategy to get members to keep an AP running via renewal but specifically not to encourage stockpiling of vouchers? When we have an AP expire I rarely renew it but wait until the next trip (which I try to time out to be 8 months) to start up a discounted AP.

 

[WolfpackFan]

The new PAP works out fine for us time-wise but not so great as far as purchasing by end of April. We aren't going down until December and I really hadn't planned on plunking down $1000 this far ahead of time. Since we would typically not use any of the Premium parts, we'll probably just wait until closer to December and just get the regular AP (hopefully with the normal DVC discount if offered).

 

[wdrl]

Tagsmissy I appreciate the post and we are definitely going to have to agree to disagree. Any intelligent business person knows when a deal is good it's being offered and benefits everyone. A bad offer has restrictions and is only good for some and not others.

Therefore in my opinion it's a bad offer because not everyone can take advantage of it. I run a multi million business and offers we put out apply to every and all customers. We never restrict them and quite frankly our business is growing at record paces.

Thanks all

By your definition, the vast majority of offers are "bad" because they can't benefit everyone. If a store offers a $10 discount on purchases of $50 or more, then its a "bad" offer because people who buy less than $50 don't benefit from the offer.

The point, though, is not whether everyone benefits from an offer but rather whether everyone can take advantage of an offer if they choose. A person can choose to spend $50 to get the $10 discount, just like a person can choose to visit the Disney Parks more frequently to take advantage of the new PAP offer.

The OP and others who won't take advantage of the offer are not harmed by the existence of this offer. They haven't lost anything and are financially in the same situation now as before the offer was announced. As Dean said a few posts ago, someone else's gain is not necessarily my loss.

 

[Brian Noble]

I run a multi million business and offers we put out apply to every and all customers. We never restrict them and quite frankly our business is growing at record paces.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the company that runs the most profitable theme parks on the planet might actually know what they are doing when it comes to gate integrity and pricing.

 

[bumbershoot]

I run a multi million business and offers we put out apply to every and all customers. We never restrict them and quite frankly our business is growing at record paces.

Thanks all

That is incredibly unusual. I'd probably say your company is the only one out there.

If I don't need whatever you have right now during your offer, but DO need it 3 years from now, can I use today's offer then?

 

[DVC Grandpa]

Forgetting about the offer for the PAP and its activation deadline, how long do you have before activating the regular (original DVC member) AP? My AP expired in January but we are not going until March or April 2015 so no need renewing. I think my best buy is going to be a new AP (purchased before prices go up) and not activate it until we go again whenever it may be. If I recall the member AP doesn’t have a deadline as to when it has to be activated … am I wrong?

 

[erionm]

Forgetting about the offer for the PAP and its activation deadline, how long do you have before activating the regular (original DVC member) AP? My AP expired in January but we are not going until March or April 2015 so no need renewing. I think my best buy is going to be a new AP (purchased before prices go up) and not activate it until we go again whenever it may be. If I recall the member AP doesn’t have a deadline as to when it has to be activated … am I wrong?

Vouchers/Will Call Confirmations for APs and PAPs purchased at the regular member price don't expire. So far, only these promos have had an activation deadline.