longtimedisneylurker
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2010
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- 5,578
Just wanted to share our recent experiences with getting and using new annual passes in the hopes that someone will learn from all this.
For background...this is our family's fifth time getting APs. The first time we bought parkhoppers and upgraded them to APs at the Paradise Pier check-in desk even before first use. The second year we renewed. Ever since then we have allowed our APs to lapse and then started fresh since months elapsed between visits (it's a 7 1/2 hour drive to Disneyland for us). We have never had any difficulty with obtaining our APs in the past or any complaints about any of the CMs who handled these transactions.
Our last set of APs expired on April 8. We were going to wait until our August 10 trip to buy new ones, but when I read about the price increase I went ahead and purchased the passes (4 premium) online direct through Disney on June 10, two days before the price increase.
We went to the parks for the first time on the evening of August 10. You can take your e-ticket to the turnstile and get in immediately but must change that to an annual pass at the ticket booth before end of day. We actually did it this way. Don't know if things would have worked out the same or not had we simply gone to the ticket booth first.
At the ticket booth, the CM started to bring up the information off the ticket voucher they provided at the turnstile. She paused for a moment and commented that we already had APs before and said something about the APs being renewals. I told her no, they were new APs since the old ones had lapsed in April and this was our first day of entry on these new ones. She says just a moment and then goes to talk to another woman, I assume a supervisor who comes through and makes a few keystrokes on the computer and tells the first CM to proceed. So the first CM says ok, let me just process these. After a moment, she pushes through a little piece of paper and tells DH to sign it. We both look at it and declare we won't sign it. It listed the AP dates as 8/10/11 until 6/10/12. 6/10/11, coincidentally, was the date I purchased the APs online. I told the CM we wouldn't sign the paper because they had just lopped two months off our APs. I asked why 8/10/12 was not the expiration date listed.
The CM then starts arguing with me again that the APs were actually a renewal. I patiently explain that, no, they were not a renewal and question why if they were a renewal then that they weren't backdated to my renewal date of April 8. She stubbornly insists still that they were a renewal since they cost $459 each and the "real" price is $499. I explain to her about the price increase and the non-correspondence of the $459 price to a renewal price before or after the price increase and how $459 was the regular price before the price increase. She then asks again about the date I bought the tickets. So I point out that I bought them on June 10, but the documentation clearly stated the passes started on date of first entry and were good for one year from then, not from the purchase date. Basically, I stood there at the window explaining all the Disney policy to her. She got very frustrated with me and went off again to talk to the supervisor. I could see her gesturing and talking. The supervisor came back to the window and didn't say anything to us or even acknowledge us really. She looked at the computer screen, muttered something along the lines of "oh, I see", typed at the computer a bit and walked away again telling the first CM to proceed. Lo and behold, everything was fixed. The first CM was still miffed. No one ever acknowledged anything about the policies or conversation. She just shoved through a different piece of paper to sign with the correct dates and repeated the procedure for the rest of us.
OK. So it was all fixed, but it was very, very annoying and left a bad taste in my mouth. Somebody less informed and diligent than we were could easily have walked away from that window with APs that expired two months too early and only figure it out later and feel cheated. I felt like after spending all that money, I then still had to fight to get the full value of what I was told I was paying for at time of purchase. The annoyances don't quite end there though...
It used to be that Disney would keep your photo in the system for up to a year after your AP expired, so it would be there still if you renewed or simply bought new ones anytime during that year. Now they've switched to a new system with no pictures on the AP card but still require photos. No big deal you figure...if only they had worked out the kinks in how to handle all this...
They didn't keep our old photos since our APs actually expired. I don't know if they will keep old photos from all those current APs with photos on them, or if gradually, everyone, even those who renew, will have to get photos done the new way. We're told upon re-entry using our fresh new APs to go to any photopass photographer to get our pictures added to the system. We decide to get that over with right away so we can be done with all this procedural stuff and start enjoying our vacation. We were told the pictures would appear within an hour of being taken. Well, computer systems aren't always that quick. In addition, as explained to us later in the trip by a different photographer who seemed a little more knowledgeable about the procedures, live people review every picture taken before accepting them. So DS10's and my pictures didn't show up until sometime the next day, necessitating the showing of my driver's license every time we entered either park. DS11's and DH's pictures didn't show up at all. Turnstile CMs bothered DS11 a couple of times, demanding student I.D. (he's in elementary school and doesn't have one). DH, of course, just showed his driver's license each time we re-entered. At no time did any CM suggest DH and DS11 should get their pictures re-taken or explain about the possibility of them being rejected. DH thought maybe some facial recognition software was being employed and there was a delay because he and DS11 wear glasses. We finally asked a photopass photographer if they should get their pictures retaken and were told yes. Apparently, starting last week, any pictures in which the subject is wearing glasses are rejected. The photographer who took the original pictures obviously didn't know or remember this because she didn't ask DH or DS11 to take off their glasses. Pictures can also be rejected for other reasons, so basically if it doesn't show up within a day, go and get it retaken. Also, reportedly you would be able to add your own picture instead of bothering with photopass, but I have no idea if that's true since every CM we encountered insisted vehemently that we had to do this process through photopass. The photopass photographers and turnstile CMs all seem rather frustrated with these processes, and many of them are under-informed or mis-informed.
Finally, I will note that when making purchases using a picture-less AP, you will need to show driver's license or passport. This doesn't bother me at all since I always pay by credit card and have my I.D. out in conjunction with payment card. I want the cashier to help protect me by checking I.D., so honestly I don't find it a big hassle. Problems arise though if you have kids who like to make their own purchases, even with cash. Many CMs balked at letting my children use their AP for discounts since they are elementary students without school I.D.s. Some of the CMs were downright rude to my DS11, making him feel as if he had done something wrong. We, of course, can use our APs and I.D.s to help them purchase using their discount, but it's not quite as fun for the boys as when they walk up the register independently and purchase something, and this attitude of making them feel like they're doing something wrong when they're not is disheartening. I understand that there are abuses out there, and I understand that the CMs worry about getting in trouble themselves, but this does sour the experience a bit. Even when DH stood right there with DS11 at one place, instead of politely asking DH for his AP and I.D., the cashier stood their scolding my 11 year old for not having an I.D.! Not his fault; he's 11 (he doesn't look older either, he's small and youngish looking for his age). This was the first purchase DS11 attempted, so the CM's behavior was a little unexpected. Anyway, we started to figure out how it was going to be after being there for a day or so and learned to work with the changes.
I understand that there are always snags when implementing new systems, but this one by Disney feels really half-baked. If they wanted to go this picture-less route, they needed to lay down better infrastructure (like having cash registers display AP pictures like the turnstile computers do) and have more consistent policies laid out before putting all this in place. Also, I'm not sure what caused all the problems when presenting our AP vouchers, CM mis-information, computer error? It's not fun to have to fight to get what you paid for and to be treated as "guilty until proven innocent", especially when you're there to have fun. I did register a complaint at City Hall, and I also plan to write a proper e-mail or letter since they don't really write anything down in City Hall anymore. My complaints are about the policy implementation not about the CMs (I used no names) because I know many of the CMs are just as frustrated about all this and struggling also to keep everyone, Disney and guests, happy while not getting any black marks on their records. I explained everything that had happened to the City Hall CM and confirmed that I was understanding correct AP policies, especially about renewals and lapsed APs and purchase dates, to make sure I was not unjustifiably complaining. He did assure me that if I had purchased APs outside the 30 day renewal window after expiration (which I had) that they counted as new and that they should not have been back-dated to either renewal date or purchase date, so as far as he knew no policy had changed and I was correct in my interpretation. So my advice to those getting their APs in the next few months while they work out these kinks is to check your dates carefully, be polite but firm, and be prepared to be extremely patient.
For background...this is our family's fifth time getting APs. The first time we bought parkhoppers and upgraded them to APs at the Paradise Pier check-in desk even before first use. The second year we renewed. Ever since then we have allowed our APs to lapse and then started fresh since months elapsed between visits (it's a 7 1/2 hour drive to Disneyland for us). We have never had any difficulty with obtaining our APs in the past or any complaints about any of the CMs who handled these transactions.
Our last set of APs expired on April 8. We were going to wait until our August 10 trip to buy new ones, but when I read about the price increase I went ahead and purchased the passes (4 premium) online direct through Disney on June 10, two days before the price increase.
We went to the parks for the first time on the evening of August 10. You can take your e-ticket to the turnstile and get in immediately but must change that to an annual pass at the ticket booth before end of day. We actually did it this way. Don't know if things would have worked out the same or not had we simply gone to the ticket booth first.
At the ticket booth, the CM started to bring up the information off the ticket voucher they provided at the turnstile. She paused for a moment and commented that we already had APs before and said something about the APs being renewals. I told her no, they were new APs since the old ones had lapsed in April and this was our first day of entry on these new ones. She says just a moment and then goes to talk to another woman, I assume a supervisor who comes through and makes a few keystrokes on the computer and tells the first CM to proceed. So the first CM says ok, let me just process these. After a moment, she pushes through a little piece of paper and tells DH to sign it. We both look at it and declare we won't sign it. It listed the AP dates as 8/10/11 until 6/10/12. 6/10/11, coincidentally, was the date I purchased the APs online. I told the CM we wouldn't sign the paper because they had just lopped two months off our APs. I asked why 8/10/12 was not the expiration date listed.
The CM then starts arguing with me again that the APs were actually a renewal. I patiently explain that, no, they were not a renewal and question why if they were a renewal then that they weren't backdated to my renewal date of April 8. She stubbornly insists still that they were a renewal since they cost $459 each and the "real" price is $499. I explain to her about the price increase and the non-correspondence of the $459 price to a renewal price before or after the price increase and how $459 was the regular price before the price increase. She then asks again about the date I bought the tickets. So I point out that I bought them on June 10, but the documentation clearly stated the passes started on date of first entry and were good for one year from then, not from the purchase date. Basically, I stood there at the window explaining all the Disney policy to her. She got very frustrated with me and went off again to talk to the supervisor. I could see her gesturing and talking. The supervisor came back to the window and didn't say anything to us or even acknowledge us really. She looked at the computer screen, muttered something along the lines of "oh, I see", typed at the computer a bit and walked away again telling the first CM to proceed. Lo and behold, everything was fixed. The first CM was still miffed. No one ever acknowledged anything about the policies or conversation. She just shoved through a different piece of paper to sign with the correct dates and repeated the procedure for the rest of us.
OK. So it was all fixed, but it was very, very annoying and left a bad taste in my mouth. Somebody less informed and diligent than we were could easily have walked away from that window with APs that expired two months too early and only figure it out later and feel cheated. I felt like after spending all that money, I then still had to fight to get the full value of what I was told I was paying for at time of purchase. The annoyances don't quite end there though...
It used to be that Disney would keep your photo in the system for up to a year after your AP expired, so it would be there still if you renewed or simply bought new ones anytime during that year. Now they've switched to a new system with no pictures on the AP card but still require photos. No big deal you figure...if only they had worked out the kinks in how to handle all this...
They didn't keep our old photos since our APs actually expired. I don't know if they will keep old photos from all those current APs with photos on them, or if gradually, everyone, even those who renew, will have to get photos done the new way. We're told upon re-entry using our fresh new APs to go to any photopass photographer to get our pictures added to the system. We decide to get that over with right away so we can be done with all this procedural stuff and start enjoying our vacation. We were told the pictures would appear within an hour of being taken. Well, computer systems aren't always that quick. In addition, as explained to us later in the trip by a different photographer who seemed a little more knowledgeable about the procedures, live people review every picture taken before accepting them. So DS10's and my pictures didn't show up until sometime the next day, necessitating the showing of my driver's license every time we entered either park. DS11's and DH's pictures didn't show up at all. Turnstile CMs bothered DS11 a couple of times, demanding student I.D. (he's in elementary school and doesn't have one). DH, of course, just showed his driver's license each time we re-entered. At no time did any CM suggest DH and DS11 should get their pictures re-taken or explain about the possibility of them being rejected. DH thought maybe some facial recognition software was being employed and there was a delay because he and DS11 wear glasses. We finally asked a photopass photographer if they should get their pictures retaken and were told yes. Apparently, starting last week, any pictures in which the subject is wearing glasses are rejected. The photographer who took the original pictures obviously didn't know or remember this because she didn't ask DH or DS11 to take off their glasses. Pictures can also be rejected for other reasons, so basically if it doesn't show up within a day, go and get it retaken. Also, reportedly you would be able to add your own picture instead of bothering with photopass, but I have no idea if that's true since every CM we encountered insisted vehemently that we had to do this process through photopass. The photopass photographers and turnstile CMs all seem rather frustrated with these processes, and many of them are under-informed or mis-informed.
Finally, I will note that when making purchases using a picture-less AP, you will need to show driver's license or passport. This doesn't bother me at all since I always pay by credit card and have my I.D. out in conjunction with payment card. I want the cashier to help protect me by checking I.D., so honestly I don't find it a big hassle. Problems arise though if you have kids who like to make their own purchases, even with cash. Many CMs balked at letting my children use their AP for discounts since they are elementary students without school I.D.s. Some of the CMs were downright rude to my DS11, making him feel as if he had done something wrong. We, of course, can use our APs and I.D.s to help them purchase using their discount, but it's not quite as fun for the boys as when they walk up the register independently and purchase something, and this attitude of making them feel like they're doing something wrong when they're not is disheartening. I understand that there are abuses out there, and I understand that the CMs worry about getting in trouble themselves, but this does sour the experience a bit. Even when DH stood right there with DS11 at one place, instead of politely asking DH for his AP and I.D., the cashier stood their scolding my 11 year old for not having an I.D.! Not his fault; he's 11 (he doesn't look older either, he's small and youngish looking for his age). This was the first purchase DS11 attempted, so the CM's behavior was a little unexpected. Anyway, we started to figure out how it was going to be after being there for a day or so and learned to work with the changes.
I understand that there are always snags when implementing new systems, but this one by Disney feels really half-baked. If they wanted to go this picture-less route, they needed to lay down better infrastructure (like having cash registers display AP pictures like the turnstile computers do) and have more consistent policies laid out before putting all this in place. Also, I'm not sure what caused all the problems when presenting our AP vouchers, CM mis-information, computer error? It's not fun to have to fight to get what you paid for and to be treated as "guilty until proven innocent", especially when you're there to have fun. I did register a complaint at City Hall, and I also plan to write a proper e-mail or letter since they don't really write anything down in City Hall anymore. My complaints are about the policy implementation not about the CMs (I used no names) because I know many of the CMs are just as frustrated about all this and struggling also to keep everyone, Disney and guests, happy while not getting any black marks on their records. I explained everything that had happened to the City Hall CM and confirmed that I was understanding correct AP policies, especially about renewals and lapsed APs and purchase dates, to make sure I was not unjustifiably complaining. He did assure me that if I had purchased APs outside the 30 day renewal window after expiration (which I had) that they counted as new and that they should not have been back-dated to either renewal date or purchase date, so as far as he knew no policy had changed and I was correct in my interpretation. So my advice to those getting their APs in the next few months while they work out these kinks is to check your dates carefully, be polite but firm, and be prepared to be extremely patient.
We cleared it up very quickly though.
