Annual Pass "paper or plastic"

[dwelty]

I was told that the WDW annual passes are paper. Is this true? I am used to Disneyland Annual passes that are plastic. It would really irk me to pay over $400.00 for a piece of paper.

 

[bonzarella]

yes, they are paper. I feel the same way but gotta have em

 

[corinnak]

What seems so preposterous to me about it is that the AP's are paper, but.....the tickets for MNSSHP are.....PLASTIC! Whose great brainchild was it to have plastic tickets for one night and paper for the whole year?

I thought it might have something to do with the fact that they actually mail out those tickets and stick them to paper, like the green vouchers. Which would be hard to do safely with paper. Still, I agree, it is weird. However, given that I am on the third printing of my AP, I guess the paper may be more economical. I lost one, then that one was printed badly, so when I activated my DS's I asked if they could reprint mine so I could access the website, then my DH demagged that one with the yazzafrazzin magnetic clasps on his pants, and so....I was wrong - I am on my fourth since March.

 

[Pluto 2]

yes they are paper, but you can always get ones to replace it when it gets destroyed. the plastic is so much better. you got your water rides, sweat.

 

[UConnJack]

I would have to guess that laminating them would interfere with the magnetic bar code too, huh?

 

[FLYNZ4]

The APs not exactly paper from what I can tell. It is very resistant to tearing... but not impervuos to getting wet. I think one side is "plastic like"... and the other side is bonded paper.

In the old days... regular tickets were cheap paper... and APs were constructed like a driver's license in the pre-digital era. You had to go to Guest Relations, have your photo taken... and it was laminated.

/Jim

 

[FLYNZ4]

However, given that I am on the third printing of my AP, I guess the paper may be more economical.

I do not think it is necessarily more economical. Your room keys are disposable and they are made of plastic. They will print up as many as you want. On a recent trip in a 2BR unit... I think we ended up with 14 room keys over the course of the stay (we did accidently check all of the passes in our held luggage on arrival ... which resulted in getting them all reprinted once.)

I do not see any good reason why the APs cannot be made the same way.

/Jim

 

[tor]

I was told that the WDW annual passes are paper. Is this true? I am used to Disneyland Annual passes that are plastic. It would really irk me to pay over $400.00 for a piece of paper.

I think the $400 is for the access they buy and not the paper. I do think somebody has spent the time to calculate the cost of printing and reprinting paper is cheaper than plastic. For my kids they like to have them reprinted to change the character.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The APs are made of tyvek and if they are unusable, you just go to Guest Services and get a new one.

 

[DVCLiz]

The APs are made of tyvek and if they are unusable, you just go to Guest Services and get a new one.

Yep, the magic word is Tyvek. They are very sturdy.

 

[dis-happy]

I actually like that they are paper. It takes up less room to take our family of five's passes and keep them together in my wallet while we go get FP's and stuff. Also, I like the pretty pictures they print on the back of them---each one is different. They are great for the scrapbook. Plus, we get over 30 park days on ours in one year and the hold up just fine.

 

[DebbieB]

I've had AP's for almost 10 years and have never had to replace one. You are paying $400 for 366 days access to the parks, not for the piece of paper.

 

[Pennyguy23]

Can we laminate them?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Can we laminate them?

No, the magnetic strip won't work then. If the pass gets messed up (you leave it in your pants and wash it or get soaked from rain), just stop by any Guest Services with what's left or just your ID and they will make a new one.

 

[Scratch42]

Take a photocopy of the back of your pass and keep it in a safe spot!

Take a copy with you when you travel, that way if you loose it, you have what you need to have it replaced!

I read way back when, that they make them this way, 'cause it is more cost effective for WDW to replace than the plastic cards.

j

 

[dwelty]

I read way back when, that they make them this way, 'cause it is more cost effective for WDW to replace than the plastic cards.

j

This is what I don't understand, Disneyland sells over 600,000 annual passes a year (Far more than WDW due to the huge local population) They are nice plastic cards with a digital image of the passholder on the back. It seems to be cost effective for Disneyland.

 

[PantherFanStan]

I must admit my initial reaction was the same as the majority here. When the cast member handed me my first AP, I was mentally saying "For all that money, I get a lousy piece of paper?". But 10 minutes later, after we walked through the turnstyle, I was a convert to tyvek/paper camp. As our family's official holder of the AP's and officer in charge of securing fast passes, I keep the entire family's AP's in my wallet, once we're through the turnstyles. The plastic versions (like the old park hopper style) were both bulky and slippery. I much prefer the tyvek/paper version. I can easily understand how you might prefer plastic, if you have your kids keep their own AP's.

Off topic, but.....I love the new one-finger scans. Significantly faster and significantly fewer "re-reads" required.

Stan

 

[CarolA]

Let me tell you that my "paper" ticket holds up better then ANY of those pieces of plastic WDW produces. My AP has been in my purse with the dreaded "cell phone" and it still works.

If those pieces of plastic that WDW gives you get within a mile of your cell phone or another credit card they "demagnetize" I can't tell you how many times I have to replace the room key or my friends have to get new "tickets" because the WDW Key to the World was in the same purse as the cell phone or anything else. I have complained to WDW that they need to work on this technology but until they do I do not want my AP produced on those machines!

If you lose, destroy etc your AP ALL you need is your photo ID. They don't need the "back of the ticket" to replace them, but I can tell you mine has gotten pretty soaked and still worked. There is no need to carry around a photo copy of the back of an AP!

 

[alsipd]

My pass was "erased" 5 time in one trip (three time in one day) until I discovered that the magnetic closure on my Cell Phone case was erasing the strip Now I just carry the cell phone in the fanny pack without the case while at WDW!

 

[dwelty]

My pass was "erased" 5 time in one trip (three time in one day) until I discovered that the magnetic closure on my Cell Phone case was erasing the strip Now I just carry the cell phone in the fanny pack without the case while at WDW!

The way they handle this with the Disneyland AP is it has no magnetic strip. There is a barcode on the card that they just scan. I am hard on cards because I keep my wallet in my back pocket. I have had a DLR AP for 6 years and never had a problem with it.
It consistently amazes me that Disneyland and Walt Disney World Management people don't communicate on what works best. They should have consistent processes at both resorts. I think their ego gets in the way of good customer service sometimes. There are things that Disneyland does better than WDW and Visa-Versa. It would be better for the guests if they got on the same page on some of these things!