Annual Passport - Ending of Merchandise Discounts?

[OCLover]

Its been several years since i've last been on these boards so please forgive me if this question has already asked.

I am contemplating renewing my annual passport to DL resort and was considering taking advantage of the $20 discount to upgrade to the deluxe or premium one (My children and I currently have the Southern California passport). Besides the number of days available, one of the things I like with getting the passport is to be able to get discounts on merchandise and restaurants both in the park and DTD. However, I noticed in the fine print regarding the merchandise discounts ending May 31, 2012. Does anyone know why this is? Given that the prices have gone up, it makes it a big deterrent when they take away one of the benefits.

Thank you for any and all replies!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Merchandise discounts for passes other than Premium began as a "promotion" for the holiday season 2009 and has been extended several times since then. Just a few months ago that date was January 2012 before they extended it yet again to May. Will they extend it again? I don't know....but most likely.

 

[sonnyjane]

A couple years ago, the Premium was the only pass that offered a merch discount, and it was 10%. Then Disneyland started a special promotion allowing Premiums to get 20% instead of 10%, and all other levels that previously got no merch discount to get 10%. This has always been a temporary promotion, and Disneyland has just been kindly extending it. If they do indeed end in May, I'd imagine it would just go back to how it uses to be, 10% for PAP's and none for the others.

 

[OCLover]

Merchandise discounts for passes other than Premium began as a "promotion" for the holiday season 2009 and has been extended several times since then. Just a few months ago that date was January 2012 before they extended it yet again to May. Will they extend it again? I don't know....but most likely.

Thank you that's good to know, the information I read today was that the ending of the promotion applied to the premium passport as well. Hopefully it will keep getting extended.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Thank you that's good to know, the information I read today was that the ending of the promotion applied to the premium passport as well. Hopefully it will keep getting extended.

The 20% is until May. If they switch it back they could still do the 10% for Premiums like Sonnyjane said.

 

[Nonsuch]

...However, I noticed in the fine print regarding the merchandise discounts ending May 31, 2012. Does anyone know why this is?

The discounts always have an expiration date, but seem to keep being extended.
AP discounts at the DLR are very wide ranging, and it would be major change if they were discontinued.

 

[skiingfast]

The 20% is until May.

I think it's possible they will drop them back for Summer. Then a couple things would happen. Realize they made a mistake when they notice sales drop and bring them back from the big segment of guests that have APs. Or change it to a seasonal offer.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I think it's possible they will drop them back for Summer. Then a couple things would happen. Realize they made a mistake when they notice sales drop and bring them back from the big segment of guests that have APs. Or change it to a seasonal offer.

Very true. I don't think they'll eliminate the PAP discount entirely though.

 

[gokdog]

I hope they keep it, it is one of the benefits we have taken advantage of during our time as APs. We even got 20% on items during our recent WDW trip, which was both unexpected and awesome considering how much Holiday stuff we purchased.

 

[daleenmarine]

Its been several years since i've last been on these boards so please forgive me if this question has already asked.

I am contemplating renewing my annual passport to DL resort and was considering taking advantage of the $20 discount to upgrade to the deluxe or premium one (My children and I currently have the Southern California passport). Besides the number of days available, one of the things I like with getting the passport is to be able to get discounts on merchandise and restaurants both in the park and DTD. However, I noticed in the fine print regarding the merchandise discounts ending May 31, 2012. Does anyone know why this is? Given that the prices have gone up, it makes it a big deterrent when they take away one of the benefits.

Thank you for any and all replies!

Not sure if you drive yourself to Disneyland, but if you add the parking option to your Deluxe AP, it costs $478 while the Premium AP includes parking and is just $21 more at $499 (neither price reflects your renewal discount). We go probably every month or two and I have easily saved more than the $20 difference with the larger Premium AP discount over the Deluxe AP discount (20% vs 10% on merch and 15% vs 10% on food). They have also recently removed the $10 minimum purchase for the discount, which means I save even more, even if it is pennies at a time! Now if only they would give the discount for food and coffee carts I might be able to "buy" my AP based on savings from the previous year. ;-)

ETA: My kids have the Deluxe and we just plan visits around their blockout dates. The $21 more just made sense for us when looking at the price difference of Deluxe w/parking vs Premium when considering the larger discount.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

(neither price reflects your renewal discount).

We just purchased our AP during New Year's and had planned to use it as much as possible and let it expire. Just wondering what the renewal discount is? I didn't see any information about this in the brochure they gave me when I purchased.

 

[skiingfast]

We just purchased our AP during New Year's and had planned to use it as much as possible and let it expire. Just wondering what the renewal discount is? I didn't see any information about this in the brochure they gave me when I purchased.

$20 off to renew. It's a rolling offer. You may get something in the mail in November about it if they still offer it.

 

[daleenmarine]

$20 off to renew. It's a rolling offer. You may get something in the mail in November about it if they still offer it.

IIRC, the renewal discount only applies if you renew online. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember paying full price for our APs at the ticket window.

 

[OKW Lover]

Interestingly (or not) we got new 2012 AP folders at WDW just a few days ago and the CM pointed out that the benefits listed in there were only good until the end of May. She said there would be new ones out then. So, this is not a DL-specific thing.

 

[twopeasonepod]

IIRC, the renewal discount only applies if you renew online. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember paying full price for our APs at the ticket window.

We got a flyer in the mail reminding us to renew and were able to get the $20 off at the ticket window. I called just to make sure, but it was fine either way -- in fact, the CM suggested that we do it at the window because we had a problem with our original date (CM incorrectly made them effective the day we printed the APs, not the day we actually entered the parks).