Any idea when we can buy WDW annual passes?

[jpeterson]

Was just this for ppl who experienced the glitch? DS will turn 3 for our next trip & I want to get him an AP.

I believe it's for households that already had APs and have a child turning 3. If that describes you I think you would qualify.

 

[LSUmiss]

I believe it's for households that already had APs and have a child turning 3. If that describes you I think you would qualify.

Ok I’ll give it a try! I’ll report back for anyone who is interested.

 

[MaxsDad]

I believe it's for households that already had APs and have a child turning 3. If that describes you I think you would qualify.

Any idea if this would work for a 9-10 year old? My daughter turns 10 on our next trip and I wanted to get her an AP since my wife and I both have one. I think I might call anyway. It couldn't hurt to ask.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

Any idea if this would work for a 9-10 year old? My daughter turns 10 on our next trip and I wanted to get her an AP since my wife and I both have one. I think I might call anyway. It couldn't hurt to ask.

Won’t work at all

 

[JDW9]

I canceled my annual pass last year and I’m waiting for a callback for renewal. Does anyone know how much it costs to renew the AP?

 

[jpeterson]

I canceled my annual pass last year and I’m waiting for a callback for renewal. Does anyone know how much it costs to renew the AP?

I might be wrong but I believe if you canceled you would need to buy new passes. Not at the renewal rate. That's how it worked for us. We bought 4 new DVC Gold passes.

 

[Devil13]

Honestly, If I was denied, there's no way I would go back at all. We plan a few trips a year where the ridiculously overpriced out of state passes are actually worth it in comparison to the ridiculously overpriced day passes.

I'd be headed to Universal with their APs for the first time ever and who knows what happens from there.

From park reservations to limited offerings and weak park hopping, all the way to rides that take way too long to finish. I'm right on the edge. The camel's back is close to breaking.

 

[whiteness]

Honestly, If I was denied, there's no way I would go back at all. We plan a few trips a year where the ridiculously overpriced out of state passes are actually worth it in comparison to the ridiculously overpriced day passes.

I'd be headed to Universal with their APs for the first time ever and who knows what happens from there.

From park reservations to limited offerings and weak park hopping, all the way to rides that take way too long to finish. I'm right on the edge. The camel's back is close to breaking.

We bought Universal APs in lieu of Disney. Universal is theoretically a good value, and there are many things about their parks that I like. The theming in the Potter lands, Simpsons, Seuss etc., is a lot of fun.

But...it's just not quite as good. They are missing just enough "magic" to make me still wish I was in Disney world when I am in Universal.

All else being equal, I'd still rather have a Disney AP (or both, if I can afford it) but, of course, all is not equal. I'm waiting to see what Disney will do as far as pricing and access restrictions. If the price seems "fair" and I can basically go when I would want to, I'll buy Disney passes for my family.

If not...well, it pains me to think that I will choose an "inferior product" over money. True, I've been doing that my entire life: almost everything I've ever bought has been a compromise. But when it comes to entertainment and luxury, if your purchase doesn't truly make you happy, then why bother buying it at all?

 

[Devil13]

Great points and completely agree with you. Like you said, it's the value. When Disney cuts and cuts along with increasing prices the value drops.

Is Disney at $1200 per person worth as much as Universal at $550 per person? Is Disney more than double the value of Universal?

Having never gone to Universal, it intrigues me. Not a big HP fan. Maybe I'll hate it. Maybe I'll like it more. I'm just getting to the point where it might be worth a shot for a year. Especially if Disney essentially denied me the opportunity.

 

[whiteness]

Great points and completely agree with you. Like you said, it's the value. When Disney cuts and cuts along with increasing prices the value drops.

Is Disney at $1200 per person worth as much as Universal at $550 per person? Is Disney more than double the value of Universal?

Having never gone to Universal, it intrigues me. Not a big HP fan. Maybe I'll hate it. Maybe I'll like it more. I'm just getting to the point where it might be worth a shot for a year. Especially if Disney essentially denied me the opportunity.

Even if you had no idea who/what Harry Potter was, you will probably still enjoy the Potter themed lands. Unfortunately, so does everyone else, so they are often the most crowded areas of the parks, which detracts from the experience. Picture New Orleans Square on most non-off season days. It's just not as magical when you are constantly bumping into people.

The thing about Disney is that so much of their parks are approaching that level of theming, which kind of makes up for the crowds in some places, and the placemaking is consistently more immersive. Imagine if, while standing in Galaxy's Edge, you could gaze over the Rivers of America and see Critter Country or Frontierland out in the distance. That would somewhat kill the illusion. Which is why Disney makes sure that you cannot see Hungry Bear while queuing for ROTR, even though they are really close to each other. But you can see Simpson's Land from Lombard's and visa versa: Springfield is presumably nowhere near San Francisco, so that makes no sense, right?

The Potter themed lands are isolated from the rest of the parks. They look and feel like separate worlds. If Universal would show that same kind of care and attention to detail in the rest of their parks, I would probably want to spend more time there (especially since I hate thrill rides.)

 

[Missingmypooh]

Great points and completely agree with you. Like you said, it's the value. When Disney cuts and cuts along with increasing prices the value drops.

Is Disney at $1200 per person worth as much as Universal at $550 per person? Is Disney more than double the value of Universal?

Having never gone to Universal, it intrigues me. Not a big HP fan. Maybe I'll hate it. Maybe I'll like it more. I'm just getting to the point where it might be worth a shot for a year. Especially if Disney essentially denied me the opportunity.

hmmm. That’s interesting.

so we’re Florida APs. So we do gold at Disney for 750, theme park select for the kiddos. Same at uni. Hubby and I get the premier (gold equivalent) pass and get a lower tier for the kids as we don’t always bring them with us. Price wise, we feel good with the value. Hard to say if Disney’s AP is worth double universal... because UOR has some really great discounts that make it valuable and Disney has done away with most of those perks.

Universal is a distinctly different beast than Disney.

universal studios is similar to the old MGM. Fun, but also smaller. They’ve been adding more and I feel the theming in the last 10 years has really improved. (Not animal kingdom level, but more like epcot).

islands of adventure is a really fun place to be in that it’s much more like MK with seperate and distinct lands you can’t see. Both Disney and uni look a bit run down in this area- but Disney has something uni doesn’t. Cinderella’s castle in the center. They didn’t do that really with hogwarts castle.

Disney beats uni hands down with the under 10 crowd, but uni has a lot of fun for teens and thrill seakers. Disney has more meet and greets and restaurants- something that uni has been expanding but hasn’t caught up.

my perfect vacation? One where a family experiences both Disney and UOR or LEGOLAND. Disney is great, but there’s more if your interested to look for it.

 

[SusanDK]

While I'll still get our WDW APs this year (already have approval from Disney to do so), I just purchased the Universal APs under the 3 month free deal (expires today). We got the Premier passes which include express pass after 4 pm, free prime parking (or free valet when open) for $510 each (FL resident). They can be activated any time and will be good for 15 months after first use.

It's been years since we've been to Universal, so it will be fun to experience it again for a while. We know it offers less than WDW, particularly because we don't like thrill rides, but at half price compared to WDW and easier to pop in spontaneously with no planning, it will be fine to have for the next year.

 

[jkh36619]

We bought Universal APs in lieu of Disney. Universal is theoretically a good value, and there are many things about their parks that I like. The theming in the Potter lands, Simpsons, Seuss etc., is a lot of fun.

But...it's just not quite as good. They are missing just enough "magic" to make me still wish I was in Disney world when I am in Universal.

All else being equal, I'd still rather have a Disney AP (or both, if I can afford it) but, of course, all is not equal. I'm waiting to see what Disney will do as far as pricing and access restrictions. If the price seems "fair" and I can basically go when I would want to, I'll buy Disney passes for my family.

If not...well, it pains me to think that I will choose an "inferior product" over money. True, I've been doing that my entire life: almost everything I've ever bought has been a compromise. But when it comes to entertainment and luxury, if your purchase doesn't truly make you happy, then why bother buying it at all?

I have had Universal APs and same here. My problem with Universal is after day 3 you're kinda of eh. Another day of the same stuff.

 

[whiteness]

I have had Universal APs and same here. My problem with Universal is after day 3 you're kinda of eh. Another day of the same stuff.

Yup. It's the "same stuff" at Disney, too. But it's a place that feels cozy, happy and I would never get tired of hanging out there. In Dutch, they call that "gezellig."

You ever see that Tom Hanks movie "the Terminal?" Imagine if you were trapped in a theme park and you had to live there for a few months. I think I could manage that in Disneyland, for example. There was one guy who really did visit the park every day for years, and he would have kept doing it if not for COVID.

I think more than a few days in either Universal Studios park would be the closest to Hell that I could imagine. They aren't cozy. In fact, they are mostly kind of stressful.

Disney, especially Disneyland, feels like home: and I think that's probably what Walt was aiming for when he (and others) built it.

 

[Haley R]

Dh called this morning and the guy said we are eligible because we cancelled during the shutdown but he said he wasn’t authorized to buy the new passes for us. He said another department will call us back. We have a trip 5/9-5/12 and I’d like to make park reservations. Can I expect like a week before they call?

 

[jpeterson]

Dh called this morning and the guy said we are eligible because we cancelled during the shutdown but he said he wasn’t authorized to buy the new passes for us. He said another department will call us back. We have a trip 5/9-5/12 and I’d like to make park reservations. Can I expect like a week before they call?

I would think a week at the worst. Could be quicker. Was a couple of days for me.

 

[Haley R]

I would think a week at the worst. Could be quicker. Was a couple of days for me.

Awesome thank you!

 

[CarolynFH]

Dh called this morning and the guy said we are eligible because we cancelled during the shutdown but he said he wasn’t authorized to buy the new passes for us. He said another department will call us back. We have a trip 5/9-5/12 and I’d like to make park reservations. Can I expect like a week before they call?

Did your DH tell the CM the dates of your trip? Others have reported getting quicker callbacks that way.

 

[Haley R]

Did your DH tell the CM the dates of your trip? Others have reported getting quicker callbacks that way.

I’m not sure if he did or not. He mentioned we already bought 1 day tickets and the guy said they would take that off the cost of APs. I just texted Dh to ask if he mentioned we’re going in may.

ETA-He said he did mention our May trip

 

[jpeterson]

I’m not sure if he did or not. He mentioned we already bought 1 day tickets and the guy said they would take that off the cost of APs. I just texted Dh to ask if he mentioned we’re going in may.

ETA-He said he did mention our May trip

That's what we ended up doing. They were super awesome about making sure to use the value of all our various tickets we had. (we had 5-days, 10-days and some 1-days) It took the worry out of it for me, knowing we had park reservations.