AP sales…

[SleeplessInTO]

A new wrinkle for us is we're upgrading our villa selection to 1Br without purchasing more points. This means we'll be enjoying WDW less. 2021 proved to us that we can enjoy the parks with MYW tickets for about the same cost of the 2019 AP. The Park Reservation system reduces the convenience of the AP, actually - IMO - the Park Reservation system is a reduction of all conveniences. If I have to reserve the park we're visiting and cannot hop until 2p, considering we barely leave the room before 10a, then I might as well purchase 4D MYW tickets and use it over our 6D stay. Not having the AP actually increases our use, and enjoyment, of Disney Springs without causing me to feel I'm wasting $$$ - ditto PH tickets.

While we miss the AP, it's not like we can enjoy the parks on a whim. We can't enter a park 20 minutes before closing, as we previously did, unless we can obtain a Park Reservation.

We had no issues making last minute switches at Christmas (we were there for 20 days Dec 2021) or last month over March break (10 days). The AP buckets are very easy to work with. Is it a hassle having to remember to log in and modify my park pass? Yes. Have I run into any availability issues? No.

 

[bakerworld]

Happy to read about successful last minute park reservations. While on the airport transfer on the day of arrival will be a good time to see what I can reserve. Our AP's expire in September so our next visit will be a good time to test the last minute entry and whether we'll renew (although I think we'll renew because DH just likes having AP's - LOL).

 

[Madame]

Just coming back in to round off this thread. We arrived at a bit after 2am this morning so sleeping in was a necessity. I set an alarm and booked BTM for 1:05 after almost an hr of trying to push back the time. Back to sleep til 10.

Hit MK. Around 11:20. CP reservation at 11:45. Nothing else we wanted before 5-6pm - HM, PP specifically. Did Buzz standby then BTR. I was frustrated trying to get something else bc we have B&C supper at 5:25 (right now in fact lol). I was locked into the no PH mindset. Then it clicked that I don’t have to stick with MK.

Picked up MMRR for 8:20. Soarin for 2:44 and RnR for 8. ST for 7:05. None of that is possible without PHs and is how we normally tour when staying at BCV. I feel we are getting our money’s worth regarding G+.

The expense of the hopper with no AP will not, however, be sustainable. It’s good, mentally for me personally, to validate my thinking with real world evidence. I hope they bring back APs soon

 

[disfanforlife]

What about renewing APs? Can we renew earlier than 60 days before expiration in order to make park reservations? Our APs expire early November right before our next trip.

 

[Marionnette]

What about renewing APs? Can we renew earlier than 60 days before expiration in order to make park reservations? Our APs expire early November right before our next trip.

No. They're pretty rigid about not renewing more than 60 days ahead. It's another flaw with the park reservation system that impacts AP holders negatively.

 

[CarolMN]

What about renewing APs? Can we renew earlier than 60 days before expiration in order to make park reservations? Our APs expire early November right before our next trip.

No. They're pretty rigid about not renewing more than 60 days ahead. It's another flaw with the park reservation system that impacts AP holders negatively.

The "good news" about this is I do not recall reading an reports of park reservations disappearing before then (except possibly for the MK last October 1).

 

[disfanforlife]

No. They're pretty rigid about not renewing more than 60 days ahead. It's another flaw with the park reservation system that impacts AP holders negatively.

Ok. Thanks, I was just wondering. I had another thought. If we were to buy tickets through Disney just to be able to make the park reservations before the 60 day renewal time, would we then be able to upgrade those tickets to renew our APs?

 

[disfanforlife]

The "good news" about this is I do not recall reading an reports of park reservations disappearing before then (except possibly for the MK last October 1).

That is good news. I do have some older MYW tickets linked to my account I can use to be able to make park reservations but not enough days for our whole trip,

 

[tjkraz]

That is currently an artificial situation. They are showing green lights for passholders in accordance with normal block-out dates as per the pass type purchased -- unless - and only unless - they have reached that park's capacity (not a Disney chosen bucket capacity). In fact, the current calendars show ticketed guests and resort guests have less availability than passholders (which is exactly opposite the guest type prioritization last October through November 23, 2021.) They are doing this because of the lawsuit; in order not to increase the number of people as plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit.

I'd say it's very questionable whether the DL lawsuit has any bearing on current WDW Park Pass inventory.

Our family visited WDW multiple times in 2020 and 2021. Some of us had APs and others were forced to buy MYW tickets. I can say with 100% certainty that WDW pass holders having more availability than MYW is a situation that existed before any lawsuits were filed. Attached are availability screen shots for May 2021 taken in early April. Disneyland didn't even reopen until April 30.

I didn't follow the DL situation closely enough to even comment. But the idea that WDW Park Pass has been altered in recent months in response to the lawsuit does not ring true to me.

Frankly I was surprised by this, figuring Disney wouldn't deliberately block people from buying tickets while pass holders were unwilling to fill the capacity. One of my theories was that they may have believed Passholders acted differently than hotel / day guests, perhaps arriving later in the day (after 5pm) in greater numbers or having shorter visits. Regardless, this has been going on for more than a year.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[tjkraz]

The May 2021 calandars are interesting, but they might have been screen shot right after a "refill" of passholder slots. IDK.

This was not immediately after some "refill." I was at WDW during the first week of May, and actively following park availability for several weeks due to our ticketing situation. These were screen shots taken on April 11 which were forwarded to a friend. Results were similar weeks before this snapshot and after.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

The comparison I noted was what was showing in October 2021 for October, November and December 2021 and compared to availability calendars after November 24, 2021. There was a rather dramatic difference then. IIRC there was some tweaking that went on in the late spring of 2021 when annual passholders found themselves unable to obtain a length of stay access due to the limited reservations they could make with their annual pass allocation alone. In recent January through March months there have been multiple times when annual passholders have had availability comparable to their block-out calendars except when park capacity currently set by Disney was reached. The May 2021 calandars are interesting, but they might have been screen shot right after a "refill" of passholder slots. IDK. Observing from October 2021, only in the last couple of weeks have I seen ticket holder availability shown up when passholders were blocked and that might be due to the Guardians of the Galaxy previews reserved for passholders. IDK. But thanks for the information. Every bit helps.

This was my experience as well - there were days I could not book certain parks as a pass holder but the availability calendar showed it was availability for non-AP guests.

 

[suebeelin]

No. They're pretty rigid about not renewing more than 60 days ahead. It's another flaw with the park reservation system that impacts AP holders negatively.

So we got stupid lucky in September and bought AP’s bc we were there 14 days. We are going again 14 days in June.

Our AP’s expire in September. We were going to buy every other year but now wonder if it’s worth renewing…. Just in case. Any advice?

 

[CarolMN]

Wait to decide until at least 60 days before your APs expire. AP sales might start again before that, so you could have an easier decision. That's my plan. Ours expire in October. Good luck to all of us caught in the suspension.

 

[karen4546]

So we got stupid lucky in September and bought AP’s bc we were there 14 days. We are going again 14 days in June.

Our AP’s expire in September. We were going to buy every other year but now wonder if it’s worth renewing…. Just in case. Any advice?

imo, renew. If you don’t renew and decide on going back then you may be out of luck on buying a new pass.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[DVCsloth]

Our passes expire 5/13/2022 Already renewed them but, when Guardians passholder preview came out I ended up needing to make park reservations. I had to check the box for my new pass to get the reservation, "makes sense". So, I made my park reservations and now my annual pass says expires 4/3/2023. This is probably written somewhere in the passholder purchase agreement, not a big deal and I hope it isn't Disney nickel and diming. I will put in a call to member services and ask why my annual pass is now less than an 11-month pass.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Our passes expire 5/13/2022 Already renewed them but, when Guardians passholder preview came out I ended up needing to make park reservations. I had to check the box for my new pass to get the reservation, "makes sense". So, I made my park reservations and now my annual pass says expires 4/3/2023. This is probably written somewhere in the passholder purchase agreement, not a big deal and I hope it isn't Disney nickel and diming. I will put in a call to member services and ask why my annual pass is now less than an 11-month pass.

This sounds like a bug. AP’s are for one calendar year. If you renew it should just push it out to the next calendar year, same expiration date.

 

[Sandisw]

Our passes expire 5/13/2022 Already renewed them but, when Guardians passholder preview came out I ended up needing to make park reservations. I had to check the box for my new pass to get the reservation, "makes sense". So, I made my park reservations and now my annual pass says expires 4/3/2023. This is probably written somewhere in the passholder purchase agreement, not a big deal and I hope it isn't Disney nickel and diming. I will put in a call to member services and ask why my annual pass is now less than an 11-month pass.

Unless you renew in person, the voucher you get over the phone will show a renewal date of one year from when you purchase it. Vouchers can now be held only one year and then simply become a credit.

So, if you bought it on 4/3/2022, that is why you see what you see, when you go and activate it, it will give you a real pass with the 5/13/2923 date.

 

[mistysue]

So we got stupid lucky in September and bought AP’s bc we were there 14 days. We are going again 14 days in June.

Our AP’s expire in September. We were going to buy every other year but now wonder if it’s worth renewing…. Just in case. Any advice?

Only let it lapse if it's not going to be a massive problem if you don't have it.
We allowed a short lapse which has cost my family thousands of dollars and we had to cancel a trip to stop it from being a few thousand more.
If the trips you were planning to use the following annual pass for, you would be willing to pay for regular magic your way tickets instead, then go ahead and let it lapse but know that you might get locked out.