APs are coming

I'd also remind you that previous APs all included PP so linking by F&F in MDE didn't matter anyway. What came first? The chicken or the egg? I'm going to bet against your theory at this point and hope I'm wrong. They may be linked, but I'm betting that anybody that uses as AP for PP that has not paid for it will have watermarked photos in PP. I'm willing to be wrong. I hope I am. I bet I'm not.
Yes, I would expect it to continue that photopass photos will still have the watermark when viewed by an account without PP
But that will still mean that your family member pass holder with PP will be able to see and download your PP photos without a watermark.

 
I must be the only one thrilled. Pixie Dust Pass is perfect for me. We only need one photopass. Maybe we add on water parks. I don't like the crowded times and weekends anyway.
Same here, as Fla. Residents all our Family members had the old weekday select pass (one had Gold for the photopass), thinking we can make Pixie Dust Pass work.
 
Disney is summoning FOMO to get additional sales.
They did this with the DL Magic Key too - limited amount, might sell out, etc. So everyone got online and waited for literally hours in a virtual queue to buy them the day of release. I believe all key types are still available although I can’t check the Cali resident Key.

my guess is they will sell as many passes or keys as people want but the disappointment will come if there are no park reservations in the correct bucket. At DL, there is a Key bucket of reservations, a hotel guest bucket, and a day pass/regular pass bucket.
 

"You only paid for a room and pay for its upkeep."

Good. Universal is a relatively short drive, as are all the restaurants on I-Drive and 192. Glad I don't have anything else invested.
Exactly. We will be using the room and the pools, community hall, etc. Restaurants down the road look good. Portillo’s has been calling my name for some time.
 
Yes, I would expect it to continue that photopass photos will still have the watermark when viewed by an account without PP
But that will still mean that your family member pass holder with PP will be able to see and download your PP photos without a watermark.


I'll bet you money that watermark follows according to the person who tapped. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong, but I bet I'm not.
 
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So, here is what I could put together for the passes that are most relevant to DVC members:

Gold (OLD):
New (DVC): $719.00 plus tax All Ages
Renew (DVC) : $611.00 plus tax All Ages

Platinum (OLD):
New (Normal): $1,195 plus tax
Renew (Normal): $951 plus tax
New (DVC): $899.00 plus tax All Ages
Renew (DVC): $764.00 plus tax All Ages

Sorcerer (most closely related to Old Gold):
New: $899 plus tax All Ages
Renew: $764 plus tax All Ages

Incredi-pass (most closely related to Old Platinum)
New: $1,299 plus tax All Ages
Renew: $1,104 plus tax All Ages

Photopass option for new AP types:
$99 plus tax

Waterpark option for new AP types:
$99 plus tax

One thing to keep in mind: Disney World AP prices haven't increased since February 2020. If you factor in 1.5 years of the normal price increases that haven't happened on the old Gold/Plat AP pricing (estimating 7% price increases):

Annual Increase adjusted Gold (OLD):
New (DVC): $769.00 plus tax All Ages
Renew (DVC) : $654.00 plus tax All Ages

Annual Increase adjusted Platinum (OLD):
New (Normal): $1,279.00 plus tax
Renew (Normal): $1,018.00 plus tax
New (DVC): $962.00 plus tax All Ages
Renew (DVC): $817.00 plus tax All Ages

I rounded the prices above to the nearest whole dollar

A few things we don't know:
Will DVC members receive a discount on the new AP prices? I could see them instituting a similar discount to what we currently get, which would take $100-$200 off the price. The press announcement they put out wouldn't advertise the discount(s) that we get, and that information would become available on the DVC website when they update it for the new AP types.

Assuming we don't get any discounts, I would base any comparisons based on what would've been the normal annual price increases that actually haven't happened.
Gold vs Sorcerer (new): $769 vs $899 = $130 "beyond normal" price increase
Gold vs Sorcerer (renew) $654 vs $764 = $110 "beyond normal" price increase
Platinum vs Incredi-pass (new): $962 vs $1299 = $337 "beyond normal" price increase
Platinum vs Incredi-pass (renew): $764 vs $1104 = $340 "beyond normal" price increase

Based on the above numbers, I suspect there will be a DVC discount announced of some sort. Right now the DVC discount on platinum annual passes is about $296 for new passes and $187 for renewals. Obviously, this is a big wild card and will change any numbers significantly. I'd suggest holding off judgement until we can see what those discounts are, if any.

Making a few assumptions: DVC members didn't get any special discount on Gold passes, as it was the same price for FL residents and DVC members. Arguably, they would probably do the same thing for the Sorcerer pass and DVC members wouldn't see any further discounts on that. Incredi-pass could conceivably get a $200-$400 discount for DVC members, making the price for that pass in the $899-$1099 range for DVC members. This puts it more in-line with the current costs on the same pass.

Additionally, folks have to consider the water parks and photopass options now. Not having photopasses included any longer is a removed benefit. Fortunately, all signs seem to point to that only one person needs it to be able to get photos. So one person could just get the $100 add-on and get it for everyone for the full year. This is still another price increase, if you cared about the photopass downloads. I know a lot of folks complained a few years ago when they significantly raised AP prices and justified it by including photopass into the cost.

Having the option of adding water parks is a bonus. The price difference between Platinum and Platinum Plus passes was already $100. So, in theory, this is a $1 discount on that (hooray!) but having the option of adding water parks to any sized annual pass is a benefit. Previously, you would've had to do a gold pass and a separate disney world water parks annual pass. Water park annual pass is/was $139. So this is a $40 discount on that option for everyone.

With all of the above analysis there is still the big unknown of any DVC discounts. Even with any presumed DVC discounts, it's still a price increase above what would've been normal price increases...especially if you made good use of the photopass options.
The goal seems to be to price everything as individual as possible to allow for price increases on everything, at any time. They can then have increases all year long instead of their usual once annually increase.
 
But are they offering a Super Premium experience? Right now, I don't think they are.
I would say, in regards to the new park offerings, they are approaching it. The new rides/attractions both made available in the last couple years and the new ones announced, in my opinion, do seem to be a level above what was previously offered. It'll take them time to get most things updated to the new standard...but I think it's where they seem to be going.

Additionally, I'm guessing that Disney is anticipating COVID-19 being a reality for a long time. Reduced park capacity, socially distanced lines, etc. means fewer people in the park. We're now at a supply/demand problem. There is going to be less park/attractions supply...Fewer people to cover the same costs and/or generate the same level of profit...so the price is going to go up.

We can already see this at work with the Halloween/Christmas parties/events this year. Price increased significantly on both, but "sold out" numbers on both are significantly fewer than what the "sold out" MNSSHP and MVMCP were.
 
DVC is a full year vacation club. Too bad they don’t step up and provide an AP only for the members. Same price as the Sorcerer but with no blackout days. That probably would increased direct sales from even Florida residents.
It’s like they are trying to make the Blue Card worthless to get rid of the legacy owners. Selling is looking pretty good right now for a lot of people.
 
So now my AP is $899, photo pass + $105 w/tax and $15 a day if I want to be able to get on the tier 2 rides. Then if I want tier 1 it's another $5-$25+ a ride??? Bye Bye Disney.

Don’t forget to add in the cost of a rental car/Uber!!!

Yep that about sums it up. Disney has adopted the Spirit & Allegiant Airlines pricing approach to their parks and resorts.
 
I'll bet you money that watermark follows according to the person who tapped. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong, but I bet I'm not.
I would agree with you and wouldn’t put it past Disney. I’d like to see something official on this soon from them.
 
If we assume any member staying 14 days per year (the point where an AP might make sense) , family of 4, the genie plus add $840 to the 4 passes per year. That is , unless your kids don’t mind waiting in line. Add a few lightning lane passes and photo pass - That’s north of $5k per year for the right to enter the park and have something close to the nice experience that most of us are used to. This is quite the experiment Disney is undertaking in how far they can push the envelope
 
How would APs which are rolling, be limited? They really don’t think much of their clientele’s intelligence ☹️
 
How would APs which are rolling, be limited? They really don’t think much of their clientele’s intelligence ☹

Do you really think you will be able to renew the old levels at their same levels after Sept 8? Seriously? Ain't no way. They'll have to equate them to something and upgrade them at that price, but there's no way we could continue them indefinitely.

Unfortunately, we were never owed or entitled to those renewals and rates. They chose to offer them. We don't have a leg to stand on.
 
Excluding the water parks is an interesting wrinkle. I would expect to see new waterpark only ticket pricing, so you can add to your bargain of an AP.

I'm on the fence about adding this, and if the waterpark pricing is cheap enough, it might make sense just to buy a one-off ticket. If waterpark admission is $100, like upgrading, maybe I'll just skip it and stay at paddock pool. I'm not paying Disney admission price for a water park, even a cool one.

If enough people are thinking like me, the waterparks will be ghost towns. $100 is big cost for something you plan to use a couple times.

I mean was water park crowding an issue? The only people there were APs right?
 
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