Disney Announces New Premier Passport

[bumbershoot]

We live in WA, and my brother lives in San Diego. So we get opportunities to go to DLR often, or as often as my brother offers to fly us down there. And then we have family out near Orlando as well, and we are currently planning a big WDW trip.

So if, say, we upgraded our tickets for the WDW trip in December to APs, it's not a weird idea at all to consider upgrading to this BIG AP, because then it could take us through '11 at DLR, whenever my brother feels like seeing us.

And we're just normal people, we don't live in So Cal (and I'm glad someone pointed out that only certain zip codes in CA get a discount, AND those discounted APs are extremely limited to the number of days you can go), etc etc, but it could be completely possible that we might visit both in a 365 (or 366 in a Leap Year) day period! (well, actually 366/367, since APs go the whole year plus the date that you originally got the AP)

It looks like anyone holding any DL AP and any WDW AP (except the after 4pm pass) will automatically get a free upgrade to the Premiere Pass with an expiration equal to the latest current expriation date. So if you just renewed WDW, you should be good with this Premiere Pass at both parks for almost 12 months! -- Suzanne

I think it's the Premium DLR pass, not the Deluxe or the so cal ones...

 

[Nikisha421]

Wow -- $2,800 for a family of four.

That's a semester of college for some people...a house payment...food for 6 months...down payment on a nice car...a trip for two on the Wonder's 4-day trip in a nice category cabin...one fill-up for an 18-wheeler...airplane tickets to China...3 dental crowns or one implant...lasik on one eye (or both on a "two for one" special)...a really nice computer (or two really nice laptops)...a memorable weekend in Las Vegas (that you might not remember)...painting the house...the fines and court costs for a DUI...one week at the Grand Floridian in a standard room...a used jet-ski...a trip for four to Yellowstone National Park for a week...

way tooo funny
...but yeah I guess some people have been waiting for this for many years....

 

[flyinglizard]

Finally! For years so many people have complained about the cheap paper WDW AP's. This looks like a nice, "embossed with your name" plastic "credit card". That should make a lot of people happy!

I'm a little disappointed that the artwork isn't more interesting... maybe Spiderman, or Hulk or something...

 

[shocker]

I also didn't like that my longer-held AP ticket was made of a less durable (less washer/dryer resistant) material than a multi-day ticket, made no sense

I've also staggered my AP's because it didn't seem to make much sense to have both at the same time. My WDW AP expired 9/09 and I bought my PAP for DLR 11/09. Next time I'm slated for a WDW trip I will definately look into this combo pass, and I don't live on either coast. I guess being equi-distant has it's privileges...only sometimes. But, this offer looks great (and I'm not one who says that frequently about Disney's so-called offers). We considered paying OOP for waterparks our last time to WDW, now I'm glad we waited, looks like next time will be included.

 

[shocker]

Finally!
I'm a little disappointed that the artwork isn't more interesting... maybe Spiderman, or Hulk or something...

Yea, I get that joke. Disney just buying rights to those characters but they are noteably splattered all over "the other park" Universal. Interesting......

 

[christymarie]

We like that it does include the greens fees for the smaller golf coarse. We're already getting PAPs so just going golfing more than two times makes upgrading at least one of the tickets worth it. I may try to talk DH into upgrading two of the tickets and have he and I make a trip to California.

 

[Burnt Toast]

So the new Premier Annual Passport is basically a Premium AP for BOTH Resorts with all the appropriate benefits.

Here is the breakdown to see if the new Passport option is good for you. The new Passport is $700 w/o tax (I'm sure they'll use FL, as CA does not charge tax for Park tickets) and currently the official word is that there is NO DVC discount for this new Pass.

WDW Passports (w/o FL tax):

WDW AP Regular - $489
Renewals - $449
WDW AP Premium - $619
Renewals - $569
WDW AP Regular (DVC) - $389
Renewals - $334
WDW AP Premium (DVC) - $494
Renewals - $454

DLR Passports (no tax in CA):

DLR Deluxe AP - $299
Renewals - $279
DLR Premium AP - $439
Renewals - $419
DLR Deluxe AP (DVC) - $279
Renewals - $279
DLR Premium AP (DVC) - $419
Renewals - $419

So here's the breakdown (w/o FL tax):

WDW Regular AP + DLR Deluxe AP = $788
Renewals - $728
WDW Regular AP + DLR Premium AP = $928
Renewals - $868
WDW Premium AP + DLR Deluxe AP = $918
Renewals - $848
WDW Premium AP + DLR Premium AP = $1058
Renewals - $988
WDW Regular AP + DLR Deluxe AP (DVC) = $668
Renewals - $613
WDW Regular AP + DLR Premium AP (DVC) = $808
Renewals - $753
WDW Premium AP + DLR Deluxe AP (DVC) = $773
Renewals - $733
WDW Premium AP + DLR Premium AP (DVC) = $913
Renewals - $873

So yah, there you go. Hopefully my math is correct for all of these.

UPDATE: There's a correction already, originally they were only going to upgrade those with Premium Annual Passports for BOTH Resorts to the new Premier Annual Pass. It's been since revised and now they will send you a new Premier Annual Passport if you have ANY variety of Annual Passport at both Resorts (as long as you have one currently for WDW and for DLR). You'll receive it around March 15th and the new expiration date will be the LATER of the two APs you have. Wow!!!

For WDW that is the Weekday Select, Seasonal, Regular, and Premium and then for DLR that's the SoCal Select, SoCal Regular, Deluxe, and Premium.

 

[msteddom]

UPDATE: There's a correction already, originally they were only going to upgrade those with Premium Annual Passports for BOTH Resorts to the new Premier Annual Pass. It's been since revised and now they will send you a new Premier Annual Passport if you have ANY variety of Annual Passport at both Resorts (as long as you have one currently for WDW and for DLR). You'll receive it around March 15th and the new expiration date will be the LATER of the two APs you have. Wow!!!

For WDW that is the Weekday Select, Seasonal, Regular, and Premium and then for DLR that's the SoCal Select, SoCal Regular, Deluxe, and Premium.

This just sounds too good to be true! I have a DLR Deluxe AP that expires next week. I also have a WDW DVC AP that expires next Feb. Am I really to believe that Disney is going to give me free admission to DLR for one year? I'm not holding my breath...but I will keep my fingers crossed!

Melissa

 

[Jacklynn]

As a FL resident who has a PAP $700 is quite a bit more than my PAP to just WDW. It would probably be cheaper for me to just buy individual day tickets if I went to DL. For non FL(and probably CA) residents it would probably be a good deal though.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

what about childs price?

 

[Bugdozer]

I just checked the Disney site and can't find this pass. Where can I find more information?

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/03/disney-premier-passport-unveiled/

 

[NYDisneyKid]

i wonder if these will be hard plastic with your photo?

 

[pickles]

wonder how they will handle the 15 month renewal promotion

I have PAP that exp april 28
I can renew and get 15 months for the price of 12
and I currently get DVC discounts

If I get my discount and my 15 months I will be all over this as I had wanted to do a DL trip in the near future, this would enable me to and keep my fun at WDW

 

[JDUCKY]

wonder how they will handle the 15 month renewal promotion

I have PAP that exp april 28
I can renew and get 15 months for the price of 12
and I currently get DVC discounts

If I get my discount and my 15 months I will be all over this as I had wanted to do a DL trip in the near future, this would enable me to and keep my fun at WDW

Read the reply to comment #44 here:
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/03/disney-premier-passport-unveiled/

 

[JDUCKY]

Other replies in the comments:

Sorry…passes are not be eligible for monthly payment plan.​

Shucks.

it’s the one price for adults and juniors.​

No discount for children.

the Premier Passport is only available for purchase at WDW Guest Relations (at the theme parks and at Downtown Disney) and at the DLR Box Office. The Premier Passport will not be available to purchase online. However, information about the Premier Passport will be available online.​

Still no word on if FL or CA residents get any type of discount.

This isn't really a bargain for a FL resident.

 

[laracroft]

Finally! For years so many people have complained about the cheap paper WDW AP's. This looks like a nice, "embossed with your name" plastic "credit card". That should make a lot of people happy!

I'm a little disappointed that the artwork isn't more interesting... maybe Spiderman, or Hulk or something...

I too was very suprised at the paper AP. A few years ago we got AP for Wild Adventures in Valdosta GA and they were like a credit card with your pic on the back. I am scared that something will happen to my WDW AP sice its just paper.

 

[NancyIL]

I just renewed my WDW AP in January for 15 months, and I am going to Disneyland for 2 or 3 days in May. Since the $700 price is BEFORE the 6.5% FL tax ($745.50) - I wonder if I would be credited the AP renewal price of $478.19 or the new AP price of $520.79? I don't go to the water parks and have never been to Disney Quest, so I don't think it's worth paying $224.71 (if full AP price is credited) or $267.31 (if renewal AP price is credited) just for a few days at Disneyland.

 

[freediverdude]

Thinking about this some more, the renewal for us Florida residents is about $475 to get the premium, so that means we would pay about $300 extra to get the DL premium included in this new pass. Which granted is a discount off the $439, but you would really have to need the free parking and more than one trip to DL to make that worth it over just buying say a 3 day ticket.

I think this is targeted mainly at people who are not Florida residents, and who were planning on purchasing the $619 + tax WDW PAP anyway, and now get a DL ticket for $81 + tax more. Mainly, an upsell to frequent out-of-state WDW visitors to get them to come to Disneyland.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

If there is a fixed upgrade fee for PAP tickets that would be the DVC discount.

I almost suspect that's who this is directed at although near-Florida residents like myself would also be likely targets. Orlando is only 7 hours from Atlanta yet we get no love from Disney.

 

[bumbershoot]

I too was very suprised at the paper AP. A few years ago we got AP for Wild Adventures in Valdosta GA and they were like a credit card with your pic on the back. I am scared that something will happen to my WDW AP sice its just paper.

But it's NOT just paper. It's Tyvek, which is a durable fiber.

And having had the DLR AP, I will tell you it might physically exist longer and look better, but it's still totally capable of failing in terms of being an admission pass! My pass, both years, had serious issues with keeping its information on it, and since that's the entire point of an AP, I would keep expectations low about the plastic of this card.