Flex Pass Superthread: Disneyland Resort Introduces New Annual Passport that Combines Value and Flexibility

[mentos]

The 12th was blocked out for a few days but eventually opened up from time to time.I kept checking every few hours and got lucky before this long open period. I'm starting to wonder if planning say two weekend trips in a 30 day window if it's better to only reserve the Saturdays and once you use one book the Sunday(next day). I havent seen Sundays block out...

I think that's a reasonable strategy for now. If anything, you can spend the day at DCA on Sunday as your backup. This could be helpful when DCA closes early on Saturday for Oogie Boogie.

 

[StarlitNight05]

I’m training for the inevitable! I’m used to doing it for Southwest Airlines.

Oh hey another revenue opportunity.... be able to reserve 12 hours before everyone else for a $30 add-on! Haha

Don't give them any ideas!

 

[sunflare]

I'm curious on how they're going to handle the fully blocked Christmas dates. I'm really not thrilled with the idea of having to leave the parks early on our last day in order to upgrade our tickets at the gate (using gift cards so upgrading on the app is problematic). I'm hoping that they'll give out blockout tickets for that day, since technically we will have valid admission for the day.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I'm curious on how they're going to handle the fully blocked Christmas dates. I'm really not thrilled with the idea of having to leave the parks early on our last day in order to upgrade our tickets at the gate (using gift cards so upgrading on the app is problematic). I'm hoping that they'll give out blockout tickets for that day, since technically we will have valid admission for the day.

Don’t count on them giving you a blockout ticket. They refused to give me one on a slow day when the reservation system was glitching and ended up stuck outside the park after upgrading our tickets with my daughter and her friend still in the park. Don’t take the risk and just go upgrade when you’re ready to leave.

 

[sunflare]

Don’t count on them giving you a blockout ticket. They refused to give me one on a slow day when the reservation system was glitching and ended up stuck outside the park after upgrading our tickets with my daughter and her friend still in the park. Don’t take the risk and just go upgrade when you’re ready to leave.

I remember reading something about that...not sure if it was your post or not. However, this is a completely different situation ...there are no reservations even able to be made for the day we're planning on upgrading (Dec 24). It's not like we're upgrading and then hoping to get a reservation. They would have to give us completely new one-day tickets, I think, IF they allow it. Since there have been no complete blockout days yet, I have no idea what will happen.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I remember reading something about that...not sure if it was your post or not. However, this is a completely different situation ...there are no reservations even able to be made for the day we're planning on upgrading (Dec 24). It's not like we're upgrading and then hoping to get a reservation. They would have to give us completely new one-day tickets, I think, IF they allow it. Since there have been no complete blockout days yet, I have no idea what will happen.

I think that’s all the more reason for them not to give you blockout tickets. For me, there were reservations available, the reservation system was just down at the moment I was trying to re-enter the park. There was absolutely no leniency with this. Others have experienced the same in different scenarios. It won’t hurt for you to try. But my recommendation would be to go to the ticket booth in the morning before the park opens and ask if they will give you a blockout ticket if you upgrade to a Flex Pass. If they won’t, go back when you’re done in the parks.

 

[sunflare]

Yep, that's my plan. I'm hoping they'll take pity on us, since it'll be Christmas Eve

 

[Poohbear1998]

Hi all! IM trying to make a reservation for Oct 7th but see it’s blocked off for DCA. Just wanted to see if anybody knew when the best time was to check if any cancelled reservations got posted.

Thank you!

 

[Lm3js]

I'm considering bridging a multi-day parkhopper to a FlexPass when I go in Nov. I know to do this on my last day/leaving the park. What I'm trying to figure out:
a) when/if I'd break even - how many average days needed to visit through the year ?
b) best strategy for buying tickets (haven't bought the parkhoppers yet) to do this upgrade.

Background: We are a family of 4, but may only buy the FP for myself as I'm the one likely to be able use it to 'break even' but depending on the answer, may also upgrade for my kids too. We arrive pretty early on Sunday and will leave fairly late on Friday so have the option of getting PH to be able to go to the lands on both arrival and departure day if we find a good deal on tix (for example, when they had that special on tix before SWGE land opened, it was almost same price buying 2 day PH on discount site vs. 3 day PH on Disney direct). At a minimum, we are looking at 4 day PH. We always do MaxPass. I'm also a points/rebates collector so always looking at ways to maximize points when buying tickets. I have the Disney visa so already get some dining/shopping discounts. I know those last 2 sentences belong in a different thread, but trying to hit all the bases. I typically buy my tickets at LMT or UT or wherever I can find the best deal but would consider doing split tixs (family's on discount site, mine on Disney) if it helps my FlexPass cause. Is there any reciprocity at WDW with FP as will making a trip there later in 2020?

Thanks in advance. I have been frantically reading this thread but get confused with all the different scenarios regarding various forms of AP conversion!

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Hi all! IM trying to make a reservation for Oct 7th but see it’s blocked off for DCA. Just wanted to see if anybody knew when the best time was to check if any cancelled reservations got posted.

Thank you!

As far as anyone can tell, the cancellations are posted in real time, as people have noticed the calendar go from blocked to unblocked through the day. Here is the Flex Pass superthread - you can find most answers to Flex Pass questions there:

https://disboards.com/threads/flex-...-that-combines-value-and-flexibility.3749065/

 

[socaldisneylover]

Is there any reciprocity at WDW with FP as will making a trip there later in 2020?

No, the only pass with reciprocity is the Premier AP, which is $2,100.

 

[Ryan120420]

Hi all! IM trying to make a reservation for Oct 7th but see it’s blocked off for DCA. Just wanted to see if anybody knew when the best time was to check if any cancelled reservations got posted.

Thank you!

October 7th is a "Good to go" date for DCA, only Disneyland needs a reservation. Reservations for October 7th are available currently for Disneyland but when you select "both parks" it comes up as unavailable. So its a glitch.

October 7th is wide open for both parks.


Its so interesting to watch this pass. Just a few days ago almost every Saturday in October was "unavailable", now every Saturday is open.

 

[Reepicheep]

Hi all! IM trying to make a reservation for Oct 7th but see it’s blocked off for DCA. Just wanted to see if anybody knew when the best time was to check if any cancelled reservations got posted.

Thank you!

Have you made a reservation? As of 5:45pm Disneyland time (Saturday Sept 28), California Adventure doesn't require a reservation (it is a "good to go" day), and Disneyland is available, for October 7. "Both" shows as not available, but that is apparently some sort of bug with their software, or perhaps a consequence of CA not requiring reservations on October 7.

EDIT: whoops. I see @Ryan120420 has already made these same points.

 

[mentos]

Its so interesting to watch this pass. Just a few days ago almost every Saturday in October was "unavailable", now every Saturday is open.

It really is, and i'm just dying to know what, aside from cancellations, may be driving added availability. I just wonder if Disney is dynamically changing the cap based on who-knows-what (on site hotel bookings? weather forecasts? conference and convention attendance projections?)

or is it some guy in an office with a bunch of post-it notes and a magic 8 ball?

 

[clb79]

One other thing that I am not sure has been mentioned is Disney also has a general idea of attendance based on regular ticket sales now that they have tiered pricing on single days and since you are supposed to give dates of travel when purchasing multi-day tickets in advance (even if they don’t hold you to them). Maybe between that and hotel bookings and other ticketed events mentioned above they can adjust Flex levels caps and increase the number of allowed reservations.

For October they have a better idea of what the OBB party has done to crowds now and maybe numbers are off from what they anticipated.

Obviously with the low summer attendance Disney missed the mark on how they approached the opening of GE (pricing people out, expecting huge crowds/scaring people away, blocking passholders, etc.), but when it comes to the bean counters crunching numbers in offices, this is giving them valuable information for the future so they don’t make the same mistakes again for ROTR, Avengers Campus and other future expansions. Especially if they continue looking for ways to move more passes/tickets to a reservation based system.

I still don’t see anything that would lead me to believe they are reducing the number of Flex reservations they originally start with which is good!

 

[Shinji4u]

We are consider to upgrade our 5-day hopper ticket (without Max-pass) to a flex pass next month Trip but we have some questions and hoping maybe you could help.

If we exchange our ticket on a flex-pass reservation-day, will we get access even without a same-day-reservation? I hope so

With a 5-day hopper pass we would get one magic morning entry. Will we still get this when we exchange our ticket? I guess not

If we exchange the ticket later, maybe on the 3 day and bought the Max-pass the first 2 days, will the amount of money for the max-pass also be credited for the flex-pass?

 

[mamapenguin]

We are consider to upgrade our 5-day hopper ticket (without Max-pass) to a flex pass next month Trip but we have some questions and hoping maybe you could help.

If we exchange our ticket on a flex-pass reservation-day, will we get access even without a same-day-reservation? I hope so

With a 5-day hopper pass we would get one magic morning entry. Will we still get this when we exchange our ticket? I guess not

If we exchange the ticket later, maybe on the 3 day and bought the Max-pass the first 2 days, will the amount of money for the max-pass also be credited for the flex-pass?

No to all.

 

[AndrewC]

One other thing that I am not sure has been mentioned is Disney also has a general idea of attendance based on regular ticket sales now that they have tiered pricing on single days and since you are supposed to give dates of travel when purchasing multi-day tickets in advance (even if they don’t hold you to them). Maybe between that and hotel bookings and other ticketed events mentioned above they can adjust Flex levels caps and increase the number of allowed reservations.

For October they have a better idea of what the OBB party has done to crowds now and maybe numbers are off from what they anticipated.

Obviously with the low summer attendance Disney missed the mark on how they approached the opening of GE (pricing people out, expecting huge crowds/scaring people away, blocking passholders, etc.), but when it comes to the bean counters crunching numbers in offices, this is giving them valuable information for the future so they don’t make the same mistakes again for ROTR, Avengers Campus and other future expansions. Especially if they continue looking for ways to move more passes/tickets to a reservation based system.

I still don’t see anything that would lead me to believe they are reducing the number of Flex reservations they originally start with.

Theme park revenue was up though... and I assume crowd satisfaction was up as well.

They’ll dial it in to find the perfect balance between long long and big crowds and high admission prices and enough time for guests to buy merch/food.

If you’re in line for 200+ minutes that’s all time tied up that you’re not buying a $200 lightsaber or ~$15 drinks

I think we’ll see hotel prices relax a little before admissions or black outs greatly reduced.

 

[AndrewC]

I could see FlexPass and any other passes that go to a reservation based system being extremely powerful for Disney. Disney knows exactly how many hotel rooms they have and most are probably booked far in advance. Once days routinely start booking up in advance that would be a great demand driver; book a Disneyland Resort and guaranteed park access for FlexPass holders is included.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I had my first visit to DL and DCA with FlexPass yesterday. I downgraded from Signature when my pass was expiring a couple weeks ago. Reservation system worked well. I was very happy about how it all worked out and I was able to enter my husband's pass and my daughter's pass into my account so that I can make their reservations at the same time that I make mine. So smooth.

I thought the new passes would work well because we only visit about 6 - 10 times per year for day visits (my husband much less than that). We tired of building our Pandora bracelets and I don't want to buy anymore Dooney and Bourkes, so I didn't feel the need for the 20% discount.

After my first visit with the new pass I am thinking that I need to rework my math again. It was only one day and actually, only a few hours, but this is how much more I spent yesterday (in a few hours) compared to what I would have spent with a Signature:
Parking: $25
Meals (Carthay Circle and various counter service) with a lesser discount: $7
Merchandise with a lesser discount: $38

Yeah, so in one day, I spent $70. more than if I had a Signature pass.

I don't feel like spending a lot of time on projecting math right now, but ouch. I think I either need to not go to Disneyland, or I need to upgrade to Signature. If I upgrade to Signature, does anyone know if I'd be able to get my parking money back? I saved the receipt just in case.
I realized that we just don't care about the rides that much anymore. We like to buy stuff and walk around. I don't know if I'll be buying dresses whenever I go there, but it seems like we always come away with a bag or two, even if we weren't planning on buying anything.