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

[longtimedisneylurker]

I feel there is some ambiguity in the 30 day thing. It confuses me, so maybe it confuses Disney too. Some would consider 30 days from today to be September 13 and therefore booking would be open if available. If you factor in that you can actually book today with the flex pass, then 30 days inclusive of today only goes until September 12. Perhaps the 13th will be available for booking tomorrow.

 

[bwvBound]

Question - Is there a way to check for reservation ability without having the Flex Pass? I'm looking to get 5-day tickets and upgrade before the end of our trip. Thanks!

Easy! Just look at the AP Block out Calendar.
Link: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/

 

[SeattleTink]

I feel there is some ambiguity in the 30 day thing. It confuses me, so maybe it confuses Disney too. Some would consider 30 days from today to be September 13 and therefore booking would be open if available. If you factor in that you can actually book today with the flex pass, then 30 days inclusive of today only goes until September 12. Perhaps the 13th will be available for booking tomorrow.

Hmm. Well it is "open to reserve" however, it has an indicator on the date that signifies that "Reservation Unavailable dates require reservation but are at capacity"

Makes me want to get up at midnight to reserve the 14th

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Hmm. Well it is "open to reserve" however, it has an indicator on the date that signifies that "Reservation Unavailable dates require reservation but are at capacity"

Makes me want to get up at midnight to reserve the 14th

That’s just how the first day that’s too far away looks each day, though, isn’t it?

 

[Malcon10t]

Hmm. Well it is "open to reserve" however, it has an indicator on the date that signifies that "Reservation Unavailable dates require reservation but are at capacity"

Makes me want to get up at midnight to reserve the 14th

You count today in your 30 day count. The 13th will open tomorrow.

 

[emmybee]

That's what makes me nervous about the new AP. I don't have the flexibility to change dates on a whim. It's like an AP for immediate locals. I would hate to be left in the position of being blocked. I had hoped that this would be our one and done year of APs, but my husband is already talking about getting them again for the next year!

 

[Malcon10t]

That's what makes me nervous about the new AP. I don't have the flexibility to change dates on a whim. It's like an AP for immediate locals. I would hate to be left in the position of being blocked. I had hoped that this would be our one and done year of APs, but my husband is already talking about getting them again for the next year!

Not sure what you mean. If you book for next weekend, you can always cancel and rebook for another date.

 

[avalon451]

Just to clear things up... it’s because the 13th is my birthday. And I’m gonna be there, turning 55. Disney obviously realized what a monumental event it is, and they’re just making sure I have everything I need before they let others make reservations.

 

[pharmama]

That's what makes me nervous about the new AP. I don't have the flexibility to change dates on a whim. It's like an AP for immediate locals. I would hate to be left in the position of being blocked. I had hoped that this would be our one and done year of APs, but my husband is already talking about getting them again for the next year!

To be clear, the OP's date is not blocked. It just isn't open for reservation yet. As the pass is new, I get that we don't know how things will look as more people purchase it but thus far, I think only the 4th of July has "filled up" for reservations and even that was only for DL (or both parks) and several members on this board were still able to pick up reservations by checking periodically for cancelled ones. There's been a couple other random times (glitches?) where days initially showed up blocked after the 30 day window was open- this Saturday for example- but then became available and have stayed that way. I think its reasonable to suggest that for the next 6-8 months will probably look pretty similar... but I do think its an open question how long this will be the case.

I live 400 miles from DLR and have been a Sig AP holder on and off for 7+ years though my kids don't usually have them as I tend to take just 1 or 2 of the kids at a time (DH usually doesn't come. DLR is Mommy and the girls' happy place ). DD14 has a Flex already due to two close proximity visits earlier this summer. I may downgrade when my AP is up in December and possibly get them for my other two DDs as well. We don't go on a "whim" (well, ahem, usually...I can't say I haven't decided on a Friday that I needed a DL fix and off we went...) but 30 days is adequate for us. We also don't usually go for more than 2 days (ie- a weekend) at a time so that works well too. But its not for everyone nor just for immediate locals, I don't think (although I do think they will eventually replace Deluxe with this pass).

 

[SeattleTink]

Just to clear things up... it’s because the 13th is my birthday. And I’m gonna be there, turning 55. Disney obviously realized what a monumental event it is, and they’re just making sure I have everything I need before they let others make reservations.

Ah HA! I knew there was a good reason Happy Early Birthday to you! I hopefully will be celebrating that day in Disneyland

 

[MychaelP]

They require you to keep your physical card ($25 replacement fee) forever

Do you know if the requirement to keep your card forever is written in the AP agreement you sign? Seems odd to me. What id you let your pass expire and buy a new one a year later, will you need to pay an extra $25 unless you kept your "forever" card? Those cards are not made of steel and most men keep them in a wallet where it's bent all the time and usually with cracks all over

 

[baozi]

No, I had an annual pass, let is expire, bought a new one and there was no extra fee.

Do you know if the requirement to keep your card forever is written in the AP agreement you sign? Seems odd to me. What id you let your pass expire and buy a new one a year later, will you need to pay an extra $25 unless you kept your "forever" card? Those cards are not made of steel and most men keep them in a wallet where it's bent all the time and usually with cracks all over

 

[mich311e]

Easy! Just look at the AP Block out Calendar.
Link: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/

Aw thanks!

 

[pharmama]

If we don't have the hard passes yet, we can still get into the parks if we have a reservation, but we can't get any discounts without the hard pass, correct?

There is a workaround for some food discounts- they will be applied if you mobile order from the account with the AP even if you haven't picked up your physical card. For non mobile-order food purchases and merchandise purchases the policy is that you have to show the physical card. As mentioned some people seem to be accepting the app but they're not supposed to and I wouldn't count on it.

Are ticket booth lines non-existent near park closing time? I have never paid attention and thought that might be a good time to go pick up the passes. Does everyone have to go to the ticket booth to pick up their hard pass, or can I get them for my entire family?

Ticket booth lines typically aren't too bad near park closing though they often only have a couple windows open. Like the shops on Main Street, at least one ticket booth is open for 1 hour after park closing.

I got burned (literally- LOL) trying to pick up my DD14's pass after upgrading in the app when she was not present. It was very frustrating. I would make sure everyone is with you. I waited 45 min a line in the sun (hence the burned part ) while DD14 and her friends were at Pop Up Disney only to have the ticket booth CM refuse to give me her card because she "couldn't verify the photo" (which was in the system from the ticket I upgraded) without DD there. I had the app and receipts showing her pass (and mine) and I was not trying to change the name or photo or anything, just pick up the card. I had loads of photos of DD on my phone clearly showing she was my daughter. I still have not been able to figure out why this was necessary or what I could have been trying to "pull" with her not there. Then her expiration date got messed up when she did pick up her physical pass on our next visit (see my earlier post in this thread about that). So what could have been one visit to the booths to pick up the physical card turned into 3 visits and a total of probably 1.5hrs in ticket booth lines and headache since she wasn't with me when I first tried to pick the card up.

 

[halfmonkey]

Our SoCal AP with MaxPass expires on 12/20/19 and we're thinking about switching over to the Flex AP. I have a question about the day that we switch over to the Flex AP. So with the other AP if we renew in person, the park usually gives us a day pass to enter the park even if we renew on a blackout date for the SoCal AP. With the Flex AP, since there are Black Out dates, No Reservations Available Dates, Reservations Required Dates, and Good To Go dates, that throws a little more into the mix.

So here's our scenario. Our SoCal Passes expire on 12/20/19. If we let them expire and then decide to purchase the Disney Flax AP when we plan to go, should we do it over the phone or in person? The dates that we would go would be Jan 10-13, 2020.The 10th and 13th are Good To Go dates but the 11th and 12th require reservations. Now let's say we go to the park and purchase the Disney Flex AP on Friday, Jan 10th. No problem since it's a Good To Go but aren't we rolling the dice with being able to enter on the 11th and 12th since we require a reservation and can only make a reservation once we have the Disney Flex AP? Is there any tips and tricks that I don't know about to help us "guarantee" entrance on the Saturday and Sunday. Please keep in mind that we would also have to purchase hotel rooms so that's another factor to consider. I don't want to upgrade to Disney Flex AP on Jan 10th, book hotels rooms for the weekend through Monday only to find out that Saturday and Sunday are booked.

Is there any benefit to instead of letting our current AP expire, we renew them on 12/20/19 but update them to the Disney Flex AP at that time? It seems that if I do this, I have a couple of weeks ahead of our schedule to then book Jan 11th and Jan 12th to "guarantee" our entrance but then the sucky thing is we'll have renewed our passes early and won't really be "using" it until Jan 10th. I would prefer to begin an AP 1 year period on the date that we first plan to use it to maximize our 1 year period with the pass.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Book your hotel using your current pass

You can buy and reserve early. But not activate your ap until you get there.

 

[Rich M]

Do you know if the requirement to keep your card forever is written in the AP agreement you sign? Seems odd to me. What id you let your pass expire and buy a new one a year later, will you need to pay an extra $25 unless you kept your "forever" card? Those cards are not made of steel and most men keep them in a wallet where it's bent all the time and usually with cracks all over

I upgraded my tickets when this pass came out. I had a AP a while ago. They asked us if we still had the card. I told them no I didn't and they gave me a new one without any fee.

I got burned (literally- LOL) trying to pick up my DD14's pass after upgrading in the app when she was not present. It was very frustrating. I would make sure everyone is with you. I waited 45 min a line in the sun (hence the burned part ) while DD14 and her friends were at Pop Up Disney only to have the ticket booth CM refuse to give me her card because she "couldn't verify the photo" (which was in the system from the ticket I upgraded) without DD there. I had the app and receipts showing her pass (and mine) and I was not trying to change the name or photo or anything, just pick up the card. I had loads of photos of DD on my phone clearly showing she was my daughter. I still have not been able to figure out why this was necessary or what I could have been trying to "pull" with her not there. Then her expiration date got messed up when she did pick up her physical pass on our next visit (see my earlier post in this thread about that). So what could have been one visit to the booths to pick up the physical card turned into 3 visits and a total of probably 1.5hrs in ticket booth lines and headache since she wasn't with me when I first tried to pick the card up.

I guess this is subject to the CM because I picked up two without the persons being there. We upgraded them all before we left and then we came back a month later and the two couldn't come that trip. We got both with no problem.

 

[SeattleTink]

I'm making my first return trip to use my FlexPass September 13 - 17. Today is the first day I can make a reservation for September 13 and it is showing as not available? Reservations have only only been open since midnight...any idea why it could be so busy? There has only been one date all summer that has been blocked from making reservations (July 4). Hoping this is maybe a glitch?

Update - I did get up at 1:30 am to try and reserve Sept 13 and 14, but was blocked once again. I then tried again when I got up at 6 am, and received an error message to call Disney. But, I just tried again using the app (I really didn't want to have to call). Sept. 13 is no longer showing "un-reservable" and was able to successfully reserve both September 13 and 14.

Lesson learned - when the day you want to reserve finally opens up, be patient! And give it a day to resolve. I was hoping this was just a glitch and it apparently was the case.

 

[twodogs]

I upgraded my tickets when this pass came out. I had a AP a while ago. They asked us if we still had the card. I told them no I didn't and they gave me a new one without any fee.



I guess this is subject to the CM because I picked up two without the persons being there. We upgraded them all before we left and then we came back a month later and the two couldn't come that trip. We got both with no problem.

I hope we have the case that you had, because my DH and DD14 may not be there when we need to pick up their Flex Pass if we upgrade (they are leaving earlier than DD11 and I are).

 

[twodogs]

There is a workaround for some food discounts- they will be applied if you mobile order from the account with the AP even if you haven't picked up your physical card. For non mobile-order food purchases and merchandise purchases the policy is that you have to show the physical card. As mentioned some people seem to be accepting the app but they're not supposed to and I wouldn't count on it.



Ticket booth lines typically aren't too bad near park closing though they often only have a couple windows open. Like the shops on Main Street, at least one ticket booth is open for 1 hour after park closing.

I got burned (literally- LOL) trying to pick up my DD14's pass after upgrading in the app when she was not present. It was very frustrating. I would make sure everyone is with you. I waited 45 min a line in the sun (hence the burned part ) while DD14 and her friends were at Pop Up Disney only to have the ticket booth CM refuse to give me her card because she "couldn't verify the photo" (which was in the system from the ticket I upgraded) without DD there. I had the app and receipts showing her pass (and mine) and I was not trying to change the name or photo or anything, just pick up the card. I had loads of photos of DD on my phone clearly showing she was my daughter. I still have not been able to figure out why this was necessary or what I could have been trying to "pull" with her not there. Then her expiration date got messed up when she did pick up her physical pass on our next visit (see my earlier post in this thread about that). So what could have been one visit to the booths to pick up the physical card turned into 3 visits and a total of probably 1.5hrs in ticket booth lines and headache since she wasn't with me when I first tried to pick the card up.

Thanks for this good intell. We typically mobile order, so that will work fine for the discount.

I am scared of what happened to you with your DD's pass. I will be picking up my DDs pass without her, so I hope they let me do it...