New AP info I heard today!!

[blackjackdelta]

It make since that they would limit the APs before the people buying tickets for the day but what I don't understand is does your stamp still work?
And did anyone think that perhaps they are trying to get more people into DCA they are spending an insane amount of money right now. They have construction going on which may be driving down sales enough that they are trying to send people over there. I mean if you (APs) are denied access to DL you would probably head over to DCA, right? Just a thought?

Maybe I am wrong but since I have been a member here, I get the impression that many SoCal folks really do not like DCA. When my brother moved here from Manhatten Beach to raise their kids, all I heard was how bad DCA was. I love DCA...did not listen to him and went and saw for my self. I do not think Disney would be putting up to 1.2B into DCA if they did not think it was going to make them money. Like you said, off load those who want to go for a time.
Since I own Disney stock, I want them to make money and weed out what will not.

Jack

 

[nunzia]

I have a DAP and don't see that people that 'pay' can get in ahead of me..I 'paid' too. I'll use my AP for 2 trips..not like they are losing money on me and yes, if I make the trip out there and can't get in I will be mad..You certainly think if you show up with your pass, which you PAID for, you have the expectation of getting in unless your pass is blocked out. How silly of them to do this, if they do. If so I'll just dump the AP and would come less.

 

[DDhunter]

I have heard that they have altered when employees and their guests can enter the park and have broadened blackout dates for them. I have heard and seen nothing to indicate that is the case for AP holders in general. They have already been denying entrance to anyone without a hand stamp if the park reaches capacity, not before.

I have a hard time believing they would make a policy of denying entry when the park is not yet at capacity. It has been argued many, many times that people buying tickets show up earlier in the day than AP holders, so the system already in place would seem sufficient, i.e., closing the park when it reaches capacity, which would on its face affect local AP holders more than tourists anyway.

They are pushing the APs hard and the monthly payment plan even harder. It seems clear to me at least that the goal is not to limit AP holders, so why on earth would they do something that would infuriate those customers.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP, FWIW, I took your name out of my quote b/c I didn't it to sound *against* you. We are all at such mercy of what the CMs say, and when we get one who says weird stuff it can be SO hard!

I mean, it was just over a year ago that some CM said something to someone that sent us all into a frenzy about whether or not the onsite hotels would still be allowing MM to guests.

And every so often some rogue CM freaks us out with news that all FP machines will be closing, or that Disney hates FP users, etc etc...when no random CM is going to know any of those things at all! And if they DO know it officially and are TELLING, then they can't be trusted at all.

They make it so hard on us when they go off script, ha ha, like that...you can never tell if they are really in the know, if it's their last day and they are spreading troubles, if there's a bet and they'll be checking our boards later (that sort of trolling isn't unfathomable...I remember in the early days of planning my wedding, these trolls kept disrupting the two wedding message boards I was on, and people finally tracked them over to the lonelyplanet dot com forums, where they had threads *dedicated* to messing with the brides!!!), if they just have a stick stuck someplace uncomfortable and saying things like that makes it feel better, if they just have a vendetta against APs, and so on and so forth. No way to know!

So we'll just have to wait and see.



The thing that drives me the craziest when someone attributes negative feelings about APs to Disney is that THEY started the whole thing. They make it so easy to upgrade (though at WDW it's easier b/c you keep any discount you had), they urge you to upgrade, they had the big so cal campaign....they officially act like they WANT you to upgrade! But then they timed things so poorly last year, with things opening just as AP blockout days were about to start so there was a run on seeing things, etc etc etc. They did it all to themselves, and they need to take a step back with their marketing, before "punishing" the people who decided to take them up on their offer!

Harumph.

I'm not even an AP holder at this point (waaaaah) (but on the other hand it's so we can have a massive trip to WDW, so I just gotta hold onto that) but it still makes me so annoyed!

 

[californiamomof4grls]

Maybe I am wrong but since I have been a member here, I get the impression that many SoCal folks really do not like DCA. When my brother moved here from Manhatten Beach to raise their kids, all I heard was how bad DCA was. I love DCA...did not listen to him and went and saw for my self. I do not think Disney would be putting up to 1.2B into DCA if they did not think it was going to make them money. Like you said, off load those who want to go for a time.
Since I own Disney stock, I want them to make money and weed out what will not.

Jack

I love DCA!I think that with everything they have planned it will become a big favorite! It just needs to be more Disney and that's why people don't like it right now! I also think it would make since that they would revamp it and then find away to "make" people check it out. It would be a very smart business move on their part. Then they're saying it's not that Disney doesn't want you, they just want you to spread your love equally between the two parks so they make more money... Just thought like I said before.
Also the cast member said he and his wife got the letter and someone else on the boards said that there are special restrictions for CM's maybe it isn't intended for the public.

 

[bumbershoot]

Maybe I am wrong but since I have been a member here, I get the impression that many SoCal folks really do not like DCA.

It just needs to be more Disney and that's why people don't like it right now!

FWIW, I grew up in CA, and then my brother moved back to CA (San Diego, but they just buy one day tickets when someone's in town and wants to go to Disney, can you believe it?). When we first went altogether as adults, in '05, for one day out of our much longer trip to visit them, we REFUSED to go to DCA. Why? Because..."why have a CA themed park *in* CA????"


Of course, finally I went, and then I thought "where BETTER to have such a park?" Should it be in Wisconsin? I mean, really, that was so silly of us to think. But it was a thought process that lasted until '07, when just the 3 of us went and our 5 day tickets were hoppers anyway so why not...and I finally dragged brother/SIL to DCA with me and DS last June! They LOVED it, and my family of 3 thinks it's just about better than DL, *as is*.

Anyway, thought I'd give my once-a-Californian, and my brother's once-and-current-Calfornian points of views on that part.

I wish my brother would get an AP, but I guess he likes stimulating Disney's economy with those one-day tickets.

 

[jory29]

As a deluxe annual passholder (first time ever) who will only get a chance to use it 6-7 days in the park this year, I would be upset if this were true. (It was cheaper for us to upgrade our 5 day parkhopper before we left than to repurchase for our next trip that will be taken before the year is up.)

The only reason we're going again this year is that October was such a crowded, horrible time for us in so many ways, that we decided to have a 'do-over' trip one more time this year. Our memories, up until this year, for the past 4 years have been fantastic! This year, the crowds and the poor crowd management have ruined the trip, we felt.

We pay a lot of money for a family of 4 to fly out, stay a week at area hotels, and dine out - same boat as so many of you who come to the parks.

If this annual pass means some days will be blocked due to huge crowding of the parks, I will be very surprised and very disgusted.

On a good note, for those staying at area hotels, like us, you can line up early and get in, in the morning.

But as some who have to drive a couple or hours or so, then what - they drive from San Diego, etc. to DL only to be turned away?

Disneyland has messed up royally with allowing so many super reduced passes to be purchased. It has quite literally cheapened the whole park, in that everyone is there 24/7 and Disney simply doesn't know how to deal with the crowds.

I hope to see that crowd control be worked on this year as it is a HUGE problem and I hope Disney opens their eyes to see it!

I still believe that Walt Disney had a dream, and it was a successful dream. But I do believe that had he been here to manage his parks, that he would have realized the crowd issue needed to be dealt with much sooner. I am hopeful that the new DL President will help to make things much better in terms of crowd control.

 

[Leofoenget]

OK first of all IMO the mysterious CM doesn't know what she is talking about. My first clue was she got the # of AP's wrong by 1 million. That alone should be enough to put the kibosh on this info

 

[Disney Dreams]

There are several overall tones in this thread that are surfacing that are very disturbing. It is fascinating to me how many people have stated they don't believe anything a CM ever tells them. Then why ever ask a CM a question? Is it possible (and I mean NO offense at all) that the OP misunderstood what was said? We all hear things and don't always hear exactly what was said. As the OP said...

...but the castmember was speaking to me as another annual passholder and not a castmember.

What does that mean? He has an AP? Why? This just doesn't make sense.

There are concerns about being limited entry. Until any official new policy is stated, why worry? I understand the concern of:

"...but now you can't get in if we are extra busy...."

But... that is always the case. If the Park gets too crowded, entrance is limited.

And I just don't understand where the concept that APs have free admission comes from.

... even if that means letting in several thousand AP-holders after 5 PM and having considerably fewer paid admissions.

AP holders ARE paid admissions.

... The thought of crowd control for a major new show, the likes of which have never been seen before, PERIOD, must be scaring Disney pretty bad.

I doubt it. If any company can handle crowd control like a science, it's Disney.

... Looking at short-term financials, it does not make sense for them to let people with "free" admissions in while turning away people who would like to pay money to get in.

AP holders are NOT free admissions. They DID "pay money to get in. Disneyland's AP holders are a key element to the economic cycle of DLR. Looking at short-term financials, and long-term, AP holders do a LOT for Disneyland. That's why there is so much offered to them. Hotel rates, exclusive pins, exclusive dining offers, and on and on and on.

... Although I wouldn't spend the money for hoppers twice in one year, so in 2009 they wouldn't have had me there to spend money on some pretty non-crowded days in December if I hadn't upgraded my park hopper to an AP in crowded June ).

Exactly. And Disney surely knows this.

Just my thoughts,
Dreams

 

[Peace.love.mickey]

Maybe it was only AP holding CMs that got the letter or something like that?!?!? Out of ALL of us, NO ONE got a letter, right?!?!?!

Do CM get a better deal?

 

[sonnyjane]

Maybe it was only AP holding CMs that got the letter or something like that?!?!? Out of ALL of us, NO ONE got a letter, right?!?!?!

Do CM get a better deal?

No letters. I'm hoping this is a case of confusion on the CM's part - either the letter was explaining that CM entries might be limited, or that AP's wouldn't be guaranteed entry if the park reaches capacity, or that AP rates at the hotels would be limited to a certain number of rooms, or some other message that was misinterpreted.

 

[bumbershoot]

But as some who have to drive a couple or hours or so, then what - they drive from San Diego, etc. to DL only to be turned away?

Well, people who do that have always run the risk that they won't get in. For whatever reason, my brother and SIL (as much as I love them) have not really gotten it that we need to get there EARLY, which means earlier than the park opens, when we go up for a day trip. In June when I dragged them up to DCA we got there the earliest so far, but DL was already open at that point. DCA was just about to open.

If we had gone on a scary high capacity day, they were already in a position to be locked out, b/c they still needed to get their tix, and as it stands now, people who haven't yet bought their tickets are first on the chopping block when the parks start closing processes.

Now to have an AP holder right up there with the "haven't bought the ticket yet" person would be new and WEIRD, but at least they might *know* of the possibility more than my otherwise very intelligent sibling does!

There are several overall tones in this thread that are surfacing that are very disturbing. It is fascinating to me how many people have stated they don't believe anything a CM ever tells them. Then why ever ask a CM a question? Is it possible (and I mean NO offense at all) that the OP misunderstood what was said? We all hear things and don't always hear exactly what was said.

I took the "talking as an AP holder" thing to mean that the CM said, literally, "I'm talking to you as a fellow AP holder, not a cast member".

But that said, I trust CMs to know their exact job and nothing else. I trust CheshireFigment on WDW ticketing questions because he works at WDW selling tickets. I also assume he knows about the waterparks, because that's where he sells tickets. He's an intelligent man, and he seems to like learning, so I would have some transferred trust about DLR ticket questions, but I wouldn't take it to the bank.

So a CM on the phone...you just don't know what he might know. You don't even know if they at the parks very often. You can be fairy sure that they live in So Cal, so all AP info would be filtered through the special aspects of their being AP holders, So Cal AP holders (even if they might have a Deluxe/Premium AP), and being employees and subject to whatever rules CMs might have. You just never know where their own filters have gotten stuck, ya know?

If a CM in the AP processing center started talking about these things, there would be a higher level of trust in what they are saying. If they started talking about FPs at Screamin', I'd start having some doubts unless they had only changed from Screamin' the day before (but then I'd not trust their AP info as much!).

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Maybe instead of limiting the number of AP holders they allow in they should completely get rid of monthly payments, or get rid of the lowest level of AP. It really makes no sense to be able to make monthly payments on a $150 AP.....I mean I see it on the Deluxe or Premiums but not the So Cal levels. It is my opinion that Disney needs to get rid of BOTH So Cal APs and only have the Deluxe & Premiums available, that will really cut down on the number of APs they have issued.
Altho 2 of our APs have expired we do have 2 that are still active and we have no received any letters other then our "renew your AP now" letters. Which are going unanswered and in the circular file.

Ditto ditto ditto! I think they should keep the DAP and Premium and dump the rest. I also think they should dump the monthly payment plans. If one can't afford to pay up front, maybe they can't afford an AP? Besides, the monthly payment thing only applies if you live in SoCal, so that probably excludes a lot of AP holders like myself who don't live there and have to pay cash up front or with existing credit. Doing those things would probably weed out a lot of the AP holders and crowds and would make way more sense than blocking out someone who paid for an AP already or giving priority to regular pass holders. I know this is not going to be popular with all the Socal Ap holders, but it's just my opinion.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

The whole Cm scenarios kind of doesn't make sense though, because don't CMs get free tix to get into DL anyway? They can even bring in friends/family...Unless they want APs to be able to go when the CMs are blocked out...

 

[nunzia]

As a deluxe annual passholder (first time ever) who will only get a chance to use it 6-7 days in the park this year, I would be upset if this were true. (It was cheaper for us to upgrade our 5 day parkhopper before we left than to repurchase for our next trip that will be taken before the year is up.)

The only reason we're going again this year is that October was such a crowded, horrible time for us in so many ways, that we decided to have a 'do-over' trip one more time this year. Our memories, up until this year, for the past 4 years have been fantastic! This year, the crowds and the poor crowd management have ruined the trip, we felt.

We pay a lot of money for a family of 4 to fly out, stay a week at area hotels, and dine out - same boat as so many of you who come to the parks.

If this annual pass means some days will be blocked due to huge crowding of the parks, I will be very surprised and very disgusted.

On a good note, for those staying at area hotels, like us, you can line up early and get in, in the morning.

But as some who have to drive a couple or hours or so, then what - they drive from San Diego, etc. to DL only to be turned away?

Disneyland has messed up royally with allowing so many super reduced passes to be purchased. It has quite literally cheapened the whole park, in that everyone is there 24/7 and Disney simply doesn't know how to deal with the crowds. I hope to see that crowd control be worked on this year as it is a HUGE problem and I hope Disney opens their eyes to see it!

I still believe that Walt Disney had a dream, and it was a successful dream. But I do believe that had he been here to manage his parks, that he would have realized the crowd issue needed to be dealt with much sooner. I am hopeful that the new DL President will help to make things much better in terms of crowd control.

Well said.

 

[Disney Dreams]

...I also think they should dump the monthly payment plans. If one can't afford to pay up front, maybe they can't afford an AP? Besides, the monthly payment thing only applies if you live in SoCal, so that probably excludes a lot of AP holders like myself who don't live there and have to pay cash up front or with existing credit. Doing those things would probably weed out a lot of the AP holders and crowds...

But if you are running a business, with the goal of generating income, why would you do this?

From a business perspective, the paymeny plan option is brilliant. From a business perspective, the AP holders are crucial.

When running a business, why on Earth would you want to "weed out" people? People = money. Money = financial business success

The payment plan has allowed Disney to find ways to attract business that was otherwise unavailable to them. Why would they want to undo that?

- Dreams

 

[DDhunter]

My understanding is that 70% of Disneyland's business is Locals. Yes, tourists spend more money while they are there but DL needs the locals, who frankly are the backbone of the parks profitability. This should be obvious based on the push for APs and the monthly payment plan. They need locals at the park.

I realize it is irritating for tourists to find the parks slammed most of the time, but there are lots of blackout days to accommodate the anticipated influx of tourists. I am sure this last year's crowd levels will be utilized to tweak that system to keep everyone happy. And I really believe the original OP was given erroneous information.

 

[Peace.love.mickey]

Maybe they should crack down on all of those ebayers that sell one day of the 5 day hopper?!?!?! Fingerprinting?!??!

 

[HydroGuy]

But if you are running a business, with the goal of generating income, why would you do this?

From a business perspective, the paymeny plan option is brilliant. From a business perspective, the AP holders are crucial.

When running a business, why on Earth would you want to "weed out" people? People = money. Money = financial business success

The payment plan has allowed Disney to find ways to attract business that was otherwise unavailable to them. Why would they want to undo that?

- Dreams

Thank you! I am a business owner myself and find it a bit humerous when folks around here seem shocked, SHOCKED!, to realize that Disney is a business. And, most shocking of all, they want to make a profit!

That is what businesses do.

 

[onelilspark]

But if you are running a business, with the goal of generating income, why would you do this?

From a business perspective, the paymeny plan option is brilliant. From a business perspective, the AP holders are crucial.

When running a business, why on Earth would you want to "weed out" people? People = money. Money = financial business success

The payment plan has allowed Disney to find ways to attract business that was otherwise unavailable to them. Why would they want to undo that?

- Dreams

My understanding is that 70% of Disneyland's business is Locals. Yes, tourists spend more money while they are there but DL needs the locals, who frankly are the backbone of the parks profitability. This should be obvious based on the push for APs and the monthly payment plan. They need locals at the park.

I realize it is irritating for tourists to find the parks slammed most of the time, but there are lots of blackout days to accommodate the anticipated influx of tourists. I am sure this last year's crowd levels will be utilized to tweak that system to keep everyone happy. And I really believe the original OP was given erroneous information.

Thank you! I am a business owner myself and find it a bit humerous when folks around here seem shocked, SHOCKED!, to realize that Disney is a business. And, most shocking of all, they want to make a profit!

That is what businesses do.

I was a WDW AP holder, but when it comes to DLR, I'm definitely a newbie/outsider. That being said...here's why it's important:

All this talk about how many APs are out there and how the parks get slammed? It scares me. (Not in the sense that I want my Mommy...but hopefully you know what I mean ) I try not to visit WDW during holidays or even Summer because of crowds. I specifically chose March for our trip, not close to Easter, so we'd avoid crowds. Hearing how many APs there are makes me re-think wanting to come to Disneyland and exactly what we'll experience. Therein lies the problem for Disney. Per day, tourists pay more than locals and/or APers. If they have a problem with crowds because of the AP, then they're not selling those more profitable park hoppers. Disney's challenge is to now find a way to lower the amount of APs without upsetting people so that those that are buying them for a few days of fun will revert to buying the more profitable park hoppers instead.

So it's not that they don't want people with APs at the park, it's that they want more of those people to have park hoppers. Because let's face it, if it's super crowded when I go, it'll probably be a good long while before I think about going back....and that's money down the drain!