Wasn't someone just saying in another recent thread (I can't remember which thread) that a CM at DLR said that the discounts could possibly be removed as perks from the Annual Passes as a way to keep the cost of the APs down? In other words, if that were true, the discounts would be done away with but the AP prices would not go up. I thought that it was specific to shopping/merchandise and food discounts, but it would make sense if the hotel discounts are removed too.
So, maybe there is some truth to what the CM told
mommy2allyandaveri (although the phone CMs at DLR are often not up to date on the current info).
I can see this meaning one of a few different things, and only time will tell as to which scenario plays out. What
figment_jii said could be true -- or, perhaps, the Disneyland Resort reservations/hotel booking system just hasn't updated or refreshed with the 2015 info yet.
I wouldn't be shocked if we see fewer -- if any -- AP discounts for the hotels in 2015. I was saying in another thread just recently that I can picture the AP discounts being slim to none in 2015 -- or at least after the events of the 60th anniversary kick off. In 2012 the hotel discounts were non-existent (except for maybe at the
very beginning of that year, and I'm not even sure about that) -- and that had to be directly related to the re-imagining of California Adventure and the expected crowds coming out to see everything. Disney didn't need to offer discounts because so many people were coming to the parks from the time Cars Land opened on through the rest of the year, and so they didn't offer any (other than just the standard 10% discount that was available every day for AP holders).
If Disney has a lot of new entertainment and big events lined up for the 60th anniversary (we know for sure that there will be a nighttime parade, but the other events are yet to be revealed -- and there may be some surprises in addition to the things that have already been leaked/rumored), they are going to expect big crowds from May on through the end of the year, and possibly into the first few months of 2016 too. So, as they did in 2012, they
may hold off on offering any discounts to the general public or to AP holders.
Another possibility as to what could be happening is that the 365-day-a-year 10% discount for AP holders may be removed, but Disney may still offer occasional ("special") 25% discounts or packages for random (less busy) weeks in the Fall or in the late Winter/early Spring...maybe not in 2015, but in 2016 and beyond.
I remember reading some of the text included in a description of the recent Fall discount for AP holders. When I pulled up certain dates and some of them were not covered by the Fall discount, but were instead covered by the 10% discount, I noticed that the wording used in regards to the 10% discount made it sound as if it wasn't something offered to AP holders every day -- which it used to be. The wording made it sound a bit like the 10% discount was limited, or only for those specific dates. At the time I read it I was thinking, "Did they stop offering the 10% discount every day?" So it did cross my mind that the discounts could start to become less available over time.
I know that discounts are a big part of the reason why people buy APs in the first place -- a lot of out of state or international folks buy APs for the food/merchandise/hotel discounts (not because they can go to the parks a lot) -- and even if there were no discounts offered I can't picture the AP prices staying as is for very long. They would have to go up eventually. The hotel rates would go up too.
