No more 20 percent merchandise discounts for PAPs

[n2mm]

Wow, that is a disappointment. We "upgraded" our old ones in October and did take advantage of the extra 20% discount. When we had our reg APs we never shopped because the 10% was not a big deal. I guess we will keep our shopping at the outlets again. I agree, this is Disney's loss. Just thinking of those non-DVC members who not only pay the higher price, but now also loss the extra merchandise discount.

 

[cseca]

Well it's a good thing we only bought the 1 yr pass and not buy another year. I think we might just skip WDW next year and do DL instead. What a crappy move Disney! Tsk...tsk...

 

[Missyrose]

In case we needed more confirmation, this was just posted on the Theme Parks board:

It is posted on The Hub (internal passworded site) in the Advisories section that the selected merchandise discounts starting January 1 for all Passholders will be 10%.

 

[heynowirv]

That totally sucks. Nice of Disney to get us all to buy a PAP this Dec and then take away one of the benefits of the PAP a month later. I'm feeling down right anti Disney at the moment, having just read about now the new FP+ is going to work.

Doug,
What did you hear about the FAST PASS +? I've been looking at the boards and haven't seen anything concrete.

 

[cseca]

Doug,
What did you hear about the FAST PASS +? I've been looking at the boards and haven't seen anything concrete.

http://micechat.com/17855-walt-disney-world-fastpass-plus/

Don't know if it's allowed or not to post this link.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I agree. This really stinks. We definitely bought the PAP knowing the 20% discount was in place. Kind of crappy to bait and switch. Though, I shouldn't be surprised.

Luckily, we were there last week and did get to utilize the 20% for a week.

Let's not forget that the new PAP was $50 cheaper than the regular one, so unless you weren't doing an AP at all, 20% was not the only reason.

 

[Sammie]

Let's not forget that the new PAP was $50 cheaper than the regular one, so unless you weren't doing an AP at all, 20% was not the only reason.

Exactly; $50 less than the regular AP, unlimited access to water parks, Disneyquest and Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course and ESPN, and I don't think Disney made anyone purchase the pass.

Anyone that knows anything about Disney and I feel most everyone on this forum does, is that everything is subject to change.

Surely no one bought the discounted PAP "just" for the 20% discount,

 

[going/again]

http://micechat.com/17855-walt-disney-world-fastpass-plus/

Don't know if it's allowed or not to post this link.

Can only imagine the planning this will take , holidays are supposed to be fun.

 

[jekjones1558]

Surely no one bought the discounted PAP "just" for the 20% discount

I did.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I did.

So what would you have bought instead? I call shenanigans

 

[jekjones1558]

So what would you have bought instead? I call shenanigans

That is a question we wrestle with each year. DH does very little in the parks anymore so sometimes we do non-expiring tickets. Sometimes we do APs. I was planning on using the PAP 20% for gifts and to replace some Disney shirts but may rethink that now.

 

[wilma-bride]

We didn't buy the PAPs just for the discount but it was definitely a factor that swung buying PAPs instead of MYW tickets. MYW tickets (if bought for the days we actually needed) would have worked out slightly cheaper (without water parks) but the 20% made the PAP seem like a no-brainer for us, particularly since we are visiting with extended family in 2014 and would likely have bought more souvenir than usual.

 

[csharpwv]

This is more about the Fastpass+ Comment - forget about a 20% Discount - That's just Disney's greed bursting at the seams!

Let's chat about Fastpass+

OK, I understand - there are anal retentive people that LIKE to plan every last minute of their day at Disney....

However, the madness has to end someone.

The folks that are anal retentive need to just deal with their obsession, and let everyone else have a good experience.

Before too long, we are all going to need a Fastpass to USE THE FREAKING BATHROOM!!!!!

OK, let's look at Disneyland - you don't need to make dining reservations 6 months in advance.

At WDW you HAVE to make your dining reservations 6 months in advance if you don't want the horrible restaurants that you can walk up to 9 months out of the year.

This whole thing of reserving your place ahead of time is OUT OF CONTROL!

I really don't care if someone is going to make a once in a lifetime trip to WDW - their experience should not come at the expense of making a Disney vacation approachable.

It's bad enough for first time visitors - but then you go and add all of this obsessive compulsive bull-crap, Disney is going to shoot themselves in the foot! Photopass, Photopass Plus, Fastpass, Fastpass Plus, 180 day advanced dining reservations, 190 day by day advanced reservation for Disney Resort Hotel Guests, and THEN you throw in the Quick Service Dining Plan, the Plus Dining Plan, the Deluxe Dining Plan, the Premium, the Platinum - and REALLY the ability for the average person to plan a Disney vacation on their own become nearly impossible.

I think it is all out of control!

I wonder how they are going to theme the interactive queue for the restrooms?!

Next will be numbered assigned parking spaces, numbered assigned tables at Quick Service Dining locations, attractions that will be booked up 6 months in advance, resorts that will be booked up 12 years in advance, and last minute resort reservation guests will only be allowed to experience attractions on the TV in their room - and they will have to order room service because there won't be a dining reservation to be found - even for the Plaza Restaurant!

It's about time for Disney Fans who think all of this is ridiculous to start bombarding Disney with letters!

I think I could go for a great steak about two months from now....OH, wait - I don't have a reservation - I should have planned that meal FOUR MONTHS AGO!!!!!!!!

I would really like to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in June... OH WAIT!!! There aren't any FREAKING RESERVATIONS LEFT!!!!!!!!!

Absurdity!!!!

 

[DougEMG]

This is more about the Fastpass+ Comment - forget about a 20% Discount - That's just Disney's greed bursting at the seams!

Let's chat about Fastpass+

OK, I understand - there are anal retentive people that LIKE to plan every last minute of their day at Disney....

However, the madness has to end someone.

The folks that are anal retentive need to just deal with their obsession, and let everyone else have a good experience.

Before too long, we are all going to need a Fastpass to USE THE FREAKING BATHROOM!!!!!

OK, let's look at Disneyland - you don't need to make dining reservations 6 months in advance.

At WDW you HAVE to make your dining reservations 6 months in advance if you don't want the horrible restaurants that you can walk up to 9 months out of the year.

This whole thing of reserving your place ahead of time is OUT OF CONTROL!

I really don't care if someone is going to make a once in a lifetime trip to WDW - their experience should not come at the expense of making a Disney vacation approachable.

It's bad enough for first time visitors - but then you go and add all of this obsessive compulsive bull-crap, Disney is going to shoot themselves in the foot! Photopass, Photopass Plus, Fastpass, Fastpass Plus, 180 day advanced dining reservations, 190 day by day advanced reservation for Disney Resort Hotel Guests, and THEN you throw in the Quick Service Dining Plan, the Plus Dining Plan, the Deluxe Dining Plan, the Premium, the Platinum - and REALLY the ability for the average person to plan a Disney vacation on their own become nearly impossible.

I think it is all out of control!

I wonder how they are going to theme the interactive queue for the restrooms?!

Next will be numbered assigned parking spaces, numbered assigned tables at Quick Service Dining locations, attractions that will be booked up 6 months in advance, resorts that will be booked up 12 years in advance, and last minute resort reservation guests will only be allowed to experience attractions on the TV in their room - and they will have to order room service because there won't be a dining reservation to be found - even for the Plaza Restaurant!

It's about time for Disney Fans who think all of this is ridiculous to start bombarding Disney with letters!

I think I could go for a great steak about two months from now....OH, wait - I don't have a reservation - I should have planned that meal FOUR MONTHS AGO!!!!!!!!

I would really like to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in June... OH WAIT!!! There aren't any FREAKING RESERVATIONS LEFT!!!!!!!!!

Absurdity!!!!

 

[Longhairbear]

I wonder if some of our DVC discounts will be lowered, or taken away?

 

[RachaelA]

Let's not forget that the new PAP was $50 cheaper than the regular one, so unless you weren't doing an AP at all, 20% was not the only reason.

This is why I'm not super upset that its changed when we are only 3 months in because it was already cheaper than a regular pass anyways. BUT we will be dropping back down to regular APs (had been planning on renewing one as a PAP because of the 20% discount). We don't go to the waterparks, play golf or go to Disney Quest because we have a 1 year old who is content with the regular pools and parks.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We bought a lot more merchandise than usual last trip because of the 20% discount. If anything, it encourages us to over buy. With 10%, our spending habits should return to a more normal level next trip. Their loss.

 

[SUSIEQ]

We bought a lot more merchandise than usual last trip because of the 20% discount. If anything, it encourages us to over buy. With 10%, our spending habits should return to a more normal level next trip. Their loss.

This is exactly the way I feel.

 

[Boardwalkin]

Let's not forget that the new PAP was $50 cheaper than the regular one, so unless you weren't doing an AP at all, 20% was not the only reason.

The AP price is $425 versus the PAP special of $399. Only $26 per pass is what I see as a savings. (Unless I am missing something) I was going to purchase the PAP only because of the 20% discount. I don't buy that much merchandise, but another 10% would have been nice. Now I am holding off.

 

[cseca]

This is more about the Fastpass+ Comment - forget about a 20% Discount - That's just Disney's greed bursting at the seams!

Let's chat about Fastpass+

...

I honestly haven't made up my mind yet on the FP+ yet.
From the podcast I heard and the articles I've read so far it seems like Disney have not completely figured out the magic formula yet.

I think so far they're doing trials on the RFID part and the attractions popularity based on the sample guests they're taking.

I personally think for my family's purposes we can probably do the 6mo advance thing with no problem because we have little ones and our rides options are limited. So I would just do the same rides almost every day...

Now, my big issues are the rumors about only being able to use the FP+ on:
- 1 park per day
- 1 attraction per day (no repeat on the same day)
- a really small # of FP per day (3 or 4?). We usually can do at least 5 or 6 FPs a day at MK and that's with a nap in the afternoon. Cutting that number to almost half is just not right.
- the rule unused FP? If we miss the time do we get the FP options back on the cards and they are automatically cancelled? What if we miss it due to maintenance issue or some other disney issue (transportation problem)? All that is really unclear to me.
- Tour groups? Some of us have seen the big tour groups at certain times of the year. I don't know the capacity of the FP+s but is it possible for a huge tour group to be controlled by 1 Travel Agent hence giving the 1 person access to make huge numbers of FP reservations in 1 click?

That's why I'm still unsure yet.