Raise your hand if you are NOT buying the annual pass!!

[keishashadow]

They could…you never know what they will do in the future. But, the park reservations are going away after 2 pm for pass holders, other than on weekends at MK, so in essence, so It will be pretty hard for a pass holder to not have access to the parks.

I was happy to see this for those sometimes last min trips

After I saw the announcement, renewed my DHs AP Yesterday, a bit earlier than I planned. CMs I spoke to said that was likely a very good idea.

Said They had new training on it & said they have specific department that handles it now before I was transferred

Nice that I didn’t have to Add it myself to MDE, automatically popped up

 

[MinnieSueB]

I have AP but DH does not and he will not be going until Summer or Fall of '24 so waiting this one out hoping the prices don't go up but have a feeling they will but doesn't make sense to purchase AP now.

 

[tidefan]

IMO, I don't think this move is about parks being full. I think this is a client satisfaction move.

You know, actually, I am not sure that this will really move the needle much on how crowded the parks are. Personally, the few days that we've had a 1-day ticket (to go to Epcot) the past few years when we've been down to WDW, you almost feel as though you have to be there the entire day to make it worthwhile.

On the other hand, when we have had APs in the past, we usually make multiple trips down during the year, so we don't feel like we have to hit everything. In fact, we usually don't even get into a park much before 11am if not later. Usually go in, ride a few rides, have dinner, hit things like F&W, etc. If we don't get to something, then, well, we can get to it another day. It makes the whole experience so much better...

 

[kassonvike]

Will upgrade 7 day tickets we have on 13th. With a family of 4 and the fact we have more DVC points we need to use next year, 2, 7-9 day trips spaced 11 months apart makes it more than worth while for us. Also a heads up, I saw in other threads that people have been told by cast members that they will be able to upgrade your tickets to APs on the app through the existing change ticket function. I'm REALLY hoping that is true as I don't want to sit on the phone.

 

[BaybeeYoda]

Not getting AP’s this time around; we decided not to renew back in September 2022. Was very upset when we finally nailed down our plans (and DH procured his vacation days) in June bc we are going 16 nights.

I figured out how to stretch out time out with a 10 days hopper plus by doing water parks for a few days and mini golf a few days. Total price: $780pp. Renewal was $813. It’s still money saved. Much less than $969+tax times 4 people!!

Next year, if the AP is still available, and we can time it correctly, *maybe* we will go 10 days and 10 days within 11 months. Otherwise, we have 7 5-day tickets sitting around that to not require reservations, plus a 10 day no expire. We can use them up .

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Nope. I faithfully bought an Annual Pass starting in 2002 up until around 5 years ago. As ticket prices increased, I found more things to-more "non-Park" days the last several visits. And I enjoy those non-park days a lot! I thought I might have found an Annual Pass I might consider-the Pixie Dust pass. But then I found out that you have to be a Florida resident. So I guess I'll continue just doing about 3 park days in a weeks visit to WDW-and of course, there's always the possibility of spending more time at HHI.

Anyone else like me that was an AP holder in the mid 90’s ??
The pass was like a drivers license with picture. Still have mine.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Most folks will say two visits....But if your one visit is two weeks then that is worth it to me...

Comparing just ticket prices I believe I read yesterday that it’s 10 days (one visit) OR two (or more) 3-day trips to break even

 

[BroganMc]

When they reopened sales briefly between August and October 2021 my sister decided she would just get day tickets instead of an annual pass. She knew she was going for a few days in October, actually a week, but she didn't know if she was going to come back in the spring. My family always travels to Disney spring, fall and sometimes we throw in a December. At the time we didn't know Disney was going to shut down sales for 2 years. And my sister has regretted that decision ever since. It was so bad that one year she went to Universal instead of Disney while staying at Bay Lake. It has been beyond frustrating for all of us. So when sales reopen on the 13th, the very first thing I'm doing is buying my sister an annual pass.

Yes the pass is expensive. $1,000 a year? But then you figure out how much it is to take two trips of 5 days with park hoppers and that $1,000 is cheap. Plus you have all the discounts. Only one of us, me, gets the photo pass add-on and that's good for whole family.

I understand if you're only going to go once a year or if you feel like you're over Disney. There are a lot of other things to do for vacation and other theme parks. I regularly visit SeaWorld. And I'm itching to get back to Universal. But my family is not over Disney and I hope we never will be.

 

[BroganMc]

You know, actually, I am not sure that this will really move the needle much on how crowded the parks are. Personally, the few days that we've had a 1-day ticket (to go to Epcot) the past few years when we've been down to WDW, you almost feel as though you have to be there the entire day to make it worthwhile.

On the other hand, when we have had APs in the past, we usually make multiple trips down during the year, so we don't feel like we have to hit everything. In fact, we usually don't even get into a park much before 11am if not later. Usually go in, ride a few rides, have dinner, hit things like F&W, etc. If we don't get to something, then, well, we can get to it another day. It makes the whole experience so much better...

That's the problem with having day tickets. You're spending $100 a day to go to Disney. Are you really going to go into a park for 3 hours at that price? But if you have an annual pass, you can on a whim pop into a park just to see fireworks. I just can't do Disney without one. I would feel so much pressure to make my ticket worthwhile. It's not worth the aggravation. And if you stay off site at all, then you also have to pay for parking!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Me. We have decided we are resort people for now.

 

[peabody58]

Double checked my Disney Spreadsheet. Our AP Discounts usually gets us $200-$300 savings on Dining/Merch. The AP 30% discount last year was golden as DW went crazy in the Pandora shop.

I also extended my planning calendar out through 2027, and Renewal is now the clear winner for us.

But if we decide to do less Park Days and more resort days, the balance changes quickly.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

But if we decide to do less Park Days and more resort days, the balance changes quickly.

Absolutely agree. But something we have found - when we have the AP, we never hesitate to sneak into EP for 2 hours for some lunch at one of the festivals, or sneak into AK to see the baby gorillas..... When we have regular tickets, we'd likely not do that. And with AP access to the parks opening up a bit in 10 days with afternoon 'park hopping' access without a park reservation, we think some of that flexibility will be opening up again.

But APs have always worked for some folks and didn't make sense for others.

 

[bakerworld]

For us the AP's are strictly a convenience and I don't think we're alone. I almost regard the AP's as more of an indulgence that joining DVC. We certainly haven't used our 22-23 AP beyond the equivalent of purchasing MYW. We will renew our AP's again in August and luckily we'll have two 6 days trips to use it.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

At this point I think I will buy two passes, one for DH and one for me. This past year we spent three weeks at WDW with no park passes and we had a really good time. It was very relaxing, no pressure to be anywhere and we spent much more time then usually at the pool. I really enjoyed our last trip, the first time ever that we didn't go into parks. For this reason, I'm still on the fence, should I buy or should I not?

When I consider the amount of time that rides are down, rides you can't get on because the wait times are so long or standing in those long lines, not to mention the crowds I'm not real thrilled with the idea of going into the parks. On the other hand, I miss the shops and the added dining options.

In the past we have always gotten two trips per 12-month period, so we got our money's worth when compared to day passes. Now we go for three weeks, and the staggering becomes a little more challenging for the time of year we like to travel. In the end I will probably be purchasing two passes, yes, it's a lot of money but if I do the math over 20+ days it's not so bad.

 

[CarolynFH]

we have 7 5-day tickets sitting around that to not require reservations

I’m confused - what reservations will those tickets not require? Starting soon, guests with APs will be able to enter after 2 PM without park reservations, but guests with other tickets will still require park reservations to enter their first park of the day no matter what time it is.

 

[Spivey378]

My hand is officially lowered.

We will be first-time AP holders!

Got my new 0% credit card locked and loaded.

 

[BaybeeYoda]

I’m confused - what reservations will those tickets not require? Starting soon, guests with APs will be able to enter after 2 PM without park reservations, but guests with other tickets will still require park reservations to enter their first park of the day no matter what time it is.

Old tickets that are general; not date specific (2 of the old dvc 25th anniversary tickets, etc). We will require reservations when we enter but they aren’t date specific. Sorry for the confusion!

 

[corpcomp]

I renewed our AP last November hopefully for the last time. I bought a place last year in Orlando and was hoping to get a FL license but was told by DMV the wait for a appointment was 6 weeks and needed the original birth certificate which I never bring. Wanted to get the FL AP but will have to wait.

 

[Sandisw]

I renewed our AP last November hopefully for the last time. I bought a place last year in Orlando and was hoping to get a FL license but was told by DMV the wait for a appointment was 6 weeks and needed the original birth certificate which I never bring. Wanted to get the FL AP but will have to wait.

You don’t need a FL license to get the FL passes. You just can’t verify online without one.

But, if you have a mortgage statement, utility bill, etc. that is no more than 2 months old from date you want to activate, you can present that at guest relations as proof of eligibility.

 

[Chuck S]

I bought a Gold pass voucher through AP Guest Retention, as soon as the parks reopened, which activated in November 2021 as a Sorcerer Pass, and I've kept that active,as I generally go to FL 2 to 3 times a year for 7 or 8 days each trip.

I may buy a NEW pass rather than a renewal, if they are still available at that time, as I really don;t liek my roll over month, it was activated on a special trip in a time of year I usually dont; travel.