The Current Disneyland Annual Pass Program Has Been Cancelled

[Mathmagicland]

Since there are a lot of screens, I’ll group them together a bit in a few posts to maybe make it easier to follow. To level set my screens a bit - i had a Disneyland Signature AP, have no kids under18 in my household, live in a SoCal Zip but not an Orange County zip code, and visited 20-25 times a year. I’ve overseen marketing research surveys in a past life, so have a bit of an understanding of them, which will be reflected in some of my comments.

Survey opens with some standard demographic questions - zip, age, gender, race/ethnicity, household members by age - it helps with the analysis, ie locals vs those farther away, young kids vs teenagers vs no kids in the HH, etc. Then it asks whether anyone works in one of the listed occupations. This question is usually used a couple of ways - to filter out participants not needed for the survey, or to look at some responses through a different lens. Ie - it is very common to filter out those work in market research, and those in the travel industry or are a blogger could have different visit habits or needs than the typical family.



After this question, it asked two questions about past and planned visits to six different SoCal theme parks -



Next came the standard HH income range. Then it gets to the AP question for the six SoCal parks, do you know or have you ever had an AP, and do you or any relative or any HH member, now or ever, worked for any of those parks. This is followed by Disneyland AP question re what type of pass. As I don’t have passes to any other SoCal parks and my past visits to non-Disney parks are more than two years ago, the rest of my questions were related to Disneyland only.



They then asked a standard question about whether the respondent makes the purchase decisions, satisfaction with Disneyland AP program, and how likely to renew the AP. The way those questions are asked, where a response is needed for each row, I’d guess if I’d had passes for any other SoCal parks then each park would be listed.

The last question here asked about the Disneyland APs & degree of agreement with some statements. Don’t know if a similar screen would have come up for any other SoCal parks.

 

[Mathmagicland]

The questions then shifted to possible future AP and ticket options, and what the choice would be for various options presented each time. You are only allowed one choice per group shown, rather than ranking the options. There is also a box at the very bottom of the screens if you don’t like or would not choose any of the options presented in a grouping or would not visit. And they are asking you to imagine Disneyland has fully reopened and what admissions you would purchase for the ENTIRE upcoming year for your household.

My guess here now that I’ve been through the whole survey - they are gauging what people are willing to pay for things like number of reservations able to be booked at one time or degree of visit flexibility, and what is a higher perk preference/willing to give up for things like discounts on merchandise vs food vs special events, included vs discounted vs no parking perk, getting in on pass blockout dates, etc. For some people, they might want more visit flexibility with reduced discounts or perks, while others might choose higher or more discount options with more restrictions on days able to visit.

I found it very interesting that at no point in the surveys were there questions asked about whether hotel stays are ever part of the visit past or future, and nothing about DVC ownership. For some of the number of reservations at one time options, the choices do not seem conducive to more than an overnight stay - ie a pass with a limit of two reservations at a time would not work for a three day or longer hotel stay, so multi-day pass-type tickets might have to be preferred for those who make fewer longer stays compared to day trips.

Anyway, here we go again - this section starts with what they are asking, how they want each group options considered, and then explanations on what each item would be or refer to. There are links on the screens in each set of options to help refresh what it would mean for each type of pass in the group. Example and explanation screens first - some are sized different as I forgot to switch to portrait mode, captured screen in two grabs, & then removed the overlapping text.





I’ll also put the calendar options here as well - they seemed to offer four different calendars under consideration, though each group of options might have only two or three of them at a time.

First option I didn’t grab - it was similar to the SoCal AP calendar with most weekends, summer, and holidays blocked. Available days were mostly off-season Monday through Thursday.

Next option blocked Disneyland in June with DCA open and blocked lot of holidays along with Saturdays and many Sundays -



Third option was similar to the prior Signature pass with Christmas and New Years blocked, but also blocks a lot of other holiday dates -



And the last options was like the Signature Plus, with all days available for booking, no capture here to show every day green.


Observation- in many of the group options where the 365-day pass was an option, that pass often allowed for the fewest number of booked reservations at a time. To get potentially every day access, you’d have to book more frequently.

 

[Mathmagicland]

Now for the various options presented on each screen. Except for one screen that showed tickets only, each set of options included both tickets and passes. I did the survey on an iPad mini so the spacing is odd in a couple of captures. As I am likely more interested in passes than tickets, I did not capture ticket options each time; however the ticket options seemed to be the same each time with no discounts or parking and 120 days in advance to book a reservation. They also allowed for different choices for the household - if on the members of the household question at the start you said 5, you had to pick five total options per group but the choices did not all have to be the same.

Also, if you zoom in on the calendar portion of the captures you can see enough of the green and gray, and the orange for the DCA only days with the one option, to see which type of pass goes with the other options at that time. Important to note that not all perks are the same for the same availability calendar each time, so don’t read anything into that.

Not a lot of comments here, just sharing some the group options in the next few posts. There were fourteen different pass/ ticket groupings shown, including the one that was tickets only. Since folks seek to be seeing different things, and it’s hard to pick something as “representative”, I’ll post a few of them. Some of my captures are in landscape mode so two captures per screen, then I switched to portrait & a single capture per screen. While some may at first glance seem the same, there are differences in number of reservations, or discounts, or number of days in advance, or perks included. Remember, they are gauging preference only within each group each time.

 

[Mathmagicland]

And a few more -

 

[Mathmagicland]

And the last few - the last capture is of the tickets only option -

 

[Mathmagicland]

The survey finishes up with some more questions about Disneyland visits, including number of past visits & tickets used in 2019, how the pass was paid for - in full or monthly or received as a gift, how long you’ve been a pass holder, and the covid-related question re likelihood to visit & when.




That’s all, folks!

 

[OfCourseTheresAlwaysMyWay]

Thanks for all this info! I was very curious when I heard surveys were being sent out.

The good news is that these potential new memberships wouldn't be complicated or anything.

Oh wait...

 

[Iceman93]

I've got some background in market research as well, so appreciate the detailed insight.

I will also say that I *despise* these types of surveys. I think they confuse respondents, and even those who aren't confused quickly suffer from fatigue, just clicking on various options to keep things moving.

Finally, I will just point out that Disney is a worldwide leader in interpreting metrics to fit whatever preconceived notions they already had. They're not really soliciting feedback and input through these surveys, they're just collecting metrics they can use to justify recommendations to the executives.

 

[teruterubouzu]

Screenshots would be very helpful! Just to get an idea of what the survey was like for those who haven't received one. Thank you!

This tweet has a screenshot of one of the screens

https://twitter.com/x/status/1352803919479468032

 

[DLgal]

Interesting. By presenting various pass types with wildly varying prices but that offer the same perks over and over, they are trying to narrow down the sweet spot of price vs perks.

If I take this survey, I will universally choose whichever pass option INCLUDES PARKING AND MAXPASS, regardless of the price or blackout calendar. The next most valuable thing for me is the discounts. I think they are trying to see what people absolutely must have.

I couldn't care less about friends and family tickets, blackout day tickets, special event discounts, or Photopass. I will pay whatever they ask for included parking and Maxpass, because those are the perks that are worth the most, strictly monetarily. We go as often as possible and those would add up in a way that would make it not feasible to visit as often.

 

[Epicnemesis]

Well the good news for me from all those screenshots (big thank you for those!) is that they seem to not value the same things I value.

For me, blackout dates, or lack thereof is the most important. How many days in advance are not that important nor are how many reservations you can hold at once. Those seem to be major drivers for the pricing for some reason, blackout dates seem like an afterthought almost. There were some pages where I was picking the 399 option before even looking at the prices.

Also, maybe I’m selfish, or maybe everyone I would want to go with has a pass already, but is anyone really exciting about paying more for a pass to get friends and family in?

Lastly, I really wish they would decouple parking from the passes and sell as an add on. We only go as a family so only one of us needs parking, (but we all need the same calendar and maxpass features.) Also, when selling a pass with parking they better give my 5 year old a pricing break, don’t see them driving to Disney for 11 years.

 

[msteddom]

For me, lack of blackout days and included parking are equally important. If getting both of those things involves a drastic price increase, then so be it. I suspect some tough choices might have to be made though.

Melissa

 

[laugard]

Interesting. By presenting various pass types with wildly varying prices but that offer the same perks over and over, they are trying to narrow down the sweet spot of price vs perks.

If I take this survey, I will universally choose whichever pass option INCLUDES PARKING AND MAXPASS, regardless of the price or blackout calendar. The next most valuable thing for me is the discounts. I think they are trying to see what people absolutely must have.

I couldn't care less about friends and family tickets, blackout day tickets, special event discounts, or Photopass. I will pay whatever they ask for included parking and Maxpass, because those are the perks that are worth the most, strictly monetarily. We go as often as possible and those would add up in a way that would make it not feasible to visit as often.

I was curious as I'd ideally want those as well, so checked my screen shots and interestingly, in the 42 (!!) different AP variations I was presented with, there are only 3 that included both parking and Maxpass, priced at $599, $799 and $999, with different blackout days, discounts, etc. Several options include discounted parking with Maxpass, but those were the only ones with both.

For those who want it all (or at least parking and Maxpass) and no calendar restrictions, I also was not shown an option for a pass that includes zero blockout days, full parking and Maxpass. The closest was one with all green days, Maxpass, Photopass and 50% discounted parking, but also fewer reservations allowed at one time and lower discounts for food and merch.

After taking the survey and seeing the different scenarios being floated for feedback, it's definitely going to be interesting to see how Disney mixes and matches to create their new bundles.

 

[Evita_W]

I really think they should keep it simple:
Have a base pass price with the maximum number of blackout dates.

Then offer options in each category they have listed as well as the ability to remove certain blackout dates or all at varying price points for each option. Then people can choose exactly what they want. To make it easier only sell the passes online if necessary.

 

[Dr. G]

Thanks Mathmagicland! So great to see these shots. As an out-of-state visitor who has visited on both 5-day parkhoppers and on an Annual Pass (currently an AP awaiting refund), the big items to me are # of days in advance to reserve, # of reservations to hold at once, and Maxpass. Any of the options of 2 reservations at a time don't work for me--I need at least 3 to justify the day of travel on each end, prefer 4-5 at once. A 30-day window is tough to plan an out-of-state trip, even with me being self-employed--I worry about getting good hotel rates where I want to be on short notice. Parking doesn't matter since I'm in a hotel usually within walking distance (Candy Cane). Maxpass is nice but not absolutely necessary, but I'd pay extra for it. Of all the options shown, the $399 pass with a 60-day reservation window and 4 reservations at a time with MaxPass is a no brainer--would easily buy that if offered. Would also consider the $399 pass with 90 day window and 6 reservations (could plan two 3-day trips at a time maybe so always have one in the queue) even though no Maxpass. Might get a $599 pass with 60 day window and 4 reservations with Maxpass (but at that point three 3-day multi-day tickets may work just as well (but no Maxpass...).

Also looks like from what I can tell, they are pricing the multi-day tickets in all but the last screenshot at around $66/$67 per day. $199 for 3-day. $334 for 5-day. $799 for 12-day. Makes me think that is their target entrance cost in all of this per person. Those could work for us as well. However, the problem for us I see with those is, unless I missed something, none of the multi-day passes have Maxpass as an option. Maybe you could buy it per day?

So, as an out-of-state visitor, I'm encouraged by the options and can make some work.

 

[WonkaKid]

The survey finishes up with...

Thank you!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Thank you so much for posting all this. I had a Signature Plus APand like the PP I'm coming from out of town (Northern CA) to stay at DVC, and by far the most important things to me are:
--No block out dates (I love to visit at Christmas, thus the SP pass)
--Number of days that can be reserved (I'd need at least 4, but 5 is preferable)
--How far in advance you can book (I want the Max of 120 days to make sure I get in for a holiday trip; As a DVC owner, I also want to be assured that when I book my room 11 months out, I can get in the park!).
--Maxpass; this is huge.
I like the idea of the 30% off food as well.

I didn't see anything that had all those options, but I was having a hard time navigating the charts on my small laptop with my bad eyes I want the golden ticket pass, LOL!

I was surprised by how "cheap" some of the passes were. It seems like they aren't worried about the number of pass holders--the more the merrier--they just want to control access by reservations?

Thanks for all the insight. Will be very interested in what they come up with.

 

[starry_solo]

The last Disneyland AP I had was Premium before they changed to Signature and Signature Plus. I started off with Deluxe for a few years, then went to Premium, Premier, back to Premium. Then life got in the way (work and family obligations) that I discontinued the AP but would go for various deals...then a friend ended up working for DLR for a brief period of time and I got to go in once or twice with her gate pass.

I might be interested in the pass with discounted tickets for friends if they wanted to only go once or twice. But, I am excited to see what options they have. I had planned to get a WDW/DLR combo later this year, but obviously that is off the table.

I wonder if they would come back and offer a similar WDW/DLR combo pass.

 

[Jaina]

Guys, I'm so jealous. I enjoy surveys, and LOVE Disney surveys! I want to take it! Haha, I'm a little crazy at this point. I accidentally had the sound on while scrolling instagram, and heard Magic Kingdom ambient music on a post and it made me tear up.

 

[WonkaKid]

In my letter I sent on Monday or Ken Potrock, I explained that I hoped memberships would include at least the following benefits:

· The ability to visit the parks regularly – at least four times a month.

· Priority or preference when making park reservations, should they become a requirement.

· The inclusion of parking.