The Current Disneyland Annual Pass Program Has Been Cancelled

[DLgal]

This is a great point and really highlights a way that DL can actually make the membership an improvement from the AP system.

The new membership program should be a “build your own” pass. Instead of a few limited combinations, why not let people choose their options independently and then price accordingly.

-How many days do you want access (and what kind of days)?

-How many reservations at once?

-How early do you want to make reservations?

-Parking?

-MaxPass?

The more you want, the more expensive it is. Some can max everything out and pay the high cost. Others can keep cost to a minimum. And everyone can build something that suits them without being limited to only a few options.

Regular tickets are already kind of like this - you build your own with how many days, do you want park hopper, maxpass, water parks (at WDW), and then it’s priced accordingly - so I don’t see why they couldn’t do a “build your own” for the new membership.

Why limit the choices to 3 different pass options when they could basically offer all potential options?

I just emailed Disneyland earlier this morning suggesting exactly this.

Offer up 3 "base passes" with add on options.

Example:
Pass A: $299, significant blackout dates, 2 reservations at a time, 30 day advanced reservations

Pass B: $499, far fewer blackouts, 4 reservations at a time, 60 day advance reservations

Pass C: $699, Blackouts only around Christmas/New Years and Easter week only. 6 reservations at a time. 90 day advanced reservations.

Optional add ons (can be added to any pass level):

Parking $200
Maxpass: $120
Photopass: $100
10% food and merch discount: $50
20% food and merch discount: $100
30% food and merch discount: $150
Unblock blackout days: (Pass B and C only): $200
Discounts on Special Events and priority registration access: $75

 

[WonkaKid]

Now that it’s pretty obvious that all passes will require reservations...

Perhaps. But it was important to me to express my opinion. I always find it better to be proactive. If nothing else, it makes me feel better. In these dark times I’ll take good vibes anywhere I can find them.

 

[dieumeye]

I just emailed Disneyland earlier this morning suggesting exactly this.

Offer up 3 "base passes" with add on options.

Example:
Pass A: $299, significant blackout dates, 2 reservations at a time, 30 day advanced reservations

Pass B: $499, far fewer blackouts, 4 reservations at a time, 60 day advance reservations

Pass C: $699, Blackouts only around Christmas/New Years and Easter week only. 6 reservations at a time. 90 day advanced reservations.

Optional add ons (can be added to any pass level):

Parking $200
Maxpass: $120
Photopass: $100
10% food and merch discount: $50
20% food and merch discount: $100
30% food and merch discount: $150
Unblock blackout days: (Pass B and C only): $200
Discounts on Special Events and priority registration access: $75

Yes! And why not go even further and let people adjust price based on how many reservations they want to be able to hold at a time or how far in advance they want to make reservations.

I’m sure there are some people that wouldn’t mind only having one reservation at a time, but would like to be able to book it far in advance. While there might be other people who don’t mind waiting as late as possible to make reservations, but would like to be able to hold multiple reservations at once.

And of course there are people who would be willing to pay to hold the maximum number of reservations and book as early as possible. And also others who are looking to keep their cost down by having a short booking window and only having one reservation at a time.

There’s no technical reason that this couldn’t all be presented as options when we build our passes. For example:

How early would you like to be able to make reservations:
-30 days (+$0)
-60 days (+$50)
-120 days (+$100)

How many reservations would you like to hold at once:
-1 (+$0)
-4 (+$25)
-8 (+$75)

And then it could go on to ask about adding parking, adding MaxPass, or anything else.

 

[Epicnemesis]

Yes! And why not go even further and let people adjust price based on how many reservations they want to be able to hold at a time or how far in advance they want to make reservations.

I’m sure there are some people that wouldn’t mind only having one reservation at a time, but would like to be able to book it far in advance. While there might be other people who don’t mind waiting as late as possible to make reservations, but would like to be able to hold multiple reservations at once.

And of course there are people who would be willing to pay to hold the maximum number of reservations and book as early as possible. And also others who are looking to keep their cost down by having a short booking window and only having one reservation at a time.

There’s no technical reason that this couldn’t all be presented as options when we build our passes. For example:

How early would you like to be able to make reservations:
-30 days (+$0)
-60 days (+$50)
-120 days (+$100)

How many reservations would you like to hold at once:
-1 (+$0)
-4 (+$25)
-8 (+$75)

And then it could go on to ask about adding parking, adding MaxPass, or anything else.

That would be great.

 

[disneycat321]

I just emailed Disneyland earlier this morning suggesting exactly this.

Offer up 3 "base passes" with add on options.

Example:
Pass A: $299, significant blackout dates, 2 reservations at a time, 30 day advanced reservations

Pass B: $499, far fewer blackouts, 4 reservations at a time, 60 day advance reservations

Pass C: $699, Blackouts only around Christmas/New Years and Easter week only. 6 reservations at a time. 90 day advanced reservations.

Optional add ons (can be added to any pass level):

Parking $200
Maxpass: $120
Photopass: $100
10% food and merch discount: $50
20% food and merch discount: $100
30% food and merch discount: $150
Unblock blackout days: (Pass B and C only): $200
Discounts on Special Events and priority registration access: $75

I love this idea, but unfortunately I think those base prices are wishful thinking. 7 years ago, we paid $599 for deluxe passes that included none of those perks (we added parking because it was available at the time) and had far more blackouts than just Christmas and Easter. I don't think $699 would get you that few blackouts with Disney's pricing lately.

 

[starry_solo]

I feel like the base price will start around $700-800 and go up from there.

 

[disneycat321]

I've been mulling over this since yesterday morning. We've been both types of DLR visitors - local APs for a few years and out of area vacationers now that we live in northern CA.

As local APs, we would have hated having to make reservations since our trips were mostly spontaneous. We also highly valued having included parking, and didn't care much about blackout dates because we could just go whenever. We never had SoCal Select, but we did have the SoCal and then Deluxe passes.

Now, we don't care much about parking since we stay across the street and park at the hotel, and our highest priority would be MaxPass and blackout dates. We don't care about having to make reservations since we plan further in advance now. However, the membership will probably not be cost effective for us, just like the APs weren't once we moved away from the area, because I'm a teacher, so we're limited to school holidays.

I'm intrigued by the multi-day ticket options that would be used during the same year, but the blackouts might end up being the dealbreaker for those, too.

I'm not surprised Disney is completely overhauling this, and I'm curious to see where it ends up. I do hope it has a positive impact on the outrageous crowds.

 

[DLgal]

I love this idea, but unfortunately I think those base prices are wishful thinking. 7 years ago, we paid $599 for deluxe passes that included none of those perks (we added parking because it was available at the time) and had far more blackouts than just Christmas and Easter. I don't think $699 would get you that few blackouts with Disney's pricing lately.

Your deluxe pass included discounts. It also didn't require reservations limited to a set number in advance. The Flex pass intriduced in 2019 was $700 with included discounts, so my base prices aren't too far off from reality.

 

[disneycat321]

Your deluxe pass included discounts. It also didn't require reservations limited to a set number in advance. The Flex pass intriduced in 2019 was $700 with included discounts, so my base prices aren't too far off from reality.

Yes, but didn't the Flex pass have tons of blackouts? I didn't look at it too closely because I remember thinking it wouldn't have worked for us, probably due to blackouts. I'm a teacher, so we're restricted to holiday visits.

I would really wish for your pricing, believe me. I am just watching Disney take things away at WDW while raising prices, so I guess my pessimism level is pretty high right now, that's all.

 

[Epicnemesis]

Yes, but didn't the Flex pass have tons of blackouts? I didn't look at it too closely because I remember thinking it wouldn't have worked for us, probably due to blackouts. I'm a teacher, so we're restricted to holiday visits.

I would really wish for your pricing, believe me. I am just watching Disney take things away at WDW while raising prices, so I guess my pessimism level is pretty high right now, that's all.

Nope. Our only blackout was the 2 week holiday period. It’s why we opted for flex over deluxe. We wanted to be able to go with our out of town family in the summer months

I think those pricing estimates are fairly accurate. There is a fairly big drop in value of these passes with reservations being a requirement. It would be a double punch in the gut to have a price hike and a diminish in utility.

I would love if they made passes a la Carte. It would definitely fit the “flexibility” description that executive guy said. He clearly didn’t mean the passes would be more flexible in terms of park availablity, so I’m interpreting his words as flexibility in pass design.

 

[disneycat321]

Nope. Our only blackout was the 2 week holiday period. It’s why we opted for flex over deluxe. We wanted to be able to go with our out of town family in the summer months

I think those pricing estimates are fairly accurate. There is a fairly big drop in value of these passes with reservations being a requirement. It would be a double punch in the gut to have a price hike and a diminish in utility.

I would love if they made passes a la Carte. It would definitely fit the “flexibility” description that executive guy said. He clearly didn’t mean the passes would be more flexible in terms of park availablity, so I’m interpreting his words as flexibility in pass design.

I did some Googling. It wasn't blackout days, it was the fact that we could almost never go on "good to go" days and 30 days out is usually not enough for us to reserve. Plus, 2 reservation days max was too limiting.

I would love to believe that drop in value=drop in price, but over at Disney World they're getting rid of a lot of the perks for staying onsite (Magical Express, extra magic hours, etc) while simultaneously raising the prices of onsite accommodations. I do hope I'm wrong, though!

I agree with everyone that being able to pay for added features to the pass would be a huge bonus.

 

[mlggator22]

I just emailed Disneyland earlier this morning suggesting exactly this.

Offer up 3 "base passes" with add on options.

Example:
Pass A: $299, significant blackout dates, 2 reservations at a time, 30 day advanced reservations

Pass B: $499, far fewer blackouts, 4 reservations at a time, 60 day advance reservations

Pass C: $699, Blackouts only around Christmas/New Years and Easter week only. 6 reservations at a time. 90 day advanced reservations.

Optional add ons (can be added to any pass level):

Parking $200
Maxpass: $120
Photopass: $100
10% food and merch discount: $50
20% food and merch discount: $100
30% food and merch discount: $150
Unblock blackout days: (Pass B and C only): $200
Discounts on Special Events and priority registration access: $75

Yes, this is what I was thinking. Do an "al a carte." Have base tickets with certain black out days and then you can add extras on, like parking, max pass, anyday passes, etc.

 

[dieumeye]

It would be a double punch in the gut to have a price hike and a diminish in utility.

Sadly, I’m expecting this. Best case scenario is the memberships are roughly the same price as before, even with the diminished utility. Fingers crossed, though.

 

[twodogs]

Sadly, I’m expecting this. Best case scenario is the memberships are roughly the same price as before, even with the diminished utility. Fingers crossed, though.

Agreed. They did not end their AP program to make a new program that is less profitable for Disney. So I fully believe the changes will cost more or offer less. And most of us will at least consider buying them, myself included!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Glad to know that experienced APs are writing in to express their views. Agree with GR on this:

View this content on Instagram

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.
If you haven't already written to Disney about this, please do. This is especially important if there are disability concerns or other issues which they haven't addressed in the surveys. They can't address what they don't know, so make sure they know!

 

[Epicnemesis]

So what’s the email of choice to get the most visibility?

while I think it falls of deaf ears, wouldn’t mind taking out 5 minutes and drafting something. I really don’t mind the reservation system, but overly aggressive blackouts and forced extras would suck.

If I can get close to the same value as those passes I would be a happy man, especially if they let you add on parking (would hate to pay for parking on more than one pass though.)

 

[Castillo Mom]

I just emailed Disneyland earlier this morning suggesting exactly this.

Offer up 3 "base passes" with add on options.

Example:
Pass A: $299, significant blackout dates, 2 reservations at a time, 30 day advanced reservations

Pass B: $499, far fewer blackouts, 4 reservations at a time, 60 day advance reservations

Pass C: $699, Blackouts only around Christmas/New Years and Easter week only. 6 reservations at a time. 90 day advanced reservations.

Optional add ons (can be added to any pass level):

Parking $200
Maxpass: $120
Photopass: $100
10% food and merch discount: $50
20% food and merch discount: $100
30% food and merch discount: $150
Unblock blackout days: (Pass B and C only): $200
Discounts on Special Events and priority registration access: $75

Bingo! This is what my son and I were discussing last night, we'd prefer a couple of base pass options with the ability to add on extras for an additional cost similar to what you suggested. We watched a video from one of the local vloggers about the survey. Apparently, he received it and provided detailed screen shots of all options listed in the survey, so we were able to pause at each section to see which ones would be of interest to us. Our preference was one with little to no backout dates, minimum 90 day booking window, Maxpass included and parking included or at least at a 50% discount on parking and 20%-30% discount on dining/merch. Those are our must-have priorities. Secondary to that would be dedicated entrance and rewards but not a deal-breaker if we couldn't have those items. Thirdly and of less importance is discount on special events. We'll pay full price for those as long as we can get our must-haves. Basically, none of what was suggested was going to completely fit our needs, base passes with the option to add-on would work much better for us.

 

[CO2CA]

Did anyone see the Facebook Disneyland Annual Passholder page update to have a "Legacy Passholder" image? That must be what they'll call the former program now.

 

[DLgal]

Did anyone see the Facebook Disneyland Annual Passholder page update to have a "Legacy Passholder" image? That must be what they'll call the former program now.

Yeah, and it's supposed to offer new perks. I guess we will see what that means.

 

[StarGirl11]

Well now I’m really glad I didn’t make the call yet to transition my Premier to a WDW pass. Guess I need to call and ask about this later.