Whoa..Annual Pass Increase - Effective 10/4/15

[ten6mom]

With regard to the renewal discount... my fiancé's AP is going to expire mid-November. He got the renewal postcard in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I logged in to take a look and as of yesterday, they're still offering the $40 renewal discount. If he moves fast, he should be able to renew for only $509! I hope it's still that way when he actually goes to do it!

I had no idea any of this was happening and upgraded my kids' 3 day parkhoppers to AP's... just this past Thursday. Thank goodness!

Unfortunately, mine isn't up for renewal until the end of February.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

With regard to the renewal discount... my fiancé's AP is going to expire mid-November. He got the renewal postcard in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I logged in to take a look and as of yesterday, they're still offering the $40 renewal discount. If he moves fast, he should be able to renew for only $509! I hope it's still that way when he actually goes to do it!

I had no idea any of this was happening and upgraded my kids' 3 day parkhoppers to AP's... just this past Thursday. Thank goodness!

Unfortunately, mine isn't up for renewal until the end of February.

The $40 renewal discount for Deluxe is still being offered, but people have reported that it is off of the new price. So the current renewal price of a Deluxe is $559. Posters on other boards have reported that even with a renewal form in hand, they have had to pay the new price at the ticket booths. If your fiance gets the $509 price, great. But be prepared for the higher price, just in case.

 

[rwhistler92]

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to....they've always allowed people to upgrade (for the full price of the upgrade, in this case $70.00) in the past.
I plan to do the same thing...I was going to buy PP+ for an upcoming trip, but for the same price, I can just upgrade my current PAP to Signature.

Has anyone tried this yet? We have 3 more trips coming up and would like to upgrade our PAP to Signature for the photo options.

 

[ten6mom]

The $40 renewal discount for Deluxe is still being offered, but people have reported that it is off of the new price. So the current renewal price of a Deluxe is $559. Posters on other boards have reported that even with a renewal form in hand, they have had to pay the new price at the ticket booths. If your fiance gets the $509 price, great. But be prepared for the higher price, just in case.

We will be prepared, but I actually loaded his card online and the price came up at 509. I am just hoping it doesn't change between now and whenever he gets around to actually renewing! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

^I sure hope he does end up only (well not "only" but you know what I mean) paying $509. Please do let us know. I have a few more weeks until my own AP will come up for renewal and am expecting it to be the $559. Glad to hear you also saved on your kids' passes, ten6mom.

 

[tlovesdis]

I ran to Safeway this morning and stopped at the gift card kiosk and they only had the regular tickets, no AP's. But then I don't ever remember seeing AP's at my local Safeway. I live in the Bay Area near Berkeley.

 

[VandVsmama]

My thoughts on the AP price increase:

1. I haven't read all 12 pages of this thread.
2. The price of the Deluxe AP didn't go up by very much.
3. Eliminating 1 of the So Cal resident AP options was a good idea.
4. Eliminating free parking from the Deluxe & So Cal AP options was also a good idea since many of the So Cal AP visitors arrive 1 person per car. I expect that parking fees will go up as well.
5. If you live within an hour's drive of Disneyland, then you are a very lucky person. I might be grumpy about this because we just returned from visiting DL and we won't be able to go back until 2017. So I'm sorry that your 365-day AP will cost you more. If you go to DL for 15 days each calendar year (so, let's say that you go on 1 weekend day two times per month), it is STILL CHEAPER than buying a 1-day ticket every time.
6. EVEN IF your AP doesn't include free parking, ok, so you have to pay $17-$20 to park in the Disneyland parking lots. If you go see 2 movies a month at ~$10 a pop, that's worth 2 movie nights and the entertainment value at Disneyland is much better. If you give up 1 Starbucks coffee each day Mon-Fri, then that pays for your parking to go to DL once a week.
7. If the price increase is really too high for you & your family, then don't renew your AP and go elsewhere for your vacation. Vote with your $$.

 

[oktracy]

My thoughts on the AP price increase:

1. I haven't read all 12 pages of this thread.
2. The price of the Deluxe AP didn't go up by very much.
3. Eliminating 1 of the So Cal resident AP options was a good idea.
4. Eliminating free parking from the Deluxe & So Cal AP options was also a good idea since many of the So Cal AP visitors arrive 1 person per car. I expect that parking fees will go up as well.
5. If you live within an hour's drive of Disneyland, then you are a very lucky person. I might be grumpy about this because we just returned from visiting DL and we won't be able to go back until 2017. So I'm sorry that your 365-day AP will cost you more. If you go to DL for 15 days each calendar year (so, let's say that you go on 1 weekend day two times per month), it is STILL CHEAPER than buying a 1-day ticket every time.
6. EVEN IF your AP doesn't include free parking, ok, so you have to pay $17-$20 to park in the Disneyland parking lots. If you go see 2 movies a month at ~$10 a pop, that's worth 2 movie nights and the entertainment value at Disneyland is much better. If you give up 1 Starbucks coffee each day Mon-Fri, then that pays for your parking to go to DL once a week.
7. If the price increase is really too high for you & your family, then don't renew your AP and go elsewhere for your vacation. Vote with your $$.

 

[oktracy]

Does anyone know if the renewal discount applies to AP upgrades? For example, can I save $50 if I upgrade my deluxe AP to a signature AP?

 

[lb2000]

I did not read all the posts here, but does anyone know what the renewal for the So. Cal pass will be? It looks like they are still keeping it if you have it and are grandfathered.

Thanks!

 

[cmwade77]

My 2 cents (and that is all it's worth): The upcoming construction at the park is going to affect the ability of DL to absorb crowds even more so they needed a way to decrease AP holders now, while Star Wars Land is being built. The smartest way to do this and maximize their profit (since they are a business) is to raise the price. So far, they haven't decreased demand with their price increases since the park just continues to be busier and busier. So the increases will continue.

If this was the case, the easiest to do is eliminate the monthly payment plans, that would eliminate about 50% of the passholders.

 

[cmwade77]

Does anyone know if the renewal discount applies to AP upgrades? For example, can I save $50 if I upgrade my deluxe AP to a signature AP?

No, the renewal discounts are only on renewals. Now, if you upgrade while renewing, you would get whatever renewal rate they quoted you in the mail. Also, it appears that the renewal discounts are seeming to vary from person to person now, as I have had different friends (all with premium passes currently) get renewal notices with different prices on the renewal. I am wondering if they are basing the discounts off of how much you spend throughout the year now.

 

[jani3]

I am wondering if they are basing the discounts off of how much you spend throughout the year now.

Just curious, how would they know how much each person spends at the park? What if they pay cash at the carts where there aren't any discounts for AP holders?

 

[cmwade77]

Just curious, how would they know how much each person spends at the park? What if they pay cash at the carts where there aren't any discounts for AP holders?

Obviously carts can't be factored in easily (however, with the number of cameras around and how good facial recognition technology is these days, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out they could), but anywhere there are AP discounts, they can tell to the penny how much each person spends since the passes have to be scanned or swiped to get the discounts now. And obviously if you pay with a credit card, it is easy to determine as well. Basically, what I am saying is it is virtually impossible to not be tracked, even if paying in cash these days.

They could even break it down to how much do you spend at each time of the year if they wanted to, potentially offering you a better deal on a pass that would encourage you to spend more money based on the particular blackout dates.

 

[dtnrhi]

Just curious, how would they know how much each person spends at the park? What if they pay cash at the carts where there aren't any discounts for AP holders?

Agreed. This would be a little skewed. Whenever we buy anything in the parks, I'm always the one who gets it because of the bigger discounts with my premium compared to the Deluxe that everyone else in my family has. I can't imagine we're the only ones who do this.

 

[sgrap]

Agreed. This would be a little skewed. Whenever we buy anything in the parks, I'm always the one who gets it because of the bigger discounts with my premium compared to the Deluxe that everyone else in my family has. I can't imagine we're the only ones who do this.

Yep, we do that too.

 

[Girimama33]

I haven't read all of the pages here...but has anyone confirmed what photos you actually get with a Signature Pass? It states Photopass photos, not photopass plus photos. Does that mean you can only get the photos from the PP photographers, and no ride or character meal photos?

 

[Cats2]

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/photo-pass-service/

From the Disneyland website

Attraction Photos
Select attractions have Disney PhotoPass cameras perfectly positioned to capture some of the most exciting moments of your visit. These attraction photos are available as digital downloads, included with your Disney Premier, Disney Signature Plus or Disney Signature Passport.


Attraction photos are available at these locations.

At Disneyland Park:

• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain

At Disney California Adventure Park:

• California Screamin’
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
• Radiator Springs Racers

 

[sgrap]

Question about the Orbitz tickets. We bought them in for our May 2013 trip and then upgraded to AP's. They actually bridged the full price of the 5 day AP (it was the buy 4 day get 5th day free like it is now). So let's say we buy them now and the the price goes up before our November trip. Would they give us the current price toward the AP or the new higher price of the 5 day hopper toward the AP? Basically I'm asking that if we are planning on upgrading to AP's anyway, is it worth it to buy them now, or does it not matter because they will just give us the current price toward the AP anyway? I keep hoping the Ebates Orbitz rebate will go up . . . thanks if anyone knows!

 

[courtneybeth]

OKAY, FOLLOW UP TO THE PREMIUM ANNUAL PASS GIFT CARDS BELOW.

I was told on the Annual Passholder phone line that not only would Premium Annual Pass giftcards be recognized, but they would be upgraded to Signature Plus no problem because they can't issue something new. Welp, four days after the fact they yet again changed this policy and are now only valuing the $779 and you have to pay the difference.

Somehow the guy working the ticket counter felt for our pain and knew that we were just trying to get the Premier pass. He worked a bit of pixie dust and got the pass upgraded to Premier at the old price. (aka; We have the old pass at the old price, so no photopass for us, but who cares) So really we lucked out and I made sure guest services got his name and I vaguely described what he did without getting him in trouble.

So long story short: Disney realized too many people had the Premium GCs, and now decided to change it so that the value of the card is recognized without immediately bumping up. Though we're now labeled as "Premier Domestic Annual Pass - Shell" in the system.... what does that mean!?