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

[theluckyrabbit]

Thanks for reporting back with your experience! Am I understanding correctly that you had Premium pass vouchers at the old price ($779) and had been told that these could be exchanged for Signature passes without your having to pay any difference in cost? Then the CM at the ticket booth told you that you would have to pay the difference? Were you every given the option to trade your vouchers for regular Premium passes (no Photo Pass perks)? The reason I ask is because people are thinking that they will be able to turn in Premium vouchers, bought at the old price, for one more year of Premium (as long as they use the voucher before the expiration date). From your experience, it sounds like that option isn't even offered anymore and people will be forced to choose between Signature and Signature Plus and to pay the difference in price.

 

[courtneybeth]

Thanks for reporting back with your experience! Am I understanding correctly that you had Premium pass vouchers at the old price ($779) and had been told that these could be exchanged for Signature passes without your having to pay any difference in cost? Then the CM at the ticket booth told you that you would have to pay the difference? Were you every given the option to trade your vouchers for regular Premium passes (no Photo Pass perks)? The reason I ask is because people are thinking that they will be able to turn in Premium vouchers, bought at the old price, for one more year of Premium (as long as they use the voucher before the expiration date). From your experience, it sounds like that option isn't even offered anymore and people will be forced to choose between Signature and Signature Plus and to pay the difference in price.

1 - Yes, we had Premium pass gift cards purchased in full from the Disney store. I had called the Annual Passholder phone line on Monday afternoon and the cast member said that because they didn't sell the Premium pass anymore and we were due for an upgrade that the cards would be honored for the Signature pass.

2- Cast member at the ticket booth was a different story. They said that they were only honoring the value of the card and we'd have to pay the difference to get to that level.

3 - There's a lot of confusion right now with the passes. Cast members in the booths versus the phone lines are telling different stories -- this is probably due to the influx of random purchased Premium pass gift cards coming in that probably is a higher percentage than usual.

4 - You're correct. They're going to honor the value of the $779 because they legally have to and just want people to now pay the difference. I believe they just recently changed this because of an article posted in the OC register on Wednesday/Thursday. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/disney-686570-passes-pass.html

 

[parasyte]

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

I see a lot of people saying this frequently. Are there really that many people who have APs that also don't have a credit card?

 

[tlovesdis]

I see a lot of people saying this frequently. Are there really that many people who have APs that also don't have a credit card?

I have an AP, live in CA and use the monthly payment option. I do not have a credit card. Well, I do, but it is only for emergencies. I pay cash for everything. So I use the monthly payment option because it is available to me. If it wasn't I would pay cash for my pass.

 

[nicolispicoli]

I see a lot of people saying this frequently. Are there really that many people who have APs that also don't have a credit card?

I'm confused by this question. Do you think people who live in CA that use the monthly payment plan only do so because they don't have a credit card? I live in CA, have two deluxe AP's and use a credit card for my monthly payments. I do it because it's a more affordable way for me to have two AP's.

I agree that eliminating the monthly payment plan would eliminate a TON of AP holders (myself included) simply because it's easier for me to pay $70 a month than $1100 at one time.

 

[pudinhd]

1 - Yes, we had Premium pass gift cards purchased in full from the Disney store. I had called the Annual Passholder phone line on Monday afternoon and the cast member said that because they didn't sell the Premium pass anymore and we were due for an upgrade that the cards would be honored for the Signature pass.

2- Cast member at the ticket booth was a different story. They said that they were only honoring the value of the card and we'd have to pay the difference to get to that level.

3 - There's a lot of confusion right now with the passes. Cast members in the booths versus the phone lines are telling different stories -- this is probably due to the influx of random purchased Premium pass gift cards coming in that probably is a higher percentage than usual.

4 - You're correct. They're going to honor the value of the $779 because they legally have to and just want people to now pay the difference. I believe they just recently changed this because of an article posted in the OC register on Wednesday/Thursday. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/disney-686570-passes-pass.html

I hadn't seen that article, so thank you for posting it! We bought the Premium AP vouchers on Sunday morning and we were the ones to notify the Disney Store in Glendale about the price increase. I don't mind not having the Photopass benefits when we use our AP vouchers, but I would be very upset to be required to pay the difference for the new levels!

 

[jani3]

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!?

I'm a little confused (waiting for coffee to kick in, I guess). So you had the Premium GC for $779 from the Disney store, went to the ticket booth at DL then they upgraded that to the Premier? Isn't the premier the one that gets you in both DL and WDW? Does your new "Premier Domestic Annual Pass" have any black out dates? Which % discounts do you get at the restaurants and stores?

 

[parasyte]

What I mean is that the only difference between a monthly plan and outright charging the full amount to a credit card is the interest that Disney doesn't charge on their line of credit. If one were to structure their own payment plan the per month total would increase due to interest, but not significantly.

 

[courtneybeth]

I'm a little confused (waiting for coffee to kick in, I guess). So you had the Premium GC for $779 from the Disney store, went to the ticket booth at DL then they upgraded that to the Premier? Isn't the premier the one that gets you in both DL and WDW? Does your new "Premier Domestic Annual Pass" have any black out dates? Which % discounts do you get at the restaurants and stores?

Yes, we had a Premium Gift Card which we purchased in full. We are Premier passholders and needed to renew as our renewal date was approaching. On the old system, you'd buy Premium, then pay the difference to Premier. We were told on the phone with the AP people with a Premium pass we'd be upgraded to Signature Plus and we'd then just pay the difference, so in the end we'd basically just see a wash. What happened last night is that they honored the old Premier price for us, leveraged the Premium pass and we had to pay the difference. So it was like how it was a week ago before the increase.

(Which has since opened a whole other can of worms which I will only say is that the pass is now wonky in both Disneyland and Disney World's systems. Not going into details on this one because I'm already agitated).

 

[jani3]

Yes, we had a Premium Gift Card which we purchased in full. We are Premier passholders and needed to renew as our renewal date was approaching. On the old system, you'd buy Premium, then pay the difference to Premier. We were told on the phone with the AP people with a Premium pass we'd be upgraded to Signature Plus and we'd then just pay the difference, so in the end we'd basically just see a wash. What happened last night is that they honored the old Premier price for us, leveraged the Premium pass and we had to pay the difference. So it was like how it was a week ago before the increase.

(Which has since opened a whole other can of worms which I will only say is that the pass is now wonky in both Disneyland and Disney World's systems. Not going into details on this one because I'm already agitated).

Ah, I see; now I understand. That's great that you got it at last week's price. That's a significant savings.

 

[az4boys]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out with many people rushing to buy annual pass vouchers after the announcement was made. Seems like Disney would have been smarter to pull the vouchers/gift cards from their sales system the night before the announcement. A little IT work doesn't seem like it would be that hard, but maybe it is more complex than I'm imagining. Maybe the headache of dealing with it after the fact is easier than preventing the headache in the first place. Hopefully it works out for everyone that go them. I was sure tempted too, but we live in AZ and there weren't any at the stores that I'm aware of.

 

[Malcon10t]

But, if you had redeemed it for a Premium AP, all would have gone fine?

 

[jani3]

But, if you had redeemed it for a Premium AP, all would have gone fine?

I'm curious as to what would happen to all those AP GCs bought on Sunday and Monday too. I bought a premium last Monday from the disneystore with plans on activating when my current one expires. The back of it says "enjoy 365 days of admissions" so I don't know how they can not honor it as it is. Wouldn't that be considered breach of written contract?

 

[courtneybeth]

One would definitely assume that, @jani3 . We called the AP phone line and were told we'd be given the equivalent of a Signature Plus for the Premium that we paid for. Then the ticket people are saying that all they're doing is honoring the $779 and you'd have to pay the difference.

It's a very confusing time and it's hard to say what they're going to do. That OC Register article didn't help any passholders out.

 

[ArchOwl]

I bought two Premium passes online from Disney the day before the price increase. My ticket voucher says it expires 12/31/2015. I don't see how they could refuse to honor it. I am not planning to visit until early December, so I will keep an eye out for how it is handled. I will accept a Signature Plus of course, but I see no way Disney could force me to pay the difference.

 

[BigCheese]

This is going to muddy the waters but on another message board (Mousewait) there are posts reporting that folks who bought Premium AP passes (e.g. at the Disney Store) at the lower price were able to redeem them for Signature Plus APs at no additional cost.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I read that too. I think that's the way it should be and the cm you got at the booth just didn't know that.

 

[Malcon10t]

I read that too. I think that's the way it should be and the cm you got at the booth just didn't know that.

If the OP had wanted to just get a PAP, they would have received a Signature Plus. But the OP wanted a Premier pass. And the way an upgrade to those is done, you pay the difference between what you PAID for the pass you have now and the current price of the premier. The OP got a deal in they gave them the old price.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

I have a question for you all: If I were to come back for 5 days in a year (or two) and I bought an AP in order to get the discounts at food and souvenirs, which one should I get? The Signature or what? I can always get the photopass+ separately.

 

[sgrap]

I have a question for you all: If I were to come back for 5 days in a year (or two) and I bought an AP in order to get the discounts at food and souvenirs, which one should I get? The Signature or what? I can always get the photopass+ separately.

If you are coming on days that the deluxe is not blocked, buy a deluxe. You can find the calendar of blocked days on the website. You do get a slight higher percentage off with the Signature, but you have to spend quite a bit of $ to make up the difference in price.