Will the Annual Pass price increase matter to you and your vacation plans?

[DVC Mike]

Hey, DVC Members who are dealing with the price increases of WDW AP's.

Take heart! At least you're not getting the deal that our Disneyland DVC members are getting!

Imagine paying $829 for an AP with blackout dates, and the only way to get a discounted AP good for the entire year is to shell out $1,029!

Hey, but at least they're getting that whopping $20 DVC discount...

http://i235.*************************************Misc/DLR_AP_1.png​

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[disneybass]

We scaled back our Disney time last year to one 3 to 4 night trip a year just to take our granddaughter. Quit buying APs an sold half of our points. We will continue what we are doing now as long as our granddaughter wants to go.

 

[Minniesgal]

We no longer spend enough time at the parks during our trips to justify annual passes.

However, I'm wondering how long it will be before we see tiered park passes. I'm thinking not long so I bought mine yesterday.

 

[wdrl]

...if people start selling contracts and go less...

But to whom are those contracts being sold? Its virtually guaranteed that someone selling their DVC points today will be replaced by a new member tomorrow, a new member who will quickly book their first trip.

 

[n2mm]

But to whom are those contracts being sold? Its virtually guaranteed that someone selling their DVC points today will be replaced by a new member tomorrow, a new member who will quickly book their first trip.

Disney is probably buying up contracts so they can resell them at the higher price!

 

[wdrl]

Disney is probably buying up contracts so they can resell them at the higher price!

But still, someone else is replacing the original member and will be going to Disney in their place, right?

Keep in mind that when Disney steps in and buys a deed, its because the owner found a buyer on the resale market who wanted the deed. Disney won't step in unless the price fits its financial expectations and those expectations will be much lower than what many owners will like. I don't think current owners would like any scenario in which Disney is buying up contracts en masse.

 

[TLinden16]

The new price structure won't change the way I travel. I think I'd be more upset if they didn't offer us the Gold option. I like the idea of the Gold pass with the MM because I usually don't buy the pictures because of the prices on it, so it would be fun to get them more (though I bet that gets old, LOL).

The price increase for TiW makes more of a difference to me. Since I usually travel alone or with guests who get the benefit of my card, I just can't justify the added expense for the card.

 

[mac_tlc]

Probably the only unfortunate result of the new pricing is that we already had a trip scheduled for December 28- January 8th, and our current PAP's expires in October ----- so we will be forced to go Platinum. That will most likely be the last time we go that week. The addition of Photopass as a trade-off for the price increase is valueless to us -- after 80 trips I don't need any more pictures. And its unfortunate that it gets forced on every family member. Even if you always bought it, you only bought one

So, I can go Gold and avoid the two blackout periods and keep the cost close to what it is now. The TIW increase is more bothersome to me -- not because of an increase but the magnitude. For us, since we bought a house in Orlando a few years ago, we will probably still break-even or better, we may still get it but may space it out a little more as opposed to always having it. It still is a much better discount than DVC/AP/Visa if you have a group over 4 and have a "beverage" or two.

As others have stated, I see the bigger impact to my kids who have grown up at Disney and still love every trip. I don't see how they can continue to afford it -- even with free DVC points or use of the house whenever they need it.

The engineer in me completely understands this -- if they continue to set attendance records they should keep raising the price. The new issue you hear now is crowd management. How many of us have said ... "there seems to be no off-peak period anymore"? IF the overcrowding lessens the experience they run the risk of losing repeat visitors, which are not us DVC members.

I hear many of the same arguments on the various cruise line boards I frequent. "Not interested in loyal customers", "lessening of perks", "cheapening of experience", "nickel-and-diming". And the cruise lines are sailing with full ships and record number of passengers. I guess its a sign of the times. Until fewer people travel/cruise, nothing will change.

mac_tlc

 

[DVC Mike]

I still can't get my head around the thought of a family of four spending $2,764.76 for Annual Passes.

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Got questions about DVC?
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[oufpat]

Purchased my first annual pass this past August when we upgraded a 6 day hopper. Only did it because it was cost effective with trips planned for December and next April. This much traveling is an unexpected plus for us. So no, price increase will not affect our Disney trips, I had no intention of renewing it in the future.

 

[jimim]

I still can't get my head around the thought of a family of four spending $2,764.76 for Annual Passes.

I hear ya. I just forked out 1900 for 3 renewals and one new one for the 3 yr old. I'm soooo glad I renewed a few weeks ago vs waiting last minute cause I would have gotten screwed.

Also I never do photo pass. I am an amateur photographer so I really don't like the photo pass pics. It says downloads. So does that mean I can download thier pics and edit them out myself then?

These changes were a really big blow. I got kids in school so we need to go to during holidays and summer. This might affect us a bit. This year no. Next year who knows.

 

[moethorne]

You raise a good point here. One of the groups that may be impacted more than most are families with children still in school. They must pay a lot more if they've been going to WDW during spring break or Christmas - the times when parents who don't want to take their kids out of school for a Disney trip.

True, they still have summer break, but the other two options provided a cooler and less humid time to visit WDW. Now they must pay a lot more for that privilege if they've been buying AP's.

We are a family of 4 with school age children but being from the northeast we don't have vacation at Easter so the March blackout dates don't effect us. We have school vacation in February and April so at least for the foreseeable future we could still travel during school vacations and use the gold pas

 

[hakepb]

This Onion story from earlier this year is starting to sound like a good idea

http://www.theonion.com/article/report-rising-disney-world-ticket-costs-prompting--50967

Report: Rising Disney World Ticket Costs Prompting Many Parents To Leave Children At Home

 

[4077]

We are a family of 4 with school age children but being from the northeast we don't have vacation at Easter so the March blackout dates don't effect us. We have school vacation in February and April so at least for the foreseeable future we could still travel during school vacations and use the gold pas

....unless they start adjusting blackout dates to cover school vacations in your state of residence....need platinum ultra super pass if you live in the state of XXXXX and you want to go to Disney for spring break....


If I sell my DVC, I can upgrade to a bigger camper trailer.....hmmmm (sorry, it's only SSR for the hopefuls )

 

[rfc0001]

Hey, DVC Members who are dealing with the price increases of WDW AP's.

Take heart! At least you're not getting the deal that our Disneyland DVC members are getting!

Imagine paying $829 for an AP with blackout dates, and the only way to get a discounted AP good for the entire year is to shell out $1,029!

Hey, but at least they're getting that whopping $20 DVC discount...

Stephen Colbert's monologue last night:

Disneyland has raised the price of it's most expensive pass to over $1000 -- but it's worth it, because it entitles you to a lap dance with Goofy

 

[DVC Mike]

I've been able to peek into the future at where ticket prices are headed. Those 1-day passes sure will be expensive!

http://i235.*************************************Misc/NewDisTicketPrices_1.png​

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Got questions about DVC?
★ ☆ ★ THE DVC INFORMATION CENTER ★ ☆ ★
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[EPCOTgrl1]

We don't buy annual passes all that often so no this won't really affect us. Also we normally don't go during the blackout dates for the Gold pass, when I do buy annual passes we will most likely go with those.

 

[Alice Sr.]

It won't make a difference to me. I do buy AP's and get 3 trips out of it. I go to F&W and F&G most years. This year's AP (bought last month) will be used in Nov/15, Mar/16 and Oct/16. I'll take the kids and Grandbabies to Aulani spring of 2017 and then start the process all over again. My GD is 2 and has been to WDW twice this last year, I am terrible about pictures so look forward to the MM perk. In fact, since my trips will not fall in the blackout range I may swap to the Gold. I will buy TiW this year because it's still a good deal, it will pay for itself in Nov and I'll still have two trips to realize a savings. Although, I have been checking out CS menus lately and it seems Disney has stepped up at least the selection options (not sure about the quality) so I could see possibly doing more CS's and preparing dinner in the villa in the future. That is more of a lifestyle change (which I follow at home) in an effort to keep the pounds off and eat healthier than a result of any of the recent DVC changes. We all try to eat organic as much as possible so the TiW's value to us in the future will likely be in jeopardy. I do feel for the families that got caught in the Dec blackout deal this year. JMHO but I think WDW should honor the old AP option for those DVC folks that already have trips booked at Christmas and Easter. Now if they decided to include F&W in the blackout I will likely be asking 4077 for his opinion on a camper for a 1st time owner.

 

[dreaming4disney]

We currently have a PAP that expires next July. After that, we plan to use our points at Vero or HH if possible for a year or two. Given how much the ticket prices have risen over the past few years, I am sure we will adjust our future plans for Disney accordingly. I can see that maybe we will go to Disney less frequently for longer periods of time. Maybe spend a week at Disney parks and then see and do other Orlando things for a week while using our DVC points. Maybe not get TIW and instead spend that money on renting a car.

Could be a good thing for our family. We tend to spend all of our time at Disney parks when we visit because we paid so much for an AP or PAP. If we downgrade to park hoppers and stay longer then we normally do, then we can enjoy other Orlando things as well.

 

[jkevinmcg]

End of an era for us. We have been DVC members since 96. With the order-of-magnitude price increases over the last several years, we won't be going to the parks anymore once our APs expire. We will still go to the resorts but the days of hitting the parks are over for us. We will spend more time at other central Florida attractions. Please don't flame me. I get it; it's a business. The only response is to take our money elsewhere.