You can't buy SoCal Annual Passes anymore?

[starry_solo]

Right now, they say you can renew at the So Cal Pass, but for how long. I expect them to say only those passes expiring in the next 60-90 days.

 

[Gisele]

Free speech is a wonderful thing. Sometimes people confuse free speech with the ability to say whatever they want without any social or financial consequences.

Although I am not a United States Constitutional lawyer, I am not confused. Free speech is just that, free speech. I am not talking about yelling fire in a public theater when there is none type of situation. If someone calls one a name, or is insulting otherwise, that is still a form of free speech.
We may pontificate all that we care to on the subject, but free speech should be allowed not just off line but on line as well.

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

Although I am not a United States Constitutional lawyer, I am not confused. Free speech is just that, free speech. I am not talking about yelling fire in a public theater when there is none type of situation. If someone calls one a name, or is insulting otherwise, that is still a form of free speech.
We may pontificate all that we care to on the subject, but free speech should be allowed not just off line but on line as well.

I did not mean to suggest you were confused. I agree with you though. People who say silly things on the internet should not be jailed.

 

[Gisele]

I did not mean to suggest you were confused. I agree with you though. People who say silly things on the internet should not be jailed.

Lol

 

[SugarQuill]

There are two ways to post in these forums. I prefer the non-confrontational way. It seems some prefer to make their point with unwarranted rudeness. The anonymity of the internet makes people think they don't need to be polite. Aside from this, I can't really entertain this post any longer as it's not really worth my time. Some people deserve consideration, others deserve pity. This comment makes this person fall into the latter category for me.

Well said.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Right now, they say you can renew at the So Cal Pass, but for how long. I expect them to say only those passes expiring in the next 60-90 days.

The AP Twitter page posted today that new sales are expected to open up in the future -- but no indication of when that would be. The page also posted that renewals will continue to be allowed as long as they are on time, not lapsed -- so hopefully longer than the next 60-90 days.

 

[usmccobrawife]

we were planning on upgrading our select passes next week so we can go some extra in the summer? Do you know if you can still upgrade?

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

we were planning on upgrading our select passes next week so we can go some extra in the summer? Do you know if you can still upgrade?

You cannot upgrade to the So Cal Pass, but that had days blocked in summer. If your question is whether you can upgrade to the Deluxe, it does not seem like that was affected.

 

[perlster]

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

^Thanks for that. When I said "I hope a solution presents itself", this is pretty much what I meant. Although, I doubt it will be reinstated when we need it. That seems too soon, but we'll see.

Thanks again.

 

[abouley]

It seems like this situation has created so many "special circumstances". For example...we had the socal passes up until a few weeks ago at which time we wanted to go on a Friday and it was blocked out (not quite sure why as it was sort of a random Friday). We decided to go ahead and upgrade to Deluxe at that point so we could go on that Friday and figuring it'd open up more summer dates for us. I'm guessing now that we won't be allowed to re-new for the lower pass? Had I known that this was going to happen, we would not have upgraded so that we could remain grandfathered in. The select ones do nothing for us since we have school aged kids and could rarely use them.

I still think that annual passes are a good deal considering how high admission prices are however, the higher the tickets go combined with my kids getting older and wanting more thrill rides, the more I am thinking about doing an AP for another park (heck we could get AP for 3-4 other theme parks) and putting our AP money towards some other trips instead.

 

[Kristina4109]

Honestly, when the surprise ticket price increase happened, I kind of shrugged. But when they announced they were doing away with the SoCal passport my jaw dropped. It seems to me that SoCal residents are the lifeblood of those parks and that it's a bad idea to alienate us.

 

[DarthMole]

Honestly, when the surprise ticket price increase happened, I kind of shrugged. But when they announced they were doing away with the SoCal passport my jaw dropped. It seems to me that SoCal residents are the lifeblood of those parks and that it's a bad idea to alienate us.

But they're not "doing away" with the SoCal AP. Their other options would alienate locals and more importantly current pass holders even more.

 

[Melora]

I did some VERY close looking at the difference between the So Cal select and the regular So Cal pass and found that the only BIG difference is Sundays which as I have heard from my sister (who has a deluxe annual pass due to living 5 blocks from there) that she would NEVER in a million years show up a Sunday because the crowds were horrible!
So instead of going for a Deluxe pass (which I cant afford right now) Im going to get the So Cal select and go during the week (which will mean pulling the kids out of school from time to time). Its not the best option and I know a lot of people can't do that but its what will work for us.

 

[halfmonkey]

Honestly, when the surprise ticket price increase happened, I kind of shrugged. But when they announced they were doing away with the SoCal passport my jaw dropped. It seems to me that SoCal residents are the lifeblood of those parks and that it's a bad idea to alienate us.

I actually don't think us SoCal residents are the life blood of those parks. We make up the majority of the people attending the parks but we don't spend the same amount of money as someone traveling from a long distance to DLR/DCA. Because of this, DLR/DCA is now limiting our ability to get into the parks because we're not really spending anymore money in the parks and we're just adding to the bottle neck/crowds.

I hate that it has to be done but it's a business at the end of the day and it's a business decision. If it helps to manage the crowd better and therefore make the experience when visiting the park more enjoyable in the long run, then I'm all for it.

 

[bcla]

I actually don't think us SoCal residents are the life blood of those parks. We make up the majority of the people attending the parks but we don't spend the same amount of money as someone traveling from a long distance to DLR/DCA. Because of this, DLR/DCA is now limiting our ability to get into the parks because we're not really spending anymore money in the parks and we're just adding to the bottle neck/crowds.

I hate that it has to be done but it's a business at the end of the day and it's a business decision. If it helps to manage the crowd better and therefore make the experience when visiting the park more enjoyable in the long run, then I'm all for it.

It sort of makes sense that the locals would be more likely to know all the money saving tips and would probably be more likely to pack their own food, as well as spend less on merchandise. In the end its a business, and as was noted Sundays have gotten to be extremely crowded - probably as a result of so many SoCal passport holders choosing the most convenient time to go.

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

I actually don't think us SoCal residents are the life blood of those parks. We make up the majority of the people attending the parks but we don't spend the same amount of money as someone traveling from a long distance to DLR/DCA. Because of this, DLR/DCA is now limiting our ability to get into the parks because we're not really spending anymore money in the parks and we're just adding to the bottle neck/crowds.

I hate that it has to be done but it's a business at the end of the day and it's a business decision. If it helps to manage the crowd better and therefore make the experience when visiting the park more enjoyable in the long run, then I'm all for it.

I think you are correct, but I don't think it's that cut and dry. Disney has some data on this no doubt. Part of the reason they give us discounts on their merchandise and concessions is so they can track our spending habits. This is not some conspiracy theory and in fact I would think them silly for not using this data.

They also have had many survey takers at the front gate. My wife loves taking these surveys...I have no idea why. Probably because she doesn't want to politely say "No" to them. These surveys in the past have had a number of questions related to Southern California AP's. I have to admit I've been suspicious of something like this happening when they started those. I hesitate to call Disney "sneaky", mainly because they do what every other company does (research ways to make more money), but Disney seems to be a lot better at hiding it, which may be the reason for the feelings of betrayal from some people. I'm disappointed naturally, but hardly feel blindsided.

I've also detected a hint of resent from non-So Cal residents that think it's unfair that we've gotten a discount or special passes in the past. I kind of got that sense when I got such a negative reaction from individuals when I asked about SoCal passes discontinuing and and what it meant for the future. It could be imagined by me, but I think if it is true to a small degree, this may also be a reason why they've made their recent moves.

 

[sheetz]

I've also detected a hint of resent from non-So Cal residents that think it's unfair that we've gotten a discount or special passes in the past. I kind of got that sense when I got such a negative reaction from individuals when I asked about SoCal passes discontinuing and and what it meant for the future.

Due to the restrictions I don't even consider the SoCal passes to be a terribly good bargain anymore. Florida residents actually get good discounts off the WDW APs. Their 4-park annual pass with no blackouts is only $516 (including tax). And their Premium pass which includes the water parks is just $644.

 

[ICanHazDroideka]

I was definitely disappointed to hear the news but not surprised. I've had a SoCal AP for 3-4 years and I have noticed how much busier it's been.

I am one of those crazy people to go on Sundays, I get up super early and go when the park opens. That's the only way to do it, because by late morning/early afternoon it's crowded. I live an hour away but can't get there most weekdays. I am not sure what will happen once my AP expires this fall. I will probably just have to live without Disney for a while, it's the one thing I splurge on but it's getting to the point I can't justify it, especially if I need to get a more expensive AP.

Krista

 

[Disney Dreams]

I was definitely disappointed to hear the news but not surprised. I've had a SoCal AP for 3-4 years and I have noticed how much busier it's been.

I am one of those crazy people to go on Sundays, I get up super early and go when the park opens. That's the only way to do it, because by late morning/early afternoon it's crowded. I live an hour away but can't get there most weekdays. I am not sure what will happen once my AP expires this fall. I will probably just have to live without Disney for a while, it's the one thing I splurge on but it's getting to the point I can't justify it, especially if I need to get a more expensive AP.

Krista

You can renew. They just are not selling new ones.

- Dreams