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Con Suite => Off-Topic Chat => Topic started by: perc2100 on January 14, 2021, 03:39:54 PM

Title: Disneyland eliminating Annual Passes
Post by: perc2100 on January 14, 2021, 03:39:54 PM
Disneyland announced today that they were going to completely eliminate Annual Passes, refund everyone's money on a prorated basis, and come up with some alternate (though not at all defined at this time) system.  My family and I have been APs now for at least 15 years, and we went to D-land at least once a month if not several times during summer break or other times when school is out.  We had already decided before the pandemic that we would not renew our passes when they expired during spring 2020 (to get out of debt) so this isn't a huge problem for us at this time, but this is quite a big blow to many.  It's estimate that the number of Annual Passholders (which, kind of like CCI, is an exact figure that Disney doesn't release publicly) is in the seven figures.  Over the years chatting with Disney employees (and having students who graduate from my HS and end up working for either Disney in general or Disneyland specifically) I've been told several times that on an average day APs easily outnumber general 'tourists,' sometimes by as much as up to 10-1 during off-months (again, that's a generalization told to me that may or may not be super accurate).  AP's can be anyone from me, who lives in San Diego and travels the 75ish min drive to the park and spend late morning-early evening at a time, or people who live maybe as far as Northern CA or even other states who come down once every six weeks or so for the weekend; or it can even be people who live in Anaheim or LA who frequent the park weekly, or sometimes daily, for short periods of time.  Heck, there's a gentleman that is somewhat of a local "legend" who goes to the park every single morning, rides his rides, and is out by lunchtime (ish): like, one of the happiest looking guys ever, who knows all the employees (and they ALL know him) and he even has his own special handshake/high-5 combo.
Disney has been rumored to be wanting to eliminate AP's as we know if for years now, well before the pandemic, because of the financial implications.  During peak tourist times, when there is a fire marshal cap for number of people allowed in the park, every AP is 'taking the space' from a tourist that would likely be spending at least double the $$.  This is kind of a bummer, but not super surprising I suppose.
You can read the LA Times story here: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-01-14/disney-annual-pass-disneyland
Title: Re: Disneyland eliminating Annual Passes
Post by: puppy on January 14, 2021, 03:50:00 PM
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Disneyland announced today that they were going to completely eliminate Annual Passes, refund everyone's money on a prorated basis, and come up with some alternate (though not at all defined at this time) system.  My family and I have been APs now for at least 15 years, and we went to D-land at least once a month if not several times during summer break or other times when school is out.  We had already decided before the pandemic that we would not renew our passes when they expired during spring 2020 (to get out of debt) so this isn't a huge problem for us at this time, but this is quite a big blow to many.  It's estimate that the number of Annual Passholders (which, kind of like CCI, is an exact figure that Disney doesn't release publicly) is in the seven figures.  Over the years chatting with Disney employees (and having students who graduate from my HS and end up working for either Disney in general or Disneyland specifically) I've been told several times that on an average day APs easily outnumber general 'tourists,' sometimes by as much as up to 10-1 during off-months (again, that's a generalization told to me that may or may not be super accurate).  AP's can be anyone from me, who lives in San Diego and travels the 75ish min drive to the park and spend late morning-early evening at a time, or people who live maybe as far as Northern CA or even other states who come down once every six weeks or so for the weekend; or it can even be people who live in Anaheim or LA who frequent the park weekly, or sometimes daily, for short periods of time.  Heck, there's a gentleman that is somewhat of a local "legend" who goes to the park every single morning, rides his rides, and is out by lunchtime (ish): like, one of the happiest looking guys ever, who knows all the employees (and they ALL know him) and he even has his own special handshake/high-5 combo.
Disney has been rumored to be wanting to eliminate AP's as we know if for years now, well before the pandemic, because of the financial implications.  During peak tourist times, when there is a fire marshal cap for number of people allowed in the park, every AP is 'taking the space' from a tourist that would likely be spending at least double the $$.  This is kind of a bummer, but not super surprising I suppose.
You can read the LA Times story here: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-01-14/disney-annual-pass-disneyland

We used to have APs, until our bill got to more than $4000 a year. At that point, it was no longer worth it. Fun while it lasted. I love Disneyland.

They used to have the ticket where we could go in and browse the shops but not ride. Remember that? As a kid, I couldn't understand why anyone would do that, but I'd take that as an adult. The parades and fireworks are spectacular.
Title: Re: Disneyland eliminating Annual Passes
Post by: TardisMom on January 14, 2021, 04:57:19 PM
When my girls were tweens we had APs for a couple years.  We drove over from Phoenix maybe 6 times/year and stayed at either the Candy Cane Inn or HoJo's.  It was a great option for us at the time, but I can certainly understand why they'd want to retool the program and a pandemic is the right time to do it.
Title: Re: Disneyland eliminating Annual Passes
Post by: alyssa on March 01, 2021, 02:04:11 PM
in the other news of the day....
this arrived in my in box
Quote
Welcome Disneyland® Resort Legacy Passholders!

Thank you for having been a Disneyland® Resort Annual Passholder as of March 14, 2020, the date of our Parks’ closure. As a Legacy Passholder you will continue to be delighted with magical extras that celebrate you while waiting for the new membership offerings to be announced.


Title: Re: Disneyland eliminating Annual Passes
Post by: Old Man Grey on April 18, 2021, 10:52:50 AM
I had one day left on my 3 day park hopper ticket. I was going to use it at WonderCon 2020 :'(. Figured I'd have to eat it but they honored  it and I'm going to Disneyland!!! Unfortunately I made the reservation before I learned the Avengers Campus doesn't open until June, :'(