FYI Annual Pass Sales Halted

[DannysMom]

Same. Out of state DVC owner. Can I buy some passes already?

 

[NCDisNut]

Not unless you are renewing seems to be what I'm hearing.

 

[nuhusky123]

I wouldn’t be surprised if passes never come back now and that includes no more renewals.

 

[Leight19]

I'm pushing to go in 5 or 6 weeks and my wife is saying they're not ready for us yet. There is so much demand built up that there may not be a business case for Disney to offer us passes yet. I had one that expired during covid and I did not renew, waiting to see how the whole pandemic would play out. I never considered they would get rid of them and that would no longer be an option.

I know people will say that they make more money off of the people who buy day or multi-day tickets. Has anyone seen data on Florida versus outside of Florida passholders? It seems short-sighted to me. We are out of state but with a pass we'd take 4 trips per year. Without a pass we'd take 1. It's hard to imagine that they'd make more money off of me by not offering me the pass. I stay onsite and I eat onsite.

I’ve said this before but I don’t think there’s any reasonable way to conclude Disney is trying to get higher spending guests by not selling AP. From what I’ve seen they are not maxing out capacity in any upcoming dates so the AP who shows up isn’t taking spot of a potential day ticket guest.

To me true reason is Disney thinks there are enough guests who don’t have AP who will schedule multiple trips with multiple sets of day tickets to offset lose sales of AP. While they technically can do this I feel this is boardering on bait and switch/fraud (especially for new dvc members who if buy today still get told about the AP as benefit).

 

[karen4546]

Yeah, we have DVC as well and were planning to do the spring breaks this year and next. Our kids are now Juniors in high school, so it just kind of worked out based on their schedules and pre college activities, but with the annual pass pause (and my theory on black out dates) we have decided to go ahead and cancel this year and find a different time.

Just wondering as a fellow DVC owner, did you not buy an AP when you bought your DVC ownership?

we were platinum AP but when we bought DvC in 2019, we renewed to the Gold AP (saved $$$). we had renewed It could not “activate” them until the park Reopened.

I know the DVC perks are not guaranteed but I hope that DVC direct purchase continues to qualify for the Sorcerer aka Gold pass.

 

[k5xs]

I'm guessing it at this point has something to do with this

https://wdwnt.com/2022/02/per-capit...s-disney-attributes-to-more-favorable-guests/

Thanks for posting that.

When I read in the story that Disney CFO Christine McCarthy referred to "a more favorable guest" I wondered if she meant those of us who eat less, but I see now I misread it, LOL.

 

[WillOetg1]

My family bought into DVC in January and did not have the option to get annual passes because of the pause in sales. Pretty disappointing given that the discount partly contributed to our decision to buy direct vs resale. I’m holding out hope that they become available before our welcome home trip in April.

 

[jacec]

I'm still hopeful next week will bring the return (just in time for our President's Day weekend trip)

 

[ajsamett]

I'm hoping for the same but I'm calling it for tickets. We're going weekend after and I didn't get my tickets bc I didn't want to have to upgrade, but I think I'm going to have to so I can get reservations

 

[jacec]

I'm hoping for the same but I'm calling it for tickets. We're going weekend after and I didn't get my tickets bc I didn't want to have to upgrade, but I think I'm going to have to so I can get reservations

Yup, just read this thread and book our 3 day park tickets. I'll gladly do the exchange now if they become available.

 

[zumfelde]

Why does everyone keep thinking Disney will start selling annual passes again. They have NO reason to bring them back now because the parks are jammed with people paying for full price tickets now and we all know how Bob Chapek fells about annual pass people. I just don't think they will bring them back until the travel demand starts to fall.

 

[kbelle8995]

The whole comment about "more Favorable guests" Doesn't make the situation sound like it's going to change on the APs.

 

[randumb0]

It doesn't sound like Disney wants to offer them anytime soon

 

[Leight19]

Why does everyone keep thinking Disney will start selling annual passes again. They have NO reason to bring them back now because the parks are jammed with people paying for full price tickets now and we all know how Bob Chapek fells about annual pass people. I just don't think they will bring them back until the travel demand starts to fall.

I can’t speak for eveyone but me specifically I have 3 trips scheduled this year (DVC). If annual passes are not available by my first trip I plan at best for Disney to cancel the next two trips. None of my trips are high business times so my presence in park isn’t blocking any other guests. In pure ticket price I’d be paying about 50% more for AP then I would for my one set of tickets so Disney is missing that revenue. In addition we tend to spend $1 to $2k a trip on merch and dining so that money is also being lost (though you could argue dining isnt lost if they fill reservations anyway). In total id estimate not having annual passes means Disney is missing ~$5k from me in spending.

Why I said me canceling 2 of 3 trips is best case for Disney is we are seriously considering keeping the 3 dvc reservations and just canceling all Disney days to explore other areas of Orlando we’ve never tried. This would include checking out universal (annual pass), sea world, Lego land Etc. This means we would spend nothing for Disney, take 3 weeks in dvc hotel, and potentially change my future travel plans to focus less on Disney going forward if we enjoy it. The impact already from this is we went from planning to spend ~ $35k on new dvc gfv2 contract to deciding I don’t need anymore points since we wont travel that much without them selling AP.

 

[nuhusky123]

I can’t speak for eveyone but me specifically I have 3 trips scheduled this year (DVC). If annual passes are not available by my first trip I plan at best for Disney to cancel the next two trips. None of my trips are high business times so my presence in park isn’t blocking any other guests. In pure ticket price I’d be paying about 50% more for AP then I would for my one set of tickets so Disney is missing that revenue. In addition we tend to spend $1 to $2k a trip on merch and dining so that money is also being lost (though you could argue dining isnt lost if they fill reservations anyway). In total id estimate not having annual passes means Disney is missing ~$5k from me in spending.

Why I said me canceling 2 of 3 trips is best case for Disney is we are seriously considering keeping the 3 dvc reservations and just canceling all Disney days to explore other areas of Orlando we’ve never tried. This would include checking out universal (annual pass), sea world, Lego land Etc. This means we would spend nothing for Disney, take 3 weeks in dvc hotel, and potentially change my future travel plans to focus less on Disney going forward if we enjoy it. The impact already from this is we went from planning to spend ~ $35k on new dvc gfv2 contract to deciding I don’t need anymore points since we wont travel that much without them selling AP.

I’m 100% in the same mindset as you. I really want to buy gfv but if the passes are not back I have a really hard time justifying the extra cost of tickets I would need for those new nights I’m buying into

 

[zumfelde]

I can’t speak for eveyone but me specifically I have 3 trips scheduled this year (DVC). If annual passes are not available by my first trip I plan at best for Disney to cancel the next two trips. None of my trips are high business times so my presence in park isn’t blocking any other guests. In pure ticket price I’d be paying about 50% more for AP then I would for my one set of tickets so Disney is missing that revenue. In addition we tend to spend $1 to $2k a trip on merch and dining so that money is also being lost (though you could argue dining isnt lost if they fill reservations anyway). In total id estimate not having annual passes means Disney is missing ~$5k from me in spending.

Why I said me canceling 2 of 3 trips is best case for Disney is we are seriously considering keeping the 3 dvc reservations and just canceling all Disney days to explore other areas of Orlando we’ve never tried. This would include checking out universal (annual pass), sea world, Lego land Etc. This means we would spend nothing for Disney, take 3 weeks in dvc hotel, and potentially change my future travel plans to focus less on Disney going forward if we enjoy it. The impact already from this is we went from planning to spend ~ $35k on new dvc gfv2 contract to deciding I don’t need anymore points since we wont travel that much without them selling AP.

I know I would be upset if I had the chance to buy a AP and go several times a year but I am sure almost all of your spending would be replaced by other guest. Disney has no shortage of people wanting to come right now and the biggest complaint they have now is overcrowding so for now they are not going to be worried about a few people cancelling multiple trips per year. Just look at the last financial report. The money they are raking in on charging for things that used to be included will more than make up your lost revenue. There are a lot of people on these boards (including myself) that complain about the things that are going on with WDW right now but we keep going and until people stop going things will not change.

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

It’s more than just buying dvc it comes down to how many days I go to Disney. If Disney does not bring back annual passes it will simply mean I stop going more than 1 week a year. Not only will I not buy more dvc points, I’ll stop going to disney. The cost of tickets is Cost prohibitive and roi on my money decreases exponentially

i doubt I’m alone on this.

You're not. We went 3-4x a year because of APs. We were actually thinking of purchasing a small contract at RR so we can use if for a tower studio during W&D weekend 1x a year but we won't if we don't have an AP.

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

I think AP will be sold when the new price increase comes around. Maybe FEB , that has been the month jn the past.

I predict a HUGE price increase. It really is the only way the crowds can get back in line.

.

they should figure out a different way to handle crowd control instead of pricing people out.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Thanks for posting that.

When I read in the story that Disney CFO Christine McCarthy referred to "a more favorable guest" I wondered if she meant those of us who eat less, but I see now I misread it, LOL.
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I can’t speak for eveyone but me specifically I have 3 trips scheduled this year (DVC). If annual passes are not available by my first trip I plan at best for Disney to cancel the next two trips. None of my trips are high business times so my presence in park isn’t blocking any other guests. In pure ticket price I’d be paying about 50% more for AP then I would for my one set of tickets so Disney is missing that revenue. In addition we tend to spend $1 to $2k a trip on merch and dining so that money is also being lost (though you could argue dining isnt lost if they fill reservations anyway). In total id estimate not having annual passes means Disney is missing ~$5k from me in spending.

Why I said me canceling 2 of 3 trips is best case for Disney is we are seriously considering keeping the 3 dvc reservations and just canceling all Disney days to explore other areas of Orlando we’ve never tried. This would include checking out universal (annual pass), sea world, Lego land Etc. This means we would spend nothing for Disney, take 3 weeks in dvc hotel, and potentially change my future travel plans to focus less on Disney going forward if we enjoy it. The impact already from this is we went from planning to spend ~ $35k on new dvc gfv2 contract to deciding I don’t need anymore points since we wont travel that much without them selling AP.

This. Long term it's a problem for Disney. They should be separating AP holders into those staying onsite and offsite when analyzing the numbers. Those staying onsite (including non-DVC) are likely spending at a rate that would warrant finding a way to get them AP's vs. alienating them and sending them to UOR, etc.

Smart companies find a way to keep repeat profitable customers happy.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

they should figure out a different way to handle crowd control instead of pricing people out.

Like the park pass system?
Unfortunately disney got sued by someone kept out. I don’t think we will get AP sales back at WDW until legal decides it’s safe to do so.