Pros and cons of Flex Pass

[shooting4life]

Wife and I finished up our first ever AP in April. We had a great time that year making over 6 trips for nearly 20 days on the park from Northern California.

We were planning on taking a break and not renew as their is no incentive to do so. Wife mentioned going back to Disneyland in the fall, already have the first week of September off for vacation.

Today I got flyer in the mail about the new flex pass at $599 which peaked my interest. I get the general gist of how it works. The one thing I am concerned about is that we usually do 3-4 days in park for each trip so I am worried about not being able to get in. We Have no problem taking time off of work to go during the week and stay to less busy times.

I am wondering how often days get blocked out? Or would be making a reservation for the “busy” days then go without reservation for the slower days. Or after I go for day 1 make my day 3 reservation? How is this pass working out for people so far

 

[smartlabelprint]

I can’t speak from experience...but others have mentioned going on 2 open days and booking 2 reservation required days in the same timeframe. So, sept 4,5 and reserve 6,7.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This recent thread has lots of discussion about the new pass: News: Disneyland Resort Introduces New Annual Passport that Combines Value and Flexibility.

 

[pharmama]

As of yet, none of the reservation days have filled up. However, the pass is still fairly new (only been on sale for about a month) so we just don’t know how things will look long term.

 

[shooting4life]

I assume as more passes expire and more people opt for this the more dates get reserved.

 

[bwvBound]

We upgraded single day passes to Flex last week. Got two days of hopping right away (back to back on the same trip) and immediately booked 7/4 once the first day had been used. FWIW, 7/4 now shows as "sold out" at DL for Flex pass holders (glad we got our reservation booked early!).

 

[gary1955]

I'm in the same holding pattern. my pass expired in April and I decided to wait since there was no renewal incentive. my plan was to wait until late summer or fall to buy a new one.

I wonder if the Flex Pass was the reason they didn't have an incentive for renewal? since it seems like they want as many people as possible to look at the new pass.

my main concern is right now at the beginning reservation dates are open and it looks like a good option. as the number of Flex Pass holders grow, I'm worried that it will be like trying to book a flight with your airline points. the other concern that I have is the two day limit. when we go it is usually 3-5 days.

 

[MouseFiend]

We upgraded single day passes to Flex last week. Got two days of hopping right away (back to back on the same trip) and immediately booked 7/4 once the first day had been used. FWIW, 7/4 now shows as "sold out" at DL for Flex pass holders (glad we got our reservation booked early!).

Were you able to book your reservation for the 4th as soon as you scanned into the park for one of the two you were holding? All of the verbiage I’ve read says you can make another reservation “once your reservation date has passed” which almost reads like the end of the day. We have reservations for the 30th and 1st and hope to get them for the 2nd and 3rd as well so I’m wondering if I can make a reservation for the 2nd as soon as we scan in for our reservation on the 30th.

 

[Jperiod]

We had already planned to buy deluxe APs after our 5 day hopper in July. We usually go in the off season anyway. But we're going to try this flex pass first to see if we can save some money. Most of our trips are spread by a month, so I could book the weekend fringe days right at the 30 day mark. The rest of our park days would be green "good to go" days anyway. We even decided to extend a trip another day based on this new pass because the deluxe is blocked saturdays in October so we originally planned to fly in on Sunday. Now we're flying in on Saturday because we know we can reserve that day with flex. I'm pretty excited about it. I think it's great for planners and spur of the moment people.

 

[bwvBound]

Were you able to book your reservation for the 4th as soon as you scanned into the park for one of the two you were holding? All of the verbiage I’ve read says you can make another reservation “once your reservation date has passed” which almost reads like the end of the day. We have reservations for the 30th and 1st and hope to get them for the 2nd and 3rd as well so I’m wondering if I can make a reservation for the 2nd as soon as we scan in for our reservation on the 30th.

We booked 7/4 while we waiting in the IncrediCoaster queue just moments after entering the park!

Grabbing the 7/4 date was immediately available on my husband's pass but mine ran about 10-15 minutes behind. We kept 'refreshing' while waiting in the queue.

 

[gary1955]

has anyone seen anything on the reservation cap? are they trying to say balance things between other AP's and general guests or is it just first come first serve and the July 4th reservations are up to the total guest limit for that day and the gates are closed to walk ups whether they are other AP's or general ticket holders? seems like it can't be the total number since that have no idea what time frame the guests will be there all day, morning, afternoon or evening.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

has anyone seen anything on the reservation cap? are they trying to say balance things between other AP's and general guests or is it just first come first serve and the July 4th reservations are up to the total guest limit for that day and the gates are closed to walk ups whether they are other AP's or general ticket holders? seems like it can't be the total number since that have no idea what time frame the guests will be there all day, morning, afternoon or evening.

I am assuming there is a limited number of flex pass reservations available for each day. The number of reservations offered will vary by day and is probably based on projected attendance for that day. There was probably less flex reservations available for the 4th because that day has higher crowds. I’ll be curious to see if more reservations open up when we get closer to the 4th, as people cancel their reservations when they realize they aren’t going to use them.

 

[baozi]

It is not clear how it goes in the long term with few active passes on the fly now. So unless you have internal data, it is hard to predict what will happen. I have the pass and if the current pattern holds, it is definitely a very good deal -- pretty much you can go nearly any day you like.
Say if you want to go 07/01-07/03. You can make the reservation for 07/01-07/02 now, and once you enter the park on 07/01 you can make the reservation for 07/03 if it is still available.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I'm in the same holding pattern. my pass expired in April and I decided to wait since there was no renewal incentive. my plan was to wait until late summer or fall to buy a new one.

I wonder if the Flex Pass was the reason they didn't have an incentive for renewal? since it seems like they want as many people as possible to look at the new pass.

my main concern is right now at the beginning reservation dates are open and it looks like a good option. as the number of Flex Pass holders grow, I'm worried that it will be like trying to book a flight with your airline points. the other concern that I have is the two day limit. when we go it is usually 3-5 days.

There hasn’t been an incentive for renewal at least a couple of years.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

There hasn’t been an incentive for renewal at least a couple of years.

When I renewed my signature pass in October 2017, there was a $50 renewal discount. They raised prices in February 2018 and again in January 2019. I think it was with the February 2018 price increase that renewal discounts ended.

 

[gary1955]

the last renewal incentive I recall was 13 months for a full price renewal. I don't remember if that was last year or the year before.

it must have been the year before. I think last year is was no incentive. last year I believe I paid full price and added Maxpass

 

[Pamela M]

I normally go 2 times a year - I considered a deluxe pass but 1 day was blocked so didn’t buy. This coming year I have 2 trips planned so I’ll probably get the flex pass. If I get the fast pass I’llprobsy try to do 4 trips down this year. I don’t have kids so I have the flexibility to go during non peak times or during the week. And it looks like most week days aren’t blocked just weekends.

 

[shooting4life]

I normally go 2 times a year - I considered a deluxe pass but 1 day was blocked so didn’t buy. This coming year I have 2 trips planned so I’ll probably get the flex pass. If I get the fast pass I’llprobsy try to do 4 trips down this year. I don’t have kids so I have the flexibility to go during non peak times or during the week. And it looks like most week days aren’t blocked just weekends.

My wife and I are in the same boat. No kids and able to take enough days off work to do mid week.

 

[bwvBound]

Today (6/24) is now showing "UNAVAILABLE" for Flex AP reservations for Disneyland only

I think it was available when I checked much earlier this morning ... so a rather "last minute" sell out for today?

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Today (6/24) is now showing "UNAVAILABLE" for Flex AP reservations for Disneyland only

I think it was available when I checked much earlier this morning ... so a rather "last minute" sell out for today?

I think if there had been more Flex Passes sold, say this was months or even a year after they started selling them, today would have sold out at the 30 day mark.