AP Holders: Should Disney "Stop the Clock" on passes until there is a Vaccine for COVID-19 ?

[courtney1188]

You bought 365 days of continuous access to the parks. Because of COVID, that is not possible. Disney has offered to extend the pass for the amount of time that the parks are closed or refund you for the portion of time that the parks are closed. That is totally fair. They can't just give you 60-90 days worth of tickets to use on the days that you wish. You'd be getting way more than you paid for.

I don't agree that is fair, and I think there's a middle ground between what Disney is offering and 60-90 days worth of tickets for whenever. I can only visit in summer months. If I buy and activate an AP in Late August, I do so with the expectation that the following year, I will be able to visit whenever I want during June, July, and most of August. Disney saying no can do, but hey, you can come in September, October, or November instead, does not help me or make sense to me. In a worst case scenario where they end up being closed all summer, to make me whole I would be able to basically get the freeze and unfreeze my AP when next summer comes around.

For me, I think a fair compromise would be a week-long parkhopper that I can use to visit next summer. Not a bunch of days spread out whenever, but one week that I can visit and not need to spend $600 on a ticket, when I already spent $1000 on an annual pass that I have barely used. Yes, I know it's on my schedule, not Disney's, that I've barely used it so far. But I don't think asking for one week to use next year instead of extra months I can use this year is that unreasonable.

At this point I'm waiting until we have more information to worry about it too much - if we can at least go for part of this summer, then oh well, lost some benefits, but at least I got two trips out of it - enough to make it financially worth it.

 

[ChipnDale79]

For me, I think a fair compromise would be a week-long parkhopper that I can use to visit next summer

this might be the most fair idea ive seen someone come up with in this thread.

 

[mhautz]

For me, I think a fair compromise would be a week-long parkhopper that I can use to visit next summer. Not a bunch of days spread out whenever, but one week that I can visit and not need to spend $600 on a ticket, when I already spent $1000 on an annual pass that I have barely used. Yes, I know it's on my schedule, not Disney's, that I've barely used it so far. But I don't think asking for one week to use next year instead of extra months I can use this year is that unreasonable.

I would be all over some sort of "one more trip" voucher as a third option in lieu of extension or refund. We rescheduled our trip from May to July, which is right before our passes are set to expire, and I'm not holding my breath for that trip. We cannot go anytime after that even if our passes are extended for four months (well, maybe August, but my guess is if our July trip is cancelled, August is also a no-go). If I knew we could get one more trip out of our pass, I would gladly forgo the refund (which is real money that Disney gets to keep) and Disney also gets a guarantee that we'll be back to spend more money.

 

[Timothywv385]

For these people, getting the refund should be their option. It’s not like Disney is telling you you have to take the extension.... I would love a freeze because we are local and I’m not comfortable going if they open this summer.... but I’ll happily take the refund option if it’s either extend or refund. I personally don’t think the value is there for modified experiences, depending on what they are, but I wouldn’t complain to Disney about that. I’d just get my refund and reassess when life is more “normal”.

Just curious, have you seen the two antibody studies that have been done in California that show the virus is way more prevalent than has been reported? Like 50 to 85 times higher than reported. Which is very good news. Shows death rate is probably way overstated.

 

[Aurora0427]

Just curious, have you seen the two antibody studies that have been done in California that show the virus is way more prevalent than has been reported? Like 50 to 85 times higher than reported. Which is very good news. Shows death rate is probably way overstated.

I have. I follow the LA Times and the San Diego Tribune very closely. There is a chance between 240,000-400,000 people in LA County have been infected. Which means many people had it and didn’t have to go to the hospital. I still wouldn’t send my at risk parents to Disneyland for a long while though.... I’m watching and waiting to see what other numbers come out and anxiously waiting for reliable antibody testing to become widely available!

 

[Chris75]

I don't think Disney will offer a freeze just because the logistics of offering that are complicated. I think you may eventually see Disney give people the option to just get a prorated portion of the rest of the AP, not just the closure timeframe.

Logistically a freeze would be easier and less labor intensive than refunds. I would be shocked if it took their programmers more than a few days to load it onto everyones account vs having lots of operators manually processing refunds. I have done professional database programming and know exactly how I would implement it from a technical perspective. It could appear similar to an unactivated annual pass voucher that the first time you enter a park starts the clock on your remaining days on your pass. Doing it that way keeps people from having to call in to setup a freeze and choosing a date at that time. Most of the code they need to implement it is already written. That would spread out the return of people a little more and give a lot of people the flexibility they desire to keep them from requesting refunds.

Personally I bought passes hoping to go during the different festivals with my kids and we already did the fall trips and had 2 planned this spring. If I had the choice I would come again next spring and pick where we left off when I feel it will be closer to normal rather than right after it reopens. Otherwise we are seriously contemplating just getting a refund and buying tickets when we go back, depending on the specific changes that would be implemented at reopening and how the extension would affect our available dates which we obviously won't know until we have a reopening date.

 

[SourcererMark79]

I'd like to know how many Florida APs requested the partial refund. Not knowing how long the parks will be closed, how restricted the functionality/availability of experiences might be, and general financial uncertainties in the theme park belt, I'd not be surprised to learn the number of cancelled APs exceeds 20 or 25%

 

[sara_s]

I'd like to know how many Florida APs requested the partial refund. Not knowing how long the parks will be closed, how restricted the functionality/availability of experiences might be, and general financial uncertainties in the theme park belt, I'd not be surprised to learn the number of cancelled APs exceeds 20 or 25%

We haven't decided what to do yet. I spoke to a CM last week and she said they might put the options online so they can bring the phone waits down.

I'm torn - at first I was all for extending the pass, but the longer we go with no proposed plan of how things are going to work, the less sure I am that I want to extend. We wouldn't go back until August (earliest), and our passes expire in September.

 

[SourcererMark79]

We haven't decided what to do yet. I spoke to a CM last week and she said they might put the options online so they can bring the phone waits down.

I'm torn - at first I was all for extending the pass, but the longer we go with no proposed plan of how things are going to work, the less sure I am that I want to extend. We wouldn't go back until August (earliest), and our passes expire in September.

Renewed in Feb. I'm seeing this situation a lot different now compared to hearing the news the parks would close for two weeks.

 

[hertamaniac]

I'd like to know how many Florida APs requested the partial refund. Not knowing how long the parks will be closed, how restricted the functionality/availability of experiences might be, and general financial uncertainties in the theme park belt, I'd not be surprised to learn the number of cancelled APs exceeds 20 or 25%

We did (qty. 2) primarily because of the chance/probability of a limited experience. Of course, they did build-in that they will call me to confirm getting the refund (once an opening date is defined). I think there is a real chance we could change our minds if we understand what impacts to expect.

 

[disneygrandma]

My husband and I activated our AP's on a mid-Dec trip 2019 in anticipation of our big family trip this end of May-early June 2020. We will have to reschedule our family trip until next late May or early June 2021. But now our AP's will be expired, and whatever extension they offer won't be long enough for our next trip. We agree that a 7 day PH tkt that we could use for that next trip would be a good exchange for our AP's that will be expired.

 

[katherine52478]

New question!

IF the parks are still closed 5/24 or later:

Our passes (out of state) expire on 5/23. I know the policy is to extend our passes the number of days the parks are closed. But I’m assuming it’s really the number of days the park is closed between 3/16 and our AP expiration date, if our AP expires when the parks are still closed.

Can anyone confirm? It would help with my backup plans to know what window I would be looking at (68 days vs actual days closed).

 

[skyp4WDW]

New question!

IF the parks are still closed 5/24 or later:

Our passes (out of state) expire on 5/23. I know the policy is to extend our passes the number of days the parks are closed. But I’m assuming it’s really the number of days the park is closed between 3/16 and our AP expiration date, if our AP expires when the parks are still closed.

Can anyone confirm? It would help with my backup plans to know what window I would be looking at (68 days vs actual days closed).

From the email Disney sent me, it is my understanding that it is the number of closed days plus your remaining days.
However, I'm not 100% sure because of the ambiguous way that they worded their communication. Depending on how they decide to re-open (1 park or all 4; or something in between), their offer may very well need to be adjusted further so I will wait to see what transpires before I have any further discussion with them about my A.P.

 

[NCDisNut]

I'd like to just get a refund for the amount of time I had remaining on my AP. Prorate it. Purely math. The refund would be for the unused percentage of the amount I originally paid.
The other option would be one of the two options they are offering, but I don't want it to just be for the time it was closed. I'd like it to be for the time until they return to something similar to what I paid for. If they do that as soon as they open, that's great, but if the opening is something staggered with a lot of things closed, that's not appealing to me right now. It doesn't carry the same value as what I paid for initially.

edited to add: If I was given those options, I would take the refund now and I would buy a new pass whenever I felt comfortable going back. I'd like to be able to make that decision. If they didn't offer that, I'd take the extension if it gets me through the Christmas trip I'm planning. If it doesn't I'd probably take the money.

 

[cakebaker]

New question!

IF the parks are still closed 5/24 or later:

Our passes (out of state) expire on 5/23. I know the policy is to extend our passes the number of days the parks are closed. But I’m assuming it’s really the number of days the park is closed between 3/16 and our AP expiration date, if our AP expires when the parks are still closed.

Can anyone confirm? It would help with my backup plans to know what window I would be looking at (68 days vs actual days closed).

I read it as the number of days closed being added to your valid AP. Once it expires, you’re no longer losing anything so however long they’re closed once your ap is expired wouldn’t count. Once your AP is expired, you don’t have an AP, unless you renew.

In our case, everyone but me has a valid AP. Mine is a voucher I was going to activate on our March trip. I will not get days added to mine, they will.

 

[skyp4WDW]

I'd like to just get a refund for the amount of time I had remaining on my AP. Prorate it. Purely math. The refund would be for the unused percentage of the amount I originally paid.
The other option would be one of the two options they are offering, but I don't want it to just be for the time it was closed. I'd like it to be for the time until they return to something similar to what I paid for. If they do that as soon as they open, that's great, but if the opening is something staggered with a lot of things closed, that's not appealing to me right now. It doesn't carry the same value as what I paid for initially.

I think your point is going to be a real issue if Disney re-opens with the rumored "Phases"- with partial experiences. If they try to restart the A.P. clock in that reduced offering arena, a lot of passholders are going to have a real problem with that (especially those of us who paid out-of-state prices )!

 

[NCDisNut]

I think your point is going to be a real issue if Disney re-opens with the rumored "Phases"- with partial experiences. If they try to restart the A.P. clock in that reduced offering arena, a lot of passholders are going to have a real problem with that (especially those of us who paid out-of-state prices )!

Exactly. I'm in NC. We just went at the beginning of March and were planning to go in May. When we do go we do want to have the full experience.

 

[smidgy]

I know disney is extending annual passes one day for each day the parks are closed, I'm wondering about partial openings. do those count as parks closed days or parks open? many people who travel to get to disney might not want to go when the parks aren't fully opened, as long as they don't use the annual passes during that time period (double dipping, so to speak) I think they should include those as parks closed days. anyone know what the plan is? thanks

 

[e_yerger]

I know disney is extending annual passes one day for each day the parks are closed, I'm wondering about partial openings. do those count as parks closed days or parks open? many people who travel to get to disney might not want to go when the parks aren't fully opened, as long as they don't use the annual passes during that time period (double dipping, so to speak) I think they should include those as parks closed days. anyone know what the plan is? thanks

No one has an answer for this, since no news has been announced in relation to this - it would all be speculation unfortunately. We just gotta wait to see what Disney says.

 

[laugard]

I read it as the number of days closed being added to your valid AP. Once it expires, you’re no longer losing anything so however long they’re closed once your ap is expired wouldn’t count. Once your AP is expired, you don’t have an AP, unless you renew.

In our case, everyone but me has a valid AP. Mine is a voucher I was going to activate on our March trip. I will not get days added to mine, they will.

This is how I read it too - that they'd extend a pass but only based on closed days up until your pass expiration. That way everyone gets at least what they paid for - a year's worth of valid days. (Of course, they'd also have to make clear how they're calculating those days based on blackouts etc.) If a person's pass expired at the end of March, it wouldn't make sense to me for Disney extend them for months and months. (Well, unless they do it as a bonus for passholders, which would be great.) But clearly some read it differently, so guess we won't know for sure until Disney puts out more information. But my DL pass expires mid-July, so if they're still closed then, I'm expecting at most an extension based on the number of days between the March closure and mid-July, whether they're closed past that time or not. Anything beyond would be a nice bonus and welcome surprise, though!