WDW Annual Pass Timing Speculation

[Jrb1979]

Agree. Day tickets are so much money and presumably people are paying for them without hesitation. I'd say they will wait it out until they absolutely have to, but I would love to be surprised!

That and IMO Disney would rather those out of state guests pay full price to visit instead of using an AP pass to get discounts.

IMO what they should do instead of opening and closing sales yearly just get rid of payment plans. They would probably have the numbers they want for AP holders cause it would eliminate a lot of people

 

[SLThomas318]

Tickets are nonrefundable...

AFAIK... you can only do ticket upgrades in person at Customer Service Windows. For sure if they go on sale again, you can call and explain your situation, never know what kind of magic "might" happen. But accept if there is nothing they can do..

We were able to use hoppers towards our annual pass renewal over the phone. We had bought hoppers with genie+ for a trip over Thanksgiving because we weren’t planning on renewing. When our renewal window opened we decided to renew for at least another year. I just called ticketing and they applied the value of the tickets to our renewal cost.

 

[Jrb1979]

My observation is Disney at WDW may have shifted their thinking regarding passholders. WDW is more of an international destination as opposed to Disneyland. Therefore Pixie APs beneficial to Disney are in very limited supply, heavily restricted blockout dates and park reservation holds, usually the bonus days do not apply and only really used by locals who do not work M-F or have kids in school. In other words, local retirees. What surprises me is the ability to renew into any level. That might go away. But I am now alert to the possibility that Disney does not want to encourage non-local APs at WDW.

It's exactly that. They want out of state guests paying full price.

 

[RoseGold]

Somehow launching these for six hours on April Fool's Day sounds exactly on brand for current Disney.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[ajsamett]

I got the Pixie pass because I had 2 single weekday trips planned, and I knew that the benefit of the photo pass add-on and the various discounts would be worth it for me. But I'd still love to have a higher tier pass so I can go on weekends as well. If it's not this week, I'm just going to keep my pixie pass until renewals to upgrade then because I won't have enough trips to justify the cost of pirate. Personally, what Disney misses out on from me is I bring my out of state friends to the parks. When people come to visit, I always suggest universal because I have weekend access on that pass.

I wouldn't be surprised if passes don't come back until September because crowds start to pick up in a few weeks

 

[HopperFan]

Not sure why people think they are at capacity right now. They are not. There is not one day blacked out for ticket buyers or annual pass holder for the rest of 2023. All theme parks are available. Will that change. It will for certain dates. But WDW appears to have this late spring and summer resort guest issues. Some very good discounts, which means lots of capacity not rented. The 50th will be over April 1 2023 and it looks like guests are not knocking at the door to stay on site, at least. Not really a surprise removing almost all on site perks. My prediction AP’s will go on sale on or near 04-01-2023.

There is only one real capacity number and that is the legal capacity for the parks, which is based on all the attraction, restaurant, store etc capacity/occupancy limits added up. So, yes, they are not at capacity, rarely ever are.

Disney does not operate based on any kind of standard capacity. They are full when they decide they are full. And even if the parks aren't guest full, if they have reduced ride capacity, reduced CMs at quick serve etc ... it impacts operations and how the park feels. Capacity is all relative to their operations .. all of which affects guest experience.

What is true is that currently Disney is not really restricting park reservations ... which doesn't necessarily mean the parks are not going to be crowded ... it more than likely means that Disney isn't limiting entrance for the most part, allowing more people. At least they are adding back in some experiences.

 

[Titanium]

My observation is Disney at WDW may have shifted their thinking regarding passholders. WDW is more of an international destination as opposed to Disneyland. Therefore Pixie APs beneficial to Disney are in very limited supply, heavily restricted blockout dates and park reservation holds, usually the bonus days do not apply and only really used by locals who do not work M-F or have kids in school. In other words, local retirees. What surprises me is the ability to renew into any level. That might go away. But I am now alert to the possibility that Disney does not want to encourage non-local APs at WDW. In other words, they might think out of staters, internationals and DVC owners come so few days per year overall that they are still willing to buy tickets. Might stay this way until Universal opens their third gate.

We have Pixie passes and live two hours north. Our stays our usually two or three nights at a Disney hotel and a good amount of restaurant expenditures and shopping. We'd spend more if weekend passes were available but if I have to purchase day tickets we'll stick with Universal for weekend trips this year. We bought 3-day Disney tickets for Christmas weekend but that was a special occasion.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[Ms Bibbidi]

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[Titanium]

See, I wasn't talking about "trips" or any real planning at all other than a park reservation and dining reservation. They drive in from their nearby home and go home that same night. The "local" is far more spontaneous and doesn't generally go two days in a row unless they are tagging along with out of town guests. Most locals I know really don't do much of that. They go by themselves just for hours -- not a full day and they are not "trips" with an overnight. I think what you are talking about is the "in-state Florida resident" who lives farther away and makes trips. Obviously, they can get Pixies too, but by local I mean those who do not use any lodging other than their own.

It's more of a day at the park for AP locals in Orlando and Anaheim than a vacation.

 

[Jrb1979]

It's more of a day at the park for AP locals in Orlando and Anaheim than a vacation.

That's how I view what AP holders should look like. With the way Disney is handling the APs I think they want to go more in that direction. They would rather the out of state guests pay full price for everything then have APs.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[Cfabar1]

Yes, but I think they should let the DVC members buy annual passes. Frankly, for many DVC members, it is not cost effective to buy them anyways. But, it does make them feel special, plus they get the dining discounts. For others, it is a great deal, but you need a fair number of points (especially if buying direct now and days) for the savings to be substantial.

The locals are the worst… If you are an AP member from Florida who is 2+ hours away, you’re going to stay in a Disney hotel, treat it as a vacation, spend lots of money, etc. You might come more often, but you are still going to do a lot of the things because it is a “special thing”. I’m not going to drive all that way for just the day. I want the full Disney experience…

The ones who live in Orlando are another kettle of fish altogether. They might just come once a week and hang out, ride a ride or two, never buy Genie+, sparingly eat out, never get the popcorn bucket, (or even worse keep bringing the same bucket back), etc.

It seems to me they’d rather have a DVC member pay for an IncrediPass (especially given their price)…. THat means they think they’ll be coming to Disney at least 8 days a year…. And if they’re DVC, they’re not local, and clearly see value in staying on property, which the’ lol do with DVC points or at other disney hotels….

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[LSUmiss]

That and IMO Disney would rather those out of state guests pay full price to visit instead of using an AP pass to get discounts.

IMO what they should do instead of opening and closing sales yearly just get rid of payment plans. They would probably have the numbers they want for AP holders cause it would eliminate a lot of people

That’s a dumb bet on their b/c there are so many ppl who only do return visits & spend money b/c they have the ap. I wouldn’t go multiple times a years without it.

 

[LSUmiss]

While I appreciate your desire to campaign for DVC members to be able to buy an Incredi-pass or Sorcerer pass and I acknowledge that you feel it would be just and fair for them to so do. I am sure there are dozens more behind you who automatically post a reply with this kind of argument every time one of us talks about the local guest. You were just first. Local guest bashing is near universal here and always negative, assuming they spend little and "cheat" the system somehow. Sorry, but it is a tired back-and-forth. I am talking about something new here.

I kind of think you missed my point. I am kind of trying to present a new point regarding the benefits of local guests to Disney without having to go through the "here-we-go-again" nonstop push pull over the fairness or who spends more among DVC, out-of-state etc. Not engaging in those endless arguments this time.

My point was not about the habits of non-locals or the amount of money they spend. My point is trying to look at it from Disney's perspective only! The 14 months of only selling Pixie is saying something loud and clear that Disney does favor local passholders at Walt Disney World in their matrix of guests.

Fact: Disney has only offered the Pixie Pass and only to Florida residents for the last 14 months. So, Disney must find that the local guest using a Pixie does fit their matrix as a guest they want in their mix. (That is proof, by the way, that Disney does not think Local Passholders "are the worst."

For the purposes of MY discussion I was honing in on why, from Disney's perspective, they would still encourage local passholders to buy Pixie level annual passes. After the first response, I got rid of the 2 hour commute definition and replaced it. So, your two plus hours and staying onsite is definitely not what my post was addressing. If Disney wanted to cater to those guests, they would form a different incentive consistently during those 14 months. They did not. The Florida resident specials for tickets and hotel discounts are sporadic; not consistent. So, I am looking at the true locals.

I defined a true local as a guest who came from their own home nearby for a single day or just a few hours and returned to their home after leaving the parks. NO hotels onsite or offsite, no DVC, no AirB&B, no staying with family (because that guest is from out of the area and likely to go all day successive days.) The "local passholder" is still preferred by Disney for some reasons that are of benefit to Disney. We are the market they would miss if they did not sell annual passes to locals. The true local is not likely to buy any tickets! We would wait it out. Disney can get DVC, out-of-state and people who spend money on overnight stays to buy WDW tickets if they do not have annual passes. Maybe not as many days on site or maybe not as many trips, but the loss of pure local guests did warrant keeping the Pixie passes on sale for the last 14 months -- and only that pass. So there has to be some advantage to Disney in it. The proof is that Disney did this; not somebody's opinion. (Notice, "should" "fair and just" did not enter into it.)

And I guess that’s what I don’t understand, how it can be true. I’m not concerned about fair, but I can’t see how Floridians fit the matrix better per se as far as spending. There are some places in fl that are just as close to the parks as some parts of other states. I think it might be less about the locals fitting a matrix of spending ppl & more about showing goodwill towards Floridians in exchange for other types of support. Just in case.

 

[SLThomas318]

That’s a dumb bet on their b/c there are so many ppl who only do return visits & spend money b/c they have the ap. I wouldn’t go multiple times a years without it.

Yes… this is us. We do 2-4 trips a year on an annual pass. If we didn’t have a pass we would just do 1 trip.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[Jrb1979]

That argument has also been made many, many, many times. Seriously it is like pulling a bunch of levers that automatically voice the same old arguments campaigning for Disney to open sales of APs that have been unavailable for 14 months WHILE the Pixie has been continuously for sale.

Here is the challenge. Explain the fact that DISNEY has decided to keep Pixie passes on sale. Why is that? Why does Disney see this as an advantage if all of you argue against the true local passholder. … “The locals are the worst.” “The ones who live in Orlando are another kettle of fish altogether … .” Put aside this palpable bias against locals and look for the reason Disney wants the true local guest.

IMO the keep it available cause it keeps the locals happy. For Disney it fills the low points in attendance which is weekdays.