Ken Potrock personally emailed all of the Annual Passport holders today with the news - Annual Passports are no more. At least he wrote in the email that he wanted to share this email with us personally. Which is nice.
Ken, as you likely recall, took the role of President of the Disneyland Resort last May. Neither of the Anaheim parks have been open in all that time. That extended closure, begun on March 14th of 2020, is nearing its first anniversary and as a result, something needed to be done.
That something is the suspension of the entire Annual Passport program at Disneyland Resort. Tokyo Disneyland suspended its own AP program last year and for similar reasons. While this is looked at as a tragedy by some, this is actually a great solution to some of the general problems so many have complained about over the years.
First off, Disney has gotten enough flak since March regarding the existing passes. Occasional bugs in the system charged those who pay monthly at random times. Many AP holders braved long hold times to call in and request refunds during the intervening months. Most seem to have held on to those passes, awaiting the time when they could use them again. Through it all, Disney held on to money that guests could not use, kind of like a no-interest loan. This liability will no longer be a problem. Passholders get a lot of use out of their tickets! Many visit the parks on an extremely frequent basis. Complaints about people who act as if they own the parks due to their constant visits used to be frequent. Packed walkways and long waits were the norm all year long. Disney faced this huge issue in its reopening plans.
The parks at the Walt Disney World Resort currently use a park reservation system, effectively throttling the amount of people in a park on a given day. This allows more efficient staffing levels as well. The system works at the four parks of Disney World where most guests plan their trips months in advance, but would that same model work in Disneyland? So many APs pop in the parks for a few hours, catching a ride, parade, or meal.
Now we don't need to conjecture. The Annual Passport Program is "sunsetting," as that email explained. Disney will issue refunds based on how many days of use remained on each pass and how many days it was used. The calculations are explained on this page if you want to have some fun with math. Meanwhile, those passes are still good for discounts at the Disney-owned shops in Downtown Disney and on Buena Vista Street. Disneyland also rolled out a deal for 30% off select merchandise from now through February 25th.
We do not know what will happen to the program in the long term. Disney will certainly find some method to entice its fans to pay cash in advance of park trips. We may see some sort of discount club that requires annual or monthly payment. We may see discounted passes good for X number of visits in a year. And maybe we will see an expansion of that Flex Pass system. Conjecture away, folks.
In all, this is probably a wise decision for Disney to make right now. When they get the green light to reopen, they can do so at their leisure, no longer beholden to hundreds of thousands of people who have their own ideas about how the parks should be run. Looks like if we want to be there on the day the park reopens, we will have to be ready to pounce on whatever online ordering and reservation system they will implement. Get those clicking fingers limbered up because the time will come when we can return to the Happiest Place on Earth! Just not all at the same time, please.
