Disneyland, no the Disney Company’s decision to leave its most loyal fans, its Annual Passholders/Legacy Passholders/Magic Key Holders in the dark has created a very angry, very sad, very frustrated group of customers. Many started swearing off the resort when the AP program was discontinued but when the Magic Key program was announced, many came back. The problem right now is the information vacuum Disney has created in being its typical tight-lipped corporation has begun to make many many more people swear off the AP/MK program forever. My husband is one of them.
I am told multiple times daily about how current MKs have family or friends coming in to town and they can’t make reservations to join them. They are frustrated they’ll have to buy tickets for multiple days, that could end up being worth a pass…with no pass as the result. Every.Single.Day.
The reservation system has made a lot of people very frustrated too. Hence the lawsuit (Google it) which has a status of going forward since a judge in May ’22 said the “plaintiff has adequately pled facts supporting how a reasonable consumer may be deceived by the advertisement, which states ‘no blockout dates.’” So no matter how much people were good with the reservation system, some still thought a NO-Blockout pass would not be held to the same restrictions as other passes and certainly not be considered less than a ticket holder.
The reservation system isn't based upon capacity. It's a tool Disneyland uses to manage staffing and other things. They manipulate availability in each of the six buckets, One-Park Per Day Ticket Holders, Park Hopper Ticket Holders, and each of the four pass levels Dream, Believe, Enchant, and Imagine. Sometimes they'll open up availability just for MK Holders and other days they just give ticket holders availability. Yes, sometimes they give everyone availability at the same time but the issue here is it's manipulated as Disney sees fit.
To be honest, they really didn’t have to bring back the AP program. We know many people including the company hates all APs. They call us ‘entitled’ but my viewpoint is one of a customer who pays for a specific thing and wants that specific thing to still be the result of payment for it. If I am told I can go whenever I want, guess what? That’s what was advertised so you are damn right I want that.
Disney has created this current environment and we are in a terrible position here. The general consensus is the company screwed us and does not care. Why else would the keep us in the dark and let everyone stew in a panic over their future plans with friends and family?
They’ve lost two customers out of the three in this family. I will be the only one who will be the bearer of whatever new pass system they decide to tell us exists in the future. Hubby is too angry to renew and the boy is entering his senior year at HS and focusing on a college future.
And you? Will you renew? Or are you done with the shenanigans and being choked to death?
This is very fairly written. I appreciate that you see the company's side but also relate to the frustration of those holding magic keys. We were APs for decades...my first AP cost $59 in 1996. We stopped renewing a few years ago. For us, we did *real* math on the dates that we wanted to go and the math said to just pay for tickets instead of a magic key. It's less expensive for us to buy So Cal Tickets in combination with individual tickets with no blackouts than to buy a pass and worry about blackout days and restricted access.
Me and my spouse have been AP holders for 6 years. Was months away from renewal when the pandemic hit.
Since then we haven't renewed or hopped on the Magic Key bandwagon. Mostly due to COVID concerns.
But we also held off because even early on we could they cost did not equal the opportunity. And we appreciated the freedom of entering the park at any time.
We have been back once, for Stars Wars night last May, and felt underwhelmed.
We go to Universal now. Not close to the same. But we appreciate the cost and the freedom we get that is no longer available at Disney.
We still follow you and vloggers, to see how things change and…
We’re a family of four pass holders and will renew as soon as we’re able. We‘ve had passes for a very long time and this is what our kids enjoy doing as often as possible. We’ve gotten used to our new limitations and determined we’re happier with than without. Having no blockouts meant something different before, but we’ve adjusted and have figured out how to go when we want. Our two year old will be three in May 2023 and we’re going to ask if we can buy him a pass to lock him in. Otherwise if passes sell out we’ll have to pay for him each time until renewals become available.
I’m not sure about renewing either. 2009 was my first pass for under $500. Now it’s $1450 and reservations are not always available.
i don’t believe they want to get rid of passholders, it’s a reliable and steady source of monthly income they would be losing.
Reality is that Disney knows the money makers are the ticket holders. They come from out of town/state spending thousands for a few day trip. If passes are brought back, they will have a limited type, limited amount and will be very costly as they are going to do what they can to drive out passes/pass holders and force them to purchase tickets like everyone else. It’s obvious that Chapek is making shareholders happy with what he has done with a 3 year renewal of his contract with guaranteed yearly bonus of $20 million. He knows that whatever prices he puts hotels, tickets, merchandise and food, ticket holders continue to pay the prices.