Well it's time for the annual October price increase so hold on to your hats, glasses, wallets, and whatever else you have that you can't afford to lose… A base price annual pass, for everyone three and up, will now set you back a whopping $798! They might have actually just priced out my family and me.
This Excel document will reveal the current prices and benefits and includes a comparison from the previous pricing structure. https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx...=file,xlsx&app=Excel&authkey=!ACD2k9ec7ilA8_I ~Joanie
The only number I care about is the $3,249, after DVC discount, that I have to pay for my family's tickets. Couldn't care less about photopass downloads.
For me, the price still works along with the bonus of photopass. The bigger photopass question is if you can group it in with other people. I.e... If I have this pass at PixelMania (I won't, just hypothetical) can I link up everyone attending PixelMania to my band and thereby Photopass? Could be a cheaper alternative for people that utilize photopass a lot on each trip.
Essentially it is if groups of people split up and get photopass photos taken, as long as the AP holder has them linked then they will all show up under the AP holders photopass account. So when traveling with a large family or friends it works. A friend who was down there last week with some families took around 400 photopass photos. So the then $199 memory maker would have been included in their pass (if it were available at that time). But like you said, not everyone takes photopass photos, so it is an option that has to be weighed now.
Yeah, I could care less about getting photo pass for "free". That's not a benefit I want or ever have used. I wouldn't mind if they would let non-locals & non-DVC get the gold AP since that is about the same price as my current one and I don't travel during the blackout dates. At the current pricing for the Platinum AP, it's only a +\- $50 savings for me to get an AP. since I usually do a 7 day trip at Pixelmania every year. With it that close to break even I'm not sure if I will continue to get one or not. The big problem I have is that they essentially raised the AP price by 30% on me and I'm just not seeing a 30% increase in value with the parks right now.
Exactly! Well said Mike. I was thinking the other day between all the entertainment cuts, Resort rate increases and food price increases it's been a really depressing time to be a Disney parks fan. Rumor has it that they are going to suck the guts out of Star Wars Weekends next and just offer a few characters appearing at special meals that are upcharges and offer the usual 8 minute crappy fireworks show. Disney never made an effort to keep offering new attractions. All they have been doing is taking away stuff and not offering anything new or if they do offer something new it's cheap and stupid like the lumberjack show. Their construction schedule and timeline are a joke. Oh well.... it was fun while it lasted. As far as my family is concerned the next family vacation will be happening at Universal. ~Joanie
Although I did read a rumor (and it is only a rumor) on another site that the lumberjack's 1 year contract might not get renewed. But that's a discussion for another thread.
Ticket price increase sucks for sure, but can't say it impacts me one way or the other. I have no interest in the Photopass thing, so that's a waste of an inclusion for me. The renewal price for the Florida resident annual pass goes up nearly $100 so that hurts. But my total days in the parks still far outweighs the total annual pass price, since I live so close...so I can still get more than my money's worth with about 25-30 days spent in the parks each year. I am hopeful though that maybe with all the outraged Disney visitors who are now going to go to Universal, maybe the Disney parks will get a little less crowded - nothing else seems to be working as the crowds are higher and higher every time! The biggest sad aspect is if this is going to kill this forum and the Pixelmania event. With the founder not wanting to go to Disney parks anymore, and some of our key members and organizers not wanting to do anymore...do we still have a Pixelmania and TMIP/WDW360 site going forward?!
I was thinking the same thing yesterday. It would be sad for this forum and or the Pixelmania event to end.
As upset as I am with the increase and with Disney in general, I did renew. Our passes expired last month and I was not going to renew until our next trip. With this increase though, I went ahead and did renew to avoid the full price. Like Justin, I still go enough to my money's worth, especially with the current one day ticket price.
BTW - I think the new Gold level plan may be the ticket to get for anyone who previously used the regular annual pass (platinum). if the price increase is hitting you hard. I'm even thinking it may be the way to go for me. Generally, I don't like blackout passes and always avoided the old Seasonal pass because it had some blackouts right when I like to go. But the new Gold pass blacks out only two specific holiday times - Spring break in the last half of March, and Christmas in the last half of December. I never go those two times anyway - I'd venture a guess that few of you do either. If you chose that pass instead, it's only $20 higher than the previous 'annual' pass - previously $529 and which is now $649. The new Gold is $549 new for DVC/Florida residents, and $466 renewal...still has the Photopass benefit, for anyone that cares.
Unfortunately the gold pass is only available to DVC and Florida residents. The rest of us are stuck with buying length of stay passes of the Platinum AP. Otherwise, the Gold Pass would be perfect for me at least until they decide to blackout mid-Oct and early December
True - sorry for those who don't belong to either group. I was hoping it might be of some assistance to Tim at least!
