Disney Is Doing Away With Its Annual Passholder Program
For years, Disney has offered an annual passholder program, which was very convenient for anyone who lived near the parks, or even people who were willing to take multiple trips within a year. It has been estimated that about a million people on average took advantage of the annual passholder program. However, the COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult for this sort of thing to remain the norm. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure had to be closed for nearly a year. As such, it may come as no surprise that Disney has ended the annual passholder program in California. This happened first with Tokyo Disneyland last October, but now it has extended to the California parks.
According to Los Angeles Times, the announcement was made by Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock to reporters on Thursday of last week. The annual passholder program will at some point be replaced by new membership options, though Potrock did not disclose a timeline for when to expect these options to be ready for people. After all, the pandemic has made it difficult to predict when exactly just about anything may become available in a safe manner.
With the end of the program, however, people will be able to get refunds if they paid for days beyond the closing of the parks March 14 of last year. Current passholders who go to Downtown Disney can, however, get 30% off on select merchandise from some of the stores on Mondays through Thursdays until February 25. The Walt Disney Company has its sights set on operating the parks at a decreased capacity with reservations only once California allows them to operate again. For some people, this may mean facing a change in which it is not as easy being a priority attendee. Things are not expected to go back to normal attendance for quite a while. In order for the annual passholder program to return, the pandemic would need to have receded long enough before the parks operate at full capacity like before. Florida's Walt Disney World resort will not be affected by the new changes that have come to light.
Potrock added the following:
“A nice part of this is creating a variety of different ways for people to access the park. If they want to come every single day, do we have a program that allows them do that? If they want to come midweek, do we have a program that allows them to do that?”
Disneyland's reopening is projected to be sometime several months from now, but anything can happen. It all depends on how well people handle the pandemic and safety. Some of the vaccinations rolling out will actually take place in one of Disneyland's parking lots. It was recently set up as Orange County's first significant vaccination site.
These times have been sometimes uncertain, and certainly a blow to Disney fans who have looked forward to visiting and revisiting these parks. But again, safety comes first.
Source(s): Los Angeles Times