Disneyland cancels annual pass program, ending preferential treatment for super-fans
In an early glimpse of the socialist horrors that will soon become the norm in Joe Biden’s America, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Disneyland and the Disney California Adventure park are shutting down their annual pass program, which allowed hardcore Disney fans to visit the two parks as often as they wanted—depending on how much they were willing to pay. For example, The L.A. Times explains that Disney launched a “Flex Pass” in 2019 for $600 that got you in on “lower-capacity days” and allowed you to reserve entry at other times, while the “Signature Plus” version that got you in any day of the year could run as high as $1,400. It’s unclear how many people had these annual passes, but apparently it was “believed to hover around seven figures.”
As for why Disney is betraying its most dedicated fans at such a dark time, the reason is a pretty obvious one: California has forced Disneyland to remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, save for designating the parking lot as a vaccination site, and once the park’s do get the go-ahead to reopen (presumably with reduced capacity), Disney doesn’t want to have to be on the hook to guarantee entry to a select group of people just because they love Disneyland more than everybody else does. Existing annual pass holders will get refunds, as well as future food and beverage discounts and a merchandise discount from select Disneyland-adjacent stores through February 25. Once things are back to normal, which might not be for a long time, Disney is expected to institute a new annual pass program with “more flexible tiers” (which we would guess will also cost more, given how much money Disney has lost because of the pandemic).
As for Disney World in Florida, this change won’t have any impact unless you’re a “premiere” pass holder who can get into both ‘Land and ‘World. Those people will get refunds “if applicable,” but they’ll probably be fine anyway since we can only assume they own either a private jet or some kind of teleportation device.