Disneyland annual passholders accustomed to VIP treatment will miss out on the biggest perk of them all: Priority access to purchase theme park tickets and make advance reservations for the reopening of Disney’s Anaheim theme parks after a yearlong coronavirus closure.
After blaming the death of the four decade-old annual pass program on the COVID-19 pandemic and promising to shower love on former annual passholders, Disneyland has left some members of its most loyal fan base feeling forgotten when it comes to advance reservations and ticket sales for the April 30 reopening of the parks.
SEE ALSO: Disneyland considers dedicated entrance for annual passholders
Instead of VIP treatment, APs have been left out in the cold like John Q. Public. Talk about a bad break up.
“Wow, what a terrible day to be a Disneyland passholder,” All Ears theme park park blogger Carly Terzigni wrote on Twitter following the Disneyland announcement.
Advance reservations for the limited-capacity reopening of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will be available to visitors with previously purchased tickets on Monday, April 12. Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 15. Disneyland announced no priority access for passholders to buy tickets and make reservations or any AP preview days as the park has done with other special events and grand openings.
The Disneyland resort appreciates the loyalty of Legacy Passholders and looks forward to creating special opportunities for them once the parks reopen, according to Disney officials.
Disneyland is working on creating a special Legacy Passholder location after the parks reopen.
SEE ALSO: Disneyland annual pass program reset would be ‘heresy’ before pandemic, Disney CEO says
The priority ticket access policy left passholders feeling like they just got left off the guest list of the “Light at the End of the Tunnel” party. Did the invitation get lost in the mail?
“Why create a Legacy Passholder program if you have no intention of providing any sort of benefit or perk,” Disneyland passholder Alysha Lorraine wrote on Twitter.
If 2020 wasn’t bad enough for Disneyland passholders, 2021 just keeps getting worse. Disneyland killed the annual pass program and announced plans to launch a new membership program in January after the parks were closed by the COVID-19 pandemic for most of 2020. Now annual passholders will have to get in a virtual line with the general public behind visitors with unused tickets — something APs essentially had before Disneyland ended the program.
Once Disneyland and DCA finally reopen, passholders may not be able to get into the parks for weeks and even months depending on how quickly tickets sell out.
“This makes no sense. Like at all,” wrote @ethermac on Twitter. “Legacy passholders get no type of early access for tickets? Like nothing at all?”
In January, Disneyland bestowed the title of “legacy passholder” on those who had active annual passes when the parks closed in March 2020 and promised plenty of upcoming perks and surprises.
“Legacy Passholder apparently get no benefit as we no longer have ‘valid’ tickets since they canceled our passes,” Disney fan @erinshay wrote on Twitter. “I feel like CA residents should get some sort of ‘preview’ like Universal did with their passholders.”
Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Legoland California all offered priority access to passholders and held “welcome back” preview days for them as a special thank you for sticking with them throughout the pandemic.
SEE ALSO: Disneyland reveals new annual pass options in passholder surveys
So far, Disneyland legacy passholder perks have included “WandaVision” photo opportunities, free refrigerator magnets and shopping and dining discounts. But not priority access ahead of those with unused tickets and the general public — something Disney World annual passholders got.
Walt Disney World — which did not end its annual pass program — offered passholders priority access to make advance reservations when Disney’s four Florida theme parks reopened at reduced capacity last summer following an extended coronavirus closure.
Disney World visitors with existing hotel and theme park ticket combo packages had access to a new reservation system beginning on June 22. Disney World annual passholders could make reservations beginning June 26. Those with existing Disney World tickets that went unused due to the coronavirus closures had access to the reservation system on June 28.
SEE ALSO: Why Disneyland killed its annual pass program
Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock said passholders are the park’s “most important fans.”
“Disneyland is in the DNA of people here in Southern California and well beyond,” Potrock said in January during an interview with reporters. “It’s incredibly important that we recognize this group as our biggest fans, our most important fans and a group that we want to make sure we are putting our arms around and really showing them love.”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said long-distance travelers that book multiple-night stays and spend more in Disney parks are “more valuable” than annual passholders.
“Typically someone who travels and stays for five days to seven days is marginally more valuable to the business than someone who comes in on an annual pass and stays a day or two and consumes less merchandise and food and beverage,” Chapek said in August during an earnings call.
SEE ALSO: Disneyland’s annual passholders accounted for half of attendance, analysts say
Disneyland officials won’t say how many people had annual passes, but theme park industry observers estimate the number to be 1 million.
“Disneyland got rid of APs specifically because the pent-up demand of 1,000,000 passholders would monopolize the reopened parks’ reservation system for months,” Park Lore theme park blogger Brian Krosnick wrote on Twitter. “Of course Legacy Passholders don’t get priority. That’s sort of the point of getting rid of the AP program.”
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