Walt Disney World Resort is now offering Annual Passes to members who cancelled, a huge course correction.
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Disney Implemented Changes Due to COVID-19
Along with health and safety guidelines as well as capacity controls, Disney was forced to adjust the guest experience. In addition to state-issued guidelines and best practices, Disney also ended their park hopper option for Annual Passholders, removed Fast Passes, and released limited availability to Passholders as opposed to the general public.
Disneyland in California has yet to reopen for business.
Disney Parks Have Been Struggling
Disney management commented at the end of Q3 2020 that they intended to swap local customers for those who come less frequently but spend more on a per-day basis. That plan backfired and Disney began releasing space to Annual Passholders once again.
While capacity controls stimied business, anecdotal reports from the parks show they are now consistently meeting their new capacity limitations. Despite this, Disney announced this week that they were laying off 28,000 personnel. Some cast members shared that Disney Parks management was on-site to share the regretful news.
Disney Has Re-Opened Passes to Former Passholders
Last week, some Disney World former Annual Passholders were able to reinstate their passes. This could be welcome news for Annual Passholders who may have cancelled due to a lack of availability or the new park protocols and restrictions. Florida has also announced that it is easing capacity requirements, allowing Disney to scale as the company feels comfortable. I have no doubt Disney intends to do so in a safe and responsible manner.
Conclusion
As a former Passholder, it’s nice to see a welcome back to the Happiest Place on Earth. That said, some of the restrictions that caused me to cancel my passes remain in effect. For us, the ability to Park Hop, access Fast Passes, and attend as is convenient to my family’s travel schedule os too important to make the financial commitment an Annual Pass requires.
What do you think? Is this a sign of returning to normal for Disney Parks? Does it reflect a policy change? Is it simply a gesture to welcome back previous guests?
The very last sentence of this article in the conclusion section literally makes no sense. It’s just not clearly written at all. Suggest re-writing or perhaps editing and proofreading before you hit publish
The first sentence isn’t exactly a winner either. “Along” ? Maybe “Due to”.
It gives me hope as an engineering that I can be a freelance writer as well 🙂
So Disney told their most loyal customers to get lost because they felt they could make more money from other people, then found out that they were completely wrong and figured that saying “Sorta Just Kidding” would make everything okay? That’s some seriously poor management. I expect such gigantic blunders from Marriott or American; Disney should know better.
I totally agree. It’s not worth it for me to go right now anyway. Reduced experience for full price, plus masks? No thank you. I’ll wait.
I agree they messed up thinking annual passholder were less important then the visitors and then to take away from what we agreed to with fast pass and park hopper I paid for that extra access and so with all the changes they do not meet what I agreed to and I want I demand to be allowed to cancel it’s not worth it for me. When they said that they lost my business which Disney did not value me then they don’t need my money either I can take my business elsewhere. Disney respect you took away the perks of what I paid extra for as breach of contract. So that is what I want. I did say how you treat the loyal customers matters poor choices and management and or CEO.
Original Core Values where ALL Guests are equal and special, would never consider some Guests as likely to spend more money, and therefore the priority.
It may look good on paper projections sitting behind the desk with calculator in hand, but things do not work that way when dealing with live people.
It is important to live the dreams, on the front line, in order to be more then a Corporate Park.
One blessing as a result of Covid 19, is that we can take a look at ourselves, and make corrections where required.