News DLR & WDW halt annual passholder payments

[Mr Wiggins]

USA Today: Disney World, Disneyland halt annual passholder payments during coronavirus closures

Walt Disney World and Disneyland annual passholders will see their payments refunded or waived during the remainder of the parks' closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The parks, which shut their gates March 15, are closed indefinitely as the virus plays out across the U.S.. The Walt Disney World website and app now state that people who are on monthly payment plans will see refunds for payments made March 14 through April 4.

Disney will stop charging monthly payments for passholders effective Sunday, April 5. Payments will resume on customers' regularly scheduled billing dates once the parks reopen.

Alternately, passholders on the monthly payment plan can elect to have their payments postponed beginning April 5 and resume on their billing date once the parks reopen. Postponed payments will be collected after the currently scheduled payment term is up.

Customers who paid for a year in advance can choose a partial refund or extend how long their pass is valid. New expiration dates will be updated on passholder accounts before the parks reopen, officials said.

The same rules apply to customers who hold annual passes to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

[Mr Wiggins]

Orange County Register: Disneyland halts annual passholder payments during coronavirus closure

Disneyland will halt annual pass payments for passholders who have paid for a full year and those on the monthly payment plan while the Anaheim theme park remains closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The change to the annual passholder payment policy was posted as update to the Disneyland website.

“Our annual passholders are some of our most loyal guests, and we stand ready to help during this incredibly uncertain time,” according to the Disneyland website.

Disneyland had angered passholders by continuing to charge its most die-hard fans who use the annual pass monthly payment plan and refusing to defer payments while the Anaheim theme parks remain closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy change seeks to undo the potential damage to the company’s cherished brand loyalty.

Disneyland passholders who have paid in full for their annual passes can receive a partial refund for the theme park closure period.

“Information will be provided soon on how to choose this option,” according to the Disneyland website.

Effective Sunday, April 5, Disneyland will automatically stop and waive all upcoming monthly payments while the theme parks are closed and retroactively refund payments made between March 14 and April 4.

“Payments will resume on the passholders regularly scheduled payment dates once the parks reopen,” according to the Disneyland website.

[Yamamoto364]

So you either get your money back from your previous payment or let them keep it and get the number of valid days extended out.

[Westsider]

Too late. TDA already got outclassed by Jon Storbeck's letter to Knott's passholders.

[Mr Wiggins]

Too late. TDA already got outclassed by Jon Storbeck's letter to Knott's passholders.

Yep. That sense of personal connection with the customers is typical of Jon Storbeck and Matt Ouimet -- both of whom were well-liked DLR executives who didn't fit the new Disney mold. Disney's loss, Cedar Fair's gain.

[Sun Bonnet]

I don't know why, but I haven't received any letters about closures, passes, or otherwise from Disney OR Knott's. I have annual passes to both parks.

[Eagleman]

Yep. That sense of personal connection with the customers is typical of Jon Storbeck and Matt Ouimet -- both of whom were well-liked DLR executives who didn't fit the new Disney mold. Disney's loss, Cedar Fair's gain.

New Disney - had true Caring Disney team....and they let them go
I have to agree........Jon Storbeck and Matt Ouimet is Disney's loss, Cedar Fair's gain !

[Eagleman]

Too late. TDA already got outclassed by Jon Storbeck's letter to Knott's passholders.

When it comes to the AP's...matter what theme parks..... It the right thing to do.........during this sad time!

[Crazybirdman]

They didn't have to do it, but they did.... waaaaay too late

[WaltDisney'sAlec]

I don't know why, but I haven't received any letters about closures, passes, or otherwise from Disney OR Knott's. I have annual passes to both parks.

They are communicating almost exclusively via email or their website. If you don't see anything in your email inbox, check your spam folder or verify that the email you gave was correct. I didn't get an email about this change, however, and I will elect to extend my pass when the option comes.

I don't have a Knott's pass, but I do have a Six Flags one. They all seem to be doing more than Disney is for passholders.

[Zanadros]

Just received this confusing email today.

VIEW in your browser Dear Valued Annual Passholder, This is a truly unprecedented time for all of us, and we want to thank you for your patience as we work through the many details related to the temporary closure of the theme parks. We recognize this may be a challenging time, so we wanted to share how we will assist our Annual Passholders. Effective April 5, 2020, for Annual Passholders on monthly payments, we will automatically stop and waive all upcoming monthly payments while the theme parks are closed. We will also retroactively refund payments made between March 14 through April 4, 2020. Payments will resume on the Passholder’s regularly scheduled payment dates once the parks reopen. Please note, Passport expiration dates will not be extended and Passports will expire upon their originally scheduled expiration dates. As an alternative, guests who are paying for Disneyland Resort Annual Passes using our monthly payment program may choose to have their monthly payments postponed starting with payments due April 5 through the park closure period, and then resumed on the Passholder’s regularly scheduled payment date once the parks reopen. Postponed payments will be collected in the months following the end of the Passholder’s currently scheduled payment term. The Passport expiration date will be extended due to the theme park closures to provide additional access opportunities at the end of the Passport term. Annual Passholders are some of our most loyal guests, and we stand ready to help during this incredibly uncertain time. If you have any questions, please contact Annual Passholder Member Services at (714) 781-7277. We do anticipate heavy call volume and appreciate your patience as we answer all inquiries. To ensure delivery, please add:[email protected] omto your email address book or safe list. Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored. If you wish to contact us, click here to access our online feedback form. ©Disney

[biggsworth]

I got the same email. In my case I would just rather keep paying the AP when this is all clear and extend my date. I wonder how they will allow us to select that. I really don't want to call them it should be a easy thing to send out and answer in a form. The easiest thing to do is suspend all payments which they did and at the end of this ask the AP holders do you want to resume or quit and they could let people off the hook who can't afford the AP anymore. The email above is more confusing IMO than helpful.

[Mr Wiggins]

Ten million people have filed for unemployment just in the month of March. That number is expected to skyrocket. This country -- including California -- is expecting to see the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.

At such times, it's unfortunate that Disney is being tight-fisted with its customers, who may be in desperate financial need.


LA Times: Disneyland won’t refund coronavirus tickets, but you can postpone

If you bought tickets for a Disneyland visit on a date that coincides with closures prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, don’t expect to get a refund. Instead, the Anaheim theme park is allowing ticket holders to postpone the date of their visit.

Disneyland has been closed since March 14, the longest time the park has been shut since it opened in 1955. Typically, tickets to Disneyland and/or California Adventure Park are nonrefundable and nontransferable. During the coronavirus-related closure, the theme park has issued additional ticket guidelines.

“Unused single-day tickets and wholly unused multi-day tickets are valid for a future visit through the end of their respective validity period,” the park’s website said.

The expiration date for Southern California Resident tickets will be extended by a day for each day the theme park is closed. Other rules apply to other ticket types and annual passes; check the website for details.

At the moment, ticket holders may postpone their visit to June 1 and beyond. However, that timeline could be pushed deeper into summer if stay-at-home orders have not been lifted. Blackout dates apply, depending on what ticket type you have.

Also, new ticket orders will not be shipped during the closure, the website says.

Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., which has been closed since March12, is extending any valid ticket from the date the closure ends until Dec. 15. If the ticket isn’t used by then, its value can be applied to the purchase of a future ticket.

Visitors who made reservations or have prepaid trips through June 30 at Disneyland Resort hotels and Walt Disney Travel Co. may receive a refund, cancel or change their reservation without paying a fee.

[sailor310]

Disney has a knack for euphemisms and putting meaningless words together... "provide additional access opportunities"!?

[SkunkID]

Anyone tried calling yet to see if you can choose between extending or getting a payment refund?

[SoCalUW]

Anyone tried calling yet to see if you can choose between extending or getting a payment refund?

I tried calling at 9am today and got a recording telling me call volumes were too high and to try back later.
I just tried again at 5:35pm Pacific and the recording estimates a 70 MINUTE hold....so, I hung up.
As someone said in a post above, hopefully Disney will roll out a way for passholders to opt in what they want to do with their passes. I would prefer to defer payments until the parks re-open, then resume payments and extend my pass expiration accordingly.

[Sun Bonnet]

I finally received an email today and it was the confusing one posted above. We want a refund and want to get new passes when we feel safe to return, which will not necessarily be the same time frame as the park reopening. Hopefully they provide an online option for this soon instead of everyone having to call.

[Omnitographer]

Tangentially, the website now says that Villain's Night is being rescheduled to later in the year, but you can call in if you prefer a refund. I'm sure more than a few people could use that money right now....

[Starcade]

Still waiting for them to explain how an AP holder chooses between the two options? Having to call seems a bit archaic for a decision that is binary. They could simply have a link on their website or even on the App to make this choice.

We would rather postpone our payments and have our passes extended because frankly the parks might not open until the Fall and Now and late summer are the periods which we visit the parks the most so for us simply paying for the months we seldom go and and miss the moths we go frequently just doesn't make sense to us. Plus we would rather keep our current payment price as long as possible since I would not put it past DLC to raise prices in the winter of 2021.

[SoCalUW]

Still haven't seen anything new about how to make a change to our plan, but I guess there's no big rush since it'll be a while before the Parks even re-open.