Of the many (many many!) things that have completely changed at Disney World over the past year, one thing that’s TOTALLY different right now is Annual Passes. Remember those?!
Annual Passholder Sticker
Annual Passes haven’t been for sale since the parks closed last March HOWEVER, we just learned that Disney IS still selling Annual Passes. BUT, they’re only available for two very specific sets of guests!
When the parks closed in March 2020, it drastically changed the way Disney handled Annual Passes, allowing members to cancel and even get refunds!
Annual Passholder Pop-Up Shop
Ever since, Disney’s plan to move forward with its Annual Pass system has been up in the air.
Annual Passholder Pop-Up Shop
If you’ve been looking to purchase an Annual Pass, you’ve been on standby—until now! Well, for some of you… .
Magic Kingdom
Actually, VERY few of you!
Disney IS currently selling Annual Passes, but ONLY for kids who recently turned three with a parent who has a Pass currently and for Annual Passholders who canceled their Passes during the parks’ closure!
Passholder Shirt
Confused? Allow us to explain. We confirmed with a Cast Member all the deets, and here’s what we know:
Annual Passholder Pop-up Shop
Say you had an Annual Pass and had a little one in your house. Kids under three get into Disney World for free. After that, they need a ticket just like anyone. If you’re a family of Passholders and, over the course of time that Passes have not been for sale, your two year old had a birthday and would now would need an Annaul Pass of their own, you’d need a way to get them one. Well, you can.
Disney World Annual Passholder Magnet
If you want to buy a new child’s Annual Pass, you need to currently be an Annual Passholder yourself, and your child must have been two before the closure and three now. In other words, you’re good to go if your child turned three after March 16, 2020! This is a SUPER SPECIFIC situation that won’t affect too many guests, but still — if you have a now three year old and you’re wishing they had a Pass just like you, you can make it happen.
Tinker Bell Magnet
As long as they’re listed as the right age on My Disney Experience, you should be good to go—no birth certificates necessary!
Annual Passholder Pop-Up Shop
Annual Passes are also available for Passholders who cancelled during the closure, and have changed their minds (totally get it!). As long as your pass didn’t expire BEFORE the closures, Disney will work with you.
Animal Kingdom
For both circumstances, you need to call the general ticketing number (not the Annual Pass number), and submit info to a Cast Member who fills out a form for the ticketing team, which will then review and call you back within seven days.
Animal Kingdom Passholder Preview
We’re told that in most cases, as long as your AP was set to expire after March 16, 2020, you’ll be allowed to get a new one! This is very case-by-case and after the Cast Member you speak with sends off your info, including your type of pass, when you canceled, and a few more details, it will be reviewed to see if you qualify.
Figment Annual Passholder Magnet
One caveat: you’ll have to pay full price, NOT renewal prices. It would be like purchasing a brand new pass. Do note: Those simply renewing their Annual Passes (meaning they never canceled) will still get the 15% discount renewal rate.
Magic Kingdom
Phew! Got all that? Navigating the Annual Pass system has been a WHIRLWIND in these past month, to say the least, but it’s super exciting to see that even a (very) small amount of people can purchase them at this time!
Here’s why Disney World paused Annual Pass sales!
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
Did you cancel your Annual Pass and change your mind?? Let us know in the comments!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Carol, definitely worth looking into.
Carol – see my comment below from February 15. The passes that were canceled were DVC Platinum Passes; the newly purchased passes were DVC Platinum Passes.
“On February 5th, approximately 4 weeks from my initial inquiry, I received the call from Disney Reservations to purchase new Annual Passes. All three APs which were canceled during the shutdown were eligible for new purchase, with a DVC discount. Success! 🙂”
I renewed in early February at the parks. My Platinum DVC annual pass had been extended to February 6th due to closure. My cost to renew was $813, as Christine said above. The cast member at AK guest services told me that very few ppl were eligible to renew. We will go to WDW at least twice in the next 12 months, so it’s well worth it. The way i figure it, 11 days in the park for $813 is $73.90 per day +free photo pass and all the other perks. And we may actually be there more! Woo Hoo!
And they’re not even allowing another family member to buy a pass if another one has? My husband is an AP and I was going to buy closer to our trip last year. They should allow immediate family members of existing APs.
Any idea of when the Fast Pass will be returning? The parks are way too busy now to go. I love Disney but do not want to wait an hour for a ride.
Gina, Disney hasn’t released that info yet.
I know this is an old post, but I wanted to share my recent experience. My son turned 3 during the COVID closure, but turned 4 2 weeks ago. I called to renew our DVC Gold passes and to buy him one. Since he turned 4 now, I can’t get one for him. If I had bought it closer to when he turned 3, I could’ve, but now it’s too late. Of course, I’m sure a different CM might handle it differently- we all know how that goes haha. We’ll get him a regular ticket and see if we can upgrade it later on.
My AP expired in Dec. 2019. I let it go. Then in Feb. I called AP Guest Svcs & requested to renew. They said no. I called back in March & requested again & got a ‘maybe’, to call ticketing & ask. I called in April & they said yes, but at the full price. I didn’t ask if I could purchase a pass for my daughter too, & I wish I had. So happy to be an AP holder again, since getting park reservations are so iffy. But my daughter doesn’t have one, so it’s still hard to manage the park reservations!
Is there a way to know WHEN an article was released? I didn’t realize this was an old article. I don’t see dates anywhere on the page to show when it was written? Thanks
Kim, the dates are in the URLs.
We purchased 2 AP’s in Aug, 2019 and used them first on Sep 30, 2019. In August of 2020 we cancelled them and received a refund for the balance (extended to January of ’21). Today (5/30/21) I called Disney’s ticket services and requested to renew them. They took my name, phone and email and said someone would be calling me within 30 days to start the process of renewing them. No mention that time of cost or any other terms. I’ll update here when I hear from them.
Barry… My wait was 19 days & the AP (with a DVC discount ??? ) was about $700. …. a big increase I wasn’t expecting. Good Luck !!!!
Is this still in effect? Do you think I could get my AP back as I canceled in August 2020.
Hi Lynette, this was the scenario back in January of 2021 and the only options at this time are to either renew a pass that has recently gotten to the expiration date or buy the Florida resident Pixie Dust Pass that is for residents only and only allows admittance Monday through Friday. We have not yet received word on when Disney plans to open up sales for Annual Passes again, but we are keeping an eye on it and will update as soon as we know! I’m sorry to have been the bearer of bad news. Fingers crossed they come back soon!