Thinking about buying or renewing a Disney World Annual Pass?
Annual Pass
There’s been a lot of new information released lately about the updates coming to Disney World’s Annual Pass program, including price changes, new pass options, different blockout dates, and more. Right now, we’re going to break down what you’ll have to pay EXTRA for if you get one of the new Disney World Annual Passes.
First of all, let’s look quickly at what IS included in the new Annual Passes. With an Annual Pass, your park ticket to all four parks is covered, along with the ability to Park Hop (still available after 2PM each day). You get free standard theme park parking and discounts of up to 20% on Disney World dining, merchandise, and more.
Annual Pass at the Magic Kingdom
You can also make between 3 and 5 park reservations at a time (depending on which Annual Pass you get), in addition to park reservations for each day of your stay if you’re staying at a Disney World hotel.
©Disney
Now that we’ve covered the things that are included, let’s see what’s NOT included with the new Annual Passes.
PhotoPass
Under the previous program, select Annual Passes included PhotoPass downloads. Unlike the previous Annual Pass program, PhotoPass is NOT included in this new program. PhotoPass includes pictures taken by professional Disney photographers, pictures taken on attractions and rides, and digital downloads so you can keep all these photos after your trip.
Taking Guest Photos
Under Disney’s new Annual Pass program you can, however, add PhotoPass onto any Annual Pass for $99 a year, plus tax.
©Disney
If having those PhotoPass downloads is really important to you, then you’ll want to keep this additional cost in mind. But, remember that you should only need 1 member of your family to buy this PhotoPass add-on for the family to take advantage of it.
Water Parks and Sports
Previously, you could get the Platinum Plus Annual Pass, which included all four theme parks plus access to the Disney water parks, ESPN Sports Complex, and some golfing in Disney World. Now, none of these extras (the water parks, sports complex, and golfing) are available as part of a pass.
Water Slides at Blizzard Beach
Instead, you can add on the “Water Park and Sports Option” to one of the new passes, which gets you access to Disney’s Water Parks (including Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon — though Typhoon Lagoon is currently unavailable), the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, FootGolf at Disney’s Oak Trail, and two of Disney’s Miniature Golf Courses.
©Disney
Adding this to any Annual Pass costs $99 a year, plus tax. Keep in mind there are some limitations to this add-on in terms of how many rounds of mini golf you can use per day, etc. so you’ll want to read those carefully.
MagicBands
A free MagicBand used to be included with an Annual Pass, but as of August 16th, 2021, these are no longer offered for any of the passes.
MagicBands
Instead, you can use the MagicMobile service on the My Disney Experience app, buy a new MagicBand online or in the parks, or use an old MagicBand and ensure that it is linked to your tickets.
Disney Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection
If you want to use Disney’s new paid FastPass-like replacements, Disney Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection (or “pay-per-ride”), when they debut, you’ll have to buy those. As of right now, these services are NOT included in any of the Annual Pass options.
Note, however, that these are not required for park entry or to get on the rides. Instead, they’re the replacements for the once-free FastPass+ system. With Genie+, you can make reservations to go on certain rides in the parks and then skip the standby line when it’s time for your reservation. You can only make one reservation at a time throughout the day, so you must complete the first one and then you can make the next one, and so on. This service costs $15 per ticket per day in Disney World.
©Disney
Individual Attraction Selection is the system where you’ll pay individually to skip the standby lines for some of the most popular rides in Disney World. A couple of Disney World’s biggest rides (like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in EPCOT) will utilize this separate, pay-per-ride system.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
You can buy up to two of these Individual Attraction Selections per day. Disney hasn’t released the prices for these passes, but they did say that the prices will vary depending on the attraction, park, and day. Note that the rides that will use Individual Attraction Selection will not be available through the regular $15 Genie+ service. The only way you’ll be able to skip the standby lines at these popular rides will be to pay for them individually.
©Disney
And that’s a basic look at what is NOT included in the current Annual Pass options. It’s also worth noting that some of the passes Florida Residents used to be able to buy, like an EPCOT after 4PM pass or a Water Parks after 2PM pass, are also not available under the new system.
Also, there are significantly fewer options for those who are not Florida Residents when it comes to the new offerings.
©Disney
If you’re planning to visit Disney World a lot each year, the Disney World Annual Passes can be a good way to save some money. You’ll have to crunch the numbers to see if getting one makes sense for you. But, keep in mind that don’t cover all of the expenses of the vacation, so make sure you’re planning for these extras.
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It is just endless the Nickel and Dime things that they are doing to all the good times we used to have there! And so many things that used to be included in your price WERE FREE! Next it will be water and Bathrooms! Better have you magic bands or a roll of quarters ready!
My wife who is a first responder (Operating Room Nurse) and I along with our dog were there in April of this year all masked up at that time. I just wanted to surprise her and go away and relax, do the parks, dinner, etc. We have been going to the park since it opened and after 2 days we were sitting down and she said, DISNEY IS NOT THE SAME! And yes she is right and I will say to her its heading in the wrong direction Walt would not be happy at all!
OK, I recognize this is a silly question, but the wording for the Water Park and Sports option is strange. It says “adding the Water Park and Sports Option gives you ONE admission to select Walt Disney World experiences”. Are they simply indicating that each Water Park and Sports option is good for ONE person (that’s my assumption), or if you read it more simply, it implies that you can go to each of those experiences just one time. For example, you can visit Typhoon Lagoon once and then that’s it. Again, I recognize this is a silly question, but the text description is not clear. I’m assuming they mean for one person, but I’m not sure why they would even need to write that. Thanks!
Paul, it’s not silly at all; the wording is confusing. Our understanding is the same as yours: it’s good for one person to visit per day. The fine print on this with regard to mini golf says something along those lines (“one visit per Guest per day), so we think that’s what they intended for water parks, too.
Thanks Sarah! For $99, that’s actually a pretty great deal!
Paul, hopefully Disney will clarify this so we can all take a big breath of relief. But for now, we’re expecting this will be the case.
Craig, I hear you; lots of changes, and they can certainly put a damper (so to speak) on things. Unrelated, can you please pass along our thanks to your wife for her work as an Operating Room Nurse? My aunt is an OR nurse as well, and their work is so appreciated all the time — of course with an added intensity now. Best wishes to you both.
I’m not finding the rules for the golf, do you get a free game per day or discounted golf? Thank you so much! **** With the water park and sports add on.
Betty, my understanding is that it’s one round of golf per person per day if they have the add-on.