When Disney World closed, Annual Passholders on the monthly payment plan were given the option to postpone their payments until the end of the closure.
2020 Annual Passholder Magnet
Today, some of those Annual Passholder who chose to postpone payments were unexpectedly charged for all four months of the park closures AT ONCE.
Woah, what?! Some monthly Passholders who opted into the extension (this was NOT automatic, you had to opt-in) were suddenly and without warning charged for all four of the postponed payments TODAY.
Annual Passholder email screenshot
What’s weird is that this is not the impression that Disney had presented to these Passholders. In the still available statement about the extension option, Disney says, “Postponed payments will be collected in the months following the end of the Passholder’s currently scheduled payment term.” That seems to indicate that the payments would be collected during the extended dates of the Pass.
Annual Passholder Option
This certainly came out of the left field for many people and we wanted to give you guys a heads up. We’re looking into the situation to see who all has been affected and if this is a glitch of some sort. Note that we’ve had a number of readers comment that they reached out to Disney and were told that this is a glitch they’re working on.
UPDATE: Later in the day Disney released a statement about the erroneous charge. Here’s a tweet per My News 13 reporter Ashley Carter.
Official statement from Disney World regarding today's passholder payment error:
"Passholders on the monthly payment program were incorrectly charged today. We are in the process of reversing these charges and apologize for the inconvenience this caused.” https://t.co/duXa1vCCSP
— Ashley Carter (@AshleyLCarter1) July 3, 2020
Click here to learn more about the monthly payment plan extension.
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Were you unexpectedly charged for the month in the closure? Tell us in the comments!
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Mine was charged the 4 months. I’ve been trying to call Disney but all lines are busy. Thank you for looking into this. As long as Disney extends my passes, I guess I’m okay with this, but I don’t think it’s fair to charge us for months they were closed. I’m hoping this is just a glitch. I can’t see Disney charging us during the closure.
You should make a correction, I did not opt for an extension and I still still charged.
Got hit with the old $1100 bill just a few min ago. And good luck getting ahold of anyone at Disney. All circuits are busy.
This is NOT what Disney needs right now
Yes, I was charged and my pass has not been extended.
I’m still on hold with WDW AP dept regarding this issue.
We were charged $813.64 today which amounts to 3 annual passes for 4 months.
We still have our original pass end dates, as we did not opt into extending our pass dates.
We have contacted our bank to dispute it already, as this caused our account to go into overdraft.
Like I said earlier, I am still on hold for 37 minutes so far. I was advised that I may be kept waiting 90 mins to get through to a cast member.
I understand that this is a glitch, but to happen on a hpliday weekend, leaving people high and dry really stinks.
Disney must do better!
We were totally charged nearly $700, this has to get fixed or I’m cancelling. Most people can’t even afford to have that happen
All they have to do it to put out an email to passholders or easier a press release that it was a glitch and credits will be issued.
They took this out of my account today!! And of course, they won’t answer their phone!! I was told we would not be charged at all for when the park wasn’t opened. They need to fix this glitch ASAP, or we will leave and never come to Disney again.
Yes, they charged my account for 4 months without any notice. They over drafted my account leaving my family in an awful situation. I am not awaiting a 100 minute hold time.
It happened to me!
Im not $73 short for rent! Would of been nice if we were told. If a glitch will we get it back? In may they took a payment out then refund it back a week later. Maybe??? Not happy!
We were charged for 4 months today
Seriously???? Just checked my account and got hit for the time the parks have been closed. Beyond frustrating especially with being unemployed right now, AND it’s a holiday weekend. Thanks for killing my bank account, Mickey. 😠
Yep, they did it to me as well. Couldn’t get through on the phone line, but did get someone on chat. Was explained that the AP department had a “Magical Experience” and were working on it.
Sad to say, this is the final nail in the coffin for me, it’s just not fun anymore.
Thank you AJ and the DFB Team!!!! I logged on to my bank’s online statement and immediately noticed a pending balance for WDW Annual Passholder Monthly payment for a total of exactly three months of our payment (monthly payment x 3). This is outrageous!!! Luckily I have enough to cover it (if it clears the account) but I am beyond upset about this. Just an FYI, we are annual passholders with the “Weekday Select” pass. I logged on and saw the pending charge prior to seeing your post and thought, “I need to check Instagram to see if DFB has any news regarding it” and you did!! Thank you! Also, the 1-800 number you provided isn’t working for me either. Please keep us AP updated!!
We were charged today and we were not in the group that had opted to extend our dates. It sounds like the glitch wasn’t specific to the passholders who chose that option. I would have been ok with the charge all at once if our dates had changed. But we got both the charge and no extention of dates. 🙁
I just got charged for the months the park was closed but I never opted for the extension..
I was charged for 4 months without warning. They can keep the 542$ and that means i only owe at end of July and I expire, I WILL NOT RENEW AGAIN! This was a crappy thing to do to most of these people.
This info isn’t correct. You mention that pass holders had to “opt for the extension “ and the is wasn’t automatic. Untrue. I never opted for anything. And was charged 4 months worth. I was on the monthly payment plan and never received any info on my account other than I was due a refund. Today I was hit for 4 months worth without ever making a decision on anything.
Thanks Disney. $ 1204 gone. 4 platinum plus passes x 4 months. Gonna cause the rent to bounce. Been a passholder for 20 yrs. Not renewing until we get what we pay for. I’m sure you will refund us in 9 to 12 weeks. Very disappointed.
I never opted for the extension and was charged 200+ dollars…hope they fix this soon
My pass had already expired two months ago and I still talked to them to make sure it was canceled back then. My passes don’t even show on MDE anymore. Still, I was charged today $512. Already disputed with the bank, because this is nonsense.
I also got hit for the 4 months the parks were closed. I find this to be very unfair to all of loyal annual pass holders like myself. And may I add it couldn’t of come at a worse time holiday weekend bank overdrawn they really need to get it together quickly. I am also considering canceling my annual passes because of this incident. Believe me they’re making a lot of money on interest while we wait till they refund us. And who knows how long that can take.
We are out of $550 which I needed to pay bills TODAY! I am LIVID.
They charged us, called stayed on hold for over 30 minutes only to have the call disconnected. Tried 4 other times told circuits were busy. We’re ready to cancel, will definitely not be renewing. This is a terrible way to treat loyal customers.
Yea this is pretty messed up for such a large company that had ONE JOB lol I was charged $545 this morning which is absurd! And I did call and they have a message saying they know about it and that’s it. There is no time frame though which is truly unfair to a lot of people during this time. What kills me, is, it’s all they have to do, is have the bank reverse the days auto file (ACH) which is sooooo simple. Since they knew about it they could’ve voided it already. Anyways, I really think Disney needs to give pass holders a lil something for this, this is big mistake especially when you’ve been closed for 3 months. Just saying….
You do realize, that Disney will collect interest on all the “payments” they collected, will refund back bit at a time so not a big outlay of funds all at once. But, the customer will be responsible for all fees encountered on their accounts. Business financial ploy. Not an “error”.
I was charged for I actually don’t know what! Spent hours yesterday trying to get ahold of them and call would drop 1 hour plus waiting in. It appears they charged for closed months all at once. Hopefully in your article you’ll have tips on how to figure out what happened and how to fix it!!!
I am really not liking Disney right now!! Not only did you hit my bank account for over 500.00, But I cant see what the heck I am paying for? I can’t get into Park any of them for my Birthday which we been doing last 25 yrs, Nor can I go when I want to ,No Parades,No Meet and Greet, No Characters,NO TRAM from parking lot,So can someone please tell me why i am paying for an annual pass when I cant use it when I want to, We NEVER make plans on what day to go to the park we can be at Mall and say OH lets stop my Epcot on way home , I dont like Idea searching for an open Day i can get in then have something else come up and cant go DISNEY you need other arrangements here to fix this for the MONEY you charge
I was charged, along with a $30 overdraft charge. 😕
Same thing happened to me from Disney. I was confused to see that Disney charged my bank account for past months, not current just the current month. I checked back through emails from Disney, but did not find a warning email notice that they were going to do resume payments or would charge for past months.
Universal Studios, on the other hand, sent the warning email to passholders, and Universal only charged my account for the expected one month. As much as I love, love, love all things Disney … I can’t even make a park reservation as a passholder — so am going to assume that since I can’t get to the park, I will be unable to get my passholder magnet and any other perks and goodies that Disney has for passholders. I am seriously rethinking if I want to continue being a Disney passholder for the next couple of years. It is a lot of money to spend to only get a benefit of 20% off on purchases (such as at Disney Springs).
Not happy with the Magical glitch, and not happy with not answering the phone, but if you call for reservations the call will go through way to go Disney.
Never opted for the extension and saw a charge of what is equal to 3 months. Why are we being charged for time the park’s have been closed and when parks reopen next week, we still can’t use our annual passes as intended due to now having to reserve day and park, if available on the day we want, and can not park hop. I know Disney is financially hit by the closures, but they have put many who have been financially impacted by COVID-19 in further financial hardship by now charging for passes we haven’t been able to use. Have been a faithful passholder for many years , but am strongly considering not renewing at end of my current term until things are back to a more normal state, which is to go when we want to what park we want and as many parks a day as we want.
Yes. Taken from my bank account. And I did not opt to extend my pass. How can a corporation the magnitude of Disney be so incompetent?
We were charged and we didn’t opt for the extension. We pay with our bank account, as I know many do. My issue, beyond how much was withdrawn, it putting my account in overdraft status, and it being a holiday weekend, is the total lack of communication and clarity around when payment would begin again. – I’ve seen 2 different things, and both a while ago. Nothing recent.
Is Disney covering Overdraft fees incurred because of their error?
This is NOT MAGICAL AT ALL. I am so disappointed in Disney World. They need to straighten this out. ASAP.
I was originally charged for the first month they were closed. I’ve called multiple times and still have not received any type of refund, now I was charged for all the months they were closed witch includes the month I already paid for.
I read that Disney will give partial refund for annual passholders that paid in full as an option and if you paid monthly that you can cancel your annual pass. It stated that Disney will let us know in the beginning of July on what we need to do. So far not heard from them. Is Disney still honoring what they said about the refund and cancellation? I hope so cause I don’t trust Disney right now on anything they say. lately Disney is doing a terrible job on how they are treating the annual passholders. It is hard to get reservation dates, the system doesn’t seem to work, it’s becoming more stressful and now adding four months charges at once on the credit card without any notice is terrible and so disappointing. I am very sad. I was all about Disney for years. Thank you for keeping us informed.