Earlier this year, Disney World Annual Passholders were given the option to cancel their passes in exchange for a partial refund.
Chef Remy Magnet
When the Disney World parks reopened, there were a number of health and safety changes implemented that impact the guest experience. Some of these changes include the temporary pause on parades, fireworks, and character meet-and-greets, lack of park hopping, and the need to obtain a Disney Park Pass reservation to enter.
And for Annual Passholders, snagging a Disney Park Pass reservation might not be an easy feat. There is separate park availability for Disney World hotel guests, regular ticket holders, and Annual Passholders, and we’ve regularly seen availability fill up quickly for APs.
Annual Passholder Availability for August © Disney
Disney has extended the expiration date on Annual Passes to account for the park closure and offered an additional one-month extension to account for the Disney Park Pass availability issue. But even so, there are a number of other circumstances that could impact the value (or lack thereof) of being an Annual Passholder right now — and some of these situations, such as issues with travel between certain states or countries, are out of Disney’s control.
MMRR Annual Passholder MagicBand
So, with all of the unusual circumstances surrounding the Disney parks — plus the fact that most Annual Pass options will set the owner back some seriously big bucks — we were curious to see how many Annual Passholders would opt to cancel their passes for the partial refund. And now that the cancellation deadline has passed, we reached out to our Instagram followers to ask, “Did you cancel your Annual Pass?”
Of the 314 responses we received in the first 40 minutes, 93 said YES they did cancel their Annual Pass and 221 said NO they didn’t cancel their Annual Pass. Here’s a visual breakdown of the results!
Pie Chart of Our Readers’ Responses When Asked If They Canceled Their Annual Pass
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons our readers gave behind their decisions!
“Yes, I did cancel my Disney World Annual Pass.”
Of the responses we received, 30% did choose to cancel their Annual Pass. Some mentioned the uncertainty of when they would be able to visit as the driving factor for their decision. “Yes, unfortunately! But we will get it again once it’s safe to go whenever!”
Animal Kingdom Entrance
Others mentioned the difficulty of traveling in the current environment. “Yes. We live out of state so it’s not worth it.”
And some Annual Passholders aren’t even able to travel to Disney World at all right now. “Yes. I’m a Canadian citizen and can’t enter the US, so it didn’t make sense to keep it.”
Walt Disney World Resort Entrance
For some, there were a variety of factors that led to their decision to cancel. “Yes. I live with a high-risk person. Also [there’s] no park hopping.”
We asked our readers if they would take their kids to Disney World right now. Here’s what they said.
“No, I didn’t cancel my Disney World Annual Pass.”
Making up the majority, 70% of respondents chose not to cancel their Annual Pass. Many people in this group mentioned that they live close to Disney World, which made their decision easier. “No, but if we weren’t locals we would have.”
EPCOT
But some out-of-state Passholders are still hopeful that they’ll be able to visit enough to make keeping their passes worth it. “No, tough call though. We’re out of state. Hopeful for a few trips before it expires in June.”
Sunset Boulevard
And others who don’t visit the parks as frequently mentioned that they weren’t so bothered by the Disney Park Pass restrictions. “Nope. We usually only go once a month. So it’s not a big deal that we can’t go every day.”
Magic Kingdom
Even some who did decide to keep their passes mentioned that they aren’t 100% sold on their choice. “No, but still not completely happy with what I’m getting right now for the price.”
We asked our readers if Disney face characters should be wearing masks. This is what they said.
So, while almost a third of our readers who responded did decide to cancel their Annual Passes, the majority have decided to stick it out and keep them. While we’re glad to see Disney has taken some steps to thank their Annual Passholders with a new magnet and limited-time discounts, we’ll be interested to see how Disney Park Pass availability evolves as the holidays approach. After all, 50% of Disney World’s guests right now are locals — and the majority of those are likely Annual Passholders.
We asked our readers what it would take for them to feel safe visiting Disney World again. Here’s what they said.
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Did you choose to cancel or keep your Disney World Annual Pass? Let us know in the comments!
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We just went for what was supposed to be an 8 day trip cut down to 6 days because of how packed and dangerous the parks were. We canceled passholder after that experience.
My husband is letting his expire. Mine is good until Oct, and I am on the fence. It is a lot of money, but honestly my Gold renewal is about the same price as a 5 or 6 day base ticket, so it makes sense to renew, esp before they raise prices again.
too much hassle to try to coordinate a room, a Park reservation and then worry about whether the weather is going to be good. Not being able to park hop is also a bummer. I doubt that we will renew our annual passes when they come due.
Curious where dfb “asks” readers questions because I would like to respond sometime. Never know about the questions until they are posted in an article.
Keeping ours. Have been a few times since they reopened and it’s so nice to see it so EMPTY. If only it would stay that way!
Well, if you have a room reservation you don’t need to worry about getting into a park. And Weather is always rainy in summer. So those are just excuses.
So you can’t park hop? You just need to think about where you want to goo each day.
And the money issue? I go about every other month for 2 or 3 days. That’s about 20-24 days. I pay less than $40 a day. For Disneyworld. Your mileage may vary.
I paid for yearly Disney pass in full just before everything closed down. Called to cancel because of medical issues didn’t use at all would like full refund- never recieved confirmation of cancellation.
We are definitely not cancelling our annual pass. We live out of state and are coming down soon. We can’t wait!
An interesting question…but both my wife and I cancelled our annual passes. We are DVC and Florida resident and while we do not ride most of the attractions, we love to go in, walk around, have a snack or a cocktail or go to dinner inside the parks. When the dust settles from all of the issues at hand, I would expect that annual pass prices to come down to attract more guests locally to keep the restaurants full. I predict that it will be some time before the parks get back to pre-pandemic attendance levels, some say 2-3 years if it ever comes back. There will be deals coming I am sure….
We let out pass expire. Will not renew or return to Disney until mask are no longer required.
My family of four is keeping our Silver passes. We’ve had them for 20 years and so we get a nice discount. If we dropped them they’d be more expensive later. We live in Florida. We took our usual January and March trips before closing and NEVER go in the summer heat so we’re not missing anything yet. With the extra months added for quarantine and such, our passes have been extended by 6 months so we figure that’s good deal 🙂
I actually purchased an Annual Pass on line right before the parks closed! I don’t live in Florida so I never got a chance to activate my AP in the parks. I could have gotten a full refund for it, but decided to hold on to it. I was hoping to make it to Disney World this November, but without a vaccine I won’t go and I would probably push my trip into Spring 2021. We’ll see what happens.
I agree with Beth (above): “Gold renewal is about the same price as a 5 or 6 day base ticket, so it makes sense to renew, esp before they raise prices again. “
Annual Passholders given a 3 day window for park passes, is very unfair. I think you should be able to get the park passes for each day of reservation. Ticket purchasers can book for each day of passes. Also, all parks are not available Annual Passholders, but are for ticket purchasers. Will not renew annual passes
I have a trip scheduled for July but can’t buy a DVC annual pass now. Was told that they may go on sale later but concerned that Disney will increase the price significantly to make up for lost revenue.
Nelda, if you have a Disney Resort reservation and an AP, you can make Disney Park Pass reservations for the duration of your Resort stay. But otherwise, you’re right: you only get three DPP at a time.
Pris, hi! Generally, we post questions on Instagram and/or Facebook.
what is the price fora annual ticket for animal kingdom for a florida resident
Stephen, when they were available, the Florida Resident Platinum Plus Annual Pass was $999 before taxes.