Disney World’s Most Loyal Guests Are Feeling ‘Cheated’ By Pandemic Changes

Walt Disney World’s most passionate patrons are feeling slighted. After the Orlando, Florida, resort reopened its doors in July following a nearly four-month closure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, attempts from the company’s annual passholders to return to “the most magical place on earth” has proved anything but.

Annual passholders, who pay upwards of $1,295 per year for the privilege of close to unlimited access to the company’s world-class theme parks, are facing a series of battles following the park reopening. The Orlando Sentinel reports that guests are having issues making advanced dining reservations, facing long lines at guest service counters, and confusion over partial pass refunds due to weeks of no park access.

The latter, notes the outlet, has resulted in three separate lawsuits after Disney “mistakenly” charged customers lump fees for their annual passes during a time when the parks were shuttered.

Visiting the parks freely, one of the many perks to being an annual passholder, has also become a challenge. Due to Disney’s attempt to control its crowds in an effort to decrease the spread of COVID-19, passholders are no longer allowed to “hop” between the resort’s four theme parks and two water parks, the latter of which have yet to reopen its doors. Spontaneous visits are also a forbidden luxury as guests must now pre-plan their trips via the new Disney Park Pass system.

“For the most part, it’s right for them to feel cheated. They paid for something and aren’t getting it,” Rick Munarriz, a reporter for The Motley Fool and a Disney annual passholder, told the outlet.

“Disney is keeping a very tight leash on how many people they are letting through the turnstiles. It’s a very brutal business call that Disney is making, but it’s one that’s understandable if you take three steps back and take off the Mouse ears and look at … supply and demand.”

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At press time, annual passholders were blocked from accessing any of the four open parks until Aug. 24. The current reservations page shows only Epcot access is available for the month of August. Sept. 14 is the next day annual passholders can reserve access to their choice of the four theme parks. Disney resort guests and ticketed day guests, meanwhile, are shown availability for every day of August at all parks.

For Disney’s part, their website does have a disclaimer that for the time being, annual passholders may find it difficult to secure park reservations on certain dates due to the significantly limited capacity.

In a statement, Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said that annual passholders and their loyalty are important. “...We want them to know how much we appreciate them,” she said. “We are offering passholders multiple options on how to manage their passes as we all adjust to these unprecedented times.”