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At the end of Disney’s Quarter 3 financial call yesterday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek chimed in to discuss the differences between Passholders and ticketed guests. Read on to see what he said in context.
As you probably know, Disney held their Quarter 3 financial call yesterday afternoon. CEO Bob Chapek and CFO Christine McCarthy both presented information and then took questions from various financial institution representatives.
At the end of the call, Chapek was asked about the parks under-performing upon reopening. He made a comment about the relative value of Annual Passholders.
His comment has been circulating through social media and left a bad taste in the mouths of Disney’s most loyal guests.
Chapek’s Quote in Context
Chapek was aiming to clarify that the less-than-expected performance of the reopened parks was not due to offering discounts. Instead, the parks have been suffering from a “disruption in travel patterns“.
With fewer out-of-state guests flocking to Florida to visit the parks, the proportion of local Passholders visiting the parks right now is much higher than usual.
Chapek stated matter-of-factly that Annual Passholders do not bring as much value to the company in terms of revenue. Chapek compared them to guests who come from out-of-state and stay for a week in a Disney resort.
“As you know, different guests, depending on where they are coming from, have different relative values in terms of their contribution as a guest to the park. Typically someone who travels and stays for 5-7 days is marginally more valuable to the business than someone who comes in on an annual pass and stays a day or two and consumes less merchandise and food and beverage.”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek, August 4, 2020
So, Chapek didn’t explicitly state that Passholders are not valuable to the company. He implied that the company doesn’t make as much money when the parks are filled with passholders.
According to the call, the Orlando parks are currently about half out of state visitors and half local visitors. This is outside the norm for Walt Disney World.
Increasing Revenue From Passholders
Hopefully, Chapek and the parks division will start to think creatively about getting passholders and locals to spend more money inside the parks.
The current 30% discount on merchandise is a good start, and the Passholder resort rates for early fall are enticing!
I (Rebecca) am hoping to see more food and beverage discounts soon. For the 45th anniversary, Passholders even received a discount on even quick service food options!
Another way to increase revenue with the Annual Passholder set? Passholder exclusive merchandise, snacks and menu items! Exclusive Passholder experiences, like tours, would also sell well.
Offering Passholder exclusive items and experiences conveys that Passholders are appreciated by the company.
Passholders Feel Taken For Granted
Many Annual Passholders feel like they are getting a raw deal from the Walt Disney Company. The Annual Passes we purchased prior to the pandemic don’t have the same value today as they did in January.
The main issues for Passholders are the loss of park hopping and the need for park reservations. Without a resort stay, Passholders are limited to booking 3 days in the parks at a time. And parks keep “selling out” for the Passholder category.
I have seen numerous comments in our Facebook group, Kenny the Pirate Crew, talking about feeling taken for granted as Passholders. Chapek’s comment, while tecnically accurate, stung a little.
Final Thoughts as a Passholder
When the park pass reservation system was announced, like many Passholders I felt a bit swindled. After all, I purchased a pass without blockout dates and now my pass can be blocked out if the park reservations are full.
However, as someone who stays in Disney resorts when using my pass, I have been minimally affected. Other Passholders are local or use outside accommodations when they visit.
REminder: You Can Cancel your Annual Pass Until August 11, 2020 for a partial refund.
Personally, I buy annual passes because I love to come and go as I please and to visit parks on my arrival and departure days without feeling like I wasted a ticket.
Until the pandemic hit, I always felt valued as an Annual Passholder and loved all the little perks they offer from magnets to discounts to special merchandise.
It’s really in the last few months that I’ve started to feel like they think I’ll stick around no matter what they do.
Here’s hoping that the Walt Disney Company soon sees that they shouldn’t take Passholders for granted. We may be their “most loyal” customers, but we don’t wish to be seen as guests who will keep coming no matter what.
Are you an Annual Passholder? How are you feeling in terms of Disney valuing your loyalty at this time? Sound off in the comments on Facebook and in our Facebook group!
Share the love!
RW
Friday 22nd of January 2021
Guess what park is an extra 15 min drive from Disney? Yep Universal. And guess what park is a 30 min drive. Yep Busch Gardens/Adventure Island. So we will see what changes Disney decides on because frankly I can get an annual pass to Universal and Busch Gardens for almost the same price as my Disney pass. I'm sure both of those businesses would be happy to have my money.
Deborah Mrozowski
Sunday 30th of August 2020
My husband and I are also out of state passholders. We went in July 2019 and October 2019. We had also booked a week in May 2020. We don't stay on property. We currently are booked for October 2-9. Our adult son planned on going with us in May so we purchased a 5-day parkhopper ticket. We can no longer park hop. We were able to book 5 days in the park for our son but we could only book 3 days. So now in addition to losing the parkhopper feature, my son will lose 2 days in the park because he doesn't want to go into the park alone, since we annual passholders are being punished by only being able to book 3 days. I can see limiting annual passes for local people, but we live 1200 miles away and our passes will now expire in December. This trip in October is our only opportunity to use the passes before they expire. We had planned on spending time in Epcot for the food and wine festival, but I guess we will spend our money at Universal instead.
Suzanne Smithwick
Sunday 30th of August 2020
This is our first year to buy annual passes. We live out of state and wanted to come 3 times this year, for anniversary, birthdays and a holiday. Because none of those happened before COVID getting a partial refund would mean we spent money and got nothing for what we spent so we chose not to do that. Because my job is education related I can't go just any time of year. My days are now even more limited and I can't use the features I paid for- park hopping and water parks. I really get angry when I see the message for the annual passholders on the website telling me you can't get everything you've paid for. I don't see us ever buying another annual pass. Had I gotten a refund for the days these features weren't available I might look at things differently. But clearly my passholder renewal money and being an out of state passholder who would have use the food and resort and liked to buy pins especially, isn't enough for Disney for them to see my value.
Mickeychicky
Thursday 13th of August 2020
Nice to know.....glad we canceled our passes and got refunds. My hard earned money will go somewhere else it's appreciated!
Noel
Sunday 9th of August 2020
We are so disappointed with Disney! They have totally dropped the ball with Annual Passholders. Without the entertainment, the food we are used to, no park hopper, etc. we opted out, but did try to get a reservation in before the cancellation of the 12 of August: IMPOSSIBLE! We called about that and they said we had to make a reservation at a hotel to get in! The nerve! And if you look at their new reservation system, there is nothing available for annual passholders, but there is for those buying new tickets and those with a Disney Resort reservation. They could care less about Annual Passholders! This leaves a bad taste about spending on an annual pass for 4 in the near future. Universal here we come!