After more than three months of interruption, the time to rethink its offer, the Disneyland Paris park announced on Tuesday the return of its annual subscriptions, known as the Disney Pass. Expected, the increase in prices and the loss of certain advantages had the effect of a real cold shower for the followers of the Marne-la-Vallée park. These new formulas will initially only be offered to visitors who are already subscribers or are in the process of renewing their pass, from July 19. But they do not only make people happy and some are now thinking of giving them up.
Concretely, three annual pass offers are now available: bronze, silver and gold. They replace the four old ranges named Discovery, Magix Flex, Magic Plus, and Infinity. The cheapest offer, the Disneyland Pass Bronze, replaces the Annual Discovery Pass. However, the price increases by 26%, from 229 euros per year to 289 euros.
If the old version gave access to the park for 150 days per year, against 170 days for the new one, the difference also concerns the period accessible to pass holders. Indeed, Disneyland Paris says subscribers will now have “unlimited access” to the park, since the old system imposed quotas that restricted members’ access to the park for much of the year. Holders will now be able to go to Disneyland Paris “all the days of validity indicated in the access calendar for each type of Pass and until the capacity of the Parks is reached”. More generally, Disneyland Paris indicates that this change is essential, in particular in the face of complaints from subscribers linked to the regular changes in calendars depending on the number of visitors.
Despite this broader annual calendar for those who have the annual pass, the soaring prices arouse the anger of members. The Disneyland pass silver, which maintains access to the park for 300 days a year, will be offered at the price of 499 euros per year against 319 euros for the old Magic Flex annual pass. Regarding the most upscale offer, which replaces the annual “Infinity” pass in favor of the Disneyland gold pass, this will still offer access to the park all year round, but for the sum of 699 euros per year against 499 euro previously. A jump of 40%.
Another source of annoyance for subscribers, the introduction of this new range also marks the end of benefits for holders of the annual pass. Indeed, the free rental of strollers, wheelchairs, lockers and kennels will no longer be offered. It’s also the end of VIP parking, dedicated to holders of the old annual Infinity pass: members will still be able to benefit from the standard Disney parking free of charge. The 20% reduction applicable to Park admission tickets for those in possession of a Magic Flex, Magic Plus or Infinity annual pass will also no longer be valid. In its message to subscribers, Disneyland Paris explains that “certain services that were offered to you free of charge in addition to your benefits (…) will no longer be accessible from July 19, 2023 and the VIP areas from July 1. August 2023”.
On social networks, these announcements generated many messages from angry Internet users. “We are treated like fat pigeons. Stop!”, An indignant message, whose author claims to have had an annual pass for “11 years”. “700 euros the Disneyland annual pass? Seven hundred euros?”, wondered another, on Twitter. “The Infinity pass changes its name […] and becomes the Gold pass (synonymous with gold) … And that’s right, it becomes as expensive as gold”, annoys a woman, on Facebook. A petition signed by more than 4,100 people also emerged on Change.org. Entitled “No to the new annual pass range”, it accuses the management of the park of “the policy of the ostrich”. “Walt Disney believed that everyone could dream and experience Disney magic. Do you think that with annual passes at 700 euros and such “benefits”, everyone can experience the magic of Disney?”, the text pretends to wonder. For their part, some point out that the prices of Disneyland Paris remain, despite everything, clearly below the offer offered in the United States, with a price that can reach 1600 dollars per year.
For its part, the park explains that it “listened carefully” to the comments of its visitors to build its offer. Thus, these few months of interruption served in particular to “prioritize” what visitors “appreciate the most”, according to the management press release. Disneyland Paris wanted to further digitize its offer and offer a “digital approach”. You will therefore have to subscribe to the Disneyland Pass online in order to be able to access it on your smartphone. However, it “will always be possible to use your annual pass in the form of a physical card”.
From July 19, the Disneyland Passes, only accessible to current members, will be launched “gradually”: a decision by the park which first wishes to assess the reception of members to this new offer, before possibly making it available. to all visitors. It remains to be seen whether the anger of subscribers will subside.
