An annual pass is your ticket to the magic. Disney paused annual pass sales on both coasts during the pandemic. The closure, then uncertainty and need to minimize the number of guests in the parks caused this to happen. Park reservations were also an addition of this time. This helped manage crowds but added an obstacle to visit the theme parks. Time passed and many things are back to normal. So can you buy a Disney annual pass in 2024? What’s different than in the past is that we now know sales for one or more pass types could pause at any time.
Disney World resumed all annual pass sales on Thursday April 20th, 2023. All passes have remained available for purchase since then. Eligible DVC Members were given early access to buy the Disney Sorcerer Pass online beginning Thursday April 13th, 2023. In 2024, annual passholders still need park reservations to visit on certain days. Learn about that and good to go days below. Read on for prices and details of the Disney annual pass 2024.
Can You Buy a Disney Annual Pass 2024
Can you even buy a 2024 Disney annual pass right now? Yes! But which kind of pass you can buy depends on where you live and when you want to visit. All annual passes are available on the Disney World site and have been for nearly a year. There are some great benefits for Florida residents including access to some special annual passes listed below.
DVC Members also have access to the Disney Sorcerer Pass. It is only available for them and Florida residents. In a letter to Disney Vacation Club Members, Bill Diercksen, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Disney Vacation Club and Aulani, shares. “The DVC Disney Sorcerer Pass is expected to be on sale more often throughout the year, even when the pass is not broadly available for sale to Florida Residents.”
Are Disney annual passes available all the time now?
When the Disney annual pass became available at Disney World again, it seemed like they could sell out quickly. They did not and have remained for sale since. It seems like we should always be able to purchase an annual pass at Disney World again. It’s very different than at Disneyland where the majority of visitors are local and many are annual passholders. Disneyland annual passes go on sale, reach the unknown limit Disney implements and sell out in the same day. It’s been this way for years now.
At Disney World, most of the guests are vacationers enjoying the full experience, staying at hotels and such. While some may be annual passholders, it’s believed that a much smaller percentage of Disney World visitors have a Disney annual pass. However, those APs, as they’re sometimes called, provide a consistent income stream. With four parks there is a large capacity for visitors at Disney World. It makes sense for annual passes to always be on sale so Disney can do their best to welcome as many guests as possible.
Post pandemic, Disney continues to use the park reservation system. Instead of as a public health tool, it’s now used to maximize profits. Disney took a blanket approach to all of the domestic parks, aiming to limit annual passes and also use park reservations to cater to less frequent visitors they see to be higher spending guests. This may be beneficial at Disneyland but it’s not a good fit for Walt Disney World Resort. The two resort destinations are so different in visitor type and capacity and should each have a tailored approach to serving guests.
Can you upgrade a Disney Annual Pass?
A frustration for some has been that they were unable to upgrade their annual pass after purchasing. There used to be great flexibility in the type of pass you could buy, when you could buy it and changing it to a more expensive pass. Disney now says the following about renewals when the passes are for sale:
“Passholders may choose to renew into any available pass type during their renewal window (60 days before and 30 days after expiration) with a special renewal benefit.
Beginning April 20, 2023, existing Walt Disney World Annual Passholders will have the option to upgrade their Annual Pass into any available pass type outside of their renewal window on our website or via the My Disney Experience app. The difference in price must be paid in full at the time of the upgrade and the new pass will have the same expiration date as the original pass.“
2024 Walt Disney World Annual Pass Types
In 2024, Disney is operating with a new, post pandemic annual pass system. Note that the Disneyland version is completely different. Now the Disney World annual pass types are as follows, accompanied by their official descriptions:
Disney Incredi Pass $1449 (up from $1399 in 2023)
Admission to one or more Walt Disney World Resort theme parks during the year with an advance reservation
This pass can hold up to 5 reservations at a time on a rolling basis
No blockout dates apply
Standard theme park parking
Save on select dining
Up to 20% off select merchandise in store
Disney Sorcerer Pass $999 (up from $969 in 2023)
Florida Residents and Disney Vacation Club Members Only
Admission to one or more Walt Disney World Resort theme parks during most times of the year with an advance park reservation
This pass can hold up to 5 reservations at a time on a rolling basis
Blockout dates, on select days during select holiday periods
Standard theme park parking
Save on select dining
Up to 20% off select merchandise in store
Disney Pirate Pass $799 (up from $749 in 2023)
Florida Residents Only
Admission to one or more Walt Disney World Resort theme parks during most times of the year with an advance park reservation
This pass can hold up to 4 reservations at a time on a rolling basis
Blockout dates apply, including peak and holiday periods
Standard theme park parking
Save on select dining
Up to 20% off select merchandise in store
Disney Pixie Dust Pass $439 (up from $399 in 2023)
Florida Residents Only
Admission to one or more Walt Disney World Resort theme parks Mondays through Fridays during certain times of the year with an advance park reservation
This pass can hold up to 3 reservations at a time on a rolling basis
Blockout dates apply, including peak and holiday periods
Standard theme park parking
Save on select dining
Up to 20% off select merchandise in store
Disney Annual Pass Water Park Add On
The water park and sports add on is $99. This includes Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park options. Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, FootGolf at Disney’s Oak Trail, Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course, Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex are also part of this add on. There are some restrictions like for mini golf you can enjoy one round prior to 4:00 p.m.
Disney Annual Pass Photo Pass Add On
The Disney PhotoPass add on is $99. Years ago, Disney justified raising the price of an annual pass by providing free PhotoPass photos to passholders. Fast forward to today and prices have gone up on passes again and the option to get PhotoPass photos is now an additional cost. It does include downloads for the duration of your pass. With so many PhotoPass photographers and on ride photos, this is a nice way to capture your memories.
Do passholders need park reservations in 2024?
Josh D’Amaro, who leads the parks division of the company, has been straight forward about guests feedback regarding value. In 2023, Disney took some actions to try to add more perceived value to their experiences. This includes a big change for annual passholders. As of April 18th, 2023, annual passholders can enter the parks without a park pass reservation after 2:00 p.m. with some restrictions. This rule does not apply to Magic Kingdom on the weekends. Passholders will still need a reservation to enjoy Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays.
In 2024, guests with other ticket types no longer need park reservations but annual passholders still do. Unless it’s a good to go day. More on that in a minute. Even though all day park hopping is back, pass holders still have to make a reservation and check into their first park before park hopping. However, the spontaneity is a big draw for having an annual pass. You used to be able to just pick up and go. I believe that is the model that best serves Disney guests and would love to see it return. When you have an annual pass, especially one with no block out dates, you’ve already purchased your ticket for every day of the year you want to go. Disney should be able to accommodate that.
What are good to go days at Disney World?
In January of 2024, Disney World introduced good to go days for annual passholders. This is a day on the annual pass calendar when passholders do not need to make a park pass reservation. Once a day is good to go, it will not change back and require a reservation. Good to go days have a green circle around the date. Don’t confuse this with the green dot or half circle under the date on the same calendar which symbolizes the quantity of reservations available.
You still need to check to see if reservations are needed in most cases. If you want to visit the parks with your annual pass on a day that isn’t good to go, you still need to make a reservation. Passholders can still enter the parks after 2:00 p.m. without a reservation except for Magic Kingdom on the weekends. A reservation is necessary to visit Magic Kingdom any time on Saturday or Sunday. Note that this is all in addition to, and separate from, your blockout dates which do not change.
Example of Using a Disney Annual Pass in 2024 with Good to Go Days
Here’s an example of how this could work. Let’s say it’s a Tuesday and your friend asks if you want to go to Epcot on Thursday for lunch. You check the calendar to see if you need a reservation. The date has a green circle around it so you don’t need to do anything. You can just show up and have fun. Now let’s imagine that day isn’t a good to go day. Is this is a late lunch? Because if it’s after 2:00 p.m. you are already good to go without checking. If it’s an early lunch, you still need to check the calendar and make a reservation.
On the off chance you are not able to make a reservation and you absolutely want to go to Epcot, it’s still possible. You would need to make a park reservation at another park, enter that park and then you’re able to park hop to Epcot. If this seems complicated, that’s because it is. Hopefully we see park reservations go away all together soon.
Which Disney annual pass can you buy right now?
All Disney World annual passes are for sale right now. This may change. This means you can buy an annual pass or upgrade your pass.
Why isn’t Disney selling annual passes all the time?: A brief history
Annual pass sales originally came to a halt when the parks closed in 2020. This was natural as no tickets were being sold while the parks were shuttered for an unknown amount of time. There were different options for annual passholders at the time to choose from including cancelling and getting a refund or having additional time added on to make up for the closed months.
Upon reopening later in 2020, those who still had an annual pass had additional block outs via the park pass reservation system. It was difficult to visit as reservations were very limited for annual passholders. Disney worked to adhere to important preventative guidelines and prioritized the health and safety of cast members and guests. Additional park pass reservations were added so passholders could use their passes again.
Annual pass sales did finally resume in the fall of 2021 and with an all new tiered system which we explore above. The prices that debuted with the new annual pass types were much higher than before the pandemic. This window of all annual passes being available for purchase again only lasted for a few months. Then, only the lowest tier of Disney annual pass was available at Walt Disney World. This particular pass is called the Disney Pixie Dust Pass, has major block outs and is only available to Florida Residents.
Less Annual Passholders, More Vacationers
So why isn’t Disney selling annual passes all the time? Leaders of The Walt Disney Company have since shared on stockholder calls that they want to ‘manage’ annual passholder attendance. This is true for Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California. With pent up demand and record guest spending over the last few years, management decided annual passholders were not a priority. It was more important to make the parks less populated for tourists who will spend more money.
These executives have also mentioned resuming annual pass sales as a way to boost income as demand lessens for pricey magical vacations. Former CEO Bob Chapek says on one of these investor calls that the reservation system and having less people in the parks allows the company to staff more strategically. He meant having less people working in the parks allowed Disney to save money on labor.
Things seem to have changed from the direction we were headed. All annual passes have been for sale since April of 2023. No pauses have occurred. This is good news for consumers and simplifies the Disney annual pass buying, renewing and upgrading processes.
Other Disney Annual Pass 2024 Details to Know
Remember children under three get into Disney for free. At this time, the beloved dual coast premier annual pass is no longer offered. Yes, it was possible to have a fancy annual pass that got you into the two Disneyland theme parks in California and the four Disney World parks in Florida. It seems those days are gone as Bob Iger announced in 2023 that Disney would no longer offer it because there wasn’t enough demand.
There are some perks to being an annual passholder like discounts, previews and complimentary surprises like magnets.
Free theme park parking is a plus.
Any time a new ride, show or attraction opens at Disney, it’s possible there might be an annual pass holder preview. We saw this happen with the Tron annual passholder preview at Magic Kingdom and the Moana walk through experience at Epcot. These usually have a limit in capacity but accommodate many people and can happen over weeks. If you’re an eligible DVC Member, this would be in addition to any previews you get with Membership Extras. Passholders and DVC Members can enjoy the benefits of being both. You just can’t stack your discounts.
Sometimes there are special treats and merchandise offerings just for annual passholders. The My Disney Experience app has a place called The Passholder Buzz on the home screen. You can stay up to date with the latest AP offerings here.
Even More Magic with DVC Resale
A Disney annual pass can make more visits possible. If you have, or want, a Disney annual pass, you’ll probably want to know more about Disney Vacation Club too. Specifically speaking, resale Disney Vacation Club. The Disney timeshare can help you get the best rates on deluxe Disney hotel stays. Resale DVC contracts, those sold by members, may help you save thousands more!
DVC Resale Experts is a licensed real estate broker that specializes in selling resale DVC. What if you could walk to Magic Kingdom from your resort? Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort makes it possible. Want to stay just a Skyliner ride away from Epcot? Disney’s Riviera Resort makes that happen. The Experts are former Disney Vacation Club Guides and can help you find the perfect DVC resale contract. With decades of experience selling DVC behind them, the Experts have gained valuable insight. It’s great to have a helpful professional to guide you throughout the process. Take a look at our resale DVC listings to see what’s available right now.
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