WDW completely restructures Annual Passes

Surprise! It seemed to be a well-kept secret, but WDW today restructured the whole Annual Pass ticket system. Gone are the Premium, Standard and Seasonal passes. In their place are Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus – along with a new feature and, of course, higher prices.

All passes (unless otherwise specified) now include free Photopass downloads. Prices unless otherwise stated do not include the 6.5% tax.

For the general public, there are the Premium ($749 new, $635 renewal) and Premium Plus ($829 new, $705 renewal). They are the equivalent of the Standard and Premium APs in general.

For Disney Vacation Club members and Florida Residents, Those passes are now $649 and $729 for new passes and $549/$619 for renewals respectively. In addition, a new pass called the Gold Pass is being offered for $549 new, $466 renewal. This is the same as the Platinum pass, but it has blockout dates when it cannot be used: December 17, 2015 ‒ January 1, 2016, March 19, 2016 ‒ April 1, 2016 and December 16, 2016 – January 1, 2017…basically the busy Christmas season and Spring Break.

For Florida Residents only, the Silver Pass replaces the Seasonal Pass, and is $414.29 after tax (I don’t have the pre-tax price handy yet.), and does NOT include the free Photopass downloads. The Weekday Select and Epcot After 4 passes are still available, and likewise do not include Photopass. However, all passes now include freek parking! Which, by the way, was increased to $20 as well today, and valet is now $25.

Information is still fluid, but we expect current AP holders to maintain their existing benefits, and at renewal time will need to choose from one of the new options. Mid-use upgrades would also likely be available to get the Photopass option if desired, but the prices, like always, would not be pro-rated.

It also appears that the Premier Passport, which acts as a Platinum Plus Pass at WDW and a Premium AP in Disneyland, went up significantly as well, from $1099 to $1439.