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DisneyBob
08-10-2003, 11:37 PM
I am sure that there are many of you that are annual passholders like me.
I was thinking the other day... shouldn't APs be given more privileges? I was reading the weekly WDW update, and it mentioned that AP lounges were coming back. If it is anything like it sounds, lounges for APs would be great at DLR.
Also, wouldn't it be nice to have a separate entrance for APs (especially for those crowded summer days or any Saturday)?
Also, we don't get that much news from the resort. It would be nice if we got the AP newsletter more often.
What are your thoughts?

Darkbeer
08-11-2003, 12:49 AM
Come on, you already get to torture the CM's as much as you want.... :rolleyes: (I am working on a photo update, so the bad jokes are flowing...)

Interesting to note that SeaWorld San Diego is about to start offering a special entrance for AP holders...

Heck, they could convert the Golden Dreams theater into an AP lounge :p

Or the Circlevision theater, or part of the Innoventions building (the old Kaiser health area).

OK, I will go back to working on my photos.....;)

cemeinke
08-11-2003, 06:42 AM
I thought DCA was the AP Lounge?
:fez:

hbquikcomjamesl
08-11-2003, 08:52 AM
Oh, puhLEEEEZE!

Like we don't already get enough? Like being able to go whenever we please for the price of what, six visits? Like being able to park-hop without handstamps? Like discounts in restaurants?

It's people with a "passholders need more privileges" attitude who give the rest of us a bad name!

HBTiggerFan
08-11-2003, 09:47 AM
Originally posted by hbquikcomjamesl
Oh, puhLEEEEZE!

Like we don't already get enough? Like being able to go whenever we please for the price of what, six visits? Like being able to park-hop without handstamps? Like discounts in restaurants?

It's people with a "passholders need more privileges" attitude who give the rest of us a bad name!

You forgot the discounts in the stores.

So the AP holders in WDW give the rest of us a bad name because they do have AP lounges? ....EVER! :rolleyes:

I think an AP lounge (that isn't DCA) would be neat, however when it gets crowded enough we can leave or go to DCA.

Dexter
08-11-2003, 11:54 AM
As for AP's having more privillages IMHO we have plenty right now.

There are a great deal of promotions and discounts throughout the DTD area. Such as the 20% discount we get at Haagen Das, or 5 dollars off purchases of $30 or more at the lego store. We also have the various discounts throughout the resort. Like the 15% discount at the Blue Bayou, or the 10% discount at the French Market.

As for an AP lounge, I don't necessarily think that's a good idea. A small minority of AP holders have given the rest of the group a stigma that because we are AP holders we feel we have an entitlement to something, or that the park and employees need to give us more attention than other guests. It sucks and I'm doing what I can to help prove there are some pAssholders that don't feel that we are owed anything. I'm not saying that lots of people feel or act that way, but apparently the vocal minority has set a stigma that all AP's are like that. I for one am not.

I can see your point as far as it might be nice, but am reminded of This MP article (http://www.mouseplanet.com/david/m020709.htm) . The part that sticks out most is the frapucchino making AP'er that disrupts the serenity of the lounge and fellow AP'ers.

I pay my passholder dues every year simply because it's the most economical way for me to get into the park. The discounts that I've been provided in conjunction with my pass are a bonus, but not a selling point. I'd buy the pass even if I had no discounts, don't get me wrong, they are nice, but considering Disney doesn't have to do anything, including offering an Annual Pass program, I'm happy with what I have.

Cadaverous Pallor
08-11-2003, 12:03 PM
Saying that all APers are attention-grubbing jerks is like saying all gun owners are murdering psychopaths.

I would be fine with an AP lounge....heck, it would be nice.....but I am not about to say "we deserve it". We know what we're paying for when we plop down the cash. If thousands of people think it's worth it to pay that much for a year's admission plus discounts, then it must be an ok setup. I don't think the allure of a lounge would get them more APers.

So I'm not going to beg for more perks - I'm not one of those APers. But it would be nice! :D

hbquikcomjamesl
08-11-2003, 12:07 PM
Thanks, Dexter. That was my point as well. Passes are already a good enough value for the money that for passholders, DL now serves the same function Knotts had thirty years ago: a place where one person or a whole family could go for an odd afternoon's escape from the real world, for less money than it costs to go to a movie. I'm not one who visits the Blue Bayou every trip, or any of the other high-ticket restuarants, but then again, I'm not a rich man, just a poor working-class programmer.

RStar
08-11-2003, 12:59 PM
Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor


So I'm not going to beg for more perks - I'm not one of those APers. But it would be nice! :D

Last I heard you were no longer an APer at all!:rolleyes:

At least until Oct...............

;)

I don't think we DESERVE more perks, but I wished they would bring back more of the AP parties they use to do. One CM told me they were not very economical. Another told me the APers tore up the park. I think it could be both (Fixing the damage used up any proffits). But I have a hard time beliving that adult APers would be worse than grad nights!

I also think the Light Magic Party where hoards of Apers swarmed the City Hall for refunds put into motion an attitude that plagues us today with CMs. I didn't even consider doing that after watching it and my wife and I saying to each other "What the heck was that?". We got what we paid for, and didn't even realize what the long line out City Hall was untill the next day.

stagedoorjonny
08-11-2003, 03:45 PM
I had a Magic Mt ap last year. One nice they had that I would like to see is an early entry into the parkon 2 days. We where allowed with a guest into the park 2 hours early, there where only 5 coasters open but we where able to walk onto the rides and go. A lounge would be nice but I think early entry a few days a year would be better.

Cadaverous Pallor
08-11-2003, 11:57 PM
Originally posted by RStar
Last I heard you were no longer an APer at all!:rolleyes:Ah sir, you have found my weakness! Hold on while I dry my eyes... :crying: :( Yes, we're still technically AP-less for a while.



Originally posted by RStar
I don't think we DESERVE more perks, but I wished they would bring back more of the AP parties they use to do. One CM told me they were not very economical. Another told me the APers tore up the park. I think it could be both (Fixing the damage used up any proffits). But I have a hard time beliving that adult APers would be worse than grad nights!How much did these parties cost to enter? It probably wasn't as much as Grad Nite, which is something like $70 a person these days. I don't think APers would pay that much.

experiment626
08-12-2003, 11:41 AM
The way I see it I get more "benefits" from my DLR AP then I did my WDW AP. The discounts available with a WDW Ap are minimal with m DLR AP I am able to get a discount on pretty much everything I have purchased.

You want a silly "lounge" why would anyone want to take away their park time by sitting in a building??

Cadaverous Pallor
08-12-2003, 12:59 PM
Originally posted by experiment626
You want a silly "lounge" why would anyone want to take away their park time by sitting in a building?? Well, here's a good description of an average day at the parks with a group of APers.

Noon - meet at the hub. Stand there for 45 minutes and talk.

12:45 - go get lunch. Talk.

1:30 - Walk all the way across the park to a specific ride of choice somewhere.

1:45 - Get to the ride of choice and realize that the line is too long by APer standards. Wander away in a random direction.

2:00 - Stop in front of a bathroom. Talk.

2:15 - Somehow end up in Disneyana. Talk to CM, look at stuff we've already visually memorized a million times.

Etc, etc. So you can see why a lounge would be fun for us. :D

experiment626
08-12-2003, 03:36 PM
Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor
Well, here's a good description of an average day at the parks with a group of APers. . . So you can see why a lounge would be fun for us. :D
Well as a fellow AP'er this does not discribe MY day in the parks at all. But then again I am not a local either. If I am going to drive 10 hours I am going to spend my time enjoying the park not sitting in a lounge.

Ghoulish Delight
08-12-2003, 04:28 PM
Originally posted by experiment626
Well as a fellow AP'er this does not discribe MY day in the parks at all. But then again I am not a local either. If I am going to drive 10 hours I am going to spend my time enjoying the park not sitting in a lounge. Yeah, it's a local thing. Many of us use the park as a social gathering place. Nice scenery, always something to talk about. It's better than a movie. It'd be in Disney's interest to build a lounge just to get us out from in front of the bathrooms :D

Hey, wait, haven't we already made the Grand Californian's lobby our unofficial AP lounge?

zapppop
08-12-2003, 04:32 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
Hey, wait, haven't we already made the Grand Californian's lobby our unofficial AP lounge?
Only for MousePadders.
Everyone else uses DCA :fez:

Matterhorn Fan
08-13-2003, 07:34 AM
Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor
Well, here's a good description of an average day at the parks with a group of APers.You forgot the part where zapppop collects everyone's passes and comes back half an hour later with a giant stack of fastpasses. :D

hbquikcomjamesl
08-13-2003, 07:51 AM
Hmm. Back in 1996, there were lots of occasions when I went into DL and spent several hours there, seeing Fantasmic and The Parade, but without getting on a single ride. It's somewhat less frequent now, as my evenings have unaccountably gotten quite a bit busier than they once were.

RStar
08-13-2003, 10:02 AM
Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor
Ah sir, you have found my weakness! Hold on while I dry my eyes... :crying: :( Yes, we're still technically AP-less for a while.

Sorry, that was insensitive of me. I didn't mean to make fun of your pain. But Oct. is only a couple of months away. And if GD doesn't have a job by then, we'll take him behind a barn and shoot him like a lame horse. (Oh, there I go again, I'm sorry);)



How much did these parties cost to enter? It probably wasn't as much as Grad Nite, which is something like $70 a person these days. I don't think APers would pay that much.

There were about $25-30, and about once a year. Worth it for me because there was only 10,000-15,000 tickets sold each time and it was for some special occasion. Once they opened Snow White and took out the cars, turned on the lights, left everything running except the sound and let us walk through looking at everything close up! Then they let us walk back stage of County Bears, and also through the big gates (that parades use) by small world and walk to the then new TDA building to see it.

They really made APers feel special back then. But then there may have only been 20,000 of us. Times change.........

hbquikcomjamesl
08-13-2003, 12:40 PM
Passholder party activities I can recall, off the top of my head:

In addition to the already mentioned brief tour of the backstage area behind the Fantasyland Parade Gate (not just the then-new TDA building, but also a whole bunch of potted plants, and the outside of the "Eat Ticket" CM cafeteria), and the walk-through on Snow White, and the backstage tour of the Bears, I can also recall:

* A ride on JC, with a whole bunch of stuffed Simbas planted along the route, and the guests trying to spot as many as possible with flashlights (I declined a "house" flashlight, and used the AAA-Maglite I always keep in my breast pocket instead).

* A Q&A session with the Imagineers about the new (i.e., current) Tomorrowland

* Two private runs of the MSEP (originally to have been the last two runs in California, but we're passholders, we can come back whenever we want to, and wear our October 17th T-shirts to boot)

* Space Mountain with the lights on (As I recall, I had a sore back that night) :(

* Meet-n-Greet with Cinderella-unit dancers from The Parade

* Special non-Disney-regular wandering musical acts (including the Belle Air Brass, an all-woman brass quintet a friend of mine has played trombone with)

* A "Soft open" of Light Magic

* A "Soft open" of DCA

* Special passholder-party-only merchandise (I wish I'd had the money for that MSEP party-special art watch!)

* Special collectible ticket media (one passholder party had its tickets made up to look like old-fashioned "E" tickets, while the MSEP party's ticket was suitable for framing).

DSNYDad
08-13-2003, 03:23 PM
The only thing that I would like for being a APer is Preferred Parking. Then I would be a happy camper :D

Maybe the lower level closest to the trams. :cool:

I thought the Tiki Room was the lounge.

cstephens
08-13-2003, 04:24 PM
Originally posted by DSNYDad
The only thing that I would like for being a APer is Preferred Parking.

I know that the AP used to come with preferred parking (at least the premium did), but that was before my time. However, given how many AP holders there are now, I'm not sure that would work as that would seem to fill up pretty quickly. And nowadays, there's not a level that's particularly closer. I'd rather park on level 4 in the front part of the aisles than level 2 in the back part of the aisles.