PDA

View Full Version : New Cardboard Annual Passes



Pages : [1] 2

millionairegirl
04-11-2004, 07:25 AM
Yesterday I got my renewed Annual Pass in the mail. Two things diappointed me about it: 1) It's a heavy cardboard instead of the credit card plastic and 2) It's still Goofy on the front, I was hoping it would have the new TOT on it.

I understand these are not the things money should be spent on, but I was a little disappointed. I wonder if Matt had anything to do with it. I mean it makes sense, why spend the money on people who you know are already going to go to the resort. Maybe the new $279 passes are not cardboard, I only had to pay $205 to renew because my pass expires in May.

How long have they been issuing the cardboard passes?

David R
04-11-2004, 07:29 AM
ew. I was already somewhat disappointed by the flimsy plastic of the latest passes, it sounds like they've gotten worse. I wonder how well those are going to survive in a wallet all year around including the possibility of them getting wet in certain rides. On a second thought, they'll survive just as well as the normal day passes, better even. But still... they are supposed to last a whole year.

And I figured that the new picture would have something to do with the 50th.

happyhaunts999
04-11-2004, 08:04 AM
Are you sure you don't take your cardboard pass you got in the mail, to the plaza and they replace it with a plastic one??? I don't know i just thought i would ask.

SoCalDisneyLover
04-11-2004, 08:08 AM
And I figured that the new picture would have something to do with the 50th.

Well....at least there's still a little hope for that one since the actual celebrations for the 50th probably won't begin until later this year at the earliest. I got my new pass in the middle of March, at the park, and it was the same credit card type, so I guess this might be a more recent change.

Raise the prices, make a cheaper, flimsier pass. Yeah....makes perfect sense to me. :confused:

happyhaunts999
04-11-2004, 08:29 AM
If anyone get there annual pass from disneyland let us know if it is paper or plastic. Many do I sound like I work at food for less. Anyways I will be there to pick up my annual pass next month and I DO NOT want the cardboard one even if i have to pay extra for plastic. Please let us know.

EandCDad
04-11-2004, 09:33 AM
Raise the prices, make a cheaper, flimsier pass. Yeah....makes perfect sense to me. :confused:

I don't think the price of the ticket should necessarily relate directly to the quality of the pass. You aren't really paying for the pass, you're paying for the entry.

When they "thinned" the pass last time, there was some talk that they were trying to get them to the point they could be run through the readers at the gates, maybe this is also along those lines. Frankly, as long as the thing gets me into the park, I don't care much what it looks or feels like. The previous "flimsy" passes have served me just fine the past year.

PurpleDove33
04-11-2004, 09:46 AM
I got mine last week and it was very thin, but it is plastic. But it can bend. Its not like my last yrs one where it was as thick as a credit card. So even though its plastic, it looks like if it gets wet, it won't ruin. But I did see a friends pass and he showed me that it does get bent if it is not kept in a place that is flat. My question is if your pass gets so bent or ruined in any way, do they charge you to get a replacement one or what? And if so how much does that cost?

Kevy Baby
04-11-2004, 12:54 PM
I found out that the reason for the thinner passes WAS so they could be passed through the card readers. They actually used mine in that way twice yesterday and I had never had that done before. I asked the CM at the DL entrance about it and he was the one who told me about using the cards readers (I am referring to the "pass through" scanners, not the bar code readers they pass your pass under manually). But he also said that a lot of time, the readers don't read APs correctly and that is why they use the "pass under" one so often.

Am I making sense?

stagedoorjonny
04-11-2004, 12:57 PM
I found out that the reason for the thinner passes WAS so they could be passed through the card readers.
That is the reason they gave for going to the thin plastic AP. I don't see how a paper AP will hold up.

AaronInCal
04-11-2004, 02:31 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Disney World APs basically like a regular ticket for them? Meaning, they're just basically cardboard. If so, I guess Disneyland is trying to go their way and see how it works, perhaps..

Not Afraid
04-11-2004, 03:24 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Disney World APs basically like a regular ticket for them? Meaning, they're just basically cardboard. If so, I guess Disneyland is trying to go their way and see how it works, perhaps..

Yes. WDW APs are the thinnist, flimsiest, most expensive pieces of paper in the world. Yes, it's cardstock

This year my insurance card went card stock but my KCRW card withn plastic. I don't like the trend for certain things - an AP is one.

Crispy
04-11-2004, 04:00 PM
I had a WDW annual pass for many years. The last year I had one they had moved to a regular paper pass, printed on the same heavy paper that the regular one day and multi-day passes are. This is also when they stopped putting photo ID's on the passes and started using the finger scanners at the gates. They fed your pass into the machine, you put your fingers into the little machine and it verified who you were, and you entered the park. I'm not sure what they use now, but despite the technology that was used, it was still frustrating that such an expensive and often used pass was so easily destructable.

Cris

Matterhorn Fan
04-11-2004, 04:21 PM
Yes. WDW APs are the thinnist, flimsiest, most expensive pieces of paper in the world. Yes, it's cardstock
But the Christmas Party tickets are plastic (like the DL AP is currently). Admission for one evening is plastic, but admission for one year is on card stock?

Logic, anyone?

millionairegirl
04-11-2004, 06:55 PM
Ok so I overreacted. It's not cardboard. I was showing my fiance and sister and they both told me it's not cardboard. Boy, sometimes I can be an idiot.

It's just the thinner plastic one. Much thinner than the older 'credit card type'. That makes sense that they want it to run through the ticket scanners, but I still wish it had a more original picture than Goofy.

lindyhop
04-11-2004, 06:59 PM
I just got my new one and it's slightly thinner plastic. I would have liked a new picture on the front, too. (Not that there's anything wrong with Goofy. He was rocking out at Plaza Gardens last night.)

Frappalotie
04-11-2004, 07:13 PM
Heres something that will blow your mind, me and my girlfriend were waiting in the rather lengthy line to get into california adventures, with our newly printed AP's in our hands.

Well, when I turned my pass to the sun just slightly, I could see the broken, yet unmistakable letters "target gift card" written across the magnetic strip along the back of the pass.

so not only are they thinner cards, but they are also RECYCLED or, REUSED gift cards!

JeffG
04-11-2004, 07:33 PM
Well, when I turned my pass to the sun just slightly, I could see the broken, yet unmistakable letters "target gift card" written across the magnetic strip along the back of the pass.

Did you, by any chance, have a Target gift card in your wallet with the AP at some point? I'd bet it is more likely that the ink had rubbed off from another card.

-Jeff

Frappalotie
04-11-2004, 07:36 PM
Did you, by any chance, have a Target gift card in your wallet with the AP at some point? I'd bet it is more likely that the ink had rubbed off from another card.

-Jeff


Absolutely NOT jeff, as I said it was FRESHLY printed, not even a half hour before, and its not really "ink" in my AP, its more like an indented or pressed lettering.

Quite apart from the fact that ive never owned a target gift card...:)

MrTomMorrow
04-11-2004, 07:39 PM
That is shocking.

The environmentalist inside of me is saying "Yay for recycling," but the Disney fanatic inside of me demanding quality new things is saying, "Boo... it used to be a gift card."

Re: WDW APs... I, too, was shocked when I found out that WDW uses regular ticket paper for their annual passes. Having been used to the Disneyland APs that were like credit cards, I was extremely dismayed by the flimsy paper tickets. At the end of the day, after having the pass in my pocket and using it frequently for FastPass, the pass was getting creased. I have a feeling I'll need to trade it in for a new one each time I return to the parks...

One thing good about WDW: entering the parks at the turnstiles feels a little faster because you insert your own card and let yourself in, instead of having to have a cast member do it for you (unless DL does it this way now, too). The only problem is when a person doesn't know what they are doing and causes a hold-up in the line... but then there's a cast member to help out in that case...

Cadaverous Pallor
04-11-2004, 08:40 PM
Ok so I overreacted. It's not cardboard. I was showing my fiance and sister and they both told me it's not cardboard. Boy, sometimes I can be an idiot. :confused: :confused: :confused: How is this possible?


Well, when I turned my pass to the sun just slightly, I could see the broken, yet unmistakable letters "target gift card" written across the magnetic strip along the back of the pass.

so not only are they thinner cards, but they are also RECYCLED or, REUSED gift cards!:confused: :confused: :confused: How is this possible?

Jeremiah
04-12-2004, 06:15 PM
LOL some how I am thinking the Target gift card thing was a joke ha ha ha. But yes the cards are the same they have been having for the past year or so. It would not be bad if they did go with the WDW ap idea. When I had the WDW AP it is just card stock but it comes with a holder that has all the AP info in it. Plus it would be nice if they changed over to the finger scanner it would save some time. But really for some reason it seems that the parks (both Disney and Unversal) on the East Coast are still ahead of the one here on the West Coast. It has been years since I had to had a pass to anyone in Fl. to get into the parks but here, even if it is going to go in the turnstyle the CM's still do it for you?????

J

Ghoulish Delight
04-12-2004, 07:13 PM
IF they are using recycled Target cards (I really don't see how they could do that without melting the plastic down completely), big deal. Heck, good. I have two requirements for my AP. It gets me through the gate, and it stays in good enough condition to get me through the gate. I don't really care what it's made of, as long as it satisfies those two things. My only worry if they ever do move to a WDW style paper pass would be water rides.


I've had my AP passed through the reader once (interestingly, after the CM put my AP through the reader, they took the regular day media of the people behind me and scanned it with the other thing that they usually use for APs. Go figure). I get the feeling that we'll see it happen a lot more once ALL the old thicker ones expire. Otherwise CMs may get in the habit of passing APs through, and who knows what'd happen if they tried to pass a thick one through.

Ghoulish Delight
04-12-2004, 07:17 PM
It has been years since I had to had a pass to anyone in Fl. to get into the parks but here, even if it is going to go in the turnstyle the CM's still do it for you?????You know, it'll be a sad day if and when DL goes this route. Call me sappy and inefficient, but there's something about that very first personal interaction with a CM. I remember as a kid getting that smile and "Hello" as I handed my ticket over. It was the perfect welcome to my day at Disneyland. Sliding a ticket into a machine just wouldn't be the same.

MonorailMan
04-12-2004, 07:19 PM
Otherwise CMs may get in the habit of passing APs through, and who knows what'd happen if they tried to pass a thick one through.
Absoutly nothing. It wont even fit, AT ALL into the slot. ;) :fez:

cemeinke
04-12-2004, 07:48 PM
Call me sappy and inefficient, but there's something about that very first personal interaction with a CM.
Yes, especially if you go on your birthday.