UPDATE: For the most recent information on the status of Disney World Annual Passes, click here.
There have been lots of changes to keep up with since Disney World’s reopening last year.
Annual Passes have not been available to purchase since the parks closed last March. Now, they’re available once again, but under VERY limited conditions!
Annual Passes are now available for two groups only. Disney is currently offering Annual Passes to those who canceled their previous passes during the park closures, as well as 3-year-olds! Let’s get into all the details.
Here’s the deal for purchasing a new Annual Pass for a three-year-old! As long as a parent has an active Annual Pass, kids that were 2 years old before the closures and have since turned 3, should be eligible. Let’s explain a bit more!
Kids under 3 years old are able to get into Disney World for free. So, if you’re a family of Passholders, you’ve been able to bring that little one along with you at no extra charge. However, if that child has turned 3 since the park closures, they now require paid admission to enter the park. You may have wanted to get them an Annual Pass of their own, but they’ve been unavailable — until recently!
Annual Passholder parents are required to call and provide their information to Disney’s Ticketing team. After the form is reviewed, ticketing will call Passholders back with options for 3-year-old children within 48 hours.
We confirmed with a Cast Member that as long as a parent has an active Annual Pass, they will most likely be able to sell an additional pass to the child. Cast Members are able to verify the age of the 3-year-old through My Disney Experience, so you won’t have to provide a birth certificate.
Annual Passholders who canceled during the closure and now wish to repurchase are also eligible to purchase a new pass. If you are in this group, you can also call Ticketing to put in a request, and a form will be filled out for you. Your information, including when you canceled your pass, and what type of pass you owned, and more, will be submitted to the ticketing team.
A Cast Member notified us that, in most cases, passes that were set to expire after March 16th can be purchased again. Guests will be required to pay full price for the new pass, though, and not the renewal price. Once the ticketing team reaches out, they will be sure to go over your options moving forward.
The cast member shared that this works on a case-by-case basis, and not all guests may qualify. As more information is released about ticketing, we’ll be sure to update you on everything you need to know before you head back to Disney World!
Find out the details of Disney possibly moving some of its California divisions to Orlando here!
Do you plan on visiting the parks any time soon? Let us know in the comments below!
Disney News
- What an Average Workweek Looks Like for an AllEars Reporter
- CONFIRMED: Virtual Queue RETURNING to Disney World for Star Wars Day
- ALERT: The 6 Best Disney Amazon Deals of the Day Are All Under $20
- A Huge Disney Gift Card Sale Is Happening Online SOON
- The WORST Time To Ride TRON Lightcycle / Run in Disney World Is…
- A $249 Behind the Scenes Tour Is REOPENING in EPCOT After Months-Long Closure
- Why Disney Adults Are Suddenly Lining Up at a Walk-On Attraction in Magic Kingdom
- A Disney Imagineer Reveals the Secrets Behind Their LEGENDARY Career in NEW Film
- Disney Fans Are About To Fight Over This New Starbucks Tumbler This Summer
- The Bizarre (but Honest) Reason I Review the Disney World Wait Times Even When I’m Not in Florida
In January, we sold our home in N.J. to move down to Florida to be closer to our Daughter & Granddaughter. I was so DISAPPOINTED when we got down here, only to find out that my husband and I could not purchase the Resident Annual Passes. So, now, we can’t go to Disney as a Family. My husband & I purchased the Resident 4 day tickets, but WE STILL CANNOT GO as a Family. The Days that Pass Holders are Blocked out, Ticket Holders can try to get a Reservation. The Days that Ticket Holders are Blocked Out, Season Pass Holders can try to get a Reservation. It is a SHAME that Families CANNOT GO TOGETHER on the SAME DAY. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED IN DISNEY. We have BEEN DVC MEMBERS for 14 YEARS NOW. We have come to DISNEY at least 2 to 3 times a year. Now we are forced to SPEND OUR $$ MONEY ELSEWHERE. We have NO OTHER CHOICE but to go to SEAWORLD, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. WE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SELLING OUR DVC, as WE are looking into ENJOYING FAMILY TIME ELSEWHERE. I know that WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC, and DISNEY is TRYING HARD to follow the Appropriate guidelines. NO ONE Understands this better than I do, as I worked in SCHOOL up until we moved. But, as GRANDPARENTS we want to SEE our 3 year old GRANDDAUGHTER ENJOY DISNEY, which at this time we CANNOT.
I’m in the same boat as u people cant go to Disney with my family. I guess universal and sea world will be getting my money
I am waiting for annual passes to go on sale again. First time buyer.
I was able to get my pass reinstated at Disney Springs today.
On March 20th, I called and had myself put on the list (as mentioned in an earlier comment), but hadn’t heard back so I stopped by DS while I was running some errands.
I thought I had renewed my pass a few weeks before the shut down, but was told that my expiration date was actually March 21st, 2021. The pass wasn’t active, I had simply gone through the online renewal process so that it wouldn’t expire. I cancelled it in August.
They let me be reinstated because I was still within 30 days of that March 21st expiration date. I had to pay full price for the pass, but was able to do monthly installments (after making a down payment of around 35%). The pass activated today, which kind of sucks since the parks are all booked this week. I was able to make reservations for next week and the week after though.
I also asked about the Water Parks After 2:00 pass, but was told that water park passes aren’t available yet because Typhoon Lagoon is still closed.
Has anyone been able to recover their passes? How long did it take get a call back? Thanks!
I was a Disneyland Annual Pass Holder that expired during the closure. It would be nice to have the option of purchasing/renewing my annual pass and transferring it to WDW.
I spoke by telephone this morning with Passholder VIP services. The nice lady informed me that no new passes are being issued, not to those who cancelled during the closure. They are only issuing renewals for current passholders.
I just got off the phone with a rep (no being transferred around; he was the first rep I spoke to) and he was able to confirm what is detailed in the article. He said that because I cancelled after the parks closed on March 16th, it’s possible that I can get reinstated. He filled out the form and submitted it for me. I was told that it should take two to three weeks for a response.
Does anyone have the direct phone number to contact ticketing? I have spent the last hour and a half being transferred around with virtually no one knowing much about any annual passes. Thanks.
I had annual passes every year but due to COVID we did not renew our pass the 1st of December. When will we be able to purchase annual passes again. I also am a Disney Vacation Club member as well as a Fl Resident. We go every year a few times a year. Maybe someone should consider selling annual passes to Disney Vacation Club Members. We pay a lot of money for this and to not be able to fully use our timeshares due to not being able to buy annual passes.. as we all know buying tickets for 2-4 days is not cost effective as a DVC member or a Fl resident.
We’re current DVC Gold Annual Pass members. Is Disney allowing upgrades when we renew? I’d like to upgrade to the Platinum for a Christmas trip.
It’s also good to hear about three year olds- our daughter will turn three in July. Our passes expire in May- will they let us get her pass then or will we have to wait until July? I hope that she can still get a park reservation with us in August.
Hi Lisa! You should be able to renew to an upgraded level! As for your daughter, I’d recommend reaching out to Disney directly as they’d be able to help!
Has anyone gotten their “callback” yet? I’m still waiting and they told me they had no timeline and could be a week! we had hoped to go this weekend on AP, but I’m losing hope on getting that call back. anyone had experience yet?
I wish they would open for new passes too. I am a former cast member (2016) and was also supposed to start again on March 18, 2020 (2 days after the closure), I would love to buy a pass holder pass so i could get some of the perks back and be able to not spend a “fortune” when i want to pop into Disney for a couple of hours. I find myself trying to push myself to stay longer (I’m pregnant so i can only do so much) so I can get my money worth of a full ticket instead on just having the fun i should be having.
Thank you! This was the information I needed. We cancelled our passes last spring and didn’t know how to do a repurchase. I’m waiting on the call back.
We are planning a 7 day visit in March to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary.
Recently we were notified that our resort reservations were upgraded to a room at the Coronado Springs Resort at no additional cost.
Tomorrow we expect to start our dining reservations.
I just was able to get my annual pass purchased with a credit for the 7 day ticket we had purchased for a March visit.
It took awhile, first an online chat, then a phone call, then a call back.
As usual, the cast members were very nice and they expressed appreciation for our Disney Vacation Club, Disney Visa Rewards Member.
The best part for us is that the annual pass won’t go into effect until our first park visit.
One draw back is that we may have to visit a ticket center to activate the pass.
But we are so glad we saw this on your blog, we don’t remember seeing any emails or notices from Disney about this option.
Thank you, thank you.
My family passes expired Jan 2… we weren’t going to renew mainly bc of having to make park reservations and no fast passes… but I found out there was no option to outright purchase annual passes and no word on when (or if) they would return. So we renewed since that appears to be the only option of getting an AP. It is what it is. At least you can park hop now (kind of).
If you are in the cancelled pass holder category is it still faster to go to customer service in person or is only option now to call?
Our daughter just turned 3 but you passes don’t expire until September. Will her AP be off from the rest of the family or will this pass 8/20 months? The pre-Covid answer is fine as well.
We are a family of passholders and my child turned three in November. I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to get an ap for him. I called and was relieved to find that I could get him an ap too. We were lucky and they were able to add him to all of our previously booked advanced park reservations. I did have to go to guest services to show he was a child and show we were Florida residents.
Will existing annual passholders be able to renew their passes this year when its time to renew at the discounted rate?
Yes, you’re still able to do that. You just can’t buy a brand new pass if you’ve never been a passholder before.
We are moving to Orlando for retirement when will the annual passes be available for purchase