When my friend Kristin(e) and I went to Disneyland last month, Kristin got her first Disneyland Annual Pass, so I thought I would share that experience with you. (Those of you who have WDW APs will find it’s quite a different process!)

Here’s she’s smiling with anticipation as we take the tram from the parking structure to the park entrance. 🙂

First thing, Kristin had to decide which kind of Annual Pass she wanted. If you live in Southern California you have a choice of 4 different ones. The main difference is the price and the number of blockout days.

Premium Annual Pass: No blockout days, $389 (also includes parking)
Deluxe Annual Pass: 60 blockout days, $269
outhern California Annual Pass: 150 blockout days, $174
Southern California Select Annual Pass: 195 blockout days, $134
(Parking can be added to any non-premium AP for $59 – since parking is $12/day now, if you’re going to go to the park more than 5 times a year you’ll want the parking feature.)

Kristin chose the So Cal Select – yes, it’s quite restrictive, but the days she is likely to go are on Fridays with me, and most Fridays when we would go are open.

She purchased her ticket at the Disneyland Main Entrance Ticket Booth – but she could have gone to the Disneyland.com website and purchased it on-line and printed it out at home. Since it was one of the Southern California-type passes she was required to show proof of residence (Driver’s license in her case, though they also accept utility bills, etc.) Another thing to be aware of: if the day we had purchased her AP had been a blockout day for her pass (it wasn’t), she still would have been able to get in and activate/use her AP on that very first day.

Once we entered the park we went straight to the Annual Pass Center at the Bank of Main Street so that she could actually get her REAL Annual Pass (unlike WDW, where the ticket they give you at the ticket booth before you enter the park IS your Annual Pass, at Disneyland you must go to the Annual Pass Center to get your permanent AP).

After a brief wait she went up to one of the “teller” windows where they asked various information of her (at this point she would have been able to upgrade her pass if she’d changed her mind and/or add the parking feature):

And then took her photo:

And then handed her her bright, shiny, new AP, customized with her picture on it! They also gave her a nice color blockout day calendar and a copy of the October issue of Backstage Pass, the Disneyland Annual Passholder news magazine that we receive ~quarterly.

After we were finished at the bank we went into the park to Haunted Mansion Holiday where she used her AP for the very first time to get a Fastpass.

And then, as I wrote in this blog entry, we went on to have a wonderful day at Disneyland and DCA – and since she’s now got an AP, I look forward to at least one, and hopefully more, fun days at the park with Kristin in the next year!

Other miscellany:

If you’re adding parking to an AP, bring your parking receipt with you to the AP Center – they will credit the money you already paid that day to the cost of the parking feature. Note: the parking feature is not valid on your AP’s blockout days.

If you want to go to the park on a blockout day you can do that by purchasing a blockout day ticket for $40 at any of the ticket windows. (If you’re staying at any of the Disney hotels they are also available for purchase at the Front Desk.) Disney advertises blockout day tickets as “subject to availability”, so it’s possible that on very busy days you could still be denied entry.

Once you have your AP, you can register it on the AP section of Disneyland’s web site: http://www.disneyland.com/ap. This area of the web site lists offers available only to AP holders, such as sneak previews of attractions, hotel and restaurant discounts, etc. You can sign up there to receive special AP-only email from Disney.

Disneyland APs can be renewed either by mail or via the Disneyland.com/ap web site. There is a small discount for doing so, and it also means no standing in line at the AP Center again! In addition you usually receive a 20% off merchandise coupon, plus choice of AP design – the standard one available at the park or a special design available only to renewing passholders.

If you must vist the AP Center, go first thing in the morning right after park opening – the line can get pretty long as the day goes on. Though I have occasionally seen a short line in the afternoon on a not-so-busy day.

Have you visited the Disneyland Resort recently? Share your experiences in our Disneyland Rate and Review Area!

Post a Comment