The prices for all tiers of Walt Disney World Annual Passes have been increased.
During a meeting on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) Board of Supervisors discussed and unanimously approved a new benefits stipend policy for its employees and retirees, replacing the previous Walt Disney World Annual Pass benefit.
During today’s meeting, District Administrator Glen Gilzean Jr. revealed that instead of a Walt Disney World Annual Pass, district employees and retirees “in certain circumstances” will instead receive a $3,000 annual stipend. The stipend can be used to purchase an annual pass to Walt Disney World if desired.
Employees will receive the new stipend 90 days from their hire date, following the probationary period. The stipend will be issued annually, and is subject to tax withholdings and budget appropriations.
In the case of retirees, eligibility for the stipend is determined based on age and years of service, with variations in eligibility for spouses of deceased employees or retirees.
Gilzean said that the District is “doing everything possible” to enhance the annual pass program, and “this stipend is part of that process.”
This updated deal will last for two fiscal years from October 1, 2023, unless the board renews.
Employees and retirees of the CFTOD have historically received Walt Disney World Annual Passes, as well as passes for family and friends and sometimes other Disney benefits. After receiving a bill from Walt Disney World, the District released a press release in August calling the benefits a “scheme” and “handouts,” vowing to remove them. Later that day, a leaked email from District Administrator Glen Gilzean Jr. revealed the District had already ended the benefits with no warning. At the next CFTOD Board meeting, District firefighters spoke out against the decision, calling it a “low blow” against them.
Martin Garcia, Chairman of the Board, said canceling the program came down to three points: the policy only benefited Walt Disney World, it was inequitable to employees because larger families got more benefits, and the policy may endorse something “illegal,” that is a private company giving gifts to public employees.
Disney World Annual Passes have been on sale for almost a week. That sentence alone is shocking to us. At Disneyland, Magic Keys sell out within hours. We fully expected a similar situation on the East Coast.
Disney has limited how many Annual Passes it will sell. In the past, sales were basically unlimited. You could buy a Disney World Annual Pass anytime you wanted. After the pandemic, however, Disney said they had temporarily paused new Annual Pass sales. Since then, they have brought them back for very brief windows of time.
On April 20, 2023 Walt Disney World Annual Passes finally went back on sale! This means that once again Disney’s most loyal guests can access Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom when they liked. With the water parks upgrade, they can access Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon anytime they like as well.
Disney fans flooded the website the day Annual Passes went back on sale. In fact, so many flocked to the site to but that the website crashed more than once. Many waited in a virtual queue for hours to buy their Pass, with some saying they’d waited more than 5 hours.
Disney didn’t announce whether the passes would be limited or not until the day they went on sale. Midway through the day they updated the website to say that due to overwhelming demand, they expected some or all pass types to become unavailable. However, nearly a week in all Pass levels remain available.
At the time of this writing, not only can you still buy your Disney World Annual Pass but you can do so without a long wait. After the initial rush died down, Disney removed the virtual queue requirement to buy. When we checked the website, we were able to add an Annual Pass to our cart with no wait. This is great news for anyone unable to buy their Pass last Thursday.
Even though the initial surge to buy passes has died down, you won’t want to delay if a you plan to become a Disney World Annual Passholder. No one knows just how many passes have been bought or how many are left available. If you wait, there is no guarantee you’ll be able to make your purchase.You cab purchase online on your My Disney Experience account, at any Disney Park or Disney Springs.
Guests need a Park reservation to visit each of the four parks at Walt Disney World. Guests can still park hop, but they will need a valid ticket and reservation date to do so. Guests also need to wait until 2 p.m. to visit their second Park.
Once Walt Disney World and Disneyland reopened to Guests after temporarily closing due to the ongoing pandemic, the theme parks implemented a new reservation system to help monitor Park capacity called the Park Pass system. In order to enter a theme park at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, Guests must not only have valid Park admission but a valid Park Pass reservation.
At Walt Disney World, Annual Passholders will now be able to park hop after 2 p.m. without needing a reservation. There are exceptions, however, with Magic Kingdom being unaffected by this new policy on Saturdays and Sundays.
To enter a theme park, you will need a theme park reservation and valid admission for that theme park—for each day you’d like to visit:
Before You Make a Purchase
Please check to see if your desired date and theme park is currently available before purchasing your ticket, Annual Pass or vacation package. Keep your reservation date preference in mind when selecting your ticket, Annual Pass or package. Different types of admission—such as tickets, Annual Passes or packages—may have different reservation date availability.
Passholders have had a pretty good day. Recent news of attraction openings, a relaxing of Park Pass requirements, and new night time shows have led to what amounts to be an incredible news day for Disney Parks. The fun isn’t over yet though! Disney quietly announced a new perk for Annual Passholders amongst all the ther news today!
You might recall that PhotoPass was formerly complimentary for Passholders. It was a victim of what I like to call “the perk purge” that has taken place in recent years. Sadly, I’m not here to tell you that free PhotoPass is coming back. However, Disney is giving Passholders complimentary access to PhotoPass Lenses and one free Cinderella Castle Mural of Memories. That may not feel like much but like everything else today, it’s a step in the right direction.
Cinderella Castle Mural of Memories is a particularly great perk simply because it is so unique. The idea was born out of a desire to celebrate Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary in a unique and memorable way. The idea is to gather a collection of memories from the celebration and (virtually) pin them to Cinderella Castle to create a beautiful keepsake. Typically Disney charged $9.99 per photo for this experience but as the celebration winds down, Passholders can pin one photo for free. Pinning a photo comes with a free download of the Mural.
PhotoPass Lenses are also a fun and unique way to celebrate your day! It uses AR (Augmented Reality) in select areas around the Parks to create one of a kind selfies by inserting your favorite characters or surprising magical moments into the frame. Think of it like the Magic Shots you can get from Disney’s PhotoPass photographers, only you get to add the magic yourself! This service was formerly exclusive to Guests who purchased Disney Genie+ (it’s not even included with Memory Maker purchase) but now Passholders can access it free of charge for a limited time!
These new changes may seem small on the surface, but they add up to something huge: feeling appreciated and valued by Disney again after a few years of feeling like nothing but cash cows. We are hopeful that meaningful change will continue at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort. The small things really do add up.