So you are or want to become a Disney World Annual Passholder — well, you’ve got a LOT to learn.

You may have already taken a look at the various Annual Passholder ticket types, decided which is best for you, and set aside the funds to make your Annual Passholder dreams come true. But do you really know the ins and outs of being a Passholder? What are the Park Pass restrictions? Do you know about all the discounts? And what about other tips and tricks to really help you maximize your pass? Well, we’ve got ALL the info you need right here.

New Pass Sales

NEW sales for all 4 Annual Pass types will resume on April 20th. This includes the Incredi-Pass, Sorcerer Pass, and Pirate Pass, and the Pixie Dust Pass (which has been available for purchase) will still be available.

But be warned — the number of passes for sale will be limited, and any pass type “may become unavailable for purchase at any time.” (In other words, buy your pass ASAP.)

If you are a Disney Vacation Club Member, you can buy the Sorcerer Pass EARLY. Eligible DVC Members could start buying the DVC Disney Sorcerer Pass online on April 13th.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the pass types, costs, and who can buy them:

• Incredi-Pass:
  • $1,399+tax
  • All guests can buy it
  • No blockout dates
• Sorcerer Pass
  • $969 + tax
  • Only for Florida Residents and Disney Vacation Club members
  • Some blockout dates (select days during certain holiday periods)
• Pirate Pass
  • $749 + tax
  • Only for Florida Residents
  • More blockout dates than the Sorcerer Pass (including peak and holiday periods)
• Pixie Dust Pass
  • $399 + tax
  • Only for Florida Residents
  • Most blockout dates of any pass (essentially just allows the passholder to visit on most weekdays and there are blackouts on peak and holiday periods too)

Now you know some Annual Passholder basics, so let’s get into the tips and tricks.

Activation

When it comes to purchasing a new Annual Pass, lots of people don’t realize you DO NOT have to use your pass right away! Once you buy a pass, you have 365 days to “activate” it (use it for the first time).

So, let’s say you don’t have a Disney trip planned until January of 2024. But if you don’t buy your pass right on April 20th, you’ll run the risk that the passes (or a specific pass type you want) will sell out and you won’t be able to get it later. Thanks to this activation delay, you can buy your pass on April 20th, but wait to activate it until your January 2024 trip.

Disney specifies that the Pass is “valid for applicable privileges for one (1) year from the date of use of the Pass for first entry” into a Disney World theme park. So basically, your 1-year validity counter wouldn’t start until you activate it.

A Pass will expire if it isn’t activated within 1 year from the date of purchase so you do need to be mindful of that 365-day rule. But this can help you buy the pass NOW, ensure that you get the type you like, and yet not have to activate it until later!

Click here for our full post on this trick!

Upgrades

What if you have an exciting Annual Pass? Well, on April 20th, current Annual Passholders will also be able to upgrade their Pass, even if they’re not within their renewal window. Just be sure to have some cash set aside for this because you will need to pay the price difference in full at the time you upgrade.

Also, take a close look at when your current pass expires. Your upgraded pass will have the same expiration date that your previous Pass had, so if you only have a few weeks or months left in that existing pass, you may want to wait to upgrade.

What if you don’t upgrade now but decide you want to later? Or if you buy a new pass now at a lower level and then later want to upgrade to one with fewer blockout dates?

Don’t stress — even if new Annual Passes sell out, you should be given the option to upgrade to any pass type when it’s time to renew your pass (that has been the case for a while now, but of course, things are subject to change). Still, if you don’t renew right on April 20th, we expect that you’ll be able to upgrade your pass during your usual renewal window.

See our full post on upgrades here

Park Passes

ALL Disney World guests need a valid Park Pass to enter a Disney World theme park, but there are special Park Pass rules (and some flexibility!) Passholders need to know about.

An Important Change

Starting April 18th, Annual Passholders will be able to visit Disney World theme parks after 2PM WITHOUT a Park Pass reservation (with some exceptions).

The exception applies to Annual Passholders wanting to visit Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays. If an Annual Passholder wants to go to Magic Kingdom on Saturdays or Sundays, they’ll need a Park Pass regardless of what time they want to visit.

This is a big change that could make visiting the parks on a more spontaneous basis easier for Passholders.

Learn about the change here

Limits to Park Passes

How many Park Passes a Passholder can hold at any given time depends on the ticket type they have. Passholders CANNOT hold an unlimited amount of Park Passes, so that’s something important to consider.

Here’s a look at the limitations:

• Incredi-Pass: up to 5 days
• Sorcerer Pass: up to 5 days
• Pirate Pass: up to 4 days
• Pixie Dust Pass: up to 3 days

Another thing to note is that the Park Pass availability calendar is different for Passholders. There is one calendar for Passholders (which then splits into calendars for each pass type), and separate calendars for those with Disney World hotel reservations and those with regular Disney World tickets.

If you need to make MORE Park Pass reservations than those allotted to your Annual Pass, or you want to make Park Pass reservations that won’t count toward your Passholder total, or you don’t have availability on the Passholder calendar to reserve the specific park you want to go to, you may want to consider booking a qualifying Disney World hotel reservation that’ll allow you to tap into the hotel guest Park Pass calendar.

Those don’t count against your Passholder Park Pass limit. Or, as Disney says, “Passholders staying at select Disney Resort or other select hotels are still eligible to make theme park reservations for each day of their Resort stay(s), in addition to holding their maximum number of theme park reservations at a time on a rolling basis.”

Bonus Park Passes

And there’s MORE Park Pass information you need to know. From time to time, Disney adds “bonus reservations” for Passholders that do NOT count toward their Park Pass limits. You’ll usually see these marked with a gold star.

Be on the lookout for these as they could allow you to make additional Park Passes even if you’re already holding the maximum amount allowed for your pass at any one time.

Click here for a full breakdown of Disney World’s Park Pass system

Discounts

Annual Passholders get all kinds of discounts in Disney World that many of them don’t even know about or don’t fully take advantage of. Let’s go through the basics here.

Food Discounts

Passholders get some great discounts at tons of Disney World restaurants. Generally (but not always), these are Disney World-owned-and-operated spots and they’re generally the table service restaurants.

Here’s just a sampling of the discounts currently available:

• 20% off at ‘Ohana
• 10% off at 50’s Prime Time Cafe
• 10% off at Boma — Flavors of Africa
• 15% off at Enzo’s Hideaway
• 20% off Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company (Disney Springs)

Moral of the story? If you’re dining in Disney World, be sure to ask and see if they offer an Annual Passholder discount — you might just be surprised!

Click here for a full list of the dining discounts for Passholders

Merchandise Discounts

Passholders also get discounts on merchandise at Disney World stores (again, usually the Disney-owned-and-operated ones). Here’s a taste of the savings YOU could get:

• 20% off at Beach Club Marketplace
• 10% off at the Coca-Cola Store (Disney Springs)
• 20% off at Discovery Trading Company
• 20% off at Disney’s Days of Christmas

And here’s the real kicker — some spots that you might think of as “snack locations” are really merchandise spots. Passholders currently get 20% off at the Main Street Confectionery, Karamell-Kuche (yes, THE caramel shop at the Germany pavilion in EPCOT), and Disney’s Candy Cauldron.

So you could be getting some tasty snacks for LESS too.

Another pro tip is to try and buy packaged snacks and bottled drinks in Disney World merchandise locations whenever possible. Your Passholder discount may not work at some Disney World kiosks, but if you buy that same bottled water at a merchandise store (where there are often bottled drinks in little refrigerators) you’ll be able to utilize your discount and get it for LESS.

And stay alert to our posts on Passholder discount CHANGES. Sometimes Disney temporarily increases the merchandise discount for Passholders, bringing it up to 30% (or another number). That could score you even MORE savings.

See a full list here of all the places where Passholders can get a merchandise discount here

Hotel Discounts

Passholders can often save on Disney World hotel stays too. That might be a discount of 35% on rooms during a certain period of time (like the upcoming summer dates offer) or even a discount on stays at the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.

These change and may be offered on different types of rooms at different points of the year, but the key here is to not forget that they’re often available!

See our page on ALL Disney discounts and deals here

Other Discounts

Passholders also get discounts on certain events, entertainment, sports, spa treatments, and more. We’re talking about saving 15% on golf at Disney World, saving 15% on certain tours like the Keys to the Kingdom tour, specially priced Disney World water park tickets, and even a $2 discount at the AMC theater in Disney Springs.

Passholders also often get discounts on tickets to things like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and After Hours events.

Basically, before you book something for Disney World, just be sure to check and see if an Annual Passholder discount could help you save some cash.

Passholder Perks

Now, we’ve got to talk about all of those Passholder Perks! Some of these might be very obvious to you while others might be hidden secrets you had no idea about.

First up, Passholders get FREE standard parking at all the Disney World theme parks, and you can upgrade to Preferred Parking for an additional fee if you want a spot a bit closer to the entrance. You only need one Passholder in the car for this to work, so pile up your friends in the same vehicle to save some cash!

Park Hopping is also included with the pass, but you are subject to Park Hopping restrictions (you must still enter the first park you have a Park Pass for and you can’t start to hop until 2PM).

Annual Passholders also often get access to exclusive food items. In the past, we’ve seen secret passholder drinks at Joffrey’s, EPCOT festival booths, and even secret Passholder-only chocolate. Keep an eye out for some of these throughout your trip.

If you order your food via Mobile Order, make sure your Annual Pass is linked to your My Disney Experience account. If it is, the discount should appear when you place an order at a place that qualifies. The same applies to Mobile Merchandise Checkout. Just be sure to ask a Cast Member if you aren’t seeing the discount appear there.

Also, you’ll want to be on the lookout for Passholder exclusive merchandise. There are often Passholder-exclusive MagicBands or EPCOT festival merchandise. You can even shop Passholder-only merch online!

Passholders often are among the first to experience Disney World’s NEWEST rides and attractions too. Passholders got exclusive previews of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle / Run so they could get on the rides before everyone else. You’ll want to be on the lookout for emails about those opportunities.

And if you don’t want to deal with the lines of guests trying to scan into the parks, look for the Passholder-exclusive entrances.

But wait…there’s MORE. Annual Passholders were recently granted access to Disney PhotoPass lenses (and given one free Cinderella Castle Mural of Memories experience). Plus, Passholders can now create and share their own Disney-themed short video slideshows using photos from their visit, which can then be shared with family and friends.

Learn about the video slideshow feature here!

You Only Need ONE Passholder Sometimes

One key thing to keep in mind when deciding whether to buy an Annual Pass is that it typically just takes ONE Passholder to score discounts if your group will be paying together on one check.

For Annual Pass room discounts, the Passholder will need to be the lead guest on the reservation, but your whole group can benefit from the savings of the discounted rate if they stay in the room.

The same rule applies to the food discounts at Disney World restaurants or discounts on merchandise. As long as the Passholder shows their card and foots the bill, you could all take advantage of the savings. When it comes to special events and tours, Passholders can usually purchase multiple tickets at a discount at the time of booking, so you can take advantage of that too.

In other words, if buying an Annual Pass for every member of your group doesn’t make sense, but you still want to take advantage of certain savings, you may be able to if just ONE member of your group gets the Annual Pass.

Learn more about this Passholder secret here!

Monthly Payment

Don’t want to pay for an Annual Pass all in one go up front? If you’re a Florida Resident, there may be a solution. According to Disney, “Florida residents can spread out their payments with the Monthly Payment Program.”

To do this, buy an Annual Pass online through the Monthly Payment Program. Just be warned that the Monthly Payment Program is NOT available for Annual Pass purchases made over the phone, and it is limited to Florida Residents.

A one-time payment of $205 is required. Then the monthly payment will be based on the remaining balance. While you’ll still need to put up some cash up-front, the payment program could make paying for the rest of the Pass a little easier on your wallet.

You Can Use a Disney Gift Card to Pay for Your Pass

If you’ll be paying for an Annual Pass, grab those Disney Gift Cards you’ve been given! You can even request Disney Gift Cards for birthdays, special occasions, etc. to help you make the big purchase.

You will typically be limited to only a certain number of payment methods when buying your Pass, so you may not be able to use a whole bunch of gift cards in one go, but it could still help! According to a Disney post from 2022, paying for the Annual Pass online with multiple gift cards may be tricky. Another post notes, “The Walt Disney World Resort website only allows one method of payment per transaction, so you will need to call the Annual Passholder phone line at (407) 560-7277 to complete your renewal. The Cast Members there can take more than one Disney Gift Card at a time to apply towards your balance.” You can also try to get the help of a Cast Member at a Guest Relations location in the parks.

If you’re a Disney Visa Card member, save up those rewards points! Then, you can redeem them to your Disney Rewards Card before you buy or renew your Annual Pass. You should be able to use that as a form of payment for your Pass — might as well put those points to good use, right?!

Before you pay for the Pass with a Disney Gift Card, combine your gift card balances into 1 or 2 cards if possible. You can do this through the Disney Gift Card website. That can help you minimize the number of cards you’re using and make the process easier.

PhotoPass

And finally, we get to something you might want to add to your Annual Pass. Annual Passes no longer come with PhotoPass downloads. Instead, you can purchase the PhotoPass downloads perk for around $99 per pass.

If you’ll be taking lots of photos and visiting often, that can be a good deal considering Memory Maker is $169 when purchased in advance and is only good for vacation photos and videos within 30 days of activation.

But be cautious about making this purchase. You really only need ONE Passholder in your group to have this perk. As long as you’re all connected to that Passholder via the friends and family connections in the My Disney Experience app, that Passholder with the PhotoPass downloads will be able to see and download everyone’s photos.

If you purchase multiple Annual Passes in a group (all at once online), it will likely default to adding the PhotoPass downloads for ALL of the passes. You don’t necessarily need each person to have that perk, so consider buying one pass with the photos perk separately!

And that’s a look at some of the best Passholder tips and tricks! Will you be buying an Annual Pass soon? Tell us in the comments!

For more Passholder news, click here to learn about a Passholder FREEBIE and click here to learn more about Passholder perks.

Oh — and Passholders can get FREE exclusive magnets sometimes too — click here to learn more about one we’ve seen in the past!

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Do you think being a Passholder is worth it? Tell us in the comments.

The post Now That Disney World Annual Passes Are Back, We Need to TALK first appeared on the disney food blog.