Last week, Disney announced the cancellation of all annual passports at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Many wondered how Disney will replace the program. Although some were surprised by the move, others were not. In a op-ed vlog, this past November, OrangeGrove55 speculated that Disney was gearing up to end the annual passport program. In a follow up vlog, he speculated what the new program might look like. Now, Disney is also trying to figure out the exact same thing.

Now, Disney has been sending out surveys to their annual passport passholders asking them what types of passes would be of interest. The first survey, which was sent out a few days ago, offered various options for multiple passport levels. One thing in common with all the passports was a reservation system. Disney is looking at various factors such as price, frequency, spontaneity, and time of day, week, and year. According to Brady MacDonald, writer at The Orange County Register, the goal of the new passport program is to “spread out attendance at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure while satisfying the largest number of people.”

When the parks began their phased reopening last spring and summer, Disney instituted a park reservation system in order to control guest capacity. In an interview with Bloomberg, Iger said that they system was working well and that it was there to stay.

In response to the first survey, Twitter user @imaginat1on posted, “Disneyland is surveying guests on potential AP replacements. Sounds like ALL “Passports” would be reservation-based with the variables being how far out you can book, how many you can hold at once, and how many ‘anytime reservations’ you can make.”

Shortly after, Disney sent out other options for guests to consider. They included other price points with varying options. It is expected that Disney will then pull options and prices from all these choices to create a set of revamped passports for guests.

Twitter user @imaginat1on also posted a list of features, options, and discounts.

Rumors have been swirling for quite sometime that Disneyland was going to overhaul the passholder program. “According to Disney officials, plans had already been in the works for years to discontinue most Disneyland Annual Passport tiers,” stated Tom Corless, owner of Walt Disney News Today. “Sources indicated that the SoCal Select, Deluxe, and Signature annual passports were scheduled to be discontinued at some point in the next year or two. The elongated closure of the Disneyland Resort theme parks allowed Disney an opportunity to hit the reset button without drawing the attention that would’ve been drawn under normal circumstances.”

“We plan to use this time while we remain closed to develop new membership offerings that will utilize consumer insights to deliver choice, flexibility and value for our biggest fans,” stated Ken Potrock, Disneyland President.

On Friday, Potrock told The Orange County Register that “nothing [is] off the table as we begin to think about things that are important for people.” He told MacDonald, “We’re trying to understand: What do people want in this new world? When do they want to access our parks? How frequently do they want to access our parks? With what level of spontaneity? With what level of value? All of those kinds of things and many more.”

Potrock said that the new passport program “is not designed to limit choice and flexibility.” He went on to say it was “designed to enhance choice and flexibility.”

Industry expert Dennis Speigle said these new passports are geared to two groups of people – those who care about the time and days they can visit the park and those who care about price.

At this time, these changes only affect Disneyland annual passholders. Annual passes at the Walt Disney World Resort remain the same as they were prior to the pandemic. The only difference is the Florida park is currently only allowing passholders to renew a pass, purchasing a new annual pass has been on hold since last July.

On his Twitter account, Michael Levey, a former Disney creative stated”We explored a points-based system in Florida at one point where different parks were cost different points to get into. Ken Potrock was my VP at the time. Surprised they’re not moving in that direction because I think he liked the idea at the time.”