UPDATE: Back in February we informed you of some rumored changes coming to Disneyland’s AP program. Well some recent email have been sent out to AP’s who have expiration dates approaching. Here is a look at the email Disneyland has sent out, confirming the changes to the Black-out dates program:
For a look at the rest of the rumored changes before Galaxys Edge debut in Summer 2019 read the original article below from February:
Recently, the Disneyland Resort has raised ticket prices, most notably raising Annual Pass prices by 18%. A spokesperson for the Disneyland Resort stated that changes to the Annual Passholder program would be coming by the end of the year. This has caused a lot of speculation in the Disney fan community. Now, we are getting word of two proposed changes coming to the Annual Pass program at some point in the future. As of now, please take these changes as a rumor, as there is no official confirmation from the Disneyland Resort as of yet.
First, there will be a revamp of the blockout calendar. A similar concept is being introduced in Tokyo Disneyland. In an effort to provide some surely-needed relief during the debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, there will be days in 2019 that passholders will be blocked out of Disneyland park, but can still enter Disney California Adventure. These additional Disneyland-only blockout dates will be the majority of the changes on the calendar. In addition, there will also be an expanded number of days that AP holders will be blocked out of both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
The second rumor, and the one causing the most uproar among the AP community, is the possibility that Disney will be blocking out access to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to Deluxe and SoCal passholders for the entire first summer of operation. It is expected that Signature, Signature Plus, and Premier passholders will be able to gain access to the land during its first summer.
Furthermore, to go along with the rumored changes, the attractions inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be MaxPass-exclusive attractions; they will not have a traditional FastPass option. This would mean that Annual Passholders who are actually able to access the land may have to add MaxPass to their Annual Pass, or else be relegated to the standby queue for the attractions. This looks to be a big marketing strategy for the Disneyland Resort to sell MaxPass to both Annual Passholders as well as regular day guests, and we fully expect the “introductory price” of $10 per day to go up dramatically before the debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
From what we have been told, the park-specific blockout calendar is very likely going to happen, as it is a needed change to combat the severe overcrowding the resort is going to be dealing with next summer. The second rumored change is very early on in the discussions and may go nowhere.
When we know more, you will be the first to know about it here on WDWNT.com
2 passes. Signature and Premier. No monthly payments.
I’ve been saying this since they first announced that Star Wars Land would be in Disneyland, but I really don’t understand why they didn’t build it in Californian Adventure. Sure, it doesn’t go with the theme, but it doesn’t go with Disneyland’s either. And California Adventure constantly has way less people in it than Disneyland, so that would draw more people to it. I also feel like they should have put Star Wars Land next to Tomorrowland, possibly in place of Autopia. Even though Autopia is a classic attraction, it takes up SO much room, and it would make more sense for Star Wars Land to be next to Tomorrowland, because it goes better with the theming. And it wouldn’t be crammed into the back of the park. It’s in a really terrible location because that whole Critter Country/Frontierland/New Orleans Square area is already so congested, especially with where Fantasmic seating is and how people stake out there for hours. It’s going to be a nightmare with Star Wars Land.????
I’ll try and keep this short, but it won’t be easy. There is not an 11 acre plot in DCA. There wasn’t in Disneyland either. They had to make one. The area where the Autopia is located is built on top of what could only be described as a parking structure (Submarines on the lower level.) Most likely full of asbestos. So while they could have done that, it would have been an expensive and time consuming endeavor. Also, a lot of lost capacity during the project.
Oh, and Star Wars isn’t about the future…
Putting Galaxies Edge will allow Guests to walk around the entire north-west edge of the park. From the Haunted Mansion to Fantasyland. Something that has never been possible before.
They should’ve made Star Wars: Galaxy Edge an entity all its own. They could’ve built it off-site. Anyway, they can charge a separate price to add on to your ticket or AP to go to it. As for the overcrowding, they could stop it but they choose not to. They can stop letting AP holders in and then stop selling tickets if necessary. They can also stop selling APs altogether. They’ve done it before. Instead, they raise prices disgustingly higher to pay for things like Star Wars and Shanghai Disney.