Can You Cancel Your Disney Annual Passes Due To Economic Hardship?
Admit It. For most of us, our first full week at home was a combination of keeping the kids entertained and cancelling anything and everything that isn’t essential. For my household that meant magazine subscriptions, subscription boxes, etc. Anything considered unnecessary was shaved off of our budget. But what about Disney Annual Passes?
This was the very subject of an article in today’s Orlando Sentinel. In the piece, the paper interviewed Roy Jossfolk, an Orlando freelancer who designs websites and like most of us is dealing with a loss of income as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
After losing a $7,500 retainer this month he began trying to eliminate unnecessary expenses by taking measures like cancelling Hulu, calling AT&T to get a discount and more. That got him wondering whether he could cancel his Disney annual pass.
According to the piece in the Sentinel Disney IS NOT allowing Jossfolk to cancel his annual pass or pause his $75 monthly payments even though it will go unused during the shutdown. Jossfolk argues that this is a “luxury” he can no longer afford.
He told the Orlando Sentinel, “If I want to cancel my bill because of a national emergency, I should be able to do it.”
It should be noticed that Disney has made adjustments to benefit Annual Passholders. They did this by adding on extra days to existing passes to make up for the days the theme parks are closed. However, when it comes to payments, particularly Florida residents who pay in monthly instalments, they will continue to be charged.
Orlando Sentinel reached out to Disney for comment and was emailed the following statement, “We understand this is an uncertain time for many people and due to the changing nature of this situation, we continue to look at various impacts and how to best meet the needs of our guests,
Universal Studios in Orlando seems to be slightly more flexible for pass holders. According to the piece, Universal spokeswoman Alyson Lundell said, “We are helping our Annual Passholders on a case-by-case basis through this uncertain time.”
With unemployment rising 33% in one week alone, it will be interesting to see whether Disney will rethink its Annual Pass strategy or hold firm. This is a story that we here at MickeyBlog will be following closely.
In the meantime, passholders like Jossfolk must find a way to balance the cost of annual passes with essentials like groceries or an electric bill.
Source: Orlando Sentinel