Disneyland Resort's president says because of the uncertainty of when it will be able to reopen its California theme parks, the park is canceling current annual passports and issuing refunds.
The company updated its current annual passport page online to alert customers that it will, "be issuing appropriate refunds for eligible Disneyland Resort Annual Passports and sunsetting the current Annual Passport program."
"Due to the continued uncertainty of the pandemic and limitations around the reopening of our California theme parks, we will be issuing appropriate refunds for eligible Disneyland Resort Annual Passports and sunsetting the current program. We are currently developing new membership offerings that will utilize consumer insights to deliver choice, flexibility, and value for our biggest fans," Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock said in a statement.
Disneyland will offer a pro rata refund, which is the total value of the passport minus the usable value left, to eligible customers. Customers can check online for more information on how to get and calculate their refund.
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Annual Passholders who held an active passport as of March 14, 2020, will be able to continue receiving applicable discounts based on passport type for merchandise and food and beverages at Downtown Disney, according to Disneyland.
Starting Jan. 18 through Feb. 25, 2021, those same annual passholders will also get a 30% discount on select merchandise at select locations in Downtown Disney on weekdays as an added bonus.
Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks have been closed since last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The parks are eligible to reopen in California's yellow tier (minimal) with a capacity of 25% and numerous health and safety modifications. The majority of the state's counties are currently under California's regional stay-at-home order and have not returned to the color-coded reopening tier system.
Last year, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that California's "arbitrary standard" for COVID-19 guidelines was preventing the parks from reopening and hurting employees.
"Unfortunately, we’re extremely disappointed that the state of California continues to keep Disneyland closed despite our proven track record," Chapek said. "Frankly, as we and other civic leaders have stated before, we believe state leadership should look objectively at what we’ve achieved successfully at our parks around the world, all based on science, as opposed to setting an arbitrary standard that is precluding our cast members from getting back to work while decimating small businesses and the local community."
Currently, Disneyland is hosting a large-scale coronavirus vaccination site for Orange County.
This story was originally published by Mark Saunders at KGTV.
