How to Cancel Disney World Annual Passes
Walt Disney World continues to release new details regarding AP refunds and monthly payment plan holds for Annual Passholders. In this post, we’ll cover the cancellation process, how to calculate your refund, and offer some commentary about the process. (Updated August 11, 2020.)
The policies and protocol for cancelling Annual Passes has “evolved” over the course of the closure and subsequent reopening. When the parks first closed, Walt Disney World was not allowing AP cancellations or any interruptions to payments. Unsurprisingly, there was mass outrage that garnered local media attention with stories of people who were laid off from their jobs yet still had to make their AP payments.
Consequently, Walt Disney World reversed course, pausing monthly payments, revealing options for cancellation, and more. Over the course of the last few months, new info has continued to trickle out, with the latest developments occurring in the last two days–just in time to meet today’s cancellation deadline…
Let’s start with the official word from the latest WDW AP emails and updates to Walt Disney World’s Annual Pass “Know Before You Go” page. We’ll follow with some commentary trying to make sense of all this, and offering our recommendations about what to do…
If you are an Annual Passholder who has paid in full, your options are as follows…
Option 1: Continue with your Annual Pass(es) and receive 30-day extension (no additional action required): Receive an additional one-month (30 days) extension to your pass(es).
- This additional month will automatically be processed and visible in your My Disney Experience account over the coming weeks.
Option 2: Cancel your pass(es). If you prefer, and in lieu of the additional one-month extension, you may choose to cancel your annual pass(es).
- Your pass will remain valid through August 11, 2020 and will be cancelled effective August 12, 2020.
- You will be refunded for the remaining usable value of your annual pass from July 11, 2020 through your pass expiration date (as extended, if applicable).
- Refunds to original form of payment can be expected by mid- to late September. If original form of payment is not available, you should expect a check by mid- to late October.
Partial Refund Eligibility/Calculation:
- The refund amount, if any, for each pass is unique and based on factors such as: new or renewal, refunds to date, and activation date.
- If the total amount that you paid for your pass(es) (minus any refunds already given) exceeds the “usable value” (see below) of your pass(es), that excess will be refunded to you.
- The usable value of your pass(es) equals the total sale price of your pass(es) multiplied by the number of days that you could have visited any park prior to March 16 and divided by the total number of access days to any park permitted under the pass(es) at pass activation.
How to take action:
- If you have already elected to cancel your Annual Pass, this will be automatically processed. You do not need to take any further action.
- If you have not selected any option and would like to cancel, please refer to the email from Disney Destinations on July 14, 2020 and use the personalized link available through August 11, 2020. Or, you may contact V.I.PASSHOLDER Support at (407) 939-7277. We appreciate your patience as we answer all inquiries.
- If you previously took action to elect to continue with your pass(es) and now would like to cancel your pass(es), please call V.I.PASSHOLDER Support at (407) 939-7277. We appreciate your patience as we answer all inquiries.
IF YOU’RE ON THE MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN
If you are an Annual Passholder on the monthly payment plan, your options are as follows…
Option 1: Continue with your Annual Pass(es) and receive a 30-day extension (no additional action required). You’ll receive an additional one-month (30 days) extension to your pass(es).
- This additional month will automatically be processed and visible in your My Disney Experience account over the coming weeks.
- With this option, you may also be eligible for an automatically processed partial refund if your payments exceed the usable value of your pass(es).
- Refunds to original form of payment can be expected by mid to late September. If original form of payment is not available, you should expect a check by late October.
- Please note that the V.I.PASSHOLDER Support phone line is not able to provide a specific refund amount since each pass circumstance is unique and based on factors such as: new or renewal, down payment amount, refunds to date, future payments, etc.
Option 2: Cancel your pass(es). If you prefer, and in lieu of the additional one-month extension, you may choose to cancel your annual pass(es).
- Monthly payments will be stopped starting August 12, 2020. Your pass(es) will remain valid through August 11, 2020 and will be cancelled effective August 12, 2020.
- You may also be eligible for an automatically processed partial refund if your payments exceeded the usable value of your pass(es).
- Refunds to original form of payment can be expected by mid- to late September. If original form of payment is not available, you should expect a check by mid- to late October.
Partial Refund Eligibility/Calculation
- The refund amount, if any, for each pass circumstance is unique and based on factors such as: new or renewal, down payment amount, refunds to date, activation date, etc.
- If the total amount that you paid for your pass(es) (minus any refunds already given and any payments waived, returned or not collected) exceeds the “usable value” (see below) of your pass(es), that excess will be refunded to you.
- The usable value of your pass(es) equals the total sale price of your pass(es) multiplied by the number of days that you could have visited any park prior to March 16 and divided by the total number of access days to any park permitted under the pass(es) at pass activation.
- If you made a payment between July 11, 2020 and August 11, 2020 or a payment between March 14, 2020 and April 4, 2020 that was not already refunded, your refund will be at least the amount of any such payment(s).
How to take action:
- If you have already elected to cancel your pass(es), this will be automatically processed for your pass(es). You do not need to take any further action.
- If you have not selected any option (no action) and would like to select this option to cancel your pass(es), please refer to the email from Disney Destinations on July 14, 2020 and use the personalized link available through August 11, 2020.
- If you previously took action to elect to continue with your pass(es) and now would like to cancel your pass(es), please call V.I.PASSHOLDER Support at (407) 939-7277.
- Please note that the V.I.PASSHOLDER Support phone line is not able to provide a specific refund amount since each pass circumstance is unique and based on factors such as: new or renewal, down payment amount, refunds to date, activation dates, etc.
Important Note:
While Walt Disney World is encouraging all Annual Passholders to call the V.I.PASSHOLDER support line, several readers on the monthly payment plan have advised that they have had better success (and shorter wait times) calling Passholder Payment Services at (888) 701-4100, and selecting Option #3.
We have no firsthand experience with this, but hopefully some readers can leave a comment speaking further to this.
AP Cancellation & Refund Commentary
I won’t lie: math is not my strong suit. It’s a good thing we are not cancelling our APs, because my eyes glaze over when looking at the “usable value” and refund calculation factors. I feel like I need to pull Donald in Mathmagic Land up on Disney+ for a quick refresher before continuing to write this post.
I’m not even going to run a sample calculation or offer an example as I’d probably just mess it up. You’re either on your own in doing that math, or you’ll have to wait for your refund to arrive before finding out its amount. (Even if you do the math, don’t be surprised if Disney’s determination varies from yours.)
With that said, we have confirmed that past usage is not a factor in the refund amount. Unfortunately, Walt Disney World will not disclose how much of a refund you will receive until you actually submit the refund request—and once that’s made, it cannot be undone. If you do request and receive an Annual Pass refund, please share the details (amount of refund, level of pass, how much time you had remaining, etc.) so we have more data points that could be helpful to other readers.
For those of you who still have unanswered questions or issues with your APs, try the ‘Chat Here’ feature (blue button on the right side of the page) on this page. It’s worth noting that wait times both online and on the phone are over 4 hours, and that’s if you can even get through in the first place and don’t just get an “all circuits are busy” message.
If you’re going to cancel, you’re much better off simply using the link you were emailed, and hoping for the best or fixing whatever other issues might exist at a later date. It’s unlikely that anyone at the call center is going to provide you with any more information than is detailed above, so unless you have a unique problem, calling is just going to be a frustrating exercise in futility.
Perhaps cynically, we think that Walt Disney World wanted to deliberately add a bit of friction and confusion to the process, making it less likely that as many people would request refunds. Sort of like back in the day when cancelling a Columbia House membership meant sending in a fax, using a courier pigeon, or jumping through other hoops. (For those of you too young to get that reference, it’s like trying to cancel AMC A-List…although that too is now probably also obsolete.)
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Are you cancelling or keeping your Walt Disney World Annual Pass? If you’re canceling, what’s the reason: Park Pass availability, reduced hours, scaled back entertainment, health concerns, a variety of reasons, or something else? If you called, how long did you wait on hold? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
SHAME ON DISNEY! It’s been months and they still refuse to offer refunds for balances of AP that paid in full. Those that paid monthly at least get a break by the cancelation of auto pay. Hey Disney, there are many, many people that cannot even pay their RENT and you are keeping their money! Disney must be getting FEDERAL ASSISTANCE yet it still refuses to give any money back to its AP that paid in full!!!! Disney is the DEVIL!!!
They basically can do whatever they want…and then they proceed to do so. I called them, what, like the 4th time, that I had been on hold for 2+ hours, and the LAST time the cast member said basically that everything was handled, but told me she would call back, didn’t hear anything so I called…AGAIN. This cast member tells me some NEW information. Do you know if I hadn’t called they would have tried to tell me that I missed the deadline, EVEN THOUGH I’ve already “canceled” these passes with them like 3 times over the phone.
THEN they tried to tell me that IIIIIIIiiiii’m the one who broke contract on my payment plan passes so that’s why they were having a hard time canceling(YET, still hadn’t called me back like they SAID they would…that was a new one, btw). Trying to throw it in my face that there’s a contract. What?! You closed down the entire park, NOW limit my pass usage, AND require masks of which I cannot use. I changed my card because you all had an “ACCIDENT” with your system and were taking hundreds of dollars that was not authorized. I’m supposed to wait for YOU to fix that? No thanks. And IIIIIIIiiiii broke the contract!!!!!???? No, no, no. Disney will NEVER be getting my pass money again. I don’t trust their decision making and customer service commitment after this. Y’all have BILLIONS of dollars and own a sixth of the entertainment industry. I wouldn’t say they’re the “devil,” but yeah, a lot of things were definitely not right in this situation. Agreed.
And these wealthy men understand the concept of interest. 4 sure! While people are taking out high interest loans to survive, Disney was taking their sweet time giving us OUR own money back. Wow. If they had waited any longer to not give us any money at all, I might have confused them for Congress. lololol…I’m not even super political, but some of these decision makers are just throwing people STRAIGHT under the BUS!
Yes, keep cancelling everyone! It makes the odds of me being able to get a Park Pass Reservation now a whole lot easier with less APs and Disney not allowing new APs!
Hi – does anyone have the Disney Florida cancellation form? After spending four hours on the phone with Disney three weeks ago and receiving two emails saying the form was attached but it wasn’t, Disney now tells me I have to call again. No way!! Any help would be appreciated.
I just went to the “cancelation page” typed in google….cancel disney annual pass. I was able to cancel through a chat session and didn’t have to call. Just a suggestion.
Thank you Kim. 9 months and you still got money back is great. I had mine 3 weeks and park closed and I am still waiting to see what they offer.
Kim, how many months did you have the pass?. $138 refunded in a $600 pass isn’t great at all
It was more like $900as we aren’t Florida residents. We live in NY. . I had pass for 9 months before the park closed.
Does anyone know for sure if you have an AP and you have used it 10 times, you will not receive a refund?
I tried to phone 3 times, got busy signals the first 2, waited 1/2 hour on the 3rd call and then got to talk to an agent, who told me absolutely nothing. He said all he was there to do was to cancel APs. He had no info on how they calculated refunds, and when I asked who I could talk to to get that info, he told me that nobody had that info at this time. Then I tried an online chat, and got exactly the same response – no info on that is available.
If I could get a partial refund, I would cancel, but if I am not eligible for any refund, I don’t see the point in canceling.
If any has any definite information on this, please post it here, we would appreciate it.
I used my passes for 14 days. I was initially told I wouldn’t receive any refund. A week ago I received a refund of about $138. I have the platinum pass.
I was very dismayed originally, but Disney has redeemed themselves. I can’t renew my passes due to health conditions. My husband and I are both over 60. This refund is greatly appreciated!
Update: After receiving no info from either the phone call or the online chat, I sent an email asking how much my partial refund would be, and how it would be calculated. Here is the reply I received:
“You will be refunded for the remaining access days of your annual pass from July 11, 2020 through your pass expiration date (as extended, if applicable). If you go on your My Disney Experience account and go to your My Plans page, then to the My Plans, Reservations and Ticket section, you can see the expiration date of your pass from there. We don’t have a way to calculate the amount via this email department as we cannot access how much your pass cost, however, that is the way it is being calculated.”
The number of days between July 11 and my pass expiration date with the extension is 231. But the number of days when the park was closed was 116. I find it hard to believe that Disney is offering me a refund of the 231 days, as the above reply seems to be saying.
Does this make sense to anyone?
Another update: I just completed an online chat. I told the agent I was requesting my AP partial refund, and was told that was no longer available. I said I thought it was available until Aug. 11, and she said that you could cancel up until Aug. 11, but that wasn’t the same as a partial refund. Confusing! She directed me to a page that gave the Aug. 11 date, followed by a statement that refunds would be made mid to late Sept. So it’s a refund, but not a refund. Oh well. I also asked if she could tell me how much our refund would be and she said she had no information on that. So now I just wait.
Yesterday I called to cancel my AP. I am on a month to month payment plan. I was on hold for 1 hour 2 minutes when someone finally picked up. I explained that I wanted to cancel and was transferred to someone else at which time the phone disconnected. I tried to call back but the line was busy. I’m on hold right now. Fingers crossed this gets settled today.
We bought 3 AP’s in Dec ‘19 for about $1600 paid in full. We went 2 days in Dec and 3 days in Feb. We opted for the partial refund thinking 75% refund since we only used them 3 months. The contract you agreed to changes in their favor when it comes to refunds but continues in their favor when it comes to payments. First of all, this can’t be legal if they are breaking the contract in fulfilling what is presented in the agreement. Anyway, they refunded me almost $400 for all 3 AP’s and no longer can use the pass. So doing the math, they charged us $80app for 5 days. So the way I figure it, they owe me about $800. If every family pass holder requested a refund, Disney may take a hit to the pocket but we’d be coming back as AP holders another time. Not anymore! We will never buy another annual pass again. Disney just paid $75,000,000 to air Hamilton on Disney Plus. You better save that cash Mickey because that Minnie refund you’re giving us is pretty damn Goofy and your revenue stream is about to take a big hit from your Florida patrons.
We need a class action lawsuit.
When did you get your refund? Been waiting for mine
I received a refund about a week after calling but was never told how much or how it would be calculated. Meanwhile when I called back to inquire as to how it was calculated, they told me I used the park for 5 days for 3 people and was based off that. Why don’t they tell people how it was calculated? Because like the person here that said they used it for 10 days and will not be getting a refund, they want to screw you out of your annual pass. Do you think if that person knew they were getting $0 back that they would just cancel the pass? No! And you can’t opt back in. They said the deal is done!
Is there anything new about this?
DH and I are 68 & 72, we have Platinum AP purchased in full in February for an end of March renewal. Then the parks closed and the original AP shows a July 17th expiration with the renewal beginning that day.
Anyone know if we’ll be able to get a refund on the renewal? There’s no way either of us are going to the parks during this pandemic.
Have you actually renewed your pass for the next year (have an email confirmation)? I set mine up to renew (May 12) just before the parks announced closure. I called and asked for the extended expiration deal. I’m stuck with the renewal, but if you haven’t actually renewed, you should be able to not renew. You probably should call.
Waited 2 hours yesterday and over an hour today, still unable to get anyone on the phone. Are they no longer issuing refunds or just refusing to pick up the phone to issue fewer of them? Very discouraging for such a large company… We visit WDW every year and this experience has been absolutely horrendous.
I called The first week. I have two Annual Passes (Daughter and I ). Unfortunately Disney only shows one are the correct expiration date. My daughters was extended. Now I have to get that fixed. I tried And like you could not get through….almost as if the number is busy (odd). Due to all the issues (I know not Disneys Faulk about COVID), you would think they would extend passes maybe 6 months? The new expiraton went from Jan 13 to may 10. may 10th does not help me a bit. Now May 31st would. Wish me luck trying to get through!
What is the update on the passes now that it is June. There are some of us that are high risk and cannot use there passes this year or until a vaccine is produced. how can we postpone this passes for a year at least.
Called about refund on annual pass or refund for months closed, and was told that you cannot cancel annual pass and the partial refund for months closed could be as low as $5. You must fill out a application for partial refund and once you do you forfeit your right to any extension and are not given any idea on how much you will get back. It’s a gamble maybe 5 bucks maybe your monthly amount it’s up to how hungry the mouse is. In my experience it takes a lot to feed the mouse. Very disappointed in Disney that they’ve decided to not open when the Governor said they could and other parks have. You pay thousands but since only a limited few get in the park you may never be able to get in the park. It was already extremely hard to get a fast pass and this is what it will be for everyone now, so unless you have a family member who is part of their cast your screwed out of any rides if you do manage to get in the park. Once you manage to get in the park and that is a big if you will have no food carts, parades, or fireworks and will where a mask in 100degree weather.
Called to get a partial refund because our pass only went until August when we have to move. They said they would put in a ”refund request” but there was no guarantee that it would be approved. And there is no chance I would hear of it before park opening and that I should call back at that time for an update. They didn’t say anything about how much it would be. It was definitely a very disappointing experience. We saved up for three years for our annual pass for our family, and I definitely did not feel like the customer was coming first in these refund policies.
I’m going to call next week, but I have the gold Premier passport that’s good at both WDW and Disneyland (FL and CA parks). I’m wondering how they’ll refund my “shut down” time since Disneyland isn’t reopening soon, or hasn’t announced dates. I’m so angry. My mom, a cancer patient, is in the same boat. She does NOT plan on going to Disney for a long while, at least until this pandemic is over and there’s a vaccine. Seems totally unfair that she has to keep a $2,500 passport. 🙁
My partner and myself are Florida annual pass holders. We renewed our passes just before the coronavirus took hold. We only were able to attend park once before parks were closed and we were on lock down. We are 80 years of age and due to our being susceptible to the virus we have no intention Of visiting Disney world until a vaccine has been developed and available to us if we are still around. We feel we should be refunded our money ASAP. We have been passholders in the pass and always enjoyed ourselves but can no longer attend. Please advise how we get our money back or refunded. Thank you.
No
Disney told us if we stop payment at our bank, we will not be able to purchase tickets in the future!!! We cannot wear a mask all day in the heat due to medical issues. They really don’t care
Armando, did you get a response or do you have any updates on this since your post? We are hoping for the same thing and wanted to see what happened for you.
My wife and I are Florida AP holders and we paid in full. But since we are in our mid 60s and have medical conditions that put us in the Covid-19 high risk group, we don’t want to go to the parks and take an unnecessary risk. I called last week and asked for a refund from the time they closed until my ticket expiration date. They told me they would have to review my request. I’ll be calling them again Monday.
My husband and I are over 60 also. I was told because I visited the parks over 10 times, I wouldn’t receive any refund. We had planned another trip in March and had to cancel. So it seems an annual pass is only really worth 10 days, doesn’t make since as you could use it 365 days!
Please let us know what they say. My husband and I have the same reason’s for not being able to go.
I called And was on phone for an hour!! I have 2 passes. One wasn’t extended the other was. ???? Now Disney changed their offer and extended a month which would be perfect! But they weren’t sure If I could reverse the refund. Still have no idea what is going on. So much for being a “valued member”!! So disappointed.
I bought 4 season passes on feb 22. I opted to go with the payment plan because it was zero interest. The passes were $539 each. On 2/22 I paid the $636 down payment, then on 2/24 first payment of $138, and another payment on 3/23 of $138. That’s a total of $906 out of the $2,296 due. I got to use the pass for 3 weeks before park closed. I don’t want to extend my pass after they reopen. I may not want to ever go back. Why isn’t a refund an option? nobody is going back to these parks for a while. Just adding the time frame they were closed to the back end of the pass isn’t fair. that was a given anyway, they had to do that. They need to offer a pro rated option of cancellation its as simple as that.
I am a (paid in full) pass holder from NY and only had our AP’s because our daughter was DCP thru 7/31. We activated our passes on 3/8 and planned to use them for 5 separate trips we were going to take while she was DCP. So now since she’s told her DCP is done, and she will not be going back, neither will we. We have left 3 messages (2 on the phone and one in email) for a full reimbursement (minus the first week) and have yet to have ANY communication from Disney regarding this.
I had the same issue and ultimately had to contact my bank to dispute the payment already made. I also subsequently had my bank block any further charges until the matter was resolved.
Awaiting to hear back from the bank as it now stands.
I am a passholders on monthly payments and had a payment taken out of my account April 1. Does anyone know when we will get that payment refunded to us ? DIsney said we would get a refund for payments made between March 24 – April 4. I didn’t get this months payment taken out but haven’t yet received my refund from last months payment.
I also have not received a refund yet for my monthly payment that was charged to my CC on 4/2. I was holding out on paying my credit card hoping the refund would come in before my due date, but I went ahead and paid to avoid interest. Glad it’s not just me.