Upgrading to annual pass question, before or after.

[Chiz0]

So I am about to book our upcoming trip in April, and will finally take the plunge and get us the Annual Pass. Now I know I can upgrade at Guest Services when we arrive, but are there any benefits to call in prior to arrival and upgrade? I will be paying for our trip with my Disney Visa to take advantage of the 6 months financing, will I be able to add the upgrade cot to that as well? Has anyone done anything similar?
Thanks in advance!

*edit: I have read that if the PhotoPass was pre-paid they take that cost into the upgrade, do they also take into consideration the cost of upgrading to the park hopper? We have never gotten the park hopper before, but if putting down a higher amount, at least the upgrade cost will seem "less expensive".

 

[ChristineOH]

Do you have tickets through a package? If not, where did you purchase them? You may not be able to upgrade them before your trip, depending on how they were purchased.

Usually you want to upgrade as soon as you can during your trip, so you can begin taking advantage of the passholder discounts on dining and merchandise, but if you have a really long trip, it can mess with your FP, because AP holders can only make 7 days worth of FP at a time.

 

[Chiz0]

Getting them in a package through Disney World. Just finished booking everything. I figure I will probably give them a call in a few days. If not, the first stop will be guest Services at Magic Kingdom to do our upgrade.

 

[Wubar]

Getting them in a package through Disney World. Just finished booking everything. I figure I will probably give them a call in a few days. If not, the first stop will be guest Services at Magic Kingdom to do our upgrade.

Not sure if you are rope dropping MK, but the one day we did exactly that, my wife was the first one in line at GS when she upgraded to an AP. Took less than 5 minutes and we were on our way....

 

[Chiz0]

We definitely will not be rope dropping, our flight lands at 9am! Hoping to hit the park before noon. We always start and end our stay at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

You can't purchase AP's as part of a WDW package and only WDTC (Walt Disney Travel Company) packages are eligible for the Disney Visa no interest offer. Personally, I would keep things as is and just upgrade to the AP's when you arrive. The package you have booked right now will qualify for the Disney Visa promo (so, perhaps load up those tickets with days/hoppers, etc. so the majority of your costs are on the package). When you upgrade to the AP, that's a ticket purchase and will not qualify for the Disney Visa promo.

 

[Chiz0]

That's what I thought, I don't think there was a huge price difference by adding park hopper, but maybe I'll add a few more park tickets....
Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Maniacmous]

Do you have tickets through a package? If not, where did you purchase them? You may not be able to upgrade them before your trip, depending on how they were purchased.

Usually you want to upgrade as soon as you can during your trip, so you can begin taking advantage of the passholder discounts on dining and merchandise, but if you have a really long trip, it can mess with your FP, because AP holders can only make 7 days worth of FP at a time.

I thought if AP holders were staying on site that they could hold more than 7 days worth of FP+ at a time (up to length of stay).

 

[CAS239]

I thought if AP holders were staying on site that they could hold more than 7 days worth of FP+ at a time (up to length of stay).

Correct. AP holders staying on site can book for the entire length of their stay. Same as regular on site guests. 60 days out and length of stay

 

[ChristineOH]

I think PP have answered your other questions.

OP, this is exactly what I did in June. And I also added the Parkhopper to the package so the upgrade cost would be less. Be prepared, it took about an hour at Guest Services. I had an extremely nice, but not very experienced CM. I hope you get someone who is able to help you more quickly! We stopped at GS on the way out of AK on our first morning.

They will take the price of your park hopper tickets and credit it to your AP cost. DO THE MATH beforehand, and know exactly what you expect to pay. The first price he told me was wrong. He figured it out without me pressing, but had I not known what I was supposed to pay, I could have ended up paying $300 more than I was supposed to.

And, when I asked, he told me he couldn't refund my Memory Maker. At that point, my family was so over being there, so I said okay, and we left. When we got back to the room, I emailed guest services. They emailed and called me the next afternoon to tell me that they had credited my account for the Memory Maker. It was great customer service.

We saved enough with dining and merchandise discounts to pay for the cost of one of our AP upgrades, so it really worked out well for us. They are very strict about showing photo ID with your AP card to get the discount, so be prepared to carry these in addition to your magic band.

Have a great trip!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I think PP have answered your other questions.

OP, this is exactly what I did in June. And I also added the Parkhopper to the package so the upgrade cost would be less. Be prepared, it took about an hour at Guest Services. I had an extremely nice, but not very experienced CM. I hope you get someone who is able to help you more quickly! We stopped at GS on the way out of AK on our first morning.

They will take the price of your park hopper tickets and credit it to your AP cost. DO THE MATH beforehand, and know exactly what you expect to pay. The first price he told me was wrong. He figured it out without me pressing, but had I not known what I was supposed to pay, I could have ended up paying $300 more than I was supposed to.

And, when I asked, he told me he couldn't refund my Memory Maker. At that point, my family was so over being there, so I said okay, and we left. When we got back to the room, I emailed guest services. They emailed and called me the next afternoon to tell me that they had credited my account for the Memory Maker. It was great customer service.

We saved enough with dining and merchandise discounts to pay for the cost of one of our AP upgrades, so it really worked out well for us. They are very strict about showing photo ID with your AP card to get the discount, so be prepared to carry these in addition to your magic band.

Have a great trip!

Just following up on ChristineOH's post, OP, if you are definitely upgrading to an AP, you may want to drop Memory Maker off your package so you don't have to deal with potential glitches when you upgrade to the AP.

 

[ChristineOH]

Just following up on ChristineOH's post, OP, if you are definitely upgrading to an AP, you may want to drop Memory Maker off your package so you don't have to deal with potential glitches when you upgrade to the AP.

Yes-- that is a good idea. One less thing to mess with. If you're adding the hoppers, then you can do it at the same time. Or your TA can.

 

[Chiz0]

This is exactly the information I was looking for. I left off the Memory Maker for the exact reason ChristtineOH mentioned. I have read of other having no issues, others having many.
I have already figured out the cost difference between the park tickets and the upgrade to the AP, so hopefully it won't take too long.
Thanks again!

 

[patster734]

I’d also like to add: Check the expiration date on your annual pass. Last year, we purchased a multi-day ticket in May for our September trip. In September, before entering our first park (Epcot), we upgraded to an annual pass. The expiration date should have been Sept 2018, but when I looked at the AP on my MDE the next day, it showed May 2018. We went to guest services (MK), and the CM exchanged the APs out for new ones. But before leaving, I had her check the expiration date which was still May 2018. Still wrong! Fortunately, a manager was nearby, and assisted the CM in exchanging those APs for new ones with the correct Sept 2018 expiration date.

 

[ChristineOH]

Hopefully you have a quick upgrade like Wubar and not an hour long one like me!

Oh, and my CM almost forgot to give us the physical cards for our AP-- I'm so glad I remembered to ask, because you definitely need them!

Sounds like you have a good plan-- good luck and have fun!

 

[Janet McDonald]

I’d also like to add: Check the expiration date on your annual pass. Last year, we purchased a multi-day ticket in May for our September trip. In September, before entering our first park (Epcot), we upgraded to an annual pass. The expiration date should have been Sept 2018, but when I looked at the AP on my MDE the next day, it showed May 2018. We went to guest services (MK), and the CM exchanged the APs out for new ones. But before leaving, I had her check the expiration date which was still May 2018. Still wrong! Fortunately, a manager was nearby, and assisted the CM in exchanging those APs for new ones with the correct Sept 2018 expiration date.

Seriously contemplating an annual pass when we visit in August. So if I go ahead and purchase tickets through undercover tourist now, when I upgrade when we arrive in August, our annual passes will be valid from August 2018-August 2019?

 

[ChristineOH]

Seriously contemplating an annual pass when we visit in August. So if I go ahead and purchase tickets through undercover tourist now, when I upgrade when we arrive in August, our annual passes will be valid from August 2018-August 2019?

Yes. If you first use your park ticket on August 1, the AP will be good from August 1, 2018 to August 1, 2019, regardless of when you purchased the ticket or did the upgrade.

 

[Merlin Jones]

Yes. If you first use your park ticket on August 1, the AP will be good from August 1, 2018 to August 1, 2019, regardless of when you purchased the ticket or did the upgrade.

This was my question: If I'm using a 4-day park-hopper, and I wait to upgrade to AP until the LAST day, does the AP begin on the day I upgraded, or is it retroactive to the first day I used the park-hopper ticket? I was hoping for the former, but if I'm reading this correctly, it's the latter.

 

[Robo]

This was my question: If I'm using a 4-day park-hopper, and I wait to upgrade to AP until the LAST day, does the AP begin on the day I upgraded, or is it retroactive to the first day I used the park-hopper ticket? I was hoping for the former, but if I'm reading this correctly, it's the latter.

Since you are "upgrading" an existing ticket, the AP will be dated to the first use of the existing ticket.
That's what makes it an "upgrade."
Otherwise, you would have to pay for a whole new ticket.

ALSO, using the previous Aug. 1 dates:
If you first use your park ticket on August 1, the AP will be good from August 1, 2018 THROUGH THE END OF THE DAY on August 1, 2019.

 

[Missyrose]

but maybe I'll add a few more park tickets

Just to be clear, you can only apply one ticket's value toward each AP upgrade. You can't use two tickets for Person A's upgrade and two more for Person B. One ticket each.