Annual pass question ( Concerning renewal and date of use)

[UberMouse]

I have a question to anyone that may know the answer.

I have purchases annual passes in the past and usually have about 3 months or so before I use them after the purchase. If I bought them in Jan. and did not activate them until April, then they would be good until April of the next year.
My question is, If I renewed my passes in April of this year and for some reason was unable to use them this year, would they expire at some point even though I had not used them? Or would they be good until I activated them say 12-15 months down the road and still last for 12 months?

 

[bgraham34]

I have a question to anyone that may know the answer.

I have purchases annual passes in the past and usually have about 3 months or so before I use them after the purchase. If I bought them in Jan. and did not activate them until April, then they would be good until April of the next year.
My question is, If I renewed my passes in April of this year and for some reason was unable to use them this year, would they expire at some point even though I had not used them? Or would they be good until I activated them say 12-15 months down the road and still last for 12 months?

They will expire even though you did not use them. Once you renew the pass stays activated.

 

[UberMouse]

So I would be better off to let these expire and just buy without renewing? If so, then what could I expect as far as expiration.

Thanks!

 

[dreamfinder]

So I would be better off to let these expire and just buy without renewing? If so, then what could I expect as far as expiration.

Thanks!

It depends on when you plan on next going. The renewal price on an AP is basically buy 11 months, get the 12th for free. Current new AP price is $611.31, renewal is $563.39. So the new AP works out to $50.94 per month. $51 * 11 = $561. So factoring in a bit of fudge for taxes, if you aren't going to use the AP within the month after expiration, then why renew? It usually makes more sense to wait until your next trip and then just buy new, as you would have the full 12 months from date of purchase/voucher redemption. The one time this doesn't made sense is if you won't be traveling outside the original expiration window. IE your current pass expires in Jan 2014. You won't be traveling til June, but you will then go again in Sept and Dec. So if you renew, your new pass would expire in Jan 2015. If you buy a new pass, it would expire in June 2015. But if you don't plan on traveling between Jan and June 2015, then there is no real benefit to waiting til June to get a new AP. Renewing it would save you the $50, and in this case would make sense.

 

[UberMouse]

That makes sense. I think I had been over thinking it. I'll just wait until my next planned trip to get another AP, unless there is a too good to pass up deal that comes along through DVC or something.

Thanks again!

 

[Monty]

I've never actually renewed an AP. I always buy on the basis of a number of trips planned within a year. I would only renew if I was planning a new trip within a month of expiry. I generally have a fairly good idea of when I will be taking Disney trips for the next 18-30 months, so maximizing my value on an AP generally works better without renewing. Then once I have an AP I get easily tempted to book short trips to take advantage of it...

 

[luv]

I always renew, because I always need it.

But if I wasn't going all that often, like you, I'd probably just wait.