Converting MYW to Annual Pass

[sbkline]

We just got back from WDW on Sunday, and we used annual passes for our 2012 and 2013 trips. I activated the pass on April 13, 2012, which made it expire on April 13, 2013, which is the day we checked out of the hotel to head home. So it worked out pretty good and saved us some money.

I would like to do it that way again (especially if we can sandwich a long dreamed of Christmas trip in between) and am trying to figure out the best way to do it.

Currently, APs are $611, whether adult or child. With four of us, that's alot of money to cough up at once. Does Disney do any kind of payment plan? I use my Disney Visa for all possible expenses, and pay it in full every month. Is there a way just to make payments to Disney throughout the year so I'm not paying as much all at once, without having to use my Disney Visa?

If not, would there be much of a price difference if we just got a room and ticket package next year (a 7 or 8 day parkhopper pass), then converted our tickets to APs before we leave? Would that save us money, cost us more money, or be about the same?

What about the annual price increase? Do APs go up at the same time that other tickets do, usually in August? And how much do they usually go up? I can't remember off the top of my head how much we paid for our APs. I ordered them in May of 2011 and redeemed the voucher when we arrived at WDW in April of 2012.

 

[Master Yoda]

They currently only have payment plans for Florida residents. APs tend to go up with ticket prices.

 

[Tuvalu]

Currently, APs are $611, whether adult or child. With four of us, that's alot of money to cough up at once. Does Disney do any kind of payment plan? I use my Disney Visa for all possible expenses, and pay it in full every month. Is there a way just to make payments to Disney throughout the year so I'm not paying as much all at once, without having to use my Disney Visa?

Disney offers a payment plan for Florida residents only. Out-of-state passholders must pay in full at purchase.

 

[sbkline]

Disney offers a payment plan for Florida residents only. Out-of-state passholders must pay in full at purchase.

What about upgrading a MYW ticket to an annual pass? How much does the upgrade cost? If an AP is $611, how would that compare to the price of an 8 day MYW pass with parkhopping + the cost of upgrading it to an AP?

 

[Master Yoda]

What about upgrading a MYW ticket to an annual pass? How much does the upgrade cost? If an AP is $611, how would that compare to the price of an 8 day MYW pass with parkhopping + the cost of upgrading it to an AP?

Subtract the cost of your ticket from the price of the AP. That is what you will pay.

 

[Tuvalu]

What about upgrading a MYW ticket to an annual pass? How much does the upgrade cost? If an AP is $611, how would that compare to the price of an 8 day MYW pass with parkhopping + the cost of upgrading it to an AP?

Have never done that, but my guess would be minus the 8 day MYW from the AP cost and that would be the difference you would pay. I don't know when you plan to go to WDW again, but renewing your AP is about $40 cheaper than buying a new pass. Of course, your renewal date would begin April 13, 2013.

 

[sbkline]

Have never done that, but my guess would be minus the 8 day MYW from the AP cost and that would be the difference you would pay. I don't know when you plan to go to WDW again, but renewing your AP is about $40 cheaper than buying a new pass. Of course, your renewal date would begin April 13, 2013.

We would be going again next spring sometime. But I want to get APs to use for our next two spring trips, rather than renew my AP to use for next year's trip. I think it would be far more economical to buy new APs to use on two trips (or 3 if we can go at Christmas) than it would be to renew APs just to go on one more trip.

 

[sbkline]

Subtract the cost of your ticket from the price of the AP. That is what you will pay.

I see. Perhaps the best route, then, would be just to book a room and ticket package with dining for next year, then just upgrade our passes to APs after the trip. It would keep us from having to fork out so much money at once.

 

[Master Yoda]

I see. Perhaps the best route, then, would be just to book a room and ticket package with dining for next year, then just upgrade our passes to APs after the trip. It would keep us from having to fork out so much money at once.

That will be the best way to spread out the cost.

 

[Tuvalu]

Yeah, once you start renewing APs, it's hard to stop, haha. We have "saved" so much over the years because "we don't need to buy tickets!" Our goal was to do Disney once at Christmas...that was in 2009...and we have been back every year since! (So worth it!) We have 3 trips planned for this year (May, June, August) and hope to include December as well.

And no, we do not live in Florida!

 

[Monty]

Be careful, you have to upgrade your MYW ticket while it is still valid for entry to the parks. After the end of the day you use the last entry or it expires (at 14 days from first use) you can't upgrade. Also, keep in mind that the start date of your AP will be the first day you used the MYW ticket.

 

[Rob562]

Be careful, you have to upgrade your MYW ticket while it is still valid for entry to the parks. After the end of the day you use the last entry or it expires (at 14 days from first use) you can't upgrade. Also, keep in mind that the start date of your AP will be the first day you used the MYW ticket.

You can also upgrade the ticket to an AP at any point after you check in. This would then make you eligible for AP benefits like the AP discounts, etc.

Keep in mind that you'll then have two separate cards to deal with (room key and AP). You should also mention to the Guest Relations CM that you have the Dining Plan on your room reservation, as they have to make sure to keep that item on your room key intact when they "strip" the park tickets from them. (Most do it just fine, but there have been a handful of stories of CMs doing it wrong and then a manager at the hotel having to restore the dining credits)

You can also buy APs one at a time through the year. You'll get vouchers for them, and the AP clock doesn't start ticking until you actually redeem the voucher. This would protect you against any price increases after the vouchers' purchase.

-Rob

 

[KappleB2]

Piggy backing on this thread since I had the same question But I have another....

My aunt got us a discount on our tix for our big family reunion November trip (I don't know if its because she has an AP or with them running the 1/2 marathon?) anyway...I have a 7 day park hopper (that was nicely discounted ) I am considering going for night of joy in September so I think it would make sense to just upgrade to an AP. I could just upgrade that park hopper? The AP would take effect the day I upgrade?

In other words, it would ONLY make sense to upgrade to an AP when I get there in Sept.(not before) because I can use the value of the tix I already bought. Right?

 

[Monty]

Piggy backing on this thread since I had the same question But I have another....

My aunt got us a discount on our tix for our big family reunion November trip (I don't know if its because she has an AP or with them running the 1/2 marathon?) anyway...I have a 7 day park hopper (that was nicely discounted ) I am considering going for night of joy in September so I think it would make sense to just upgrade to an AP. I could just upgrade that park hopper? The AP would take effect the day I upgrade?

In other words, it would ONLY make sense to upgrade to an AP when I get there in Sept.(not before) because I can use the value of the tix I already bought. Right?

It depends entirely on the discounted ticket.

If it's a comp ticket [doesn't show a price but rather says "Complimentary"], then you can't upgrade it. If she got it as part of a special"deal" for the 1/2 marathon, it's probably a comp ticket.

If it's purchased through a re-seller or some other arrangement through Disney but doesn't indicate it's comp, it will need to be used once to get into the parks before upgrading. If you upgrade before using it once, you'll only get what the re-seller paid Disney toward your AP but once it's been used once you get credit for the current gate price. Don't ask me why it works that way, but it does.

 

[KappleB2]

It depends entirely on the discounted ticket.

If it's a comp ticket [doesn't show a price but rather says "Complimentary"], then you can't upgrade it. If she got it as part of a special"deal" for the 1/2 marathon, it's probably a comp ticket.

If it's purchased through a re-seller or some other arrangement through Disney but doesn't indicate it's comp, it will need to be used once to get into the parks before upgrading. If you upgrade before using it once, you'll only get what the re-seller paid Disney toward your AP but once it's been used once you get credit for the current gate price. Don't ask me why it works that way, but it does.

Hmmmm....ok. I had a feeling it couldn't be that easy I'll have to check what the tickets say. Thank you for your quick response!

 

[Disvillain63]

I pre-purchased 2 4-day PH before a recent price increase. May I use the 2 4-Day PH's towards the purchase of 1 AP?

 

[Master Yoda]

I pre-purchased 2 4-day PH before a recent price increase. May I use the 2 4-Day PH's towards the purchase of 1 AP?

Unfortunately no. You can not combine multiple tickets into 1.

 

[KappleB2]

Ok @Monty or @Master Yoda. My ticket doesn't say comp or list a price on it. It was mailed to me directly from disney and says 7-day park hopper-sports. Upgradable?

With the announcement of free dining I am REALLY considering a September trip!

 

[Master Yoda]

Ok @Monty or @Master Yoda. My ticket doesn't say comp or list a price on it. It was mailed to me directly from disney and says 7-day park hopper-sports. Upgradable?

With the announcement of free dining I am REALLY considering a September trip!

Possibly. If it said "comp" it would without question be a no go. It is still up to what the CM tells you at guest services, but it sounds like you should be able to upgrade it.

 

[Monty]

Ok @Monty or @Master Yoda. My ticket doesn't say comp or list a price on it. It was mailed to me directly from disney and says 7-day park hopper-sports. Upgradable?

With the announcement of free dining I am REALLY considering a September trip!

Regarding upgradeable... What Richard [ @Master Yoda ] said. Does the 7-day hopper-sports have a "must be used before" or "must be used between" date(s)? That could restrict upgrades, I'm not certain, doesn't hurt to ask.

Regarding September trip and "Free" dining... Here's the potential bad news: If you book for Free Dining, you have to book with a minimum 2-day MYW base ticket and pay rack rate on the room. You can't combine two tickets towards an AP upgrade, so either your 7-day hopper or your 2-day base ticket would have to be held for a future trip or applied to the renewal of your AP or purchase of another AP.

If your budget for doing or not doing the September trip is dependent on being able to upgrade to an AP to be viable, you'll have to decide what level of risk you can take. One possible approach would be to book free dining and find out once you're there [before entering any parks] whether the 7-day hopper is upgradeable, if it is, use it to enter the park and then upgrade it to an AP. The 2-day base ticket could then be held until a future trip or put toward a renewal or future AP. If it isn't upgradeable, use the 2-day base ticket [upgrading it to whatever you actually need] for the September trip and the 7-day for the race trip and skip the AP.

Rather complicated, but you'll need to do the math for each possible scenario and decide what to do before you know for sure what the status of the 7-day hopper is.