Question about annual passes, discounts and planning

[erikwatts]

Hello All,

We have been to WDW multiple times, and for the first time we are going to purchase premium annual passes.

We plan to purchase the passes (3 total, myself, DW, and DD) on January 31, 2009. On the same day, we plan to book a trip for the last week of February 2009 (appox 20 days later).

My questions are as follows:

1. Will I immediately be eligible for room only discounts as an annual passholder right after purchasing the passes?
2. How will I know the type and amount of discount.
3. Can it be applied o my Feb 2009 trip?
4. Will I be cutting it too close booking a trip only about 20 days in advance?

Thanks so much for your help.

-Erik

 

[captainkidd]

1. Will I immediately be eligible for room only discounts as an annual passholder right after purchasing the passes?
Yes.

2. How will I know the type and amount of discount.
You can check mousesavers.com, here, or the Disney Passholder Website.

3. Can it be applied to my Feb 2009 trip?
Yes

4. Will I be cutting it too close booking a trip only about 20 days in advance?
Probably. No way to be sure.

 

[DisneyJoe]

You don't need the pass in hand to book an AP discounted trip - you only need to have it at check in.

You can book the trip now if you want.

If you are looking at President's weekend, I would book it sooner than later.

 

[erikwatts]

Thanks for the quick responses, and thanks for mentioning Presidents weekend. I had forgotten about that, and we will make some changes to avoid that. We are going to try to choose the slowest time in Feb, or even early March if necessary.

Thanks again.

-Erik

 

[Master Yoda]

It seems that all of your questions have been answered but there needs to be a little further explanation of the AP room discounts. You can not get AP rates year round and at every resort. Disney will periodicaly release AP discounts and there will be a limited number of rooms, limited dates and resorts. Since you are traveling off season you should not have a problem getting an AP rate but you might have to be flexible on your resort. What I would do is book know with Kingdom Konsultants. If there is an AP rate currently avaliable they can book you for it and if not they will automatically rebook you if one becomes avaliable later on.

 

[erikwatts]

ahhh, more excellent information. Thank you.

 

[mousefan1972]

One other tidbit about AP room discounts... availability is continually changing. For example, my husband and I took a short, 3 night trip to WDW this past September to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Our first choice was a standard view room at WL. When I first booked, (I check availability online through the passholder section of disneyworld.com) WL only had courtyard view rooms available with an AP rate. So we booked POFQ instead, but in the meantime I kept checking online. Sure enough, a few weeks before our trip, an AP rate was available for WL, standard view. So if you can't get an AP rate at your first choice, keep trying, because it could very well become available down the road.

 

[erikwatts]

Ok. Thank you very much for the info. We will certainly do that.

I am overwhelmed with how quick and informative the people on this forum are.

-Erik

 

[Rob562]

As others said, you don't need the AP or AP voucher (you'd get the voucher if you're buying it at your local Disney Store) to book an AP rate over the phone or through a travel agent. The only time you would need the actual pass or voucher would be to book your trip online.

-Rob