Question about AP discounts

[princessofthejungle]

Hi everyone!
I'm looking into getting an AP for our (potential!) trip this coming July.
We're in Australia, so none of us have ever had an AP!

Our reason for buying one is merely for the discounts, as it saves us more money than if we weren't to buy one!

However, I'm a little concerned about the use of an AP discount when it comes to presenting the credit card.
See, it'd be my Mum who's card we'd be putting purchases on (hotel, dining, merchandise). So if my name were on the AP, would this mean we'd be refused the discount?

For the record, all our family members have the same last name, so it'd be somewhat clear that we're all related!

Thanks for any help!!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Officially, only the AP holder can take advantage of discounts. Therefore, the person paying for everything should be the one with the AP. Others have reported using their spouse's, child's, mother's, etc. card to receive a discount. Many people have reported though, recently especially, not being able to do this. I have not had personal experience with this since each member of our family has an AP.

 

[indygirl99]

DH and I returned fron DLR last week and we both have AP's.

Our experience: If we paid cash they matched our AP to our drivers license, if we paid by card they matched the AP to both our DL AND the card.

There were a couple of times DH handed over his AP but I was handing over the credit card with my name and I had to dig out MY AP because we were told they had to match.

 

[ArchOwl]

Yes, in my experience, the name on the AP has to match the credit card exactly. Your best bet to get around this is to purchase a Disney gift card and load money on the card. Then whoever has the AP can use the gift card, no problems. Have fun!

 

[princessofthejungle]

Thanks for all the help guys!

I think we'll just get the AP under my Mum's name, seeing as it's her card we'll be using.
But the tip about the gift card is a good one as well, so I'll keep that in mind!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

ok heres a question....

what happens if the AP holder is a child as in 9 yo child...how do they handle that? obviously the child wouldnt be using a cc but cash? yeah...i am sure there might be somewhere out there, a place where 9 yo kids have student ID ...but not anywhere around here theres not....

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

ok heres a question....

what happens if the AP holder is a child as in 9 yo child...how do they handle that? obviously the child wouldnt be using a cc but cash? yeah...i am sure there might be somewhere out there, a place where 9 yo kids have student ID ...but not anywhere around here theres not....

We have had problems with this one. When we first started using the APs with no pictures, my boys were given a difficult time by several CMs. My boys were 10 and 11 at the time, and their school doesn't issue student I.D.s nor would I have necessarily thought to bring them if we had any. I talked to quite a few CMs about the issue during that trip last August and generally received the same comment from all of them that supervisors were cracking down and the CMs were being overly cautious because they were afraid of being reprimanded. I wrote an e-mail complaint when we returned home mostly about how rude some of these CMs were to my children when they tried to use their AP discount when purchasing things. I imagine other parents ran into similar problems, so I'm guessing there were more complaints than mine.

When we returned to the parks in November and since we had far fewer problems. A CM will occasionally ask to see my AP and/or picture ID too if they notice me standing with my child, but in general the boys haven't been hassled anymore when purchasing things. I asked one CM what changed and she said that the supervisors told them to concentrate on I.D.ing adults and not worry about the kids so much unless they had reason to believe the AP was being misused.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

We have had problems with this one. When we first started using the APs with no pictures, my boys were given a difficult time by several CMs. My boys were 10 and 11 at the time, and their school doesn't issue student I.D.s nor would I have necessarily thought to bring them if we had any. I talked to quite a few CMs about the issue during that trip last August and generally received the same comment from all of them that supervisors were cracking down and the CMs were being overly cautious because they were afraid of being reprimanded. I wrote an e-mail complaint when we returned home mostly about how rude some of these CMs were to my children when they tried to use their AP discount when purchasing things. I imagine other parents ran into similar problems, so I'm guessing there were more complaints than mine.

When we returned to the parks in November and since we had far fewer problems. A CM will occasionally ask to see my AP and/or picture ID too if they notice me standing with my child, but in general the boys haven't been hassled anymore when purchasing things. I asked one CM what changed and she said that the supervisors told them to concentrate on I.D.ing adults and not worry about the kids so much unless they had reason to believe the AP was being misused.

well heres the thing...i have a friend who is taking her daughter to DL and her daughter goes alot with her grandparents so she has a premium AP but her mom doesnt really like DL that much ( i know i know). she will have ID of course but she wont have an AP to show any CM if asked...Im not sure what she can do

Im sure she will buy a few souvenirs but I think they mostly want to use it for discounts on food

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

well heres the thing...i have a friend who is taking her daughter to DL and her daughter goes alot with her grandparents so she has a premium AP but her mom doesnt really like DL that much ( i know i know). she will have ID of course but she wont have an AP to show any CM if asked...Im not sure what she can do

Im sure she will buy a few souvenirs but I think they mostly want to use it for discounts on food

Honestly don't know if she'll run into trouble or not with food purchases. As I said, they've stopped pestering my boys for ID when they make merchandise purchases, but we've never sent them on their own to buy food.

Who does Disney think really pays for a 9-year old's AP (and food she eats and stuff she has)? Certainly not the 9 year old. If the child is present with her AP and cash or gift card to pay for the food, seems like it should be ok. The only other thing we've had a CM do is ask to see my ID too and ask my child if I was his mother. Since my child and I use the same last name, I guess this somehow satisfied this particular CM's need to check for ID. Doesn't work as verification though if the parent and child don't share the same last name. Honestly, it was all simpler when pictures were on the APs.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Honestly don't know if she'll run into trouble or not with food purchases. As I said, they've stopped pestering my boys for ID when they make merchandise purchases, but we've never sent them on their own to buy food.

Who does Disney think really pays for a 9-year old's AP (and food she eats and stuff she has)? Certainly not the 9 year old. If the child is present with her AP and cash or gift card to pay for the food, seems like it should be ok. The only other thing we've had a CM do is ask to see my ID too and ask my child if I was his mother. Since my child and I use the same last name, I guess this somehow satisfied this particular CM's need to check for ID. Doesn't work as verification though if the parent and child don't share the same last name. Honestly, it was all simpler when pictures were on the APs.

i agree...i was told by a CM that in a year or so they are going green with the AP's and the AP you get will always be used as long as you keep it active..but no picture...sighs

 

[monkey30]

This is good to know!! Thanks for the OP and anwsers!

I am looking at getting a AP as I plan on going once more in the next year without the family!

 

[blackjackdelta]

We ran into this problem at the World of Disney last year. We took the goods to one counter and never asked for ID for the discount, later that week we took the goods to another counter and were refused. It was really hit or miss that week.

Jack

 

[Lissame]

This is a totally different thought, but wouldn't the international exchange fee on the CC negate the AP discount? I don't know if all CCs are the same, but when we went to Mexico last year, the foreign transaction fee was taken off every single time we used our CC, which ended up being a pretty penny.

Make sure you check on that, or just use your CC to buy a big gift card.

 

[dana278]

Speaking of AP discounts, from what I understand when you activate your AP it will be "updated in the registration system the following day." How does this affect food & retail location discounts? Am I just out of luck the first day I'm there?

And is it just something that happens at some point overnight when they process all of the information, or is it literally a 24 hour waiting period?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Speaking of AP discounts, from what I understand when you activate your AP it will be "updated in the registration system the following day." How does this affect food & retail location discounts? Am I just out of luck the first day I'm there?

And is it just something that happens at some point overnight when they process all of the information, or is it literally a 24 hour waiting period?

We have successfully without difficulty used our APs for discounts on the day of activation. We were told that the AP photos though might take up to 24 hours to update in the system, and that was a minor inconvenience since we had to show ID each time we entered the parks until the pictures came through.

 

[dana278]

Thank you!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

OP - I'm not sure of your age, but if you are old enough to hold a credit card (and your mom trusts you with doing so), she should be able to order you an additional credit card with your name on it, but linked to her account.

And for the others who were asking about needing to show ID for a younger child -it's not ideal and obviously a lot of work, but you can get state issued IDs for about $15. We have gotten them for our children just because they're easier to travel with than birth certificates. So, just an idea.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

And for the others who were asking about needing to show ID for a younger child -it's not ideal and obviously a lot of work, but you can get state issued IDs for about $15. We have gotten them for our children just because they're easier to travel with than birth certificates. So, just an idea.

ok i have an alternate solution..well hopefully it is lol....here in CA, when elementary and jr high aged kids take school pics at the beginning of the year, they are given these cards that are for parents to give out in case the child is missing...they also encourage parents to give each child one to keep in backpack, wallet etc....on this little card it has their current pic, name and dob on it ...dl will accept that as form of id for those kids who have AP's and want to use them to get shopping and dining discounts...so hopefully some of you can use that idea....

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

ok i have an alternate solution..well hopefully it is lol....here in CA, when elementary and jr high aged kids take school pics at the beginning of the year, they are given these cards that are for parents to give out in case the child is missing...they also encourage parents to give each child one to keep in backpack, wallet etc....on this little card it has their current pic, name and dob on it ...dl will accept that as form of id for those kids who have AP's and want to use them to get shopping and dining discounts...so hopefully some of you can use that idea....

I'm in CA and we aren't given those. We have the option to buy them from the photographer, but I'm pretty sure they're more expensive. But yes, definitely an alternative.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Speaking of AP discounts, from what I understand when you activate your AP it will be "updated in the registration system the following day." How does this affect food & retail location discounts? Am I just out of luck the first day I'm there?

And is it just something that happens at some point overnight when they process all of the information, or is it literally a 24 hour waiting period?

You just cant register on the AP site for 24 hours. Your pass is still good for admission and discounts.