AP holders who drive... have ID ready.

[RnbwSktles]

So, i am just curious. If we are a party of eight and only one of us has an AP but she will not be the one driving, can we still use her AP to get free parking as long as she is in the car with us and has her ID? Thanks.

Along the same lines, I'm assuming if grandparents (or any other relative) want to take their grandchild to Disney World and he is the only with an AP that they cannot get free parking?

 

[Hyonlyf]

I'm sorry, I'm going a bit OT with this, but I have to ask... what do you do if a child comes up to pay for something and wants to use his AP discount? At 11, my son has his own money and wallet and wants to buy his own stuff, but he doesn't have any photo (or non-photo, for that matter...) ID to provide.

My experience last month was yes! the clerks demanded an ID every.single.time. my son or daughter tried to use their AP. They would then have to come find me so I could use my AP and ID to complete the transaction. It got to be a huge hassle cause I am not a shopper.

They suggested using school ID, our school doesn't use them. State issued is only age 16+, we have no passports either.

 

[PrincessV]

My experience last month was yes! the clerks demanded an ID every.single.time. my son or daughter tried to use their AP. They would then have to come find me so I could use my AP and ID to complete the transaction. It got to be a huge hassle cause I am not a shopper.

Even bigger hassle... I've been told I can't buy my son's things with my AP if I'm using his money. So what's a kid with saved allowance money to do?!

They suggested using school ID, our school doesn't use them. State issued is only age 16+, we have no passports either.

Ditto that - no ID at all here.

 

[PrincessV]

Along the same lines, I'm assuming if grandparents (or any other relative) want to take their grandchild to Disney World and he is the only with an AP that they cannot get free parking?

They certainly should be able to get free parking with the child's AP - it very clearly states that it includes parking. The big question is what will happen when said child cannot produce ID.

 

[WDSearcher]

Even bigger hassle... I've been told I can't buy my son's things with my AP if I'm using his money. So what's a kid with saved allowance money to do?!

Well, considering you're the AP holder, that makes sense. Not his AP ... not his discount. But beyond that, it seems like a pretty easy (and obvious) fix. You get the money from him before you get to the register and you pay for the item. Or you pay for everything first and then have him pay you back once the transaction is done.

Unless your son's money looks different from the money you use, I can't imagine how the person ringing up the sale would know that you're using his money and not yours to pay for whatever you're buying.

Let's not make this harder than it is!

 

[hydrotony]

I don't know why Disney doesn't put our photo on the Annual Pass. I have an older Universal AP and it has my photo (new ones don't). Sam's Club even puts my photo on my $40 annual membership card but it is too much bother to have my photo on a $450 WDW annual pass? Or even have my photo in the WDW computer system so when they scan my AP, my photo shows up on the computer monitor. It already shows my home address and other details, I know because the CM at DHS quizzed me about my home address instead of asking for a photo ID.

 

[lugnut33]

The CM who looked in your car, taking the extra time to really LOOK at you, reminds me of a TSA guy I got once at an airport in Maine.

I had a tube of toothpaste in my luggage, which apparently had more fluid ounces than it was supposed to (it was a full-sized tube, but there was maybe a quarter of the tube left, so it couldn't have been over 2oz). The guy pulled it out of my Ziploc bag and made a HUGE deal over the fact that I had a FULL TUBE of toothpaste. I apologized and told him that he was free to toss it, and I'd just buy another tube at my destination. He looked at me suspiciously and then opened the toothpaste to check it -- maybe he thought there was something in it and that's why I was so nonchalant about throwing something like that away. Who knows. He squeezed out all of the remaining toothpaste and then tossed it, after which he went through my ENTIRE carryon bag, including riffling through every book I had and checking them to be sure nothing was hidden. He even read the summaries on the back, I guess to be sure that nothing was subversive. He unpacked everything -- to the point where the other TSA guys were all, "geez, Todd, let the lady go." Nope. Not Todd.

He finished, gave it all to me in a heap and then said, "Bet you wish you didn't bring that big tube of toothpaste now, don't you?" I just smiled at him and said, "Thank you for helping keep us safe." Then I took my stuff and spent ten minutes re-folding and re-packing, with the help of one of the TSA ladies, who apologized saying that "Todd's just in a mood." Indeed.

When you mentioned the hyper-vigilant parking CM, I couldn't help but think of Todd. Good times.

Hmmm, I think I had Todd the TSA agent one time in Phoenix. He loves toothpaste.

 

[PrincessV]

Well, considering you're the AP holder, that makes sense. Not his AP ... not his discount. But beyond that, it seems like a pretty easy (and obvious) fix. You get the money from him before you get to the register and you pay for the item. Or you pay for everything first and then have him pay you back once the transaction is done.

Unless your son's money looks different from the money you use, I can't imagine how the person ringing up the sale would know that you're using his money and not yours to pay for whatever you're buying.

Let's not make this harder than it is!

See, I think what you've just described makes it harder than it ought to be! No reason at all we should be shuffling money when my son is entitled to use his own benefits. Another problem will occur when my AP expires before his does... he'll still be entitled to the benefits associated with his AP, including discounts and parking, regardless of whether his mother happens to also have an AP of her own. Guess we'll cross that bridge when/if we come to it.

 

[WDSearcher]

See, I think what you've just described makes it harder than it ought to be! No reason at all we should be shuffling money when my son is entitled to use his own benefits. Another problem will occur when my AP expires before his does... he'll still be entitled to the benefits associated with his AP, including discounts and parking, regardless of whether his mother happens to also have an AP of her own. Guess we'll cross that bridge when/if we come to it.

I understand your point, but in the long run it does protect AP holders. Say your son lost his AP. Someone else picks it up and uses it to buy stuff and get discounts. The CM doing the check-out just accepts it -- never asks for ID. Someone could get discounts off your son's AP for the entire year. Even if they couldn't use it to get into the parks, they'd still have a perk that they didn't deserve and didn't pay for. It's inconvenient, maybe, but Disney's got to balance that off being sure that only the people who deserve AP benefits are actually getting them.

 

[wdwislife]

I'm sorry, I'm going a bit OT with this, but I have to ask... what do you do if a child comes up to pay for something and wants to use his AP discount?.

When I find myself in this situation I flag down my closest manager and explain the situation and they generally quickly approve it and allow me to give the discount. It's a bit of a hassle, I know!

 

[PrincessV]

...but Disney's got to balance that off being sure that only the people who deserve AP benefits are actually getting them.

Sure... but WDW also has an obligation to ensure that those entitled to benefits can actually get those benefits, too. I haven't seen anything here that spells out how that would happen for someone without ID. Which, of course, doesn't mean that WDW doesn't have a way of taking care of it, only that no one here has posted what that is. When or if we ever encounter such a situation, I'll be sure to report back on how it's handled!

 

[WDSearcher]

Sure... but WDW also has an obligation to ensure that those entitled to benefits can actually get those benefits, too. I haven't seen anything here that spells out how that would happen for someone without ID. Which, of course, doesn't mean that WDW doesn't have a way of taking care of it, only that no one here has posted what that is. When or if we ever encounter such a situation, I'll be sure to report back on how it's handled!

wdwislife did provide one solution: When I find myself in this situation I flag down my closest manager and explain the situation and they generally quickly approve it and allow me to give the discount. It's a bit of a hassle, I know!

Flag down a manager.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I couldn't figure out why anyone was showing their AP for the free parking-we never have had to. You must all be either staying off-site or are locals, right? We always stay at a WDW resort and get the parking permit-that includes free parking at the parks still, doesn't it?

 

[MrsNnr]

I couldn't figure out why anyone was showing their AP for the free parking-we never have had to. You must all be either staying off-site or are locals, right? We always stay at a WDW resort and get the parking permit-that includes free parking at the parks still, doesn't it?

Correct.

 

[PrincessV]

wdwislife did provide one solution: When I find myself in this situation I flag down my closest manager and explain the situation and they generally quickly approve it and allow me to give the discount. It's a bit of a hassle, I know!

Flag down a manager.

I missed that post entirely - thank you! Yep, exactly what I'd do if it ever happens.

You must all be either staying off-site or are locals, right?

Both - I'm semi-local, so we often do day trips. I also often stay off-site. I rarely use my parking pass even when I do stay on-site because I find its reflection on my windshield distracting; easier to just show my AP. Well, it used to be easier. Might go with the parking pass from now on when I'm on-site.

 

[rluey29]

We have been going to WDW since 2005, multiple trips and almost every weekend since we moved here and never had a parking attendant ask for ID. Until May of this year, my wife didn't have her DL with her, we had to pay for parking, they took her AP and we had to pay for her to get in the park. We asked when they started requiring Id's and the CM said that weekend they were told to do it from then on, She said someone was caught cheating the system with fraud.

So We will have her ID from now on even though we got our money back for everything from guest relations. My pass is Seasonal so I don't have free parking.

 

[TJBerry]

We have been going to WDW since 2005, multiple trips and almost every weekend since we moved here and never had a parking attendant ask for ID. Until May of this year, my wife didn't have her DL with her, we had to pay for parking, they took her AP and we had to pay for her to get in the park. We asked when they started requiring Id's and the CM said that weekend they were told to do it from then on, She said someone was caught cheating the system with fraud.

So We will have her ID from now on even though we got our money back for everything from guest relations. My pass is Seasonal so I don't have free parking.

The parking attendant confiscated her AP because she didn't have her ID?

 

[rluey29]

Yes, she said her supervisor had told them to do so because people were cheating the system. She had to show ID to get her new pass the next day when we came back at MK.

 

[Suellen]

We've been asked once in the last 50(ish) times through the parking gates. I wouldn't say it is the new norm... but we do always have it out just in case.

 

[aubriee]

We were there May 10th-20th and was asked to show ID, but only sporadically that week (maybe four or five times). The first time they asked for ID, my husband had handed them his AP, but was sitting on his wallet, so without thinking, when the CM asked for ID, I just handed him mine. The CM took a glance at it, gave us a disgusted look and said he needed either my husband's ID or else my AP. I then handed him my AP. He was the only CM that bent down and really looked at me and the ID. He was really rude about it too. They were the new APs with the parking stripe on them, so they knew they were current and valid for parking and my last name is the same as my husband's. Sorry, I just wasn't thinking. After that I just made sure I handed them my AP with my ID. Most barely glanced at them and no others really looked into the car at me. Most days they didn't even ask for ID, but after that first day, we just made sure we had them handy. We did ask one CM why they were asking for ID sporadically, and he stated too many AP holders were letting friends and family use their APs, so Disney was cracking down. He did laugh and tell us to be sure and not loan our APs out to anyone to try to get into the parks, because if we were caught Disney would take up the annual passes and we would not be able to get them back. Huh, all we asked was why we were having to show ID to park when we never have had to before. I'd never loan our APs out. I'm not stupid!

I'm not sure why you were upset the last attendant was joking with you. You already knew to have your ID out and it was an innocent remark to your question. I would have laughed and continued on. I'm sure they get asked that question a hundred times a day and have to have some way to deal with it. It was a harmless joke.

I wasn't upset. Actually I thought it was funny. At the same time though, it crossed my mind, 'does this guy really think I'm that stupid?'. I would assume that if Disney caught someone with an AP that didn't belong to them, that they would confiscate it. At least I hope they would. No way would I ever "loan" my AP out to someone else.