Misinformed CM's or am I wrong? (Question regarding upgrading to APs)

[hurleysweety]

My friend, a regular vistor of DLR and on her way to becoming obsessive like us all, is in DLR right now with her sister. They went for the weekend and used 2-day PH tickets. Yesterday she went to upgrade to an AP, as we have been planning for weeks for trips this year. When she told them, a CM told her to wait until the end of her stay and upgrade then - and that her AP would then have a start date on the next time she took a trip.

So then today I was kindly reminding her to go get her AP and that she needs to get it tonight before it expires so she can use her 2 day PH ticket value to upgrade. In the mean time, she could have saved 10% on her food and merch too, which I tried to explain...but she told me that again today someone told her not to upgrade until the park closed.

Did I miss something? Shouldn't people upgrade on the first day if they plan to, so that they can get the discounts and such?

 

[bumbershoot]

She's going to end up in a situation where she actually canNOT upgrade, if she waits until the park closes. That will mean her ticket is used up and can't be upgraded.

AP start dates, when upgraded from tickets, are the first day you used the ticket. Some people get pixie dusted (or have a CM who hasn't mastered the rules of upgrading) and have a later date, but that's not how it is supposed to be.

(unless something DRASTIC has changed just since yesterday)


Unless there's a blockout date for when you're trying to use the ticket during that FIRST trip, yes, it's best to upgrade asap so you can get the discounts.

 

[hurleysweety]

Ok good. Thanks so much bumpershoot!

She looks to me for all her Disney advice and trusted me when I told her to do it tonight and that the CM was probably misinformed. So she has it and she's all excited (first time AP for her!).

I hate to think about all those poor people who have been told wrong and think they can upgrade after the ticket is done!

 

[Disney Dreams]

Your understanding and what bumbershoot has stated above are both correct. Hope your friend is having fun.

- Dreams

 

[anonymousegirl]

The first time I upgraded my day tickets to an AP, I waited until almost closing and it could not be done. So the CM wrote a note allowing a 30 days extension so I could get the value of my previous tickets. I was very thankful!

 

[joeysmommy]

Correct, when upgrading it is the date the park hopper was first used.

In our case I have an AP which expires in October.
so I can still use it for discounts our first day which is a blockout date.
I'm going to get park hoppers for my kids to use for the Saturday that is blocked out and pay the $70 for me to get in.

When we wre there in October last year(mickeys trick or trreat party) I was upgrading my park hopper to an AP on our last day and asked a CM in Disneyland if it could be done at the ticket booth outside the park. The line at City Hall was out the door and my kids were exhausted. They said yes. I had a feeling they were wrong so I asked quickly at the city hall desk before dragging my tired kids out of the park..and the answer was no.

 

[Aspoonfullofsugar]

Hmmm. We upgraded our tickets to APs at the ticket booth outside the park.

 

[liesel]

We had 3 day park hoppers in January. We first used them on the Friday the 18th. On Monday the 21st (our third day of use) we decided to upgrade them to APs. Our current APs expire January 21, 2014. So the CM dated the AP from the date of upgrade, not the date of first use. I just wanted to share our experience, since I thought that was standard. It was our first time upgrading park tickets.

 

[junmatno]

Correct, when upgrading it is the date the park hopper was first used.

In our case I have an AP which expires in October.
so I can still use it for discounts our first day which is a blockout date.
I'm going to get park hoppers for my kids to use for the Saturday that is blocked out and pay the $70 for me to get in.

When we wre there in October last year(mickeys trick or trreat party) I was upgrading my park hopper to an AP on our last day and asked a CM in Disneyland if it could be done at the ticket booth outside the park. The line at City Hall was out the door and my kids were exhausted. They said yes. I had a feeling they were wrong so I asked quickly at the city hall desk before dragging my tired kids out of the park..and the answer was no.

That CM was wrong, I just updated our PH's to AP's on the 15th at the ticket booths. WHY? Because at DCA they said I had to do it there, they don't do it at DCA.

 

[joeysmommy]

I guess I should be more understanding.
It was a special event night close to park closing and Im not sure if the CMs knew if the ticket booth was still open.

Cranky kids in costumes and cranky mom= no patience

 

[junmatno]

I guess I should be more understanding.
It was a special event night close to park closing and Im not sure if the CMs knew if the ticket booth was still open.

Cranky kids in costumes and cranky mom= no patience

Girl I get you!!! We have an 8 month old and 6 year old...and a 14 and an 18 year old...so if I was in your shoes I'd probably do the same at that moment!!

 

[Abbeys_mom]

Unless there's a blockout date for when you're trying to use the ticket during that FIRST trip, yes, it's best to upgrade asap so you can get the discounts.

See, this is what I thought too. We arrived on a blackout day late in the afternoon. We had a GC to Rainforest and planned on walking in DTD for a few hours. The wait for RFC was too long and it was Prom, so we decided to buy PH and head in instead of getting APs the next day (which we needed for check in when we moved hotels). At the ticket booth, I asked if we could buy two day PH and upgrade later that might since Saturday was a block out. She said "no need, we let you in the day you buy APs even if it is a block out." Then she issued one day block out tix that we had to show with our new APs.

We did everything at the booth. They had our picture on file from our old APs that expired two years ago, and off we went!

I'm not sure if it was Pixie or policy, but either way we were thrilled with an extra evening in the parks! Had we known that, we would have planned Saturday very different. As always, YMMV.

 

[Disney Dreams]

See, this is what I thought too. We arrived on a blackout day late in the afternoon. We had a GC to Rainforest and planned on walking in DTD for a few hours. The wait for RFC was too long and it was Prom, so we decided to buy PH and head in instead of getting APs the next day (which we needed for check in when we moved hotels). At the ticket booth, I asked if we could buy two day PH and upgrade later that might since Saturday was a block out. She said "no need, we let you in the day you buy APs even if it is a block out." Then she issued one day block out tix that we had to show with our new APs.

We did everything at the booth. They had our picture on file from our old APs that expired two years ago, and off we went!

I'm not sure if it was Pixie or policy, but either way we were thrilled with an extra evening in the parks! Had we known that, we would have planned Saturday very different. As always, YMMV.

This is correct. She was just saving you the middle step of upgrading later.

- Dreams

 

[bumbershoot]

See, this is what I thought too. We arrived on a blackout day late in the afternoon. We had a GC to Rainforest and planned on walking in DTD for a few hours. The wait for RFC was too long and it was Prom, so we decided to buy PH and head in instead of getting APs the next day (which we needed for check in when we moved hotels). At the ticket booth, I asked if we could buy two day PH and upgrade later that might since Saturday was a block out. She said "no need, we let you in the day you buy APs even if it is a block out." Then she issued one day block out tix that we had to show with our new APs.

We did everything at the booth. They had our picture on file from our old APs that expired two years ago, and off we went!

I'm not sure if it was Pixie or policy, but either way we were thrilled with an extra evening in the parks! Had we known that, we would have planned Saturday very different. As always, YMMV.

Buying an AP *on* a blockout date allows you to get in. But if there is a blockout date *during* the trip, not on the first day, you wouldn't be allowed in (without buying a blockout pass or somehow upgrading the AP to a higher level). I could have explained that better, that's for sure.

What happened with you was policy, and goes along with what I was saying in my mind. I just didn't get it out onto the screen.

 

[sacteach]

Another reason some people wait to upgrade is to use an early entry. We did that last summer. Our passes included one Magic Morning I think (can't remember what different morning things are called) and if we upgraded on the first day, we would have lost that benefit, so we waited until the second day to upgrade. We just didn't do any "major" shopping on that first day since we didn't have the discount.