Upgrading to a DVC AP???

[kristenrice]

Mods, please move this if it is in the wrong forun

Here's the scoop...

I already have 5-day PH passes linked in MDE for myself, DH and DD's (11 and 9) for our trip in October. When we go, we are planning on upgrading them to DVC AP's at some point during our trip. We will be arriving on a Sunday and going to Epcot for the afternoon/evening so the tickets will be activated. The next morning, I plan to get up and make it to RD at AK with the kids. DH will probably sleep in so here is my question: Will I be able to upgrade our (already activated) passes without him present? I can take his DVC Member ID card and a copy of his driver's license if needed, but does he need to be physically present? Also, when they do this upgrade, do they physically give us an RFID pass or can they just link it to MDE right then and there? Anyone with insight? Thanks!

 

[Pirate Granny]

Hello Michigan! We upgraded our ten day PH passes for AP...we did it before we used the ticket on the last day. It was for my two grandchildren. Didn't have an issue, except since we had gone to a water park, we had to purchase PREMIUM passes, which were $100 a piece more...still cheaper then purchasing them a 7 day pass for next May. $200 each for the upgrade. I was there, but but of their parents are also DVC. Members, but they only asked for my drivers license. Perhaps their magic bands showed DVC?!? Don't know. The next day the tickets were linked to their parents account automatically by Disney!

 

[CharmedLife]

I upgraded 6-day Water Parks & More passes in February to DVC annual passes. I did it on the last day of our passes. I was able to do all 4 of them (me, DH, DD and DS) by myself, they did not need to be with me (and they had no problem leaving me at Guest Services while they went inside Epcot to play!!!).

One thing, and I should have thought of this before going, but we needed the actual paper tickets to present to GS in order to upgrade. We had gotten so used to using our Magic Bands that I didn't have the tickets with me. So I had to hoof it all the way back to the Boardwalk parking lot to get them out of our already-loaded suitcases and then walk back to Epcot. Of course it was the hottest day of our trip. I know after walking all week it shouldn't have been a problem but for some reason that seemed like the longest walk of my life!

 

[rsschneck]

We will be traveling with our family who are in the military. Our exchange students will get the military 4 day park hopper tickets to use. We are planning another couple of trips while they are with us. Can you upgrade a military ticket to an annual pass?

 

[Pirate Granny]

Charmed life...I only ended the magic bands for each child...they never asked for the tickets..thankfully...I had the numbers somewhere in VGF, but no actual ticket. That was at MK.

 

[CharmedLife]

Charmed life...I only ended the magic bands for each child...they never asked for the tickets..thankfully...I had the numbers somewhere in VGF, but no actual ticket. That was at MK.

Mine was at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. He definitely made me walk back to get the paper tickets. I guess each CM will do things a bit differently, but other than that it was a very smooth transaction and I could tell that the CM had done this many times before so I felt very confident that it would go through correctly.

Only cost us $70 to upgrade per person, what a DEAL. The grand result is that we're heading back in 8 days to get our money's worth!

One possible difference - I had tickets from Undercover Tourist, perhaps if you buy the tickets directly from Disney (or as part of a package) then they already have all of the info they need?

 

[Debby7]

So just for clarification-----I can purchase 5 day hoppers from UCT and thus get the 60 day window for fastpass+. Then while I am at Disney, I can upgrade these passes to AP's (2 would be DVC AP and 3 would be regular AP) Changing to AP's on our last day would mean minimal chance of disturbance to our previously made Fastpass +. This sounds great! Oh- one more question. When you upgrade a UCT ticket to an AP do you get credit for the UCT price or the Disney Price?

 

[CharmedLife]

So just for clarification-----I can purchase 5 day hoppers from UCT and thus get the 60 day window for fastpass+. Then while I am at Disney, I can upgrade these passes to AP's (2 would be DVC AP and 3 would be regular AP) Changing to AP's on our last day would mean minimal chance of disturbance to our previously made Fastpass +. This sounds great! Oh- one more question. When you upgrade a UCT ticket to an AP do you get credit for the UCT price or the Disney Price?

I honestly don't remember but I THINK that they gave me credit for the full Disney ticket price, not what I paid from UCT. I believe he made a comment about what a good deal I was getting, because he could see from my tickets exactly how much I had paid for them.

Hopefully this isn't one of those things that changes CM by CM. That was also in February so you never know when they'll have changed the policy. But what you described is exactly what I did. For what it's worth, I think I still had a fastpass or two left on that last day and they did transfer over to the new APs with no problems.

 

[bumbershoot]

You should get the current gate value of the ticket as credit. It's called price bridging an is part of their official steps for upgrading. Know what you should pay. Have it written down and easily found. Some CMs don't do things by the book and pretend that (or think that) bridging isn't done.

It's a reason to not do this on the last day, in case you get a rogue cm and need to take the tickets back an try with another cm.

 

[bumbershoot]

DH will probably sleep in so here is my question: Will I be able to upgrade our (already activated) passes without him present? I can take his DVC Member ID card and a copy of his driver's license if needed, but does he need to be physically present?

That's been my question recently too. DH is the member and I'm the associate. Since DS and I are family and live with him we should be able to get DVC APs but I worry that they'll want him there. He won't be there on this trip.

They let us do it with the awesome $399 APs but DH was there, just laid up with an injury and not in the mode to go to Epcot with us. I feel like we called someone to talk about it, felt like getting permission, but I'm not sure.

 

[Debby7]

One more question-- will the upgraded AP's be good for one year from the upgrade or one year from the first use of the regular tickets?

 

[erionm]

One more question-- will the upgraded AP's be good for one year from the upgrade or one year from the first use of the regular tickets?

The CM that issues the AP is supposed to back date the start date of the AP to match the date the MYW ticket was first used. Some times they forget to do this and the AP will start on the day of upgrade.

 

[Pirate Granny]

Yep, my CM forgot and I was surprised that the two upgrades started the day we upgraded them to AP. I was expecting the start date to have been two weeks earlier. Gave us a little more room to squeeze in a trip between school ending and the point jump in mid June.

 

[supersnoop]

When you upgrade a UCT ticket to an AP do you get credit for the UCT price or the Disney Price?

As long as you have used the ticket to enter the park at least once, you will receive the list price as credit towards your upgraded ticket. As listed above, it's called "bridging," but be sure to use the ticket first, or you'll only receive the discounted price.

 

[erionm]

When you upgrade a UCT ticket to an AP do you get credit for the UCT price or the Disney Price?

As long as you have used the ticket to enter the park at least once, you will receive the list price as credit towards your upgraded ticket. As listed above, it's called "bridging," but be sure to use the ticket first, or you'll only receive the discounted price.

This also is a manual process and some CMs don't know how to do it, so they may tell you it can't be done or they will price bridge incorrectly.

It's always a good idea to know what the gate price of the ticket you have is so you can calculate the difference between what you have and what you want.

I they give you an amount different that what you think you should pay, ask for a supervisor to make sure the price bridging is done correctly.