48 hours and counting ... AP question

[Bunnylicious]

Will be arriving at Disney on Wednesday mid-afternoon. My family and I are staying at the Beach Club. We want to convert our 8 day tickets to an annual passes. Our plan is once checked in, head over to EPCOT via the International Gateway and do the conversion at Guest Relations. Does this sound like a good plan??? Is there a better location? Will our fast passes and reservations be saved?

 

[cbean12]

Any guest services will do the conversion for you, so just go to whichever one is the most convenient for you. All of your reservations and fastpasses will be saved since they are connected to you MDE account, not the tickets themselves.
Have a great time!

 

[supersnoop]

If you purchased the tickets at a discount or as part of a package, you'll want to use them to enter the park once before upgrading.

 

[Bunnylicious]

Thanks for the info. I am just so excited. We are actually arriving in Orlando tomorrow to visit Diagon Alley and Hogwarts before heading to my Happy Place.

 

[Bunnylicious]

I did purchase as part of a Disney package... Glad to know to enter park first.

 

[Accident]

Double check your renewal date is the same day you upgraded. Sometimes they end up with the date purchased and not the date upgraded/activated.

Also start waving your AP card around whenever you buy anything, nobody asks if you have any discount and I kept forgetting I might have a discount everywhere when I first upgraded.

 

[disneysteve]

Also start waving your AP card around whenever you buy anything, nobody asks if you have any discount

I agree with checking everywhere.

I disagree that nobody asks. When we were there earlier this month, cashiers were asking at every store we went to. There seemed to be an AP discount at pretty much all merchandise locations. As for dining, only at some of the table service places, not any of the counter service unfortunately (since that's all we do).

 

[Accident]

I disagree that nobody asks. When we were there earlier this month, cashiers were asking at every store we went to.

Nice. When I was there in sept, only disney spring locations would ask. Nice to know they are acting more like disneyland now and reminding you about discounts you may get.

 

[supersnoop]

Double check your renewal date is the same day you upgraded. Sometimes they end up with the date purchased and not the date upgraded/activated.

The expiration date should match the date the ticket was first used. In this case, it should be the same as the date it was upgraded, but it's important to note that you won't get extra free days by waiting a few days to upgrade.

 

[Accident]

The expiration date should match the date the ticket was first used. In this case, it should be the same as the date it was upgraded, but it's important to note that you won't get extra free days by waiting a few days to upgrade.

There's posts all the time here on upgrades that didn't match the upgrade date. It's quick and painless to just verify the CM did their job right and the date is correct but first time upgraders wouldn't know to ask that.

 

[disneysteve]

Nice. When I was there in sept, only disney spring locations would ask. Nice to know they are acting more like disneyland now and reminding you about discounts you may get.

Yep. We were definitely asked, or I heard them asking others since I had my AP out and ready so they didn't need to ask, in all 4 parks.

 

[supersnoop]

There's posts all the time here on upgrades that didn't match the upgrade date. It's quick and painless to just verify the CM did their job right and the date is correct but first time upgraders wouldn't know to ask that.

I just want them to have accurate expectations. We don't want someone yelling at a CM because someone said their expiration would be based on the date of the upgrade rather than the date the original ticket was first used.

And I'd expect anyone buying an annual pass to notice if their pass wasn't valid for a year. That should be an obvious mistake.

 

[Bunnylicious]

Thanks for the heads up re: discounts. I have quite a lengthy Christmas list so any little bit saved is awesome! I will definitely wave my new AP card proudly and often!!! Are there any other perks I need to know about?

 

[Dr.Mickey]

Thanks for the heads up re: discounts. I have quite a lengthy Christmas list so any little bit saved is awesome! I will definitely wave my new AP card proudly and often!!! Are there any other perks I need to know about?

The biggest perk (and drawback) of an AP is the subtle whisper in your ear - "Come on, it's just a long weekend. You can make it to Florida and back..."

Of course, parking is now $20 per day for an off site guest, so if you stay off site, that is $140 savings for a week long trip. And AP discounts are often available at resorts (but not always-and you have to call and ask), which helps with the unplanned long weekend trips

 

[Accident]

I just want them to have accurate expectations. We don't want someone yelling at a CM because someone said their expiration would be based on the date of the upgrade rather than the date the original ticket was first used.

Good point with the use the ticket then upgrade, I wasn't thinking it doesn't have to be at the same time.

 

[supersnoop]

The biggest perk (and drawback) of an AP is the subtle whisper in your ear - "Come on, it's just a long weekend. You can make it to Florida and back..."

Of course, parking is now $20 per day for an off site guest, so if you stay off site, that is $140 savings for a week long trip. And AP discounts are often available at resorts (but not always-and you have to call and ask), which helps with the unplanned long weekend trips

Parking is free with an AP.

 

[Dr.Mickey]

Parking is free with an AP.

That's what I meant when I said $140 savings. Not very clearly stated in my post, though.