Advice for upgrading to Magic Key during 3 day trip

[Dust2]

It's my son's dream to stay at the Grand and go to Disneyland for his 12th birthday 4th of July weekend. We are planning on upgrading the 3 day tickets to Magic Key passes on the last day. What's the best way to do this? Would to complicate things to purchase a hotel/ticket package? If I purchase Genie Plus would the cost be included in the credit towards the Magic Keys? I keep stalking the DVC dedicated reservations on several sites, but no luck yet. Please advise on how to save the most money on this very expensive trip keeping in mind we are planning on converting tickets to passes. Thank you!

 

[bambialways4ever]

Genie+ isn't counted toward your magic key purchase, but you should be able to upgrade right from the app on your last day

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

If you want to save money, purchase your tickets separately from a third-party seller at a discount, then upgrade those to the Magic Keys. The ticket price will *usually* be bridged (meaning, the price of the regular ticket, not the discounted price you paid, will be applied to the Magic Key. This doesn’t always work, but it’s always worked for me and I’ve done it three times. Do some research to find out who has the best prices on multi-day tickets and buy from someone reputable. I always bought a five-day park hopper because that was how I could get the biggest discount, then upgraded that. You have to upgrade before the end of your last day and you can do it in the app.

 

[Pamela M]

I wouldn’t bet on DVC points becoming available for the GC especially for july 4th. from what I understand GC has the only DVC tower in Anaheim so the resell of them is very limited.
I’m splurging on the GC for my bday in May and found a slight discount through Getaway today. I also like that they offer travel insurance so if we need to cancel we are only out $75 instead of $200.

You can get discounted tickets through Getawaytoday and undercover tourist. I would check both sites one might have a better offer than the other.

Not sure how long your going but my friend and I decided to 2 nights at a harbor Blvd hotel and splurged on 2 nights at the grand.

I had discounted tickets from one of the above and had no issues upgrading to magic key on my last day in November. I did the update all in the app. Note- currently not all magic keys are available for purchase. I think the 2 most expensive keys are the ones that are sold out. Hopefully they’ll open up for your trip.