Am I eligible for a Recovery AP?

[murphy625]

Hi, I'm wondering if its worth waiting on hold to check on this. We had two DVC trips booked April and May 2020. My Gold AP would have expired at the end of May 2020. I did not renew it as I didn't see us traveling much over the next year. We have booked April 2022 but also have some points to use up before April 1st 2022.

Any thoughts if I might be able to get a discount (renewal price) on a DVC/Gold AP?

Would they let me upgrade from Gold to Platinum Annual Pass at this time? (Some of our days in April 2022 are blocked out with the Gold AP)

Thx!

 

[drusba]

You're probably trying to call DVC. Instead, you should be calling the Annual Passholder line: (407) 939-7277. Since your pass expired when WDW was closed and you lost use of it for two trips, you will likely be considered among those who can now purchase a new AP with the DVC discount (you cannot just renew). The usual process with that passholder line, for which there is a usually a shorter wait time than DVC, is for you to explain your situation, provide information on the passes you had, and then you will be told that you will be called back later, possibly in a week but maybe longer, and be able to purchase APs if they verify you are qualified.

Also note, that if they do not calll back within the time specified, you should call them again (that is what I had to do to finally be able to purchase a new Gold AP). If they allow you to purchase you will have the choice of purchasing any AP that can be purchased with a DVC discount.

Finally, just be aware that, as usual, there is no major crisis that can occur without Disney's seeing it as an opportunity to raise prices on most everything. For example, the cost of a new Gold DVC AP is now $719 ( and with tax $765.74)

 

[murphy625]

You're probably trying to call DVC. Instead, you should be calling the Annual Passholder line: (407) 939-7277. Since your pass expired when WDW was closed and you lost use of it for two trips, you will likely be considered among those who can now purchase a new AP with the DVC discount (you cannot just renew). The usual process with that passholder line, for which there is a usually a shorter wait time than DVC, is for you to explain your situation, provide information on the passes you had, and then you will be told that you will be called back later, possibly in a week but maybe longer, and be able to purchase APs if they verify you are qualified.

Also note, that if they do not calll back within the time specified, you should call them again (that is what I had to do to finally be able to purchase a new Gold AP). If they allow you to purchase you will have the choice of purchasing any AP that can be purchased with a DVC discount.

Thank you. That is good to know. I'll try that number.

 

[mac_tlc]

Your situation sounds similar to our daughters, except she have a regular AP, not a DVC. She called, they said they would call back in 7-10 days. At day 14, she called them back and told them she had a trip planned in two weeks. They called back that day. It took almost two hours on the phone, but she was able to get the APs, and also get one for our grandson who has turned 3 during the pandemic. They appear to be making an exception to getting a new pass for children who turned 3 last year and whose parents are eligible for a recovery AP.

mac_tlc

 

[murphy625]

Your situation sounds similar to our daughters, except she have a regular AP, not a DVC. She called, they said they would call back in 7-10 days. At day 14, she called them back and told them she had a trip planned in two weeks. They called back that day. It took almost two hours on the phone, but she was able to get the APs, and also get one for our grandson who has turned 3 during the pandemic. They appear to be making an exception to getting a new pass for children who turned 3 last year and whose parents are eligible for a recovery AP.

mac_tlc

Thanks. I left my information (was on hold about 30 minutes). I'll mark my calendar to call back. Since my trip is not for a while, I'm not as worried as I would be if I was going in two weeks! I'm just afraid the price structure or parameters may be different when the AP's are made available again.

 

[meekey7197]

When was your expiration date with the extension they allowed? My son had an AP that should have expired in late June 2020 and was extended to October (I think). I was there last month and asked about renewing his pass, they said had he been there with me they would have done it (but I didn't take him because he didn't have an AP )

 

[n2mm]

Our passes expired end of April 2020 and early June 2020. We both requested and received a partial refund. We called the passholder phone number and applied for the AP recovery program. We called in February 2021 and got our NEW DVC gold passes in March 2021. Same for my daughter and her family. Your situation sounds like ours. One of the biggest problems I’ve read is people keep calling DVC. This offer is through the passholder office no matter how you originally purchased your pass and DVC is clueless on this program. We all got our NEW vouchers and each cost the price of a new dvc gold pass ($755). They all got new start dates. We activated ours in March and daughter and family activated theirs in June

 

[murphy625]

Our passes expired end of April 2020 and early June 2020. We both requested and received a partial refund. We called the passholder phone number and applied for the AP recovery program. We called in February 2021 and got our NEW DVC gold passes in March 2021. Same for my daughter and her family. Your situation sounds like ours. One of the biggest problems I’ve read is people keep calling DVC. This offer is through the passholder office no matter how you originally purchased your pass and DVC is clueless on this program. We all got our NEW vouchers and each cost the price of a new dvc gold pass ($755). They all got new start dates. We activated ours in March and daughter and family activated theirs in June

That timing does sound like mine (although I probably wont be activating them until early 2022). For me, it may not be necessary, since the price is the same as a NEW DVC Gold pass. But it does help to budget for my trip if I can get some of these $ things are out of the way now. Thx.

 

[n2mm]

That timing does sound like mine (although I probably wont be activating them until early 2022). For me, it may not be necessary, since the price is the same as a NEW DVC Gold pass. But it does help to budget for my trip if I can get some of these $ things are out of the way now. Thx.

but the price will probably go up once the sales start again. When I purchased my voucher said it expired 2099. So a good investment now if you can purchase via recovery offer.

 

[murphy625]

When was your expiration date with the extension they allowed? My son had an AP that should have expired in late June 2020 and was extended to October (I think). I was there last month and asked about renewing his pass, they said had he been there with me they would have done it (but I didn't take him because he didn't have an AP )

I searched through my old emails and couldn't find the details but yes, they did offer an extension to renew, I think around October 2020. I was worried that the recovery AP would expire based on that date, but sounds like I will have some time to activate it. Just hoping to get a couple of trips out of it.

 

[CarolynFH]

When was your expiration date with the extension they allowed? My son had an AP that should have expired in late June 2020 and was extended to October (I think). I was there last month and asked about renewing his pass, they said had he been there with me they would have done it (but I didn't take him because he didn't have an AP )

All APs were extended nearly 4 months as compensation for the time the parks were closed. For instance, our Gold APs were originally going to expire October 15, 2020 and were extended to March 11, 2021. Because our original expiration date was after the parks reopened, our renewal window was set based on the new expiration date, i.e. we could renew as early as 60 days before March 11 and up to 30 days past March 11. But passholders whose APs expired during the shutdown (such as your son's that originally expired in June 2020) have been allowed to renew or buy new APs out of the normal renewal period. So you should probably call the Annual Passholder line: (407) 939-7277 and ask - people are still being deemed eligible for recovery APs even though they're just now inquiring. You have nothing to lose!

 

[corpcomp]

You're probably trying to call DVC. Instead, you should be calling the Annual Passholder line: (407) 939-7277. Since your pass expired when WDW was closed and you lost use of it for two trips, you will likely be considered among those who can now purchase a new AP with the DVC discount (you cannot just renew). The usual process with that passholder line, for which there is a usually a shorter wait time than DVC, is for you to explain your situation, provide information on the passes you had, and then you will be told that you will be called back later, possibly in a week but maybe longer, and be able to purchase APs if they verify you are qualified.

Also note, that if they do not calll back within the time specified, you should call them again (that is what I had to do to finally be able to purchase a new Gold AP). If they allow you to purchase you will have the choice of purchasing any AP that can be purchased with a DVC discount.

Finally, just be aware that, as usual, there is no major crisis that can occur without Disney's seeing it as an opportunity to raise prices on most everything. For example, the cost of a new Gold DVC AP is now $719 ( and with tax $765.74)

Agree. That is what I did last week ( Gold $765) but if you are not DVC, and are out of state, you can only get the Platinum pass which the AP customer care person said was about $1000. If you are a DVC member, they take your member number, confirm eligibility and leave a message for DVC Customer care to call you.

Since I'm going twice in 3 months, this saves me about $600 in ticket costs for DW and myself. And I will go a third within the year. DW family thinks I'm nuts. They say I should be going to the Grand Canyon or camping with them. Yeah right.

 

[stormer]

I tried to call the AP number this morning, but after 1 hour and 45 minutes on hold, I had to hang up. We have Gold APs that will expire next week- the date was extended bc of COVID. I would like to renew them. Does my situation sound like I would be eligible to renew? I’m not sure I understand what qualifies for this recovery AP. I am going to try to call again, but I’m just curious.

 

[Sandisw]

I tried to call the AP number this morning, but after 1 hour and 45 minutes on hold, I had to hang up. We have Gold APs that will expire next week- the date was extended bc of COVID. I would like to renew them. Does my situation sound like I would be eligible to renew? I’m not sure I understand what qualifies for this recovery AP. I am going to try to call again, but I’m just curious.

You can renew by calling DVC directly. Renewals have never been suspended.

It was only people who canceled their passes and took the refund, or didn’t renew during or shortly after the closure who need to contact the recovery AP department.

 

[corpcomp]

You can renew by calling DVC directly. Renewals have never been suspended.

It was only people who canceled their passes and took the refund, or didn’t renew during or shortly after the closure who need to contact the recovery AP department.

Correct. I cancelled middle of last year, got a refund and was told I was eligible for recovery. Started out with (407) 939-7277 and was told I would be called back within 30 days. I did receive a call two weeks later but once they found out I was DVC they sent a message to DVC Customer Support (or whatever they called themselves). They would not transfer me and would not give me a number. They said I can not call DVC directly for the AP. I was called back in about an hour fortunately. I purchased two new Gold APs at the $765 DVC price which will be activated in November when I visit.

You do spend a lot of time on the phone waiting. All in all, the total time waiting was about 2 hours. They said a few months ago people were on hold for as much as 6 hours!! I don't have the luxury of waiting 6 hours since I get business calls during the day.

 

[CarolynFH]

I tried to call the AP number this morning, but after 1 hour and 45 minutes on hold, I had to hang up. We have Gold APs that will expire next week- the date was extended bc of COVID. I would like to renew them. Does my situation sound like I would be eligible to renew? I’m not sure I understand what qualifies for this recovery AP. I am going to try to call again, but I’m just curious.

As Sandi said, you do not need a “recovery” AP because yours was not canceled and did not expire during the closure. Since your AP expires next week, you’re eligible for a plain and simple renewal, and you have to call DVC MS for that. Or you can go to GR outside a park or at DS or to the Official Ticket Center in DS in person with your blue member card and photo ID. You can renew up to 60 days after your AP expires, although the new one will start the same day the old one expires.

 

[murphy625]

Update- Today I received my callback and was able to purchase my Annual Pass (upgraded from Gold to the Platinum Pass). It was just over 2 weeks from when I originally called. Very easy process.

 

[Cynner]

They are no longer offering these since they've announced the regular APs

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

They are no longer offering these since they've announced the regular APs

No more recovery AP’s? Interesting. I think we’re about to start a bumpy ride with new AP’s coming out… I’m thrilled!! But I think how they handle all the people with “notes” on their tickets to apply those funds to an AP (and people like me who were told notes were unnecessary for my daughters’ tix- that ALL could apply past trip tix to future passes, when released)… well, I think it’s going to be interesting to say the least.

 

[zackiedawg]

I was able to just do my recovery AP Sunday. I had put in the request for a callback 3 weeks ago, and got the call Sunday 8/8/21. My original Gold AP (Florida Resident) was expired March 20, 2021, and they allowed me to purchase the new Gold AP - what was very nice was that they offered to either renew the pass picking up right where the previous pass expired, or have the new Gold AP start the day I scan it - the price difference was about $70, so I chose to start the new pass when I arrive on September 24 - that gives me 6 more months on this pass and was well worth the price difference for me. I'm not sure if the 'new' passes after October 1 will be different, a la Magic Key, but I'm just happy to get my AP back just like it was before, and good until the end of September 2022 before I need to worry about renewals and whatever is available at that time. I really didn't want to wait for the Oct 1 pass announcements and purchase, because I have the 9/24-9/28 trip already booked, and would have had to purchase a 4-day pass just before getting a new AP.