Annual Pass activation question

[GoofyJayDawg]

Hello, all. Sorry if someone has already posted this, but I searched and didn't find anything. We have a 10 day stay in June booked and paid for. However, after some discussion with family members, we decided to go ahead and purchase the annual passes for our family. This made sense since we're planning on coming back at Christmas time. Long story short I called Disney and got everything changed over to annual pass and had them remove our park tickets from our reservation. After that, I also paid for our family annual passes. I know I have to activate the annual passes prior to checking in to our resort (POFQ) Here is my question... our flight is supposed to land at 8:15 pm. We will take ME to the resort, then head straight over to DS to activate the passes. From what I understand, this HAS to happen before we can check in, correct? Even though we've already paid for the annual passes? If our flight is slightly delayed and we can't get to DS in time to activate, what happens? I just don't want to lose our discount along with everything else we've got reserved in MDE. Not to mention, by that time I'll have all of our fastpasses booked. Just need some clarification to set my mind at ease if anyone has any experience with this type of situation.

 

[DisneyRobin]

I just purchased an AP for the 1st time and was told that I had to activate it at guest services before going into the parks. They didn’t say anything about the resort. They said that my magic band would still work to open the door to our room if we do online check in...

 

[Renarr]

As long as your Annual Pass is activated during the trip, you'll still be eligible for the discounts. It doesn't have to be before check-in.

Source: Disney Moms Panel

 

[Wood Nymph]

From what I understand, this HAS to happen before we can check in, correct?

You only need to activate the annual pass before you enter a park. You don't need to activate it before check in. You won't lose your discount.

They said that my magic band would still work to open the door to our room if we do online check in...

Magic bands will work to open your resort room even if you don't have any tickets at all.

 

[lorenae]

I checked into my resort without activating the pass first. Then I went early to Epcot on my first park day and activated it there and got my card. It’s pretty seamless, and I had no problems going right to my room via online check-in. I still stopped by the front desk as I was early for check-in, and stowed my bags with guest services.