Annual Pass HELP

[carlythecat]

My husband and I are participating in the Dopey Challenge during marathon weekend 2016. We have decided that we want to purchase annual passes because we plan on going back for Flower & Garden Festival and also Food & Wine. I am not sure what the best way to go about it is.

Should I purchase the annual passes first, book the resort/dining plan, and get whatever AP discount is available ( if there is one)?

OR

Should I book a regular package with park hoppers and just upgrade the park hoppers to APs when we arrive?

I am just unclear about how it all works!

Thanks in advance

 

[TDluvsDaisy]

You can do it either way. I bought AP as soon as I knew we would be back and could use them. However with an AP burning in my pocket I was sorely tempted to book more trips to "get my money's worth". ;P

How soon will you book the second trip? I would make sure you have your APs done in order to make sure you can make your FP+ done timely especially if you are staying on property. If you are going back for F&GF within 60 days of Marathon Weekend I would go ahead and do APs without doing the park hoppers first.

 

[Bree]

I would get the AP first. By doing that you can take advantage of the AP room rates which are usually more than the general public discount. AP rates are released in staggered dates and there are only so many allotted rooms per resort. Right now AP can book rooms for stays through August 27th.

 

[carlythecat]

You can do it either way. I bought AP as soon as I knew we would be back and could use them. However with an AP burning in my pocket I was sorely tempted to book more trips to "get my money's worth". ;P

How soon will you book the second trip? I would make sure you have your APs done in order to make sure you can make your FP+ done timely especially if you are staying on property. If you are going back for F&GF within 60 days of Marathon Weekend I would go ahead and do APs without doing the park hoppers first.

We are trying to save the most amount of money. I just am a bit fuzzy on how the AP works. If I purchased it today, would it be active starting today or would it be active once I activate it in January? And with it not being activated until January would I be able to take part of the room discounts because I know that to get the dining plan you have to purchase a ticketless package.

 

[Bree]

It is activated upon first entrance to the parks. When I purchased mine I opted to print vouchers that I turned in at guest services the following month. I was able to book an AP hotel rate the same day I purchased our AP's. After activation at the park you will be able to go into MDE and order your AP magic bands. Those will come in the mail along with your AP card to show for discounts. When I activated my AP at guest services they gave a RFID ticket with Passholder on it to show for discounts during our stay.

 

[carlythecat]

It is activated upon first entrance to the parks. When I purchased mine I opted to print vouchers that I turned in at guest services the following month. I was able to book an AP hotel rate the same day I purchased our AP's. After activation at the park you will be able to go into MDE and order your AP magic bands. Those will come in the mail along with your AP card to show for discounts. When I activated my AP at guest services they gave a RFID ticket with Passholder on it to show for discounts during our stay.

So even with the just the voucher, before I have activated the pass, I would be able to take part of the room discounts? What if I wanted to add the dining plan? This is all confusing to me sorry!

 

[pmaurer74]

My husband and I are participating in the Dopey Challenge during marathon weekend 2016. We have decided that we want to purchase annual passes because we plan on going back for Flower & Garden Festival and also Food & Wine. I am not sure what the best way to go about it is.

Should I purchase the annual passes first, book the resort/dining plan, and get whatever AP discount is available ( if there is one)?

OR

Should I book a regular package with park hoppers and just upgrade the park hoppers to APs when we arrive?

I am just unclear about how it all works!

Thanks in advance

Keep an eye out for AP discounts. They seem to be a little better than general public discounts. We got an AP because the only discounts available were AP. We could make the reservation but we needed APs by the time we checked in. We got the DP with our reservation. The AP is not activated until your first park entry.