Annual Pass Promotions?

[OffToDWD]

Does Disney ever run promotions for purchasing annual passes? We are going to Disney World in December and wondering if I should hold of getting the annual pass until they ran some sort of promo (this will be our first time getting an annual pass). Thanks!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Last year from Oct-Jan they had an offer where you get an extra month (13 months for the price of 12), but that was for the WDW 45th anniversary; I would doubt that will happen again. APs also go up in price without warning, usually in the fall, but even that isn't a certainty. That increase can be small or even over $100! Sometimes the increase will take effect immediately, other times you have until the end of the day.

So if you are absolutely sure you are going to get one I would buy it sooner rather than later. If you buy online you will get a voucher that won't activate it until your first visit.

 

[CAS239]

No there's rarely ever a special on AP's. They did do the 13 month thing, but that was for renewing AP's.

I've had an AP for about the last 3-4 years and aside from the extra month for renewals, I haven't seen any discounts or deals.

If you hold off too long they might raise the price

 

[Goofygirl17]

The only way I found to get a discount was to buy tickets from undercover tourist- whichever ticket had the best discount- then use the ticket once and then upgrade (bridge) it to an AP.

There are others on here w more knowledge than me so hopefully they chime in

 

[OSUZorba]

You no longer have to use the ticket before you bridge it.

 

[jcvalenti]

Yup - other than the very limited "extra month", I've never seen an AP deal. Best I do is when buying Annual Passes, I go get $100 gift cards at Target and pay for it with my Target Red Card, so I save 5% off the purchase price. If you REALLY wanted to save a little more, you could also then use those Red Cards to load up a Disney Vacation Savings Account, and purchase your passes from there ... but you need to have the account open for a few months before you can get the additional 2% back from that. I like being able to "save" for our Annual Passes in an account I don't see every day, so the extra $60 or so we get by using the DVSA is just a nice extra.

I have seen them jack it up $100+ overnight (though you usually get a day or two warning if you pay close attention to Disney sites - they usually announce it's going up on a Friday and the new prices take effect on Sunday).

 

[randumb0]

There's a greater chance of a price increase than a promo. If you have the money go ahead and buy your tickets

 

[jcvalenti]

There's a greater chance of a price increase than a promo.

Lol. That should be Disney's motto.

 

[cvjw]

No there's rarely ever a special on AP's. They did do the 13 month thing, but that was for renewing AP's.

I've had an AP for about the last 3-4 years and aside from the extra month for renewals, I haven't seen any discounts or deals.

If you hold off too long they might raise the price

The promotion for 13 months was also for new AP's - we purchased 3 that are still sitting in my MDE account.

OP, I have had an AP for 10 years. There have been 2 regular AP promotions - one was for 15 months and the other for 13 months since I have had an AP. We are also DVC and they have had a couple of discounted AP promotions, but those are few and far between also. Plus, you have to be a DVC member to qualify.

If you know you want to buy AP's, just buy before the price increases!

 

[patrickpiteo]

The promotion for 13 months was also for new AP's - we purchased 3 that are still sitting in my MDE account.

OP, I have had an AP for 10 years. There have been 2 regular AP promotions - one was for 15 months and the other for 13 months since I have had an AP. We are also DVC and they have had a couple of discounted AP promotions, but those are few and far between also. Plus, you have to be a DVC member to qualify.

If you know you want to buy AP's, just buy before the price increases!

love my AP DVC discount...

 

[OffToDWD]

Thanks, everyone! Will get it sooner rather than later!

Just curious - how does "bridging" work?

 

[Mamabun]

Thanks, everyone! Will get it sooner rather than later!

Just curious - how does "bridging" work?

I have bridged tickets in the past, but I do know there were some changes relatively recently, so I'm hoping someone can correct me. I'd really like to know this as well.

The example prices are totally made up, just to illustrate the idea...

This is an example of how it worked the last time I did this:
1) Buy a 5 day ticket from Undercover Tourist (or other authorized discount seller) for $300.
2) Go to the park, use at least one day, but not all of them, go to Guest Services and ask to upgrade to AP.
3) GS will 'credit' you with the current price of a 5 day ticket, say $350, then charge you the difference to buy an AP. So if the AP currently costs $800, they would charge you $450, not $500. And, in essence, you just got $50 off an AP.

I *think* with the recent changes it now works like this:
1) Buy a 5 day ticket from Undercover Tourist (or other authorized discount seller) for $300.
2) Go to the park, use a day or not (it no longer matters), go to Guest Services and ask to upgrade to AP.
3) GS will 'credit' you with the price you paid, $300, then charge you the difference to buy an AP. So if the AP currently costs $800, they would charge you $500. So, even with bridging you still pay regular price for your AP. I guess the advantage is you don't have to pay it all at once, the disadvantage is the AP prices could increase on you.

Is that how other folks understand it?

 

[Araminta18]

I have bridged tickets in the past, but I do know there were some changes relatively recently, so I'm hoping someone can correct me. I'd really like to know this as well.

The example prices are totally made up, just to illustrate the idea...

This is an example of how it worked the last time I did this:
1) Buy a 5 day ticket from Undercover Tourist (or other authorized discount seller) for $300.
2) Go to the park, use at least one day, but not all of them, go to Guest Services and ask to upgrade to AP.
3) GS will 'credit' you with the current price of a 5 day ticket, say $350, then charge you the difference to buy an AP. So if the AP currently costs $800, they would charge you $450, not $500. And, in essence, you just got $50 off an AP.

I *think* with the recent changes it now works like this:
1) Buy a 5 day ticket from Undercover Tourist (or other authorized discount seller) for $300.
2) Go to the park, use a day or not (it no longer matters), go to Guest Services and ask to upgrade to AP.
3) GS will 'credit' you with the price you paid, $300, then charge you the difference to buy an AP. So if the AP currently costs $800, they would charge you $500. So, even with bridging you still pay regular price for your AP. I guess the advantage is you don't have to pay it all at once, the disadvantage is the AP prices could increase on you.

Is that how other folks understand it?

also curious about this!

 

[DisMommyTX]

If it works with your travel plans, you could book under the Free-Dining promotion for Dec. Then, when you get there, upgrade your tickets to AP.

Undercover Tourist has a great ticket special out today that is 7 days for the price of 4. If you bridge these in Dec I think you would save over $80pp.

 

[Araminta18]

If it works with your travel plans, you could book under the Free-Dining promotion for Dec. Then, when you get there, upgrade your tickets to AP.

Undercover Tourist has a great ticket special out today that is 7 days for the price of 4. If you bridge these in Dec I think you would save over $80pp.

That's what I'm hoping for--just bit the bullet on that promotion!

 

[OffToDWD]

Thank you!!

 

[jimandami]

I have bridged tickets in the past, but I do know there were some changes relatively recently, so I'm hoping someone can correct me. I'd really like to know this as well.

The example prices are totally made up, just to illustrate the idea...

This is an example of how it worked the last time I did this:
1) Buy a 5 day ticket from Undercover Tourist (or other authorized discount seller) for $300.
2) Go to the park, use at least one day, but not all of them, go to Guest Services and ask to upgrade to AP.
3) GS will 'credit' you with the current price of a 5 day ticket, say $350, then charge you the difference to buy an AP. So if the AP currently costs $800, they would charge you $450, not $500. And, in essence, you just got $50 off an AP.

I *think* with the recent changes it now works like this:
1) Buy a 5 day ticket from Undercover Tourist (or other authorized discount seller) for $300.
2) Go to the park, use a day or not (it no longer matters), go to Guest Services and ask to upgrade to AP.
3) GS will 'credit' you with the price you paid, $300, then charge you the difference to buy an AP. So if the AP currently costs $800, they would charge you $500. So, even with bridging you still pay regular price for your AP. I guess the advantage is you don't have to pay it all at once, the disadvantage is the AP prices could increase on you.

Is that how other folks understand it?

I don't think that is correct. I think they will still credit you the current gate price of the ticket, so it still saves you money. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

RE: the price bridging discussion: Assuming the CM does their job right, because this got way more complicated back in February, you should be credited with the PRE-ARRIVAL price of your ticket (AKA the price available online) when upgrading to an AP, not the GATE price.

The difference with tax between pre-arrival and gate is about $21.30 regardless of the number of days on your ticket. (Note: This applies only to 3-10 day tickets.)

The only time tickets are bridged to "gate price" (with the additional $21.30) is to add days or options.

 

[OB1]

RE: the price bridging discussion: Assuming the CM does their job right, because this got way more complicated back in February, you should be credited with the PRE-ARRIVAL price of your ticket (AKA the price available online) when upgrading to an AP, not the GATE price.

The difference with tax between pre-arrival and gate is about $21.30 regardless of the number of days on your ticket. (Note: This applies only to 3-10 day tickets.)

The only time tickets are bridged to "gate price" (with the additional $21.30) is to add days or options.

This is exactly how it worked for me when I upgraded to an annual pass at the end of April. I purchased tickets at the local Disney store at the end of JAN. When I was on site in April and upgrading to the annual pass, I was credited the gate price from FEB, not the new increased price. Basically what the gate price was when I purchased the tickets. So in this case, buying before the increase did not help me.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

This is exactly how it worked for me when I upgraded to an annual pass at the end of April. I purchased tickets at the local Disney store at the end of JAN. When I was on site in April and upgrading to the annual pass, I was credited the gate price from FEB, not the new increased price. Basically what the gate price was when I purchased the tickets. So in this case, buying before the increase did not help me.

Yeah, if tickets were purchased/issued prior to the last price increase, they only go up to the old "gate" price from before Feb 12. It's because of back-end changes made to the computer system during that update.