Annual Pass Question

[North7]

We are on our way to Toronto this weekend and I am planning on purchasing 4 annual passes (2 Adults, 2 Children) but I have a question. My understanding is that the Disney Store does not keep AP on hand and they must be ordered and picked up at a later date. Since we are 3 hrs from Toronto, I was hoping to pay for them now and have a friend pick them up when they arrived. Will TDS allow this or do you pay for them when you pick them up at the store?

I realize now that I should have called a couple of weeks ago and they could have been at the store waiting for me this weekend Should I just wait until our next trip and get the passes then? Any opinions. I'm buying them now hoping to avoid the price increase that usually occurs in Jan/Feb.

One more thing... I'm 95% sure of this, but can someone confirm that the vouchers you receive do not have any expiry date on them. Our trip is next August so it would be 9 months before the APs were activated.

TIA.

 

[MikeJ]

I don't know your answer about buying tickets at TDS, as we ordered our APs directly from CRO last year and they mailed the vouchers directly to our home.

But to answer your other question, yes, if you are ordering new APs, not renewals, you receive vouchers with no expiry date. (At least, we did.) The passes are activated on your first visit to a park and expire one year from that date. Last year, we purchased our passes in October and activated them New Years Eve. We have another trip planned before the end of the year which will enable us to get two trips out of them before they expire.

- Mike

 

[CindyAnn]

Hi North7. MikeJ is right, but do make sure when your pass is activated that it's set up with an expiry date 1 year in the future. That's the way it's supposed to work, but a while a few people were reporting that Disney was making mistakes (although later rectifying them) when setting up their expiry dates. It's just easier to get it done properly the first time.

In case it's of any help, here are some phone numbers for you:

Disney Store, Yorkdale Mall - (416)782-3061
Disney Store, Scarborough Town Centre - (416)290-5800
Disney Store, Fairview Mall - (416)490-7972
Disney Store, Eaton's Centre - (416)591-5132.

The Disney Store is often a little slow to respond to fluctuations in the currency exchange rates. With the falling Canadian dollar, this might be a good time to buy, before the Canadian stores introduce a price hike which is unrelated to any changes in the US price of the pass, but only to the falling (failing) rate of our own dollar.

 

[North7]

Thanks Mike and CindyAnn.

That is also a good point with respect to the exchange rate. With the dollar setting new lows the last couple of days, a price increase could well be in store. I think I'll call the store tonight and see if I can pay for the tickets when I order them to save a few more dollars in the event the price increases in the next week or so.

Do either of you know how long it takes TDS to receive the vouchers? Also, I am assuming that the Disney Club discount is available for these passes.

Once again, thanks for your help.

Jeff

 

[North7]

Just a FYI for anyone that is interested.

I purchased the tickets from TDS at the Scarborough Town Centre. I was told that you normally pay when the tickets are picked up but because I was from out of town and a friend was picking them up, she didn't see a problem with me paying for them ahead of time. The tickets have not yet increased in price; the Disney Club prices are $513.36/A and $436.51/C in CDN $. The vouchers should take about 3 weeks to arrive at the store.

Now for the best part I paid for the tickets with a US Dollar Mastercard and based on Saturday's rate, they should be charged back at $318.86/A and $271.12/C in US funds. That is a savings of $35.18/A and $29.92/C off the current Disney Club price + 6% Florida tax. So in summary, because of the week Canadian dollar, I saved $130.20 US or approximately $204.15 Cdn by paying with the US Dollar Mastercard. Now, I realize there are many other factors that would go into this calculation, but I still feel like I was able to save some money now rather than waiting until we arrive in Florida to buy the passes.

Jeff