Annual Pass question

[lovedisneycruise]

Just a couple of points from my experience last year.

If you are staying on Disney Property the first time you go with your AP you can link your AP voucher to your resort reservation and magic band and use magic band if you prefer to AP for park entrance.
Even though you have to activate AP at parks, you can link the voucher to your MDE...I was able to do so with the help of Disney's IT dept. I had my vouchers mailed to my home and when I received them I call Disney to link them to my reservation. After Disney helped me link my AP vouchers to MDE I was able to book my FP+ 60 days out. Again, this is only possible if you have a resort reservation. Also, even though your AP is linked and you can book FP+ you still need to activate your AP vouchers at Disney. I used my resort Magic Band for park entrance instead of AP card however, you do need to have your AP card with you to show for discounts and such. After my first trip I was then able to order my AP Magic Bands...as Robo said the only difference is you get and AP slider.

Thank you also - I think I finally understand this procedure, but it certainly seems a bit complicated.

 

[lovedisneycruise]

APs are different from other tickets. Whereas you activate a regular ticket the first time you use it to enter a park, an AP must be activated before you first enter the park. So when you buy one ahead of time, you get a "voucher" which at this time is nothing more than a number they will give you to link it to your MDX. This will let MDX know that you have purchased an inactive AP and you can use that to make FPs either 30 or 60 days ahead of your visit, depending on whether you have a Disney resort reservation or not. That is temporary until you arrive at WDW and get your pass activated. Once you activate the pass, the "clock" is running on it and it will expire a year (on the same day the following year) from the day you activate it. Not the day you purchased it, or the day you first use it to enter a park (although the vast majority of the time, the date of activation is the same day the pass is first used to enter the park>)

Thank you - this is helpful to know also as I always stay at a Disney resort when visiting the parks.

 

[goofy4tink]

I sure wish I had seen this thread before ordering my AP. I figured I would just have the voucher sent to me. Nope, bad idea. No way for me to attach it to MDE. Had to call Disney IT...they said the voucher was already attached somewhere. But, finally figured it all out, and got it attached. Wish I had just done 'will call'...so much easier.
Hopefully, it won't take long to activate it before I get into a park.

 

[DebbieB]

I ordered a DVC AP at the end of November to beat any increase plus the rumors of the DVC discount going away. Since I'm not planning to go until next December, I decided to get the voucher when I noticed there was no charge to mail. I didn't have to do anything to link it to MDE. Since I always already signed in when I bought it, it automatically linked.

 

[goofy4tink]

I ordered a DVC AP at the end of November to beat any increase plus the rumors of the DVC discount going away. Since I'm not planning to go until next December, I decided to get the voucher when I noticed there was no charge to mail. I didn't have to do anything to link it to MDE. Since I always already signed in when I bought it, it automatically linked.

I have to wonder if that's what happened to me. I was logged in when I bought mine as well. But it never showed up. Evidently, when I called IT, she had to call someone else....the voucher had been linked but it was hidden somehow! Took a bit of work to get it linked. Glad I did it then vs waiting.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

another note - as of right now you will have an AP card to use for discounts (I think Robo mentioned it earlier) - you must bring that on every trip in order to get the AP discounts. CMs can't or won't (who knows) scan your band and accept that - you must have the AP discount card and an ID (if asked I just usually present the 2 of them together).