Annual Pass Questions

[Pooh'sTwin]

Hi All,

I apologize if these are annoying repeat questions but I tried to search the forum for the answers and got no results.

In various places I have read that if you buy a park hopper, say for three days, and on the last day go to the ticket booth and say you want to upgrade to an Annual Pass, they will apply the full value of your hopper to the cost of the Annual Pass. So I guess my questions are:

1. Is this true?
2. Is it worth it? ie. Is it an actual discount of sorts?
3. Would I be better off just buying the AP's online?

If it makes a difference, we want to get the AP's with no blockout dates, etc.

Thanks for any input!

 

[Tasscrapper]

It is true that you can upgrade. It's actually at the Bank on Main St that you do it. I'm pretty sure it was the bank but there were signs posted so it was very easy to see that's where it was done. If you buy a 3 day hopper for a discount on say disneyland.com when you go to upgrade you will be charged the difference between th AP price and what you originally paid for the park hoppers. The advantage of buying the park hoppers first is the magic morning you can use with a 3 or more day hopper.

No matter if you pay full price at the gates or online with a discount for the park hoppers you will pay the full annual pass price when you upgrade. HTH.

 

[Queenbillabong]

The discount in the price would be that it's cheaper than having another trip and purchasing park hoppers again. The other discount is that you will have discounts on food (10%-15% depending on which AP), some of the tours, and the premium AP has discount on merchandise purchased at the park. You can also get discounts for staying at any of the DLR hotels.

 

[northshoremama]

it's worth it, i think, if you plan on going several times in that one year that you have an AP. i was contemplating upgrading to APs, too, on the last day of our trip next month...but having to come from seattle, i'm not sure if we can fit 2 more trips to make it worth the money. i know for sure that i'd like to go back to DL next April to celebrate DD's bday...but i don't think i can afford to make it back to DL after april but before october when the AP would expire.

but since you're in long beach, and if you plan to go several times, it may be worth it!

 

[Pooh'sTwin]

Thanks for the advice and help!

We do plan to go quite often so we know the AP's are the way to go. How can I resist going when it is about a 20min drive?? hehe!

 

[northshoremama]

We do plan to go quite often so we know the AP's are the way to go. How can I resist going when it is about a 20min drive?? hehe!

i'm SOOOO jealous!!!!!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

If you already know that you're going to buy an AP, then just buy it beforehand so you can immediately start getting the discounts. Living as close as you do means that the room discounts and early entry aren't really applicable. If you upgrade to an AP, they'll take the price you paid for the park tickets and apply it towards the AP you're buying.

In other words, if you buy a 3 day pass at $169 and upgrade on day 3, they'll put $169 towards the purchase of your AP and then you'll pay the diffference. They will not retroactively give you discounts on all the food and merchandise you would have been eligible for if you had bought the AP earlier. You're not saving anything by buying a park hopper and then upgrading to an AP, but you could lose out on some discounts. The only way to get a discount on an AP itself is to renew an AP within an early renewal date they'll give you.

northshoremomma, here's some food for thought on an AP vs. park hopper passes. From Disneyland.com: A 2 day park hopper pass for an adult currently costs $132. If you were to buy a 2 day park hopper for both trips, then you would pay $264 for 4 days for one adult at Disneyland. If you were to buy a deluxe AP, it would cost you $269 and gets you into 315 days of the year, plus 10% off food purchases at most Disneyland eating establishments. Let's break up your trips into one 3 day visit and one 2 day visit. The 3 day pass is $169 and the 2 day pass is $132. Combined that's $301, or more money than the deluxe AP.

In my opinion, if you're going to make two visits to Disneyland that add up to 4 total days in the parks over the course of 365 days, than the AP is the way to go. The only time that an AP may not be worth it is if those 4 days fall within the window over which the tickets are good once activated.

 

[wendylady36]

i'm SOOOO jealous!!!!!

I second that!

 

[bumbershoot]

The main reason people buy the hoppers and upgrade is so they can have a day of Magic Morning before upgrading.

You live 20 minutes away. You don't need MM. OK maybe you'd like it, so if you would like an MM morning, upgrade from 3+ day hoppers, and have that MM! (upgrade after the MM hour)

Other than that, there's no benefit to upgrading, and at one point they were including a coupon that printed out with your AP voucher, when buying it at disneyland.com, so that might be a benefit (if it is still included) to just buying online.