Annual Pass Upgrade

[HappySmileyGirl]

Hello UK Dis Hive Mind,
We’re planning our next trip which will involve a 7 day on site and 7 day off site stay for 2020. We will be purchasing 14 day passes (booked in the UK) but are looking to potentially upgrade one of them to an annual pass for the additional benefits that this would bring for free park parking, dining discount and store discounts etc. I contacted Disney but, while they said it would be possible in principle, they weren’t able to give a price. Has anyone got experience of actually doing this and if so, what was the price difference to upgrade?
Many thanks

 

[starry_solo]

I think that due to their date-based ticket expiration, no one can really tell you what you would be getting for passes in a year.

 

[saintrob]

I've done it but several years ago and took advice from friends to 'shop around'! I tried a couple of guest service locations and found I got the best price at the one located inside of Epcot. There wasn't a great deal of difference as I can remember but a difference all the same.

 

[HappySmileyGirl]

I think that due to their date-based ticket expiration, no one can really tell you what you would be getting for passes in a year.

Thank you for coming back so quickly - I’m not anticipating being able to find out what next year’s cost would be at this time, but it would be really helpful to have a rough idea of recent prices to help our deliberations.

 

[HappySmileyGirl]

I've done it but several years ago and took advice from friends to 'shop around'! I tried a couple of guest service locations and found I got the best price at the one located inside of Epcot. There wasn't a great deal of difference as I can remember but a difference all the same.

Thank you for coming back so quickly - I’m not anticipating being able to find out what next year’s cost would be at this time, but it would be really helpful to have a rough idea of recent prices for the upgrade to help our deliberations.

 

[Tony Toon]

This is something we have done several times in the past and after shopping around have had really good deals. We were in WDW in January this year and asked at DHS for a price to convert our 14 day Ultimate tickets to APs. We've bought there in the past for excellent prices. I was quoted $435.60 per pass!!!!!! Needless to say we declined. Pointed out that this was way more than we'd ever paid in the past but the (senior and experienced CM) said that they had had significant price increases and that that was the price given the current exchange rate. We asked elsewhere but didn't have any better luck.

Mrs TT

 

[starry_solo]

@Robo might be able to help. He's the ticket guru

 

[HappySmileyGirl]

This is something we have done several times in the past and after shopping around have had really good deals. We were in WDW in January this year and asked at DHS for a price to convert our 14 day Ultimate tickets to APs. We've bought there in the past for excellent prices. I was quoted $435.60 per pass!!!!!! Needless to say we declined. Pointed out that this was way more than we'd ever paid in the past but the (senior and experienced CM) said that they had had significant price increases and that that was the price given the current exchange rate. We asked elsewhere but didn't have any better luck.

Mrs TT

Wowsers! That’s a huge amount to convert so thanks so much for the heads up on that. Being totally new to this idea, when you speak of shopping around, is that at other WDW parks? Thanks again.

 

[gismo1554]

Just to say, if you are going more than once in a year it worked out for us the same price as buying 2 x 14 day tickets and we just brought before going rather than upgrading while there. In September I'm planning on upgrading so I can use on my second trip as did free dining so had to buy a 14 day ticket. From what I've read shopping around is key but also having an idea on what you are willing to pay. I'm going with I would pay the price of another 14 day ticket as will be going again so that price quote in $'s wasn't too far off what I was thinking. If you are just doing to get the benefits then its important to factor this in instead.

 

[HappySmileyGirl]

Just to say, if you are going more than once in a year it worked out for us the same price as buying 2 x 14 day tickets and we just brought before going rather than upgrading while there. In September I'm planning on upgrading so I can use on my second trip as did free dining so had to buy a 14 day ticket. From what I've read shopping around is key but also having an idea on what you are willing to pay. I'm going with I would pay the price of another 14 day ticket as will be going again so that price quote in $'s wasn't too far off what I was thinking. If you are just doing to get the benefits then its important to factor this in instead.

That’s really useful thank you. We’re only going to stay on-site if we can get free dining so would be in the same boat as you, but if that doesn’t come through then it’s good to know that we could buy one up front. I hope that your September trip goes well - a lovely time to visit

 

[Tony Toon]

Wowsers! That’s a huge amount to convert so thanks so much for the heads up on that. Being totally new to this idea, when you speak of shopping around, is that at other WDW parks? Thanks again.

We started out buying just one AP when staying offsite for benefits - free parking, reduced price Tables in Wonderland card, discounts on tours etc. Then DD got a place on the Cultural Representatives programme and worked at The Rose and Crown for a year so multiple trips per year happened and APs became worthwhile for DH and I. Then we stayed on site with free dining and converted the Ultimate tickets that were required into APs so that we could fit in another visit off site. At that point we could convert our tickets for between $100 and $150 each. We didn't use the water parks so were able to go for the cheaper AP. We asked at various Guest Services, both in the Parks and at Downtown Disney as it was then. I worked out how much I thought the Ultimate ticket cost in $s and took this away from the cost of an AP. This let me gauge whether or not I thought I was getting a good deal. It seemed that there wasn't a fixed price and the amount quoted depended very much on the CM you spoke to but over the years we had the best quotes at DHS with Epcot second. Less experienced CMs who took longer to make their calculations usually quoted the best price!

When we enquired at Guest Services this year it appeared that the conversion now appears in the computer as the amount quoted was arrived at quickly and really tied in with the exchange rate for the day. $435.60 was the best price we were quoted again at DHS. The dearest was at AK when it was about $465 but the exchange rate was poorer that day. If we had been absolutely sure we were going to visit later in the year we would have kept asking but with no definite plans we left it. I have still heard of people bagging a bargain so if you're prepared to keep asking you could be lucky!

Mrs TT