Annual Passes and DVA

[PerfessorZ]

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but why not...

My family (2 adults, 2 kids under 10) has a short trip to WDW coming up mid-March (3 days) and we're also planning to return around Thanksgiving of this year (4-5 days). I have crunched the numbers and it makes sense for us to upgrade 1 (but not all) of our passes to an Annual Pass, since we're looking to also take advantage of Memory Maker each trip. We don't qualify for any of the special passes, so the Annual Pass Platinum would work the best for us. The difference between an annual pass and the 3-day ticket is about $505.

Currently we have a non-discounted reservation at POFQ with the standard non-hopper 3-day tickets already paid for through my DVA. If I were able to use the DVA to upgrade the 1 ticket, it would cross another 1k threshold on the DVA and we'd qualify for another $20 gift card back.

I've never purchased an annual pass before, so I'm fairly oblivious to the process, and am aware that you want to start the activation of the annual pass as late as possible to stretch it's effective use date as long as possible. I'm trying not to plan to come back to WDW next February/March, but if things line up that way, it'd be nice to have an annual pass that's still active.

SO... anyone who's familiar with the process, what's the best way for me to go about making this happen? Is it even possible? If I could get this squared before our trip, that'd be awesome, but I realize the only option might be doing it once we're there.

TIA!

 

[disfanforlife]

I am not an expert, but I have bought AP's a few times now. First of all, the only way to pay for an AP with your DVA is before your trip. You can not use your DVA to pay in the parks. If you bought your tickets direct from Disney I do believe that you can add on days ahead of time, so I would call and see if you can buy your AP that way. I know when I upgraded a ticket I wanted to use it first so I could have it bridged to gate price and then applied to my AP. That does have to be done in person. As far as expiration date, that will be the date of first use regardless of when you buy the AP. Hope I helped!

 

[Marionnette]

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but why not...

My family (2 adults, 2 kids under 10) has a short trip to WDW coming up mid-March (3 days) and we're also planning to return around Thanksgiving of this year (4-5 days). I have crunched the numbers and it makes sense for us to upgrade 1 (but not all) of our passes to an Annual Pass, since we're looking to also take advantage of Memory Maker each trip. We don't qualify for any of the special passes, so the Annual Pass Platinum would work the best for us. The difference between an annual pass and the 3-day ticket is about $505.

Currently we have a non-discounted reservation at POFQ with the standard non-hopper 3-day tickets already paid for through my DVA. If I were able to use the DVA to upgrade the 1 ticket, it would cross another 1k threshold on the DVA and we'd qualify for another $20 gift card back.

I've never purchased an annual pass before, so I'm fairly oblivious to the process, and am aware that you want to start the activation of the annual pass as late as possible to stretch it's effective use date as long as possible. I'm trying not to plan to come back to WDW next February/March, but if things line up that way, it'd be nice to have an annual pass that's still active.

SO... anyone who's familiar with the process, what's the best way for me to go about making this happen? Is it even possible? If I could get this squared before our trip, that'd be awesome, but I realize the only option might be doing it once we're there.

TIA!

Ticket upgrades must be made at the parks (ticket window or guest services). Unfortunately, you cannot use the DVA at the parks.

 

[msmama]

Also if you upgrade the AP, the expiration date is the day the ticket was first used NOT the day you upgrade. So doing it one day 1 of your trip vs day 3 of your trip has the same AP expiration.

 

[jmmess]

Agree with the others. AP is per first use of your ticket not when you upgrade.

What I'm not sure I'm following is the AP upgrade. What is the ticket price for the second trip - between that and buying MM twice, does it get close to the $500 difference?

 

[PerfessorZ]

Agree with the others. AP is per first use of your ticket not when you upgrade.

What I'm not sure I'm following is the AP upgrade. What is the ticket price for the second trip - between that and buying MM twice, does it get close to the $500 difference?

MM is $149 per trip. 2 trips = roughtly $300. Buying a 4 or 5 day ticket will run another $325 or so. So instead of paying $625ish, AP would only tack on a little over $500. Then there are some other potential perks - dining discount and maybe a room discount on that return visit. I'm not counting on those, just the potential for more savings exists.

 

[jmmess]

MM is $149 per trip. 2 trips = roughtly $300. Buying a 4 or 5 day ticket will run another $325 or so. So instead of paying $625ish, AP would only tack on a little over $500. Then there are some other potential perks - dining discount and maybe a room discount on that return visit. I'm not counting on those, just the potential for more savings exists.

Another option is a MM share.