Annual Passes Resume April 13 (DVC) April 20 (General Public)

[sdk1231]

You get the option every year. I’ve renewed mine with photopass once already and had to select it as an option to keep it.

That's correct. Select to renew each year $99. Tip - you only need to buy photopass for one AP holder in your family. You'll be able to see and dowload photopass photos (without watermark) for everyone in your Family & Friends list.

 

[kylenne]

That's correct. Select to renew each year $99. Tip - you only need to buy photopass for one AP holder in your family. You'll be able to see and dowload photopass photos (without watermark) for everyone in your Family & Friends list.

To add to this, you don’t need to purchase the add ons at the time of AP purchase either. The CM yesterday asked me and I said no for now, and he said I could add on at any time.

 

[sdk1231]

500 or so days with them not being on sale at all will do that. Many out of state APs let lapse during the closures and missed the last small window to purchase. I let mine lapse last year due to my work schedule making it impossible to freely take time off the way I used to. Now that that’s changed with my new role, and the potential for remote back on the table, I have the flexibility to go when I feel like it again. Direct flights are plentiful and dummy cheap from NYC to MCO, JetBlue had like 3 flash sales in the last couple of months alone and I frequently fly on points. As a JB CC holder I earn more than I can spend tbqh.

And tbh I spend on very little else for fun—a subscription to my favorite online game, my Alamo season pass, a Broadway show or Yankees or NYCFC game once in a blue moon. A lot of what I do locally is free or cheap (our local city ID card for residents gets us free memberships to a lot of museums). Travel is what I prioritize and this is my favorite place to go. We were already talking about a land/sea vacation next year and my partner had a 4 day ticket she’s been rolling over for a couple of years now, so getting the AP back for me made sense. Having it before allowed me to take smaller, solo weekend trips between the big 8-10 day ones with my partner (her pto is limited compared to mine). Trips that would otherwise not really be practical because of how comparatively expensive 3-4 day tickets are. My AP more than paid for itself in resort and dining/merch discounts (RIP Tables in Wonderland). Those little weekend trips are really not much in the scheme of my budget and are really, really fun. I’m already thinking about at least 2, it’s been several years since I’ve done the Halloween party I love so much, and I still haven’t been for FARTS or Festival of the Holidays.

If you don’t see the value in it, that’s perfectly fine, but plenty of people clearly still do, including myself. I don’t go with kids or a big family so the price increases have not hit us as hard. I miss the perks, of course, but I still enjoy going. If I don’t or can’t anymore, I’ll stop, and you won’t catch me complaining on message boards and blaming other guests for corporate policies I don’t like. I’ll just focus on my other hobbies lol.

Wholeheartedly agree. Everyone's situation is unique. I go 3-4 times per year with daughters, usually for 4 nights, and always at peak times including Spring Break, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years, when day ticket pricing is highest. I let my husband's AP lapse a couple of years ago. He prefers to join us only once per year. For myself and daughters, we more than make up for the cost of the AP, and that's not counting the value-add of resort, dining and merch discounts.

 

[2vets]

500 or so days with them not being on sale at all will do that. Many out of state APs let lapse during the closures and missed the last small window to purchase. I let mine lapse last year due to my work schedule making it impossible to freely take time off the way I used to. Now that that’s changed with my new role, and the potential for remote back on the table, I have the flexibility to go when I feel like it again. Direct flights are plentiful and dummy cheap from NYC to MCO, JetBlue had like 3 flash sales in the last couple of months alone and I frequently fly on points. As a JB CC holder I earn more than I can spend tbqh.

And tbh I spend on very little else for fun—a subscription to my favorite online game, my Alamo season pass, a Broadway show or Yankees or NYCFC game once in a blue moon. A lot of what I do locally is free or cheap (our local city ID card for residents gets us free memberships to a lot of museums). Travel is what I prioritize and this is my favorite place to go. We were already talking about a land/sea vacation next year and my partner had a 4 day ticket she’s been rolling over for a couple of years now, so getting the AP back for me made sense. Having it before allowed me to take smaller, solo weekend trips between the big 8-10 day ones with my partner (her pto is limited compared to mine). Trips that would otherwise not really be practical because of how comparatively expensive 3-4 day tickets are. My AP more than paid for itself in resort and dining/merch discounts (RIP Tables in Wonderland). Those little weekend trips are really not much in the scheme of my budget and are really, really fun. I’m already thinking about at least 2, it’s been several years since I’ve done the Halloween party I love so much, and I still haven’t been for FARTS or Festival of the Holidays.

If you don’t see the value in it, that’s perfectly fine, but plenty of people clearly still do, including myself. I don’t go with kids or a big family so the price increases have not hit us as hard. I miss the perks, of course, but I still enjoy going. If I don’t or can’t anymore, I’ll stop, and you won’t catch me complaining on message boards and blaming other guests for corporate policies I don’t like. I’ll just focus on my other hobbies lol.

All of this! Same situation, I do mostly short (2.5-4-day) trips, and even if I do 3 (or 2 and get some solid discounts), it makes up for the cost. I have a 3-day trip in 9 days, another 2.5 day in June, and 3.5 in early Dec. My PH pass for the upcoming trip had been $534! And I then saved $250 on my June hotel since the AP rate was less. All that said, same - with one or two people, it is much easier to justify. Everything is so $ now anyways! @kylenne happy we both got our passes yesterday!

Hope today goes smoothly!

 

[lovethattink]

Do they mail out your passes or do you have to show the certificate at the park?

Nothing gets mailed. It’s all electronic. You should get an email confirmation. But I suggest you get a hard card at Guest Services so you can use your discount at the registers and to pick up magnets. Though often they’ll accept looking at MDE for AP proof too.

 

[gottalovepluto]

VQ much shorter this morning. Running about 25 mins.

 

[Little E]

Nothing gets mailed. It’s all electronic. You should get an email confirmation. But I suggest you get a hard card at Guest Services so you can use your discount at the registers and to pick up magnets. Though often they’ll accept looking at MDE for AP proof too.

@lovethattink I'm going to piggyback on that question...I purchased my APs last week as a newbie DVC person. I called DVC MS and MS is who sold me the two APs over the phone. She gave me confirmation numbers, which I then linked in MDE to DH and me. I never received any email from WDW indicating that I purchased APs.

Our APs show up in MDE as part of each of our profiles, but I have nothing to show guest services when we go into the parks to activate in the fall. How do I go about having guest services activate the passes? Do they have me open my MDE?

Additionally, I used Disney gift cards to pay for the APs, so I don't have a form a payment to show guest relations, per se. I moved $$ from www.mydisneygiftcards.com from one card to another to pay for my APs in separate transactions. Any advice would be great!

 

[Kitty & Covs Covs]

500 or so days with them not being on sale at all will do that. Many out of state APs let lapse during the closures and missed the last small window to purchase. I let mine lapse last year due to my work schedule making it impossible to freely take time off the way I used to. Now that that’s changed with my new role, and the potential for remote back on the table, I have the flexibility to go when I feel like it again. Direct flights are plentiful and dummy cheap from NYC to MCO, JetBlue had like 3 flash sales in the last couple of months alone and I frequently fly on points. As a JB CC holder I earn more than I can spend tbqh.

And tbh I spend on very little else for fun—a subscription to my favorite online game, my Alamo season pass, a Broadway show or Yankees or NYCFC game once in a blue moon. A lot of what I do locally is free or cheap (our local city ID card for residents gets us free memberships to a lot of museums). Travel is what I prioritize and this is my favorite place to go. We were already talking about a land/sea vacation next year and my partner had a 4 day ticket she’s been rolling over for a couple of years now, so getting the AP back for me made sense. Having it before allowed me to take smaller, solo weekend trips between the big 8-10 day ones with my partner (her pto is limited compared to mine). Trips that would otherwise not really be practical because of how comparatively expensive 3-4 day tickets are. My AP more than paid for itself in resort and dining/merch discounts (RIP Tables in Wonderland). Those little weekend trips are really not much in the scheme of my budget and are really, really fun. I’m already thinking about at least 2, it’s been several years since I’ve done the Halloween party I love so much, and I still haven’t been for FARTS or Festival of the Holidays.

If you don’t see the value in it, that’s perfectly fine, but plenty of people clearly still do, including myself. I don’t go with kids or a big family so the price increases have not hit us as hard. I miss the perks, of course, but I still enjoy going. If I don’t or can’t anymore, I’ll stop, and you won’t catch me complaining on message boards and blaming other guests for corporate policies I don’t like. I’ll just focus on my other hobbies lol.

This is a great explanation of the value for many people. I wanted to buy in 2021, hesitated and missed my chance, and now was ready to purchase as soon as they opened back up. I had 500 days to decide!

We are about an 8 hour drive away, but we also have a direct low cost carrier for about $35-$40 each way to MCO. It’s nice we can meet friends who are going, plan a last minute weekend trip, go for a birthday or anniversary, and have the biggest cost already paid for. We also have family in Tampa, so can add on to our trips to visit them with the “quick” drive across to Orlando for a park day.

So—while we are out of state, we aren’t very far and will likely utilize them. I’m sure it will divert money from trips we would have taken elsewhere (or spent on other, more local things) so we’ll also see how it plays out for a year.

 

[Kitty & Covs Covs]

I couldn’t find an AP thread with tips, tricks, or tactics— I have a couple questions as a new passholder:

1) For ADRs: if I am staying on-site, does the system recognize my reservation and allow me to book for the entirety of my trip, starting 60 days out from the first day? Or because I no longer have a package with tickets it’s only 60 days out from the first day?

2) Do we receive emails with room discounts or other offers for APs? Or do we just keep checking the website? (I guess this is true of any news/updates, do we get specific communications?)

Thanks!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I couldn’t find an AP thread with tips, tricks, or tactics— I have a couple questions as a new passholder:

1) For ADRs: if I am staying on-site, does the system recognize my reservation and allow me to book for the entirety of my trip, starting 60 days out from the first day? Or because I no longer have a package with tickets it’s only 60 days out from the first day?

2) Do we receive emails with room discounts or other offers for APs? Or do we just keep checking the website? (I guess this is true of any news/updates, do we get specific communications?)

Thanks!

1. +stay. The system sees your ap as a ticket.

2. Maybe, it’s Disney IT. The app has passholder news but the best place is blogs and boards. When new ap hotel rates or ride previews or other stuff drops they break the news fast.

 

[Bibbobboo2u]

.

VQ much shorter this morning. Running about 25 mins.

Yes! After I chose call-back option yesterday and was dropped during the first call-back, I called again to start over. By this time it was early evening, I was preparing dinner, and DH and I were starting to work on books. I apparently did NOT learn my lesson about choosing call-back, but it was either that or just wait and try this morning because I couldn't hold on phone because I needed to make calls to our customers. I did get a call-back, and the prompt did ring through to someone this time, just not the right someone. The person answered "IT department". He laughed when I told him I was on a call-back for ticketing and said he would transfer me. He did, but after an hour, no one answered. By this time it was later (maybe close to 10pm), so I kept that call open and called ticketing directly (again) on another line. Someone did answer within about 10-15 minutes, and here is what he said: "I could absolutely transfer you to the right department to upgrade your tickets to APs, but unfortunately, we were just told that we cannot transfer anymore calls to them tonight." Anyway, I called at 7am this morning, and the person did a great job of stretching our time until 7:15. He said "let me check with my department", came back on and said that I would be first in line for transfer and would have no wait. The transfer worked, our unused tickets were applied to purchase, and APs are now in MDE. That was a lot of hoop-jumping!! I was on the fence about purchasing, but I really wanted 3 trips for the time we would use the APs, and that would put us at breakeven or better. Hope everyone trying today has better luck and shorter waits than yesterday!

 

[kylenne]

I couldn’t find an AP thread with tips, tricks, or tactics— I have a couple questions as a new passholder:

1) For ADRs: if I am staying on-site, does the system recognize my reservation and allow me to book for the entirety of my trip, starting 60 days out from the first day? Or because I no longer have a package with tickets it’s only 60 days out from the first day?

2) Do we receive emails with room discounts or other offers for APs? Or do we just keep checking the website? (I guess this is true of any news/updates, do we get specific communications?)

Thanks!

The only thing that matters for ADRs is your resort stay. Doesn’t matter how you booked it, room only or basic package (what they used to call ticketless packages). As long as the stay is linked you’ll be fine.

I always find out about AP news here way before emails get out. Emails are somewhat notorious for being inconsistent like everything with Disney IT. I never got one for galaxy’s edge previews but I did for Remy.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

VQ much shorter this morning. Running about 25 mins.

I would assume the majority of those that had to have a AP bought yesterday.

 

[Bibbobboo2u]

I remember that the last time we "lapsed" APs and had to get new cards, we did that at a park, but I was wondering if that can be done at DS. Thanks!

 

[rangerxenos]

That's correct. Select to renew each year $99. Tip - you only need to buy photopass for one AP holder in your family. You'll be able to see and dowload photopass photos (without watermark) for everyone in your Family & Friends list.

I'm pretty sure I got a discount with renewal of my AP for Memory Maker last year? Are they not doing that anymore?

(I still object to the fact that I have to pay extra for it now, but that's another discussion.)

 

[sdk1231]

I'm pretty sure I got a discount with renewal of my AP for Memory Maker last year? Are they not doing that anymore?

(I still object to the fact that I have to pay extra for it now, but that's another discussion.)

AP price is $99. I don't know what the normal price is.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

.

 

[mickmom728]

So excited to be Passholders! We were very lucky yesterday as we got in the queue when it opened and had our purchases done online by 720!

 

[Bibbobboo2u]

Yes, at Guest Relations.

Thank you!

 

[ajsamett]

@lovethattink I'm going to piggyback on that question...I purchased my APs last week as a newbie DVC person. I called DVC MS and MS is who sold me the two APs over the phone. She gave me confirmation numbers, which I then linked in MDE to DH and me. I never received any email from WDW indicating that I purchased APs.

Our APs show up in MDE as part of each of our profiles, but I have nothing to show guest services when we go into the parks to activate in the fall. How do I go about having guest services activate the passes? Do they have me open my MDE?

Additionally, I used Disney gift cards to pay for the APs, so I don't have a form a payment to show guest relations, per se. I moved $$ from www.mydisneygiftcards.com from one card to another to pay for my APs in separate transactions. Any advice would be great!

When i activated my AP all they needed was to scan my MB and see an ID! I also used gift cards

The mb didn't matter specifically, they just need some form of ticket media