annual passes

[Derek&Ashley]

How do you get the dvc discount on annual passes? Do you just buy them at the park and show your membership card or do you have to order them?

 

[antnyh]

Yes, you can simply buy them at any guest relations location. A little bit of advice. Buy normal park tickets at an online resale place...PM me and I'll send you the link. They are cheaper there. Use them at least once before you trade them in. Present your DVC card along with photo ID and reap the savings!!

 

[hauntedcity]

Yes, you can simply buy them at any guest relations location. A little bit of advice. Buy normal park tickets at an online resale place...PM me and I'll send you the link. They are cheaper there. Use them at least once before you trade them in. Present your DVC card along with photo ID and reap the savings!!

Can you explain how this works? How much savings are you talking about? I already know some places to get great prices on tickets (Undercover Tourist, for one), but I'm curious about how that helps with a DVC discount for an AP.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[erionm]

Can you explain how this works? How much savings are you talking about? I already know some places to get great prices on tickets (Undercover Tourist, for one), but I'm curious about how that helps with a DVC discount for an AP.

Thanks,
Doug

If you purchase MYW Tickets from an authorized seller, those tickets are generally cheaper than direct from Disney. By using the ticket once, the value is bumped up to gate prices. When you apply that used MYW ticket towards the purchase of an AP, they credit you the current gate price thus you get an additional savings based on the purchase price of the MYW ticket. All ticket upgrades must be done within 14 days of first use. This applies even if the no expire option was purchased.

 

[Dacky619]

http://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/attractions/tickets.html

Undercover tourist is one of the most popular authorized ticket sellers. You can click on the link above, or even better, sign up for the newsletter at www.mousesavers.com and they usually have a link in there with extra savings.

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

Yes, you can simply buy them at any guest relations location. A little bit of advice. Buy normal park tickets at an online resale place...PM me and I'll send you the link. They are cheaper there. Use them at least once before you trade them in. Present your DVC card along with photo ID and reap the savings!!

is the savings substantial or a few dollars? We have always bought our 10 day passes through UT, but when we get AP (as we are this trip) have gone through Disney. Although I LOVE saving $$$$$$$$$$$

 

[antnyh]

It isn't substantial and yes it is undercover tourist, I didn't think we could post a direct link or I would have. We saved $15/ticket. There were four of us so $60 total. To me that is a lot considering the price of the AP's. So if you've ordered from them before you know the drill. Just be sure to use the tickets once before upgrading to the AP. This locks in the gate price on the ticket.

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

It isn't substantial and yes it is undercover tourist, I didn't think we could post a direct link or I would have. We saved $15/ticket. There were four of us so $60 total. To me that is a lot considering the price of the AP's. So if you've ordered from them before you know the drill. Just be sure to use the tickets once before upgrading to the AP. This locks in the gate price on the ticket.

Thank you.......$60, is worth it

 

[Metsoskil]

When using this "loophole", look on UT's site and find the tickets that give you the greatest savings per ticket but be sure that the value of the ticket you are buying is less than the value of your DVC AP.

When figuring this out, DON'T USE UNDERCOVER TOURIST'S prices. Figure out the gate price of the ticket you are buying and make sure that number is less than the price of a DVC AP.

We recently did this using discount tickets from our local AAA. I think our best savings were with 6 day NE WP&M tix. You've got to do the math to figure which tix are best w/ UT.

 

[DenLo]

A recent change is that you can buy annual passes at your Disney resort, or at a park or DTD. If you wish to purchase a Tables in Wonderland card, that still must be purchased at guest relations at DTD or a park.

Also Cheshire Figment, a CM has a thread explaining everything and anything about ticketing at WDW. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1452684

 

[hauntedcity]

Okay, just so I understand this, let me play with some numbers...

• An annual pass with DVC discount is about 425.00.
• Using example numbers, let's say I buy a discounted ticket for $300, which is $25 off the Disney price of $325.
• Once I use that ticket, the "base value" of the ticket goes to 325.
• Then, the next day, I can go to Guest Services, trade in my ticket with 1 day used, pay only $100, and upgrade to an annual pass using my DVC discount.

Thus, I paid only $400 for a $425 AP. And this works as long as the undiscounted price of a ticket is less than $425.

Am I seeing this correctly?

 

[Metsoskil]

Okay, just so I understand this, let me play with some numbers...

• An annual pass with DVC discount is about 425.00.
• Using example numbers, let's say I buy a discounted ticket for $300, which is $25 off the Disney price of $325.
• Once I use that ticket, the "base value" of the ticket goes to 325.
• Then, the next day, I can go to Guest Services, trade in my ticket with 1 day used, pay only $100, and upgrade to an annual pass using my DVC discount.

Thus, I paid only $400 for a $425 AP. And this works as long as the undiscounted price of a ticket is less than $425.

Am I seeing this correctly?

Basically, yes. If the undiscounted price of the ticket is more than $425 it would still work, but you would likely not get money back, thus it would eat into your savings. Some have reported getting a little extra magic from a CM and getting a refund in those situations, but it should not be expected.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Yes, you can simply buy them at any guest relations location. A little bit of advice. Buy normal park tickets at an online resale place...PM me and I'll send you the link. They are cheaper there. Use them at least once before you trade them in. Present your DVC card along with photo ID and reap the savings!!

Well... be prepared for a LONG adventure.

I did this. The first time they tried to figure it out they charged me the difference between the "discount vendor's cost" and the AP which meant I was paying MORE then the cost of an AP would have been. Yes I had used it once, they didn't bring it to gate. I actually wound up paying the exact same amount as if I had just paid for the AP, they only agreed to bring me up to what I paid Undercover (They knew what that was)

Rumor is that this "loophole" will be closed anyway.

 

[Caren90]

Does it makes sense to purchase the tickets before August? I thought I read somewhere that ticket prices go up in August. We will be at Disney in October.

 

[bumbershoot]

OCC, your experience was NOT normal.

For us it took about 5 minutes and was done perfectly.

There was a recent thread where two managers told the dis'er that it couldn't be done, and UCT got involved, took a week or so to really delve into this with WDW, and fond out that it's not a loophole, it's a thing that they mean to happen, they have written protocols and procedures that are STILL in place.



OP, in December we had 7 day base tickets (b/c it's what we could afford at that moment in time when we bought them) for the 3 of us from UCT (actually from the mousesavers.com e-newsletter link to UCT, which gives you an extra buck or two off...e-newsletter comes out on the 15th of each month so sign up for the e-newsletter now!), and we upgraded to the DVC AP.

Our savings, over paying outright for the DVC APs, was $90.

 

[Metsoskil]

Does it makes sense to purchase the tickets before August? I thought I read somewhere that ticket prices go up in August. We will be at Disney in October.

Yes. Tickets usually increase the first week of August. Buy now (or at least before then).

 

[mybabesuz]

I'll be doing this in 3 weeks.
We bought 6 day hopper passes from UCT.
I'll report back on how it goes...

 

[Brandis]

My current DVC AP is expiring in a few weeks. However, our next trip will be in Sept. So it's probably not worth renewing, as I would lose about 4 months.

This made me think about Upgrading as well. The best upgradable ticket seems to be the 8 day Hopper & Waterpark ticket, which costs $383.40 at Disney and $354.95 at UT. Saving $28.45 and then only $41.54 would be needed to pay for the DVC AP.

We'll arrive at the resort at around 6:30 PM, so I would first go to Epcot, quickly enter the park, exit and then buy the upgrade and the TiW card which I will need for dinner that evening.

Would this work?

 

[Metsoskil]

We'll arrive at the resort at around 6:30 PM, so I would first go to Epcot, quickly enter the park, exit and then buy the upgrade and the TiW card which I will need for dinner that evening.

Would this work?

That's exactly what we did on our last trip. Literally walked in the International Gateway entrance, turned around, walked out, upgraded tix at IG Guest Services, bought the TIW card, and went to dinner at Kouzzina.

We weren't in Epcot for more than 45 seconds.

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

Ok...let's see if I have this down.

AP Non-DVC: $499 + $32.44 = $531.44 buying direct from Disney
AP DVC: $399 + $25.94 = $424.94
10day PH+Water from UCT: $375+$0 (taxes included)
10day PH+Water from Disney: $370+$24.05 = $394.05

So...I pay $375 to UCT and get $394.05 credit from Disney (once I use once) to get DVC AP for $424.94?

Difference between $394.05 and $424.94 is $30.89. So I add the $30.89 to the $375 I paid UCT for a total of $405.89. So I save $19.05 ($424.94-$405.89) per adult DVC AP?

Is this correct?