AP, best place to buy and...

[lenshanem]

Some AP questions -

Best place (quickest and easiest) to buy APs would just be at the gate? Would there be a place to buy them at MK's gate and not at the TTC then? How long does it take?

Other places to buy would be Disney Store?
And what about at your resort?
If I buy at these places I would get a voucher and still have to go to the gate anyway to activate? Seems like that might be a waste of time?
The vouchers start date is when it is activated, not when bought, correct? So if we have extra money to buy it months before our trip we can just get the vouchers at the Disney Store and activate them at the gate once on our trip? The ending date would then be the day a year after we go to the park gate?

What is involved? Do they take your picture or is it just a finger scan?

Can I use my Disney Visa reward dollars on these? Anyone have any problems doing so?

And last...
If we want to renew them it has to start on that next day after it ends? There is no time you can wait in between?

Thanks for any help!
Shan

 

[patsal]

Buy your AP's at the first park you will be going to . Personally I have found the best place in terms of speed is the International Gateway at Epcot, but MK first thing in the AM really only took about 25 minutes for a family of four.
You will need to show your lisence or another form of photo ID when activating your AP. Your finger scan will be done when you enter the first park with it. No photo on the AP, if you lose it go to guest services with your photo ID and they will create a new one for you and deactivate the old one.
You could also purchase at the Disney store if you have the money ahead of time. Also when DS had the triple point reward with purchases over $100 you will get the bonus if you use the Disney Visa. The visa rewards can be used to purchase your ticket/take some $ off the price of your ticket. Vouchers are not active until you take them to guest services at one of the parks. They are valid for one full year form the date of activation including the date making them actually good for 366 days during a regular year and 367 days during a leap year!
There is no "grace period " any longer for renewal. Although you may pay for the renewal for up to 30 days past the expiration date, the new pass will be dated with the orignal date of purchase. Unless you will be using it immediately, you may find it less expensive in the long run to purchase your next AP prior to your next "set" of vacations
When planning we usually set up a preliminary date for our next years vacation to be sure we will get the value form them. SO, we are going from July 16-31st this year, hope to go at Halloween or Christmas depending upon the school calander and will go on next summer's vacation from July 1-16th. We will then wait until 2006 to purchase new AP's since we will not be using them again until mid July or August of 2006.
Hope this helped!
Sally

 

[DebbieB]

I've always bought or activated ours at the first park we planned to go. I've done it at AK, Epcot International Gateway, Magic Kingdom main entrance. My Mom activated a voucher at Downtown Disney one time, that was pretty quick. International Gateway is usually no line. The time I activated a voucher at MK, their printer broke down and we had a long wait (15-20 min). The cm made up for it by giving us 3 fastpasses each, good for any ride at any time that night! It was great because it was a Saturday night, we had only planned to go for Spectromagic because lines would be long, it got us onto 3 rides quick! I think we did HM, PP & Buzz.

 

[lenshanem]

Thanks. Do you happen to know if they will activate vouchers at the resorts or can you buy them there and activate them?

 

[Deb & Bill]

We usually purchase ours on line and turn the voucher in at the International Gateway. Even on NYE at about 3PM, it only took us about 10 minutes to get all three vouchers converted.

 

[lenshanem]

Did they chage you a shipping fee from buying them online to send you the vouchers?

And I'm correct that there is no longer any discounts to be had on Aps now that Disney club is out?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by lenshanem
Thanks. Do you happen to know if they will activate vouchers at the resorts or can you buy them there and activate them?

You can only activate the vouchers at the parks. You cannot purchase APs at the resorts.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by lenshanem
Did they chage you a shipping fee from buying them online to send you the vouchers?

And I'm correct that there is no longer any discounts to be had on Aps now that Disney club is out?

Yes, there is a shipping fee if they send you the vouchers, I believe it is 3.00 per order. It is, however, free if you opt for will call. Information for that can be found on their website.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by lenshanem
Thanks. Do you happen to know if they will activate vouchers at the resorts or can you buy them there and activate them?

You can only activate the vouchers at the parks. You cannot purchase APs at the resorts.

 

[WEDway2002]

Hi ...

Last year I purchased APs at a Guest Services kiosk at the Village Marketplace (not far from World of Disney). They were open late (I believe until 10 pm) and I had no wait. If I remember correctly, they were activated then as well and the next morning we walked right in to the parks.

I have also recently taken to not renewing the pass ahead of time, unless it works out for a trip the next year at the exact same time. No loss of days that way and as a prior poster said, you can then coordinate several trips on a pass. More bang for your buck!

Good luck and have a great time!

Dave

 

[harleyquinn]

What if you're staying at a resort and you need the AP for the Ap rate? Will a voucher suffice?

What do you all do?

 

[hannahryan]

I purchased my AP's from Disney over the phone. I received a confirmation # which I was told I could use upon check-in to get my resort discount. They didn't ask me for the # when I checked in (maybe it was in their computer). The next morning, we went to the MK guest relations building right outside the entrance to the park. I gave them the confirmation # and our drivers licenses and had the passes in 5 minutes. Easy as pie!

 

[harleyquinn]

cool! I assume the vouchers would be good enough then.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by harleyquinn
What if you're staying at a resort and you need the AP for the Ap rate? Will a voucher suffice?

What do you all do?

Vouchers will be fine. The probably won't even ask.

 

[snyderla]

And I'm correct that there is no longer any discounts to be had on Aps now that Disney club is out?

We bought ours at our local Disney Store before we left and received a discount there for purchasing ahead.

Also, we always exchange our vouchers at the disney Information Center in Ocala on our way down. Last year, July 2003, I called and asked if we could still do that and was told "No", could no longer do that there. Well, when we arrived on October 11th, we stopped by there and asked at the desk if we could exchange our vouchers for Annual Passes and was told "of course you can". HMMMMM.

Just one more option if you drive down on I-75.

Lori

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by snyderla
We bought ours at our local Disney Store before we left and received a discount there for purchasing ahead.

Also, we always exchange our vouchers at the disney Information Center in Ocala on our way down. Last year, July 2003, I called and asked if we could still do that and was told "No", could no longer do that there. Well, when we arrived on October 11th, we stopped by there and asked at the desk if we could exchange our vouchers for Annual Passes and was told "of course you can". HMMMMM.

Just one more option if you drive down on I-75.

Lori

There is no discount for prepurchase on AP's. They are the same at the gate, online, or at the DS. The only discount for AP's was the DC.

 

[lenshanem]

So if you order online or by phone they just give you a confirmation number to taek with you? So no shipping fees for the voucher?

I wonder if I can use my dsiney rewards with either of thsoe options?

Is there any advantage to doing this or buying at the DS before the trip? Seems liek it wodul just take more time.
Course, if we have the money we might as well do it....

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by lenshanem
So if you order online or by phone they just give you a confirmation number to taek with you? So no shipping fees for the voucher?

I wonder if I can use my dsiney rewards with either of thsoe options?

Is there any advantage to doing this or buying at the DS before the trip? Seems liek it wodul just take more time.
Course, if we have the money we might as well do it....

If you order via the internet or phone you will get a voucher/confirmation number, no charge, no shipping for "will call".

I cannot answer about the Disney Rewards.

For me, the advantage was to have it done, to not rely on snail mail and hedge against a possible price increase. I think it will take the same amount of time as turning in a voucher. Regardless of how you buy them, you are going to be in a line.