AP HELP!! Need to Decide by NEXT WEEK!

[kristenrice]

I am a DVC member and my current AP expires on October 21, 2015. We are planning a trip for October 15-22, 2016 (not going to be in the park on the 22nd) so I am considering renewing my AP.

If I do NOT renew, I will be getting a 6-day park hopper which is currently priced at $414.29 (tax included) and I will be using discounted gift cards towards the cost. This nets a better discount than going through Undercover Tourist.

Since we are going as a family of 10, we will be getting the MemoryMaker. Here's my question...The new AP's include MemoryMaker in the price, BUT DO WE ALL NEED IT? Or will it still work if only one of us (me) has the MM and we have all of our MDE accounts linked? The rest of my family (of 4) will be getting regular park hoppers since we have no more family trips planned until 2018 or beyond.

I ask, because as of right now, the cost to renew my AP to the Gold AP is exactly $170 more than the cost of just the 6-day park hopper. Actually, that is the cost to buy a new Gold AP outright...I have to call and find out if I can get a renewal discount because the website only shows that I can renew for the higher level AP's.

I guess I am trying to figure out if renewing my AP (to include the MM) is a good idea to insure against price increases of the park hoppers and the memory maker package. WWYD??

 

[cvjw]

You can renew to any pass you want, so you can renew to the gold if that is what you choose.

My sister is in the parks right now and she upgraded her regular DVC annual pass to the gold annual pass to take advantage of the free memory maker.

When I log in and look at her photopass pictures in her account, there are pictures of her whole group on rides - in different ride vehicles. Obviously she is not scanning her magic band for every picture. I would think it would work just like the previous memory maker - all pictures will show up if all magic bands are linked in MDE.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

There are several threads on the theme park boards on this. I was told by CM's that you will be able to see everyone linked on your MDE acct just like before but you will only be able to download for free photos that your MB(tied to AP w/ PP) was scanned for.

Lots of dif views and info. Most of us aer waiting to see to see what Actually happens when people try it.

 

[itutorfortravel]

We are DVC members also, and we let our passes lapse and then later renewed. We went to WDW this summer for a girls' trip and purchased 5 day non PH because my DD took a friend and it was too expensive to ask the friend to get the PH version of the ticket. After waiting until the very last day of our trip, I decided to upgrade DD and myself to AP (previously had PAP but didn't use the "extras" enough to justify the cost). Even if we just go one more time within the year (which we will!), I will save money. In some ways I wish I had upgraded my previous annual pass, but then again I'm glad I let it lapse for a couple months because our current passes will extend the life of the pass through almost the entire summer next year which I can see working better for us.

Btw, WHEN did they come out with the gold AP's? And how much are they?! I did not know about this over the summer and depending on cost, I would have jumped on that! We love memory maker! I wonder if I can upgrade just my pass to that, as I will always be the one person in my family who goes on every trip

 

[disfanforlife]

We are DVC members also, and we let our passes lapse and then later renewed. We went to WDW this summer for a girls' trip and purchased 5 day non PH because my DD took a friend and it was too expensive to ask the friend to get the PH version of the ticket. After waiting until the very last day of our trip, I decided to upgrade DD and myself to AP (previously had PAP but didn't use the "extras" enough to justify the cost). Even if we just go one more time within the year (which we will!), I will save money. In some ways I wish I had upgraded my previous annual pass, but then again I'm glad I let it lapse for a couple months because our current passes will extend the life of the pass through almost the entire summer next year which I can see working better for us.

Btw, WHEN did they come out with the gold AP's? And how much are they?! I did not know about this over the summer and depending on cost, I would have jumped on that! We love memory maker! I wonder if I can upgrade just my pass to that, as I will always be the one person in my family who goes on every trip

It was just announced last weekend. They have different tiered AP's now. The gold is only available for Florida residents and DVC members. A new AP Gold is $549.

 

[msmama]

Seems to me that really, no one knows yet about the MM downloads because no one has tried yet. What I understood, different from above poster that only the AP holder can download the photos but all bands connected in MDE can scan for pics.

That said, assuming it works (which I think we just need more time to see) it's going to be worth you mewing the AP because it's the same price as MM, and then you'd get discounts, too.

 

[cvjw]

I just went into my sister's photopass account, selected a picture of my family from our Sept trip, and downloaded it.

We did not have memory maker in September.

Only my sister upgraded her AP to the gold AP.

My photos are showing up in her MDE account because we are linked.

I think the AP photopass is going to work like the regular photopass - unless Disney changes it in the future.

Edited to add - not only did I download the picture from her account, I just attached it to a I-message and sent to family.