AP help please

[brekken1]

My family will be going to WDW this November and will then be making 2-4 trips within the following year. I am looking into getting APs for us to save some money. I have no experience with the AP tickets and had a couple of questions. First, if we purchase the AP tickets now, will I be able to sign up as an AP holder for the Marathon weekend with rundisney this April, or will it not count because we haven't actually "activated" or used the tickets until we get there in November? Also, do you find the AP tickets the way to go for multiple trips, or is it cheaper to go with discounted package/room offers from Disney? Can discounted room offers still be utilized if you have APs? Thanks for any input!

 

[faneuil]

My family will be going to WDW this November and will then be making 2-4 trips within the following year. I am looking into getting APs for us to save some money. I have no experience with the AP tickets and had a couple of questions. First, if we purchase the AP tickets now, will I be able to sign up as an AP holder for the Marathon weekend with rundisney this April, or will it not count because we haven't actually "activated" or used the tickets until we get there in November? Also, do you find the AP tickets the way to go for multiple trips, or is it cheaper to go with discounted package/room offers from Disney? Can discounted room offers still be utilized if you have APs? Thanks for any input!

I believe the annual pass has to be activated first, so no to the marathon discount.

Yes, annual passes pay for themselves pretty quick. I think the average is 10 days in the parks. Annual passholders get special room discounts, and you can always use general public discounts if you like them better.

Then there's the other discounts like 10% of merchandise, and some recreation discounts. (50% off mini golf is my fave!)

 

[brekken1]

Thanks for the information!

 

[Tramp68]

I think you can buy the passes activated to get the discount, but then you shorten the time that you can use them if you are trying to sneak in 1 last trip before they expire.

 

[bumbershoot]

AP doesn't give you a discount for rundisney; it just lets you do early registration. But it does have to be active on your account. For you, just be ready to get that registration done the second it goes live. Set multiple alarms and don't let yourself get distracted. If you're doing it for more than one person, honestly, just have the other people do it on their own. You have to do each person completely separately anyway.


Discounts...if you ever see a Free Dining promo, you won't be able to participate unless you're willing to buy two-day tickets to hold onto for the future. But people quite often find that the Free Dining isn't as good as having the AP and a room-only discount.

 

[brekken1]

Thanks for the input. Helps with planning!

 

[dvczerfs]

My family will be going to WDW this November and will then be making 2-4 trips within the following year. I am looking into getting APs for us to save some money. I have no experience with the AP tickets and had a couple of questions. First, if we purchase the AP tickets now, will I be able to sign up as an AP holder for the Marathon weekend with rundisney this April, or will it not count because we haven't actually "activated" or used the tickets until we get there in November? Also, do you find the AP tickets the way to go for multiple trips, or is it cheaper to go with discounted package/room offers from Disney? Can discounted room offers still be utilized if you have APs? Thanks for any input!

hi brekken, when you first buy,pay for your aps, they will send you a voucher. they are not a "ticket" until you activate them. you can buy as many vouchers as you want at one time and activate them years later.
what we did was go to dtd to guest relations and they will activate them into your ticket. from that day, your pass is good for one year. so you can buy your voucher today, when you go in November, say November 22nd, your ticket will be good from November 22,2014 to November 22,2015.

if you renew your ap like we have for almost twelve years, novemebr 22 is your date from year to year. a renewal is cheaper then when you first jump in.

also, if you are a dvc member, there is a $100 per ap discount and your remewal will be cheaper. dvc members get one of the best dvc ap discounts.

 

[dvczerfs]

hi brekken, when you first buy,pay for your aps, they will send you a voucher. they are not a "ticket" until you activate them. you can buy as many vouchers as you want at one time and activate them years later.
what we did was go to dtd to guest relations and they will activate them into your ticket. from that day, your pass is good for one year. so you can buy your voucher today, when you go in November, say November 22nd, your ticket will be good from November 22,2014 to November 22,2015.

if you renew your ap like we have for almost twelve years, novemebr 22 is your date from year to year. a renewal is cheaper then when you first jump in.

also, if you are a dvc member, there is a $100 per ap discount and your remewal will be cheaper. dvc members get one of the best dvc ap discounts.

so, November 22nd 2015 rolls around, you will get notice your ap is running out. you pay your renewal say on nov 20th, you don't go down till feb 2016, your ap will have a nov. 22, 2016 expiration date. even though you activated your renewal voucher feb. 2016.

they also require photo id and for dvc members, your dvc member card to activate and activate your renewal.


oh.............. this is all as of june 2013. lol things change anymore so fast, who knows!! lol