AP issue- no help from Disney

[FRANKTSJR]

We currently have Gold APs that expire 1/16/20 and we are going to WDW Christmas week which is blacked out. We are wanting to make FP+ at 30 days.
I was on the phone with DVC and ticketing yesterday for over an hour. I cannot upgrade our Gold passes over the phone or online. They tell me I can renew and upgrade to Platinum but that pass would start the first day we enter a Park so basically they are telling me the only way to make FPs is to have two APs that overlap for almost a month. Tickets are expensive enough without having to pay for two over the same period of time just to be able to make FPs. Any ideas?

 

[Best Aunt]

I'm confused.

Forget about Fastpasses for a minute.

You are going Christmas week. You have gold APs but they are blacked out that week so you cannot use them. What are you going to use for park admission when you are there?

 

[FRANKTSJR]

I'm confused.

Forget about Fastpasses for a minute.

You are going Christmas week. You have gold APs but they are blacked out that week so you cannot use them. What are you going to use for park admission when you are there?

We will upgrade to Platinum but we can only do that at Guest Relations when entering a park.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I have news for you. If you upgrade, it isn't a renewal. It's an upgrade of current year, and the Platinum will expire 1/16/20. You would pay the entire year for the Platinum, starting 1/16/19 (so, the year that has passed).

 

[WilsonFlyer]

As far as I can remember, upgrading an annual pass has always been a "must be present to win" thing and has never been able to be done over the phone. I have been in your situation before and argued until I was blue in the face. While the "policy" seems asinine to me, it is, nonetheless; what it is. What has happened to you is one of those unintended (I choose to believe this.) anomalies of AP upgrades, yet I was never able to find a way around it. (Obtaining FPs for a future trip without a present entitlement.)

You're just going to have to go with the flow and let the chips fall as they may. Been there. Done that. If it's any consolation, all of the "good" FPs for Christmas week are long gone anyway, and would have been at 30 days anyway. 60 day windows ate those guys up within seconds, literally. I know it doesn't help, but maybe it does help to know it's the truth.

Christmas in the parks is for the experience. In all sincerity, if you're going primarily to ride attractions, you really need to re-evaluate and reset your expectations anyway.

As for the question about "How are you going to get in?" above, they are going to park and go immediately to a ticketing window. They'll upgrade the tickets and have immediate access to turnstile entry so that's not an issue. Trying to get a refund for parking for that entrance isn't worth the hassle in my experience.

Make sure you take your DVC card, state or federally issued ID, and it would help if you have the card the original CC that the tickets were issued on if you still have it. All of this expedites the process. Any other adult upgrading will need a valid ID and has to be there to ACTIVATE their ticket. Trust me, it's just a lot easier if everybody you're upgrading is there at the same time. Been there. Done that too.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I have news for you. If you upgrade, it isn't a renewal. It's an upgrade of current year, and the Platinum will expire 1/16/20. You would pay the entire year for the Platinum, starting 1/16/19 (so, the year that has passed).

That is correct as well and a very good point that confuses some. In the present year, you must pay for the period used which is still within the window for the present ticket entitlement, and as you said, it is not pro-rated. It is essentially as if the gold ticket never existed other than the base money used against the new entitlement. THEN, you pay to renew the new pass for the additional year on top of that (If you choose to.).

Interestingly, this is why the whole process is so convoluted and why it's confusing. You are doing two separate procedures. You are upgrading an entitlement (for this trip) AND afterwards, renewing that entitlement for the following year. Two totally separate processes.

Just to add to the confusion, you could upgrade in person and then go back to the room and do the renewal. It's not the renewal that's the issue here, it's the UPGRADE for the present year.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

That is correct as well and a very good point that confuses some. In the present year, you must pay for the period used which is still within the window for the present ticket entitlement, and as you said, it is not pro-rated. It is essentially as if the gold ticket never existed other than the base money used against the new entitlement. THEN, you pay to renew the new pass for the additional year on top of that (If you choose to.).

Interestingly, this is why the whole process is so convoluted and why it's confusing. You are doing two separate procedures. You are upgrading an entitlement (for this trip) AND afterwards, renewing that entitlement for the following year. Two totally separate processes.

Just to add to the confusion, you could upgrade in person and then go back to the room and do the renewal. It's not the renewal that's the issue here, it's the UPGRADE for the present year.

Yes, it's crazy isn't it.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

I have news for you. If you upgrade, it isn't a renewal. It's an upgrade of current year, and the Platinum will expire 1/16/20. You would pay the entire year for the Platinum, starting 1/16/19 (so, the year that has passed).

Yes, I understand that but I could upgrade on the cheap. The upgraded pass would expire 1/16/20 which is fine with me. I would then buy another Gold pass for my next trip which is planned to Oct. 2020

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Yes, I understand that but I could upgrade on the cheap. The upgraded pass would expire 1/16/20 which is fine with me. I would then buy another Gold pass for my next trip which is planned to Oct. 2020

And if I wasn't going again until Oct, that's exactly what I would do.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

As far as I can remember, upgrading an annual pass has always been a "must be present to win" thing and has never been able to be done over the phone. I have been in your situation before and argued until I was blue in the face. While the "policy" seems asinine to me, it is, nonetheless; what it is. What has happened to you is one of those unintended (I choose to believe this.) anomalies of AP upgrades, yet I was never able to find a way around it. (Obtaining FPs for a future trip without a present entitlement.)

You're just going to have to go with the flow and let the chips fall as they may. Been there. Done that. If it's any consolation, all of the "good" FPs for Christmas week are long gone anyway, and would have been at 30 days anyway. 60 day windows ate those guys up within seconds, literally. I know it doesn't help, but maybe it does help to know it's the truth.

Christmas in the parks is for the experience. In all sincerity, if you're going primarily to ride attractions, you really need to re-evaluate and reset your expectations anyway.

As for the question about "How are you going to get in?" above, they are going to park and go immediately to a ticketing window. They'll upgrade the tickets and have immediate access to turnstile entry so that's not an issue. Trying to get a refund for parking for that entrance isn't worth the hassle in my experience.

Make sure you take your DVC card, state or federally issued ID, and it would help if you have the card the original CC that the tickets were issued on if you still have it. All of this expedites the process. Any other adult upgrading will need a valid ID and has to be there to ACTIVATE their ticket. Trust me, it's just a lot easier if everybody you're upgrading is there at the same time. Been there. Done that too.

If Disney insists on the "must be present to win" thing, maybe they could allow the option to check a box that says "intend to upgrade" on arrival which would open the FP+ window during the blackout dates. If we don't upgrade on arrival we couldn't get into a park anyway.

 

[quandrea]

I’d call again. You are supposed to be able to upgrade from gold to platinum over the phone. It’s a recent development—past three months or so, but it can be done.

You could also post your question on the sticky about tickets at the top of the theme parks forum. The people over there are extremely knowledgeable and will have suggestions.

 

[Chuck S]

Can you buy a base, 1 park per day ticket for your stay, that could be used for FPs...then turn in that unused ticket toward the price of your AP upgrade once you arrive? Or would that be more expensive than your upgrade?

 

[FRANKTSJR]

Can you buy a base, 1 park per day ticket for your stay, that could be used for FPs...then turn in that unused ticket toward the price of your AP upgrade once you arrive? Or would that be more expensive than your upgrade?

That's worth a try

 

[FRANKTSJR]

I’d call again. You are supposed to be able to upgrade from gold to platinum over the phone. It’s a recent development—past three months or so, but it can be done.

You could also post your question on the sticky about tickets at the top of the theme parks forum. The people over there are extremely knowledgeable and will have suggestions.

Thanks, will call again.

 

[Sandisw]

Can you buy a base, 1 park per day ticket for your stay, that could be used for FPs...then turn in that unused ticket toward the price of your AP upgrade once you arrive? Or would that be more expensive than your upgrade?

I dont Think those tickets can be used to upgrade a current pass. However, the value would be eligible for use to the gold Ap that is purchased come October 2020. It won’t go to waste.

But, it could mean more money now .

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks, will call again.

Maybe not use the word renewal or upgrade.l Just ask if you can change The current pass to a platinum by paying the difference and thst you realize it will still expire in January

 

[CarolMN]

What if you just forget you have a GOLD pass and let it expire on 1/16/2020. Buy a discounted ticket from an authorized seller) that covers the days you want to visit during your Christmas vacation. Make your FP+ reservations with that ticket as soon as it's linked to your MDE account. Then use that ticket to enter a park and before the last day of that ticket, go to Guest Relations and upgrade that ticket to a Platinum pass whose year begins on the first day the daily ticket was used.

You'd lose that last 2 weeks or so of your GOLD pass, but in the long run, I think it would be a lot less expensive to buy base or hopper tickets and upgrade those to the Platinum after you arrive than to upgrade a pass for less than a month of use. You really don't want to pay to upgrade a pass that will expire on 1/16/2020, anyway.

The easiest alternative would be to just buy a new Platinum pass (not a renewal) and use that to make your FP+ reservations.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

What if you just forget you have a GOLD pass and let it expire on 1/16/2020. Buy a discounted ticket from an authorized seller) that covers the days you want to visit during your Christmas vacation. Make your FP+ reservations with that ticket as soon as it's linked to your MDE account. Then use that ticket to enter a park and before the last day of that ticket, go to Guest Relations and upgrade that ticket to a Platinum pass whose year begins on the first day the daily ticket was used.

You'd lose that last 2 weeks or so of your GOLD pass, but in the long run, I think it would be a lot less expensive to buy base or hopper tickets and upgrade those to the Platinum after you arrive than to upgrade a pass for less than a month of use. You really don't want to pay to upgrade a pass that will expire on 1/16/2020, anyway.

The easiest alternative would be to just buy a new Platinum pass (not a renewal) and use that to make your FP+ reservations.

Thanks, but this wouldn't work for me since next trip is not until Oct. 2020 so the pass would be pretty much wasted.

 

[DisneyDar]

What if you just forget you have a GOLD pass and let it expire on 1/16/2020. Buy a discounted ticket from an authorized seller) that covers the days you want to visit during your Christmas vacation. Make your FP+ reservations with that ticket as soon as it's linked to your MDE account. Then use that ticket to enter a park and before the last day of that ticket, go to Guest Relations and upgrade that ticket to a Platinum pass whose year begins on the first day the daily ticket was used.

You'd lose that last 2 weeks or so of your GOLD pass, but in the long run, I think it would be a lot less expensive to buy base or hopper tickets and upgrade those to the Platinum after you arrive than to upgrade a pass for less than a month of use. You really don't want to pay to upgrade a pass that will expire on 1/16/2020, anyway.

The easiest alternative would be to just buy a new Platinum pass (not a renewal) and use that to make your FP+ reservations.

If he did this, he would lose the renewal discount that he would normally have, if not renewing the expired
gold pass.

 

[Sandisw]

If he did this, he would lose the renewal discount that he would normally have, if not renewing the expired
gold pass.

OP doesn’t want to renew because he only wants his current pass to get him through this next trip. He wants to then buy new Gold AP in October 2020.

The best way, if he can’t get them to upgrade on phone is to buy new tickets through someplace like UT, to use for the FPs.

Then, when he upgrades his AP at the park, make sure that the AP is prioritized to be used first,

This would save the tickets to be used to be applied for the Gold pass in October,

The draw back with this approach is that it requires a payment for tIckets now to be used later and also pay the upgrade fee.

Its the only option though if Disney won’t let the change from gold to platinum over the phone