AP prices increased [6/18/2019]

[Deadp00l]

I don't get it, why not just buy 5 or 10 now then? The price will keep going up. Or can they possibly charge you the difference?

I bought two vouchers earlier in January and I bought two more just last week before I left WDW. Now I have four. I wish I knew about the Ticket at Work / Sam's Club before so I wouldn't spend my valuable discounted Disney gift cards on the vouchers. Now the question is, should I buy more?

If anyone's credit card transaction with Sam's Club Travel & Entertainment is posted already (which I highly doubt), could you tell me what it is coded as? Here's hoping it'll be Travel so that I can get cashback ha.

 

[Rick195275]

I'm going to go ahead and buy an AP from Sams. Do I have to do something special? I saw where someone didn't get theirs via email?

That was me and I guess they just word it oddly. It says will call purchase but when I finally received the email I was able to link the tix. I guess they mean will call as in you need to activate at Disney still?

 

[OSUZorba]

Yes, same price. I received an email confirmation with a ticket voucher number (attached PDF), went into MDE link tickets. These are vouchers that have to be activated at WDW before entering the park and will not expire until a year after they are activated (or 2030).

Thanks, just ordered 3. Saved me over $800.

 

[SWBCMusic]

I don't get it, why not just buy 5 or 10 now then? The price will keep going up. Or can they possibly charge you the difference?

You will continue to keep the savings. Just quite a bit out of pocket for some. But might be good investment if you have the capital!

 

[sethschroeder]

That would be crowd control if crowds decreased as a result. This way is just shifting some folks, but regardless, you aren't going to see anything negligible to say "wow, higher prices are working"

So you don't think there will be anyone not taking extra trips or trips at all because of the pricing change? Every single person will still take the same number of trips as there was no price increase?

Sorry but there is no way at least a small group of people won't stop their APs and either limit their trips or completely skip trips they would have went on.

That is crowd control. The fact that crowds increase because of completely new people has nothing to do with this possibly targeting crowd control.

As an example let's make this simple math. If you start with 100 people who visit annually and each year 5 of them stop coming that is 95 after year 1 and 90 after year 2. Over the same time 10 new people decide to come because of Star wars or 50th. The net total goes up but is still reduced by 8% from where they would have been in year 3. We could take it a step further and say 1% new people decided to not come at all because they were priced out making it 10% by year 3.

So yes it is crowd control although possibly not aggressive enough for your taste.

One last thing think of ticket and hotel prices were the same as 2000 or 2010? You don't think crowds would be way worse?

 

[xipetotec]

So "First Use" means literally first time you enter a park with it right?

I bought my AP vouchers from Sam's, went ahead and applied to MDE... but then ... I might not actually be going until 2020. Hoping that means that until I actually go to the ticket booth with my voucher, get my AP card and enter a park, the pass is not actually activated and will then be good until that date in 2021. ( i.e. just linking in MDE doesn't count as "first use" ). Right?

 

[subtchr]

So "First Use" means literally first time you enter a park with it right?

I bought my AP vouchers from Sam's, went ahead and applied to MDE... but then ... I might not actually be going until 2020. Hoping that means that until I actually go to the ticket booth with my voucher, get my AP card and enter a park, the pass is not actually activated and will then be good until that date in 2021. ( i.e. just linking in MDE doesn't count as "first use" ). Right?

Yes, exactly correct.

 

[chippydale33]

Multi-part question:

Does anyone know if Costco offers APs? If so, are they as discounted as Sam's Club?

Secondly, if we have a rooms & tickets package (2 of us) booked, and I go to Sam's Club and buy an AP pass, how does that all work? Do I have to cancel myself from our reservation? Because as I understand it, it wouldn't be as simple as "upgrading" one of us to AP, since I'm buying it from another retailer.

TIA.

 

[suemom2kay]

We have a trip planned for this August. We have 1 annual pass and three 10 day passes for the trip (4 people). If I buy the annual passes from tickets at work today, can I hold off applying those annual passes to mydisneyexperience until after my trip? Then we can use for a trip starting in summer 2020?

Yes. You can also link now and specify which ticket media you want activated once you get to Disney.

 

[suemom2kay]

After I link my AP to my account will I be able to see the AP rates after the AP room offers are available?

If it’s working correctly. My last AP showed discounts but I always had to call to book. Never got corrected for the entire life of that pass.

 

[StacyStrong]

I don't get it, why not just buy 5 or 10 now then? The price will keep going up. Or can they possibly charge you the difference?

Haha because I don't have 5,000 or 10,000 dollars laying around

Maybe one day!

 

[xipetotec]

Multi-part question:

Does anyone know if Costco offers APs? If so, are they as discounted as Sam's Club?

Secondly, if we have a rooms & tickets package (2 of us) booked, and I go to Sam's Club and buy an AP pass, how does that all work? Do I have to cancel myself from our reservation? Because as I understand it, it wouldn't be as simple as "upgrading" one of us to AP, since I'm buying it from another retailer.

TIA.

Costco does not offer any Disney tickets that aren't part of a package ( at least that I saw ). For me, the 45$ it cost to get a Sams Club membership far outweighed the huge savings of those vouchers.

If you use an AP, you don't get "package prices". I mean you might be able to call the reservation center and they can maybe change your tickets. But if it were me, I'd cancel my reservation, apply my AP, then check the site again because AP's often get special pricing on hotels anyway. ( The alternative if you keep your reservation "as is" and DON'T apply the AP voucher until AFTER your trip, then that AP would be good from whenever your NEXT trip is )

 

[LSUmiss]

So "First Use" means literally first time you enter a park with it right?

I bought my AP vouchers from Sam's, went ahead and applied to MDE... but then ... I might not actually be going until 2020. Hoping that means that until I actually go to the ticket booth with my voucher, get my AP card and enter a park, the pass is not actually activated and will then be good until that date in 2021. ( i.e. just linking in MDE doesn't count as "first use" ). Right?

Can you still book fast passes if you have a voucher linked vs the actual tickets?

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

Thank god for this forum Had an AP in my cart a couple days ago, did not pull trigger. Saw the news this AM, totally bummed. I am now a proud Sam's Club member

 

[SaintsManiac]

Can you still book fast passes if you have a voucher linked vs the actual tickets?

Yes

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Can you still book fast passes if you have a voucher linked vs the actual tickets?

Yes.

 

[Smittolis]

We looked at this as a family yesterday, the increase in costs can be substantial when you are considering the multiple purchases for families. We are lucky though as we are Florida residents so the increase in costs is offset by renewal discounts as well as the pay monthly option. So while the increase is still substantial depending on what tier you have, its psychologically easier to swallow given it isn't huge over the usual monthly payment.

We have AP's for a few reasons:

1. We go multiple times per year for longer durations (2 weeks at a time usually)
2. We use the discount to help offset any costs of food, merchandise etc...
3. We can pay monthly and spread and costs

Not everyone can do it, and I certainly don't think I would stretch to $5k+ in a lump sum for out of state tickets up front. I think the 'pay monthly' option would be a great thing for everyone! But I understand the relative risks and loss in upfront real money. While the discounts can be good, we simply look at ticket prices. If we are going for 4 weeks plus in a year then it makes sense to get the AP, gives us more flexibility and is actually cheaper than purchasing tickets for the days we want to go. If you are not going to be going enough to make the cost-value ration in favor of the AP, then I wouldn't consider an AP. The fringe benefits you get are nice, but in my opinion kind of like @HopperFan suggest, they aren't enough to entice you to do it or keep it if the ticket costs are prohibitive. And as they suggest, other options become comparative.... so we are going to Europe this year instead!

We do a simple calculation, we look at how many days we are expecting to go in a given year, check out the cheapest regular discounted tickets and compare the cost. If the tickets are cheaper we don't renew, if the AP works out cheaper we renew. I know its different given the FL resident discount and monthly payment plans, so for that I feel lucky I guess, but for our family the increase while not awesome, won't be a barrier to our decision making as the daily rates will also increase so we will choose what is most cost effective.

 

[mom2rtk]

I agree with this, but then why give Florida residents a better deal? It seems they’d be more likely to go more often & crowd the park than out-of-state AP holders.

Disney would like to screw everyone. The fact is they know they need the locals when they go too far and attendance is down. In those cases they can count on the locals to pop into the parks with very little notice and give attendance a boost.

 

[mom2rtk]

What makes you think this is about crowd control and not just greed?? Why is everyone always saying it’s the crowds and Disney is trying to thin it out? Has Disney ever confirmed it’s a form of crowd control?

Because they are desperate to find a positive spin that says Disney is looking out for their best interest.

 

[disneywithfive]

Bit the bullet and bought AP's through Sam's. Hopefully will get the will call voucher shortly. (Anxious about that.)