AP Renewal After Expiration

[gary1955]

my AP is expiring soon and I don't think that Disney currently has any incentives for renewal.

I'm thinking of letting it lapse and possibly starting up again later in the year.

two questions:

do they issue new cards or just reactivate the old ones?

does the photo pass carry over if I get it with the new one?

 

[disney789]

My pass expired May 2018. I renewed it Jan 2019. I had to get a new card and I lost my photo pass that I previously had.

 

[loloandstitch]

my AP is expiring soon and I don't think that Disney currently has any incentives for renewal.

I'm thinking of letting it lapse and possibly starting up again later in the year.

two questions:

do they issue new cards or just reactivate the old ones?

does the photo pass carry over if I get it with the new one?

You get a brand new card. Everything starts anew.

 

[wdwfan22]

When I got an annual pass last year, it had been expired for a couple years. The CM at the ticket booth told me I should have brought it so they wouldn't have had to print a new one.

 

[MillauFr]

I reused my old card when I renewed after is lapsed for a couple of years.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

CMs ask that you bring your old card with you, if you still have it. Some posters have reported being charged $20 to replace the old card because they didn't bring it with them or because they had lost it. Last time we renewed, the CM replaced DH's card for free because she was having a lot of trouble with his magnetic strip. To be on the safe side, I would bring the old card with you. If the CM asks for it, you'll have it and won't be charged extra. If the CM just gives you a new card for free, great! And, as stated above, any perks you have on your pass won't be extended or grandfathered in to your new pass if you let the old one expire.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

CMs ask that you bring your old card with you, if you still have it. Some posters have reported being charged $20 to replace the old card because they didn't bring it with them or because they had lost it. Last time we renewed, the CM replaced DH's card for free because she was having a lot of trouble with his magnetic strip. To be on the safe side, I would bring the old card with you. If the CM asks for it, you'll have it and won't be charged extra. If the CM just gives you a new card for free, great! And, as stated above, any perks you have on your pass won't be extended or grandfathered in to your new pass if you let the old one expire.

Yeah, this is what I've been reading from posters for quite a while now, and I did experience this myself once a few years ago. It is not what I experienced last week though. I let my pass lapse in December. I purchased a new pass online from Disney in January. I went last week to activate the new pass. I brought my old pass with me. The CM looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if she would need the old card from me and then lectured me that I had let my pass expire (almost as if I had done a bad thing) and I had now bought a completely new one online so there was no way the new pass could be linked with my old card. She then emphasized to me that I needed to get rid of the old card so that I wouldn't confuse it with the new card she was preparing for me. So I guess the policy has changed?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... So I guess the policy has changed?

Interesting... let's see if we get more confirmation on this. As usual with Disney, either the policy has changed or the CM was doing her own thing. We'll try to ask around to see what our friends are experiencing with their renewals.

 

[gary1955]

I wonder if there is a difference whether you purchase in person or online?

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Yeah, this is what I've been reading from posters for quite a while now, and I did experience this myself once a few years ago. It is not what I experienced last week though. I let my pass lapse in December. I purchased a new pass online from Disney in January. I went last week to activate the new pass. I brought my old pass with me. The CM looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if she would need the old card from me and then lectured me that I had let my pass expire (almost as if I had done a bad thing) and I had now bought a completely new one online so there was no way the new pass could be linked with my old card. She then emphasized to me that I needed to get rid of the old card so that I wouldn't confuse it with the new card she was preparing for me. So I guess the policy has changed?

Here is my recent experience... I let my AP and my son’s AP expire in February. In March I used 5-day park hopper tickets from LMT for both of us and upgraded them to new APs. The CM didn’t ask me for my old APs and was going to issue me new ones. But she was happy when I produced the old APs and asked if I could reuse them. She said of course, although we did reprint my son’s because the bar code was smudged from probably sunscreen or something touching the pass.

 

[gottalovepluto]

If you’ve got them bring them. When we upgraded tickets a couple years ago to APs on a whim at the end of a trip my dad had had an AP a few years prior and the CM acted like she was doing him a huge favor by giving him a new AP. Seriously, it was ridiculous. We didn’t even remember he had had an AP before it had been so long! (Our upgrade was darn near disastrous admittedly, the CM was 100% lost and her lead was busy with all the other CMs within the booth.) Still, would have been pissed had he been charged for a new AP. It’s a freaking piece of plastic for goodness sakes!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Interesting... let's see if we get more confirmation on this. As usual with Disney, either the policy has changed or the CM was doing her own thing. We'll try to ask around to see what our friends are experiencing with their renewals.

AP upgrades seem to be fraught with CMs doing their own thing. Just earlier this year we had one person here who had to pay full price to upgrade a promo ticket to add a day and then a few weeks later another person only had to pay the difference in current gate price from their promo ticket to the upgraded one. And then there’s the whole debacle of MP where some people get credit for MP they already purchased and others are flat out refused.

 

[LilyJC]

We let my oldest’s pass expire in September when she decided she was completely done with Disney. In December, we used an extra 2 day PH LMT ticket we had for her and they bridged it to a new AP. She was given a brand new card, but the CM wouldn’t reimburse the $10 MP fee from earlier that day.

To the OP, I’m not sure if anyone answered, but if you have a signature and let it lapse - you will lose photopass on it. This of course doesn’t matter if you will be adding MP for the year to your pass or obviously if you have signature plus which comes with everything.

 

[tarheelalum]

I reused my old card. They were going to charge me 20 dollars to issue a new one. It all depends on who is at the window when you walk up.

 

[MillauFr]

I reused my old card. They were going to charge me 20 dollars to issue a new one. It all depends on who is at the window when you walk up.

And I can see why. The amount of time and work they have to do seems excessive for issuing an annual pass. I'm guessing Disney's Computers Systems are a joke. They should be able to scan your old pass, swipe a credit card, and you should be good to go. Seems like they are typing in a novel back there when I renew. You should just be able to do the entire process online without even visiting a ticket window.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Still, would have been pissed had he been charged for a new AP. It’s a freaking piece of plastic for goodness sakes!

Part of the problem with Disney charging for a new AP card has to do with... you guessed it: fraud and scams (yes, our old friends once again). Disney didn't used to be so stingy about lost cards -- reissuing a new one was no big deal way back when. Then the scammers started the grand idea of claiming to have lost a card and getting a new one -- which they sold/rented to someone else -- wash, rinse, repeat as needed. (Back when the photos on the cards were super blurry and grainy, it wouldn't have been too hard to share the card with several family members or friends -- nowadays, I've heard of some famiies still trying to pull this off, but don't know if it's as big a problem as it was before.) When Disney caught on to this, they started enforcing the $20 replacement fee much more strictly. Now, they keep track of how often you "lose" your pass. For APs who have a record of replacing their card more often than Disney thinks is normal, there may be problems and big delays at the booth when the next replacement card is requested.

 

[disney789]

I wonder if there is a difference whether you purchase in person or online?

I wonder the same thing. When I renewed I did it online. When I went to the parks ticket booth with my printed confirmation I was told I had to get a new card. I told the CM I had my old AP but she insisted I had to get a new card. Now I’m wondering if I could’ve kept my old card if I would’ve renewed at the ticket booth.

 

[pblack]

Yeah, this is what I've been reading from posters for quite a while now, and I did experience this myself once a few years ago. It is not what I experienced last week though. I let my pass lapse in December. I purchased a new pass online from Disney in January. I went last week to activate the new pass. I brought my old pass with me. The CM looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if she would need the old card from me and then lectured me that I had let my pass expire (almost as if I had done a bad thing) and I had now bought a completely new one online so there was no way the new pass could be linked with my old card. She then emphasized to me that I needed to get rid of the old card so that I wouldn't confuse it with the new card she was preparing for me. So I guess the policy has changed?

Interesting... let's see if we get more confirmation on this. As usual with Disney, either the policy has changed or the CM was doing her own thing. We'll try to ask around to see what our friends are experiencing with their renewals.

DH and I didn't renew our passes when they expired in February 2018. We then got new passes in November 2018. I originally thought that they would just give us new cards since we technically didn't have APs anymore, so I bought and paid for one AP + MP online in full, and the other AP + MP we bought at the window so we could do installments (I couldn't do this one online because I wanted to pay the deposit with a gift card). I did not bring my old AP with me, but my DH had his. But since I bought a new AP online, my account was a brand new account vs reactivating the old one. Since my DH had his card and we paid for this one at the window, they reactivated his old card. According to the CM the AP cards they give out are "good" for life, meaning if you want to reactivate it after a lapse in time you can/will still use your old card. Even if I had brought my old card with me she said they wouldn't have reactivated it since I purchased a "new account."

Hope this makes sense and helps clarify! I'm sure that there will still be instances where a different CM will say something different. This information is from November 2018.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I wonder the same thing. When I renewed I did it online. When I went to the parks ticket booth with my printed confirmation I was told I had to get a new card. I told the CM I had my old AP but she insisted I had to get a new card. Now I’m wondering if I could’ve kept my old card if I would’ve renewed at the ticket booth.

The CM first said to me I had to have a new card because I had "bought something new." She later said it was because I had "bought a new pass online." For what it's worth, I also bought a new pass online a few years ago and the CM at the ticket booth was insistent at that time that I had to use the old AP card which, thanks to the comments I had read on this board, I had with me.

 

[tarheelalum]

The CM first said to me I had to have a new card because I had "bought something new." She later said it was because I had "bought a new pass online." For what it's worth, I also bought a new pass online a few years ago and the CM at the ticket booth was insistent at that time that I had to use the old AP card which, thanks to the comments I had read on this board, I had with me.

None of it ever makes any sense. If you went to 5 different ticket windows you get 6 different answers.