AP upgrade and free dining question

[Msmithmd]

Family coming down for September 11-17 trip. Have booked 6 day non-hopper tickets as part of the free dining promotion.

Question to which I couldn't find an answer, and CM at Disney travel wasn't sure on either-

Can I upgrade the 6 day non-hopper tix to annual passes without losing the free dining? I already understand that you can't get free dining if you already have an AP and then book a trip, but if you were to have the trip booked, come down, and on the first day upgrade all tickets at the gate to annual passes, would that then void the free dining for the rest of the trip?

Reason- we plan to be back next summer or early fall, within 12 months. It would make financial sense to upgrade just considering the tickets; but would not be feasible if we were to lose the free dining value of current trip.

Thanks!

 

[Reddog1134]

Once your vacation starts, you can upgrade your tickets without if affecting your package.

However, there have been cases of the KTTW card not showing dining credits after an upgrade.

 

[vicki_c]

Once your vacation starts, you can upgrade your tickets without if affecting your package.

However, there have been cases of the KTTW card not showing dining credits after an upgrade.

Which though seems to be rare now (those reports were more frequent a few years ago) and is fixable. So not a reason not to do it.

Make sure to USE your tickets once before doing the upgrade.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

no problem - we've done this twice

Do use your ticket first then upgrade at a park Guest Relations and you should have no dining credits problem. The person I spoke to at MK said they don't touch the dining credits in any way (I think the problems reported were when people upgraded at the hotesl). First they'll take your tickets off of your KTTW card and put them on standard paper tickets. Then they'll upgrade to APs and print off yet another set of tickets (those you'll keep).

So you'll walk away with your KTTW cards (with dining credits and of course hotel key) and your APs

I recommend you upgrade early in your trip as there are lots of AP discounts in stores and for tours.

 

[purple figment]

However, there have been cases of the KTTW card not showing dining credits after an upgrade.

That was happening 2 years ago, but reports have been rare for a long time now.

If you're really concerned, you could upgrade all but 1 ticket to an AP (or upgrade only 1). At your next meal use a KTTW card for someone who now has a AP. If the dining plan works, upgrade everyone's card.

Whatever you decide, definitely use the tickets at least once to enter a theme park so the ticket prices will be bridged and you'll get the current gate value for the upgrade. This is especially important if you booked your package before the last ticket price increase in June.

 

[FloridaDreaming]

Yes. We did this last September. (Best decision ever)
The only thing was the CM was a little concerned about giving us a new AP pass because she was didn't want us to lose our dining credits. So, we've been using those original KTTW cards ever since. She did let us know we could stop at a Guest Relations near the end of the trip to get the updated passes but, we never did. So, we did miss out of some other discounts in that error as we continued to use those on every trip but, we'll be smarter next time. Renewing them next month while we're down there.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you go to the locked sticky Everything About WDW Tickets in this Forum, especially Post #7 and Post #18-A, you can get a lot more information. An easy way to get to the sticky is by clicking on the link in my signature. The ticket sticky is your friend!

 

[Msmithmd]

Thanks everyone! Great to hear. Will head to guest services at end of the first day of the trip in Epcot. In only 16 days!!!