Best way to buy an annual pass?

[PeasandCarrots]

I have always just bought my annual pass outright online and then activated it at guest services before going into the park (yes I know you can go to DTD but I did not want to make an extra trip somewhere else). When I did this last fall I had to wait over 1 hour in a line to activate it which was not fun. I know you can buy regular tickets, get in and then upgrade to an annual pass. So I was thinking of doing that this time so I have more flexibility on when/where I go to guest services. I have also read here on the boards I think, that you can buy them at a discount at Undercover Tourist and as long as you use them once before upgrading to AP they give you whatever the price of tickets are at the gate.

Is buying from Undercover Tourist a better way than buying the tickets from Disney directly? I've never bought via a 3rd party before. Do the tickets expire? Can they be added to MDE to make FP+ reservations?

Thanks for the help!

 

[eyehartdisney]

I found out at AK that you can activate your AP at the ticket booths... or just buy them there. There is no discount for buying online versus in person. Dont know about UT, but the upgrade will take as much time or more as activating it.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

I said guest services but it was actually the ticket booth we waited an hour at. Guest services line was just as long, but moved slower. I want to buy them ahead of time so I can make FP+ reservations.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Yes, you can buy regular tickets from UT, make your fastpass selections. Then at the parks, enter at least once then upgrade.

Greatest savings is with a 4 day hopper with water parks. If you want more fastpass selection days, then go with the 10 day, same hopper with water parks.

 

[masupo]

Yes, you can buy regular tickets from UT, make your fastpass selections. Then at the parks, enter at least once then upgrade.

Greatest savings is with a 4 day hopper with water parks. If you want more fastpass selection days, then go with the 10 day, same hopper with water parks.

I'm going to be doing the same as OP - buying discounted tickets then upgrading to AP. Thanks for the heads up on the UT 4 day hopper with water parks and more. I was planning to buy just the 4 day hoppers - now I'll save even more

Just wanted to mention - you should enter a main park once before upgrading (to lock in the gate price), but you should NOT enter a water park before upgrading. If you have water parks included on your ticket and use that, you will be required to upgrade to the Premium Annual Pass, which costs more.

 

[MrPTato]

If purchased from UT, can you upgrade at the discounted price for a DVC member?

 

[bumbershoot]

If purchased from UT, can you upgrade at the discounted price for a DVC member?

Yes you just upgrade to the DVC AP.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We went to DTD a few evenings before we needed it. There was no line, we got our cards right away and our MBs came about a week later. This is my go to place to get tix now. We never wait in line. (Over by DQ.)

 

[Dan Murphy]

If purchased from UT, can you upgrade at the discounted price for a DVC member?

Just make sure to not 'over buy'. Just make sure the bridged gate price is equal or less than the DVC AP.

 

[Fantabulously Cherry]

I bought an 8 Day PH in a package through AAA. Disney told me to go to ticket sales once we arrive to upgrade to AP.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I often get flamed when reporting this, but we did the UT ticket to AP (planned), and a second time (unplanned).

Both were kind of a disaster of sorts, and not remotely worth the small savings.

The first time, I was accused of stealing my ticket. See, UT buys tickets LONG before they sell them to you.

The second time, we lost well over an hour. The line at guest services was short, it was just that the CM took forever.

Any time guests buy tickets from a vendor, if you want to retain that discount, then WDW does something called 'bridging.' (read about it in the sticky thread). In my experience, Disney has become VERY reluctant to do it.

If you do this, I strongly suggest you do a few things:
1.) Know EXACTLY what you SHOULD pay, including taxes. Otherwise the first price quote you'll get is full rack prices.
2.) MAKE certain you have a copy of your UT receipt!!! An electronic copy is OKAY. That is how I had to prove I wasn't a thief!
3.) Do this in MK. Over lots of WDW visits, MK GS Cm's have been the best (DTD is also okay, but line can be slow.) Do NOT use the back gate of Epcot!
4.) Do NOT wait until your tickets are ALL used up! A good option is to do this mid-afternoon, on your way out of the park.

The parks don't offer any 15minute parking spots near the gate for ticket transactions. So like OP said, there's no way to do this via short trip to the park gate.


I'm not positive - but some years ago- it was possible to buy a fully active AP at the Disney stores at MCO, but if you aren't going in a park on arrival day, you may not want to lose a day of AP.

One last thing, converting US tickets to AP's was easy and quick! I Loved the prices I was offered!

 

[Wood Nymph]

The first time we bought AP's was when we had already purchased 6 day park hoppers for our trip, and converted them to AP's after we had used the regular tickets at least once. We went to Guest Services at night, on our way out of Epcot, when there wasn't a line. It was a great way to do it because we could go into a park right away.

When it was time to renew our AP's we had to take our vouchers to Guest Services before we could enter a park. The line at MK looked like it would take forever so we hopped a bus to the Boardwalk and walked to the International Gateway. The wait there was only about 20 minutes and we were on our way. We hadn't planned to spend much time in a park that afternoon anyway.

 

[JennyDrake]

I often get flamed when reporting this, but we did the UT ticket to AP (planned), and a second time (unplanned).

Both were kind of a disaster of sorts, and not remotely worth the small savings.

The first time, I was accused of stealing my ticket. See, UT buys tickets LONG before they sell them to you.

The second time, we lost well over an hour. The line at guest services was short, it was just that the CM took forever.

Any time guests buy tickets from a vendor, if you want to retain that discount, then WDW does something called 'bridging.' (read about it in the sticky thread). In my experience, Disney has become VERY reluctant to do it.

If you do this, I strongly suggest you do a few things:
1.) Know EXACTLY what you SHOULD pay, including taxes. Otherwise the first price quote you'll get is full rack prices.
2.) MAKE certain you have a copy of your UT receipt!!! An electronic copy is OKAY. That is how I had to prove I wasn't a thief!
3.) Do this in MK. Over lots of WDW visits, MK GS Cm's have been the best (DTD is also okay, but line can be slow.) Do NOT use the back gate of Epcot!
4.) Do NOT wait until your tickets are ALL used up! A good option is to do this mid-afternoon, on your way out of the park.

I agree that it is not worth the few dollars you save. It is now so easy to buy at any theme park ticket window. You no longer have to go to guest services to get an AP.

 

[teach22180]

I usually buy my AP once I get to Disney, but because of FP+, I want to buy them ahead of time. Since they aren't ever discounted, can I buy them online from Disney and have a number to link to my reservation on MDE to make FP+? Just curious and confused. Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Yes, that works fine.

 

[Robo]

Any time guests buy tickets from a vendor, if you want to retain that discount, then WDW does something called 'bridging.' (read about it in the sticky thread).

Sorry but, there is no ticket "sticky thread."

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I have always just bought my annual pass outright online and then activated it at guest services before going into the park (yes I know you can go to DTD but I did not want to make an extra trip somewhere else). When I did this last fall I had to wait over 1 hour in a line to activate it which was not fun. I know you can buy regular tickets, get in and then upgrade to an annual pass. So I was thinking of doing that this time so I have more flexibility on when/where I go to guest services. I have also read here on the boards I think, that you can buy them at a discount at Undercover Tourist and as long as you use them once before upgrading to AP they give you whatever the price of tickets are at the gate.

Is buying from Undercover Tourist a better way than buying the tickets from Disney directly? I've never bought via a 3rd party before. Do the tickets expire? Can they be added to MDE to make FP+ reservations?

Thanks for the help!

A little trick I learned waiting in an hour+ line to activate our APs at MK...if you buy your tickets online directly from Disney and either have them ship you a voucher OR if you print off your receipt and physically bring it with you, the iPad wielding CMs right at the tapstiles can get your AP activated for you. It's only if you rely totally on MDE, thinking "Hey, they're linked! That's all I need!" will you have to stand in a line.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Sorry but, there is no ticket "sticky thread."

Too bad it is now gone. It had great information. I understand though; it had not been updated in quite some time. Cheshire Figment was a very helpful poster.

According to his posts, he worked at one of the water parks. That might also be an option.

As a recent poster added though, an easy solution might be to enter a park via a main gate and find a CM with an I-pad.

On our last visit to MK, I had an issue with my band one day. the first CM directed me to go to guest services. I eyeballed the line and guesstimated I'd lose well over half an hour.

Instead, I was bad. I tried a second turnstile towards the far right side (GS side). Again my ticket was rejected, but instead of sending me to GS purgatory, the second CM held up an arm. A second CM arrived, and excorted me to a third CM. Way better than having to stand in the full queue! I still lost a few minutes and almost lost my FP, but I was very happy to avoid the long line!

 

[dkrauss]

Ok..........not sure if this has been answered so I'll ask We'll be ordering our AP online and not buying regular tickets for the impacted trip.........we consider the AP our tickets. . What I'm hearing here is that will mean we won't have tickets on MDE for our trip............. so we can't get FP's? Is that accurate?

Doug "confused"

 

[Robo]

Ok..........not sure if this has been answered so I'll ask We'll be ordering our AP online and not buying regular tickets for the impacted trip.........we consider the AP our tickets. .

1. What I'm hearing here is that will mean we won't have tickets on MDE for our trip.............

2. so we can't get FP's?

3. Is that accurate?

Doug "confused"

1. Not true.
2. Not true.
3. Nope.

Buying an AP on-line or over the phone (giving you an AP voucher) will allow advance reservation of FP+

For an on-site WDW resort: 60 Days out, + the number of days FP+ for the number of days resort stay.

For no on-site WDW resort stay: 30 days out, one-day of FP+ booked at a time, up to 7 days, total.
___________________________________

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