Birthday Trip.. Question about tickets

[hbkfan637]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum.. I'm planning a trip to Disneyland for my birthday and I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what kind of tickets I should buy. Right now I'm thinking of spending May 9 -11 there (My birthday is on May 11). I know you can get into the park for free on your birthday but since I'll be there for a few days, I was planning to just buy a multi-day or annual pass (I'm from San Francisco). If I have a ticket or annual pass, will I be able to get something else for my birthday instead of the free admission?

Also, I read a few threads the past few days and I'm curious. Why do some people buy a multi-day ticket and then go to the park to upgrade to an annual pass? Does that make it cheaper?

Thank in advance!

- Sandy

 

[mechurchlady]

If you have a park hopper or any annual pass then you get the equivalent of a one day/one park ticket. For adults that is nearly $70 that you can use in stores. Read the rules though before planning to spend the money as some shops in DLR do not take the certificates and no restaurants. Imagine being in the Emporium with a bunch of cash to buy you something swell like 5 coffee cups or 6 cute plushies or socks and tops.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Welcome to DIS!

If you buy a 3 day Park Hopper (which gets you into both parks on all 3 days) you can get one of the alternate gifts for your birthday. You would get your pick of one of the following:

- Some FPs for the day (it's not an unlimited FP)
- A $69 birthday fun card, aka gift card (guessing you are over 9)
- 1 free ticket for park admission one day in the following year

There is a ginormous thread about the "Free on your birthday" promotion. You can read more than you ever thought you wanted to know right here.

You can apply the cost of your 3-day pass (if that's what you choose to do) to an AP anytime before your pass expires. So, if you decided on your last day you wanted to upgrade to an annual pass, DL would take what you paid for your admission, subtract it from the cost of whatever AP you choose to get and that is what you would owe. (Tip: If you selected the Birthday Fun Card as your free gift, you could then use that toward your AP as well.)

So.....
Cost of AP - cost of multi-day pass - value of birthday fun card = amount you would pay for AP.

Hope this helps,
Dreams

 

[disneyfan4ever54]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum.. I'm planning a trip to Disneyland for my birthday and I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what kind of tickets I should buy. Right now I'm thinking of spending May 9 -11 there (My birthday is on May 11). I know you can get into the park for free on your birthday but since I'll be there for a few days, I was planning to just buy a multi-day or annual pass (I'm from San Francisco). If I have a ticket or annual pass, will I be able to get something else for my birthday instead of the free admission?

Also, I read a few threads the past few days and I'm curious. Why do some people buy a multi-day ticket and then go to the park to upgrade to an annual pass? Does that make it cheaper?

Thank in advance!

- Sandy

It doesn't make any difference in the price of the AP if you have a multi-day ticket first and then upgrade it to the AP. The reason that people buy a regular ticket first & then upgrade it to an AP is to be able to have the Magic Morning (early entry) privilege that comes with the park hopper. (A hopper of 3 or more days will have one MM with it.) AP's don't come with MM privileges, so people use the MM that comes with the hopper and then upgrade to the AP afterwards.

 

[hbkfan637]

Thanks everyone!

 

[pixiewings71]

Wait, before getting an AP answer me this. Which AP are you going to get? I ask because the Deluxe AP has a lot of Saturday blackout dates, including the weekend you are going. So, if you're getting a Deluxe AP (cheaper than the Premium) then get park hoppers and upgrade either that Saturday or on Sunday. If you upgrade on Saturday you'll have full access to both parks with your Deluxe AP. So keep that in mind.

We have APs (we live pretty close to you), this year we went with Premiums because there are so many more Saturdays blacked out. So when we went for DBFs bday we got him the Fun Card. He was able to spend it as he liked, he bought himself a sweatshirt and bought our girls each a small toy. We had no problems using it at all.

 

[hbkfan637]

If I get a AP, I was going to get a premium one. I would only be able to drive down to Disneyland on the weekends and it looked like weekends were blackout dates for all the other AP types. Plus the discounts you can get on merchandise and food won me over.

 

[mechurchlady]

Black out dates apply only to park entry and you can still get the discounts on merchandise at hotels and Downtown Disney. yep most saturdays are blacked out but my friend has a Select Southern California pass and gets in on Sundays except for the first two this April.

 

[pixiewings71]

If I get a AP, I was going to get a premium one. I would only be able to drive down to Disneyland on the weekends and it looked like weekends were blackout dates for all the other AP types. Plus the discounts you can get on merchandise and food won me over.

That was why we ultimately decided to upgrade ours. That and we had a lot of gift cards so our upgrade really only cost us $100 for 4 people. Not too shabby IMO!