Buying Annual Passes

[tjlamphere]

Can I use my Disney Visa Credit Card to buy my annual passes???? And my trip is in November...when should I buy the passes?? Directly from Disney????

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Yes and yes.

Buy whenever you want it activates this first time you use it

 

[Robo]

Buy whenever you want it activates this first time you use it

Close, but not quite true.

That's how Magic Your Way tickets work.

But, an AP becomes active (as you say, NOT when a guest BUYS it, but) when a guest ACTIVATES it.

It is done at a ticket booth or Guest Relations, a process separate from "first use."

Many guests will activate an AP and immediately go into a park, right then.
But... others may activate the AP on, say, the day of arrival, but not actually go into
a park until the next day, or later.

 

[siskaren]

Can I use my Disney Visa Credit Card to buy my annual passes????

Why would you think you couldn't?

 

[Robo]

And my trip is in November...when should I buy the passes??

You want to have made the PURCHASE in time to book your FP+ in advance.

So, at least 60 days before an on-site WDW resort check-in date.
Or, if not at WDW resort, at least 30 days before your trip arrival date.

 

[tjlamphere]

You want to have made the PURCHASE in time to book your FP+ in advance.

So, at least 60 days before an on-site WDW resort check-in date.
Or, if not at WDW resort, at least 30 days before your trip arrival date.

So to confirm: I am staying offsite....first day at WDW will be on 11/4....30 days prior is 10/5...would my first chance to book FP be at 12:01 AM on 10/5 ???? I will buy the AP sometime around Labor Day...I assume they are mailed to you from Disney. Sound correct ????

 

[Accident]

So to confirm: I am staying offsite....first day at WDW will be on 11/4....30 days prior is 10/5...would my first chance to book FP be at 12:01 AM on 10/5 ???? I will buy the AP sometime around Labor Day...I assume they are mailed to you from Disney. Sound correct ????

It would be 7am Eastern time that you can start booking your fastpasses. I honestly don't know if they still mail anything to you in advance as I've always upgraded a ticket in person that I had to buy for a discount for my pass but your logic is correct.

APs don't really have a historic date they go up in price and last year they didn't go up in price so I would purchase them as soon as you are firm on your travel plans to ensure you don't end up with a price increase suddenly happening while you waited. Also you are eligible for AP room discounts and similar like tours before you have the AP so take a moment on the phone to review other discount options for your trip. The requirement is that you have an AP in the first 24 hours of check in or you pay full price with no discount (I think, I know there is a small grace period to give you a chance to get it/upgrade a ticket).

 

[mab2012]

APs don't really have a historic date they go up in price and last year they didn't go up in price so I would purchase them as soon as you are firm on your travel plans to ensure you don't end up with a price increase suddenly happening while you waited.

APs did go up in February. The increases were relatively small (in Disney terms), and those who weren't looking for it specifically were probably too distracted by the absurd multi-day price increases to notice.

Your point still holds though. They'll go up again eventually, and there's no guarantee it won't be this year.

 

[Accident]

APs did go up in February. The increases were relatively small (in Disney terms), and those who weren't looking for it specifically were probably too distracted by the absurd multi-day price increases to notice.

Your point still holds though. They'll go up again eventually, and there's no guarantee it won't be this year.

how did I miss that there has been years in the past where they have gone up twice in the same year.

 

[ELLH]

Also you are eligible for AP room discounts and similar like tours before you have the AP so take a moment on the phone to review other discount options for your trip.

This. The room discounts can be quite significant if you are able to take advantage of it. I can't say for sure they're better than Disney Visa/Premiere Visa but they may be depending on your situation.

 

[dkrauss]

As others have pointed out...........having the AP leads to some advantages..........AP room discounts..............FP at 60 days...........Event tickets. We bought passes in July but didn't activate until November. However, because I add the passes on my MDE I was able to book MVMCP at AP prices. Also.........ya never know when a price increase could hit.

Another thing to consider is how often will you be at WDW. If you're local.......its easy........ALL THE TIME! If not...........you need to be sure you'll get value out of having them. In our AP year (still in progress) we'll spend 24 days on property and we live in NJ. For us its been a boon!

Doug

 

[Robo]

As others have pointed out...........having the AP leads to some advantages..........AP room discounts..............FP at 60 days...........Event tickets. We bought passes in July but didn't activate until November. However, because I add the passes on my MDE I was able to book MVMCP at AP prices. Also.........ya never know when a price increase could hit.

Another thing to consider is how often will you be at WDW. If you're local.......its easy........ALL THE TIME! If not...........you need to be sure you'll get value out of having them. In our AP year (still in progress) we'll spend 24 days on property and we live in NJ. For us its been a boon!

Doug

AP does not get 60 days-in-advance FP
without having a WDW resort stay booked. Otherwise, it's 30 days like a regular ticket.

 

[jcvalenti]

Another reason to buy an AP early and link it to your My Disney Experience Account - you can start taking advantage of AP discounts (for rooms, special event discounts, etc) immediately, even if your AP hasn't been activated yet. I was setting up a trip in November and was planning on buying an AP anyway in order to get Tables in Wonderland, free parking, and store discounts during a 8 day trip. I just did it now in order to save some extra money on our MVMCP tickets and a couple tours.

I wasn't too worried about a second AP increase before our November trip .... based on the history of ticket price increases maintained at Allearsnet.com, the only recent time they increased an AP twice in a year was 2015 ... but the October increase was a doozy (up $90). http://allears.net/tix/tixincrease.htm If you follow the Disboards Facebook group though you usually get a day or two notice before a price increase takes effect.

 

[dkrauss]

AP does not get 60 days-in-advance FP
without having a WDW resort stay booked. Otherwise, it's 30 days like a regular ticket.

Ooops

Thanks for correcting

Doug

 

[kkbrig]

My DD15 is going to WDW for 2 or 3 days plus a water park in June with another family. She, and I and 2 of my other kids will be going to WDW in August for 8 days. I would like to buy her an AP Platinum plus because I've done all the math and this is our cheapest option, with the AP dining discounts. However, I've learned that she can not activate it herself without me there if I buy it. I talked to a CM today and she said that I could send a Disney (or Visa, etc) gift card with her and the parent she will be traveling with will need to "buy" it and activate it at Guest Services before her first park entry, but then she should be good. And the CM said that it should not be a problem for us to get the dining discounts in August for our whole family as long as she is with us.

So it looks like this plan will still work, but it's making me a bit nervous with the extra steps involved that will be when I'm not with her. Has anyone else had experiences with this? It'll save me $360, so worth a bit of trouble for me, but not sure how much trouble it'll be for the parent she will be with in June.

 

[scrapquitler]

My DD15 is going to WDW for 2 or 3 days plus a water park in June with another family. She, and I and 2 of my other kids will be going to WDW in August for 8 days. I would like to buy her an AP Platinum plus because I've done all the math and this is our cheapest option, with the AP dining discounts. However, I've learned that she can not activate it herself without me there if I buy it. I talked to a CM today and she said that I could send a Disney (or Visa, etc) gift card with her and the parent she will be traveling with will need to "buy" it and activate it at Guest Services before her first park entry, but then she should be good. And the CM said that it should not be a problem for us to get the dining discounts in August for our whole family as long as she is with us.

So it looks like this plan will still work, but it's making me a bit nervous with the extra steps involved that will be when I'm not with her. Has anyone else had experiences with this? It'll save me $360, so worth a bit of trouble for me, but not sure how much trouble it'll be for the parent she will be with in June.

If she doesn't buy tickets ahead of time before her August trip, she won't be able to get FP with the other members of the travel party for that trip if they are planning to get FP ahead of time. However, you can buy her tickets for that trip (2 days , for example) and she can just go to guest services once she enters the park the first day and upgrade her two day ticket to the AP Platinum Plus by paying the price difference between the 2 day ticket and the AP. It should only take a few minutes at guest services.

 

[Accident]

Another reason to buy an AP early and link it to your My Disney Experience Account - you can start taking advantage of AP discounts (for rooms, special event discounts, etc) immediately, even if your AP hasn't been activated yet. I was setting up a trip in November and was planning on buying an AP anyway in order to get Tables in Wonderland, free parking, and store discounts during a 8 day trip. I just did it now in order to save some extra money on our MVMCP tickets and a couple tours.

you can do that without an AP, but you'll need to do it on the phone.

 

[kkbrig]

Ok, a follow up to that- will a minor be allowed to upgrade her ticket to an AP without an adult? Or with an adult who is not her parent? I guess with a Disney gift card or something like that?

 

[Robo]

Ok, a follow up to that-

1. will a minor be allowed to upgrade her ticket to an AP without an adult?
2. Or with an adult who is not her parent?
3. I guess with a Disney gift card or something like that?

1. Maybe. (It will be easier if she has a photo ID.)
2. Yes.
3. If you like.

 

[tjlamphere]

It would be 7am Eastern time that you can start booking your fastpasses. I honestly don't know if they still mail anything to you in advance as I've always upgraded a ticket in person that I had to buy for a discount for my pass but your logic is correct.

APs don't really have a historic date they go up in price and last year they didn't go up in price so I would purchase them as soon as you are firm on your travel plans to ensure you don't end up with a price increase suddenly happening while you waited. Also you are eligible for AP room discounts and similar like tours before you have the AP so take a moment on the phone to review other discount options for your trip. The requirement is that you have an AP in the first 24 hours of check in or you pay full price with no discount (I think, I know there is a small grace period to give you a chance to get it/upgrade a ticket).

Ah, so I don't have to stay up after Midnight, just need to be up by 6:45 AM that morning.

Now, to clarify, if I buy my AP next month, do I get something in the mail? How do I link my AP to MDE??? Only had hard copy Hopper Tics before, so this is new to me. Thanks for helping out a neophite!!