Buying Tickets and AP Ahead of Time Question

[David in Manassas]

Greetings to all. I hope someone will be able to offer a suggestion to my problem. First let me explain the situation. I am going for a quick trip over Memorial Day weekend with my middle daughter. As a surprise for her and a treat for myself, I have booked that tour at EPCOT where you ride a Segway. We have to be there very early in the AM..I think 8:00 or 8:15. So I thought I should buy my tickets online ahead of time as we won't have much time to process them that AM which is the first day of our 2 day trip. Now for the questions:

1. If I buy some passes for both of us online, will they be put on our room cards like they used to in the past? If not, would they just issue us a separate card upon checkin?

2. I MIGHT buy an annual pass for myself as I will probably be back when Everest opens. If I do that, is there anyplace I could get that processed on a Friday night so it would be ready for early Saturday AM? We will probably not get to the resort until about 6 PM on Friday and are staying at Saratoga Springs.

Thank you for any suggestions. Although I have been a member since the "free passes" years, it has been awhile since we have been down to WDW as we have been using our points at HH. With all the new ticket changes this year, I really don't know how to work the system.

David in Manassas VA

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you order the AP voucher from DVC, it will take very little time for you to activate it once you get to the park. I believe there is a ticket center at DTD to do that also, but I have not done that, so not entirely sure. For the MYW tickets, I have no idea how they work. We have always had APs, and that MYW ticket is new enough, that I haven't had guests use it yet either.

 

[lisareniff]

For our Feb. trip I bought 10 day MYW tickets and an AP with the DVC discount for myself. I bought though Disney.com and they came very quick. I bought the MYW tickets in advance because there was an advance purchase ticket price. You receive the actual tickets that are used at the gate, no need to activate or put on you room key beforehand. The AP did not have an additional discount (just the DVC one) due to the advance purchase so one could purchase it at the gate for the same price. I wanted to purchase the Disney Dining Experience so need to purchase the AP before hand. When the AP is purchased in advance you receive a voucher that you need to activate. The activation can be done at any Ticket counter or guest relations at the major parks (remember the international gate way at Epcot) and the two guest relations booths at DTD. It doesn't take very long but I was in the same situation as you, entering a park early for breakfast at the castle, and didn't want to run into any snags. I got my AP activated at DTD the night before at the marketplace guest relations which is close to the A parking lot. I believe the DTD booths are open until 11pm (double check this!).