Can I upgrade our tickets to APs any day?

[Disney Addicted]

I'm always reading advice saying to upgrade on our last day. But can we upgrade whenever we want instead of the last day? We will be there for 11 days with Buy 2 Days get 3 Days free promo tickets. I have booked RPR for 1 night on our 2nd & 3rd day and will need to upgrade the tickets. I was actually planning to enter the park on the afternoon or evening that we arrive for half an hour or so just so we can upgrade the tickets and get that done with.

 

[macraven]

Upgrade either way
First day or before your tickets expire

Check the ap calendar first in case you are going when there are black out dates

Have not seen any black out periods for the premier pass

 

[Disney Addicted]

Awesome. Thank you macraven.

 

[PantherPete]

I’d do it on your first day. The pass anniversary date will be the day you first use your tickets anyway. You can’t get an extra couple of days on your new pass if you wait to upgrade. I’d get it on day one so that you can use your AP for discounts on food and souvenirs.

 

[imprint]

I think the only concern is if the annual pass you are upgrading to has blackout dates during the days you are there. If the pass is in blackout, then wait until the last day (upgrade in park before you leave). If the AP you are upgrading to is not in blackout, then it is my understanding that you can do it any time while you are there.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Thanks everyone! We should be fine upgrading on our first day then. I double-checked the blackout dates to make sure there were no surprise changes. We don't arrive until the 27th and the last blackout day for VB is the 18th.

The only concern would be if we want to go again next year to make sure we time it very carefully so we can get into Volcano Bay again. High School ends June 25th. We could sneak in 5 days there but VB is blacked out. We can't go in July as both parks are blacked out. Next year's last summer VB blackout date is Aug 16, which you'd think would give us 10 days before the APs expire. I KNEW that but but darn it I totally forgot about it while a friend & I just booked (maybe 2 weeks ago) a trip. Which starts on August 21st. I don't think I can change that date either. Damn, I'm kicking myself. I wish I had thought to THINK about the APs while my friend & I booked.

I guess if we want to go into VB again next year (if we do go back to Universal) we will end up mid-August a few days and doing VB on the 17th and fly home on the 18th.

 

[georgina]

They often lift the VB blockouts in the later part of summer, they did it for this year (for everything except seasonal passes), but unfortunately you can't count on that and it is usually too late to change a planned trip!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Since you have options...the one thing you likely won't want to do is wait in a long line! IME, the best option for an upgrade is to go to one of the GS that is INSIDE the park entrance. they usually have minimal waits, and well, I've just had great luck with getting really great staff at GS inside the park. Maybe it is just their customers are happier because they didn't have to wait in a long line.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Since you have options...the one thing you likely won't want to do is wait in a long line! IME, the best option for an upgrade is to go to one of the GS that is INSIDE the park entrance. they usually have minimal waits, and well, I've just had great luck with getting really great staff at GS inside the park. Maybe it is just their customers are happier because they didn't have to wait in a long line.

Great, I'm glad to hear this! Thank you. I was planning on us all entering the park for a little bit before upgrading so that is what we will do then. I'm sure I read that we had to actually use/enter the park first before upgrading in order to bring them up to full value... that outside the gate the tickets are actually $20 cheaper..?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

At WDW, that was the standard rule- using before upgrading. Now, that is less true with some WDW tickets. I don't know if that's the case at US, or about the price being less if you upgrade outside the parks.

I can only say, the last time I upgraded my ticket, it was inside the park, and I thought the price they quoted was correct.

With Disney ticket upgrades, I sometimes feel like each CM gives us a slightly different answer.