Changing Park Tickets to Annual Passes

[Cinderelly911]

So ....we visited WDW in March of this year and had 7 day tickets (no park-hopper). We are returning at the end of August with another set of 7 day tickets, with park-hopper (as part of a freedining bounceback we secured last year.) My question is this.....when we arrive in August can we combine the tickets we bought in March with August's tickets and put them toward the purchase of Annual Passes? Would this even make financial sense? My thought is we would then have access to discounts this trip and if we choose to make a trip in February or early March next year we wouldn't have to buy tickets. Anyone have any insight?

 

[vleeth]

You can put your current 7 day tickets towards an ap, but not the used tickets from March.

 

[Robo]

So ....we visited WDW in March of this year and had 7 day tickets (no park-hopper). We are returning at the end of August with another set of 7 day tickets, with park-hopper (as part of a freedining bounceback we secured last year.) My question is this.....when we arrive in August can we combine the tickets we bought in March with August's tickets and put them toward the purchase of Annual Passes? Would this even make financial sense? My thought is we would then have access to discounts this trip and if we choose to make a trip in February or early March next year we wouldn't have to buy tickets. Anyone have any insight?

Tickets cannot be "combined" for upgrading.
Upgrading is strictly on a one ticket-to-one ticket basis.

Tickets cannot be upgraded past 14 days from first use (for non-Florida residents.)
A ticket cannot be upgraded later than on the same day that the ticket's last asset was used (for non-Florida residents.)

But, you can upgrade a new ticket to AP, and that can make a lot of financial sense if you
will be making more than one trip within a year.

HERE is how to upgrade.
HERE is how to figure the cost.

 

[JamesGarvey]

the march tickets no, the august yes. tickets can be converted & upgrade only if you have valid admission days remaining on them, which since they expire 14 days after first use, the march ones no longer do. the one thing i dont have to advice on is the value they assess tickets as part of a package, but i'm sure someone else could fill in that blank.

as far as financially, based on what you've said odds are, its definitely worth it. since you clearly stay on property, using the AP room only discount and then paying for the dining plan is often better than what you'd be getting with your free dining package, but your mileage may very. they also automatically include park hopper, which is a great added value if you use it, and the same could be said for memory maker. if you are even a moderate shopper, those discounts help justify the cost. i tend to advise people if they go to the parks more than 8 days a year, its with it.

my personal favorite perk is using it on arrival/departure days when I'm not getting a full day at the park. if i were on a regular ticket and my flight landed after, i dont know, 3pm, i dont know if i would do to the park because i wouldnt be getting full value for that day worth of my ticket. With my AP, i've literally landed after 8pm, checked into my hotel, gone to a park to watch fireworks, get on a handful of rides and then back to the resort.

 

[kniquy]

can we combine the tickets we bought in March with August's tickets and put them toward the purchase of Annual Passes?

Only current tickets which still have valid admission on them can be used towards the AP. If you knew you were going back in August it would have been best to upgrade in March. So if you have the august trip but are planning another trip in the next year then upgrade. If you are on the fence about another trip then you will have to decided by the end of your last park day whether or not to upgrade (it has to be upgraded by the last day of your ticket). Usually if you have 2 trips of at least 5 days each it makes sense to upgrade. The shopping and dining discounts do add up quite to quite a bit. Oh and you get the memory maker.

There is a thread here that gives you the info on what your tickets are worth towards the AP.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

Everyone above addressed the combining so I won't comment on that.

I upgraded to an AP from a 7 day park hopper on my January trip and for me, with the discounts on food and merchandise, it was worth it. Especially since I bought my ticket from a 3rd party site at a discount, used it, then traded it in for full gate value credit toward the AP. Now this trip I'm taking in late November I don't need tickets and I'll still get discounts.

Is it worth it for you? Well that depends. Say if you are a party of four but do't plan on returning again within the time of your AP expiring, I might cost it out to just upgrade the one ticket to an AP to get the discounts and such - if you buy a lot of souvenirs and eat at a lot of TS places that offer discounts, it can certainly be worth it. If you do plan on returning again within a year and can afford the upfront cost of upgrading all of your party's AP, it will 100% save you to upgrade vs buying 7 day park tickets on your next trip.

 

[mamapenguin]

Has anyone calculated the break even point? I have 24 possible Park days, but I won’t go every day and I already have universal premier pass so that will subtract time too. ( the 24 days is 3 trips) TIA

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

Has anyone calculated the break even point? I have 24 possible Park days, but I won’t go every day and I already have universal premier pass so that will subtract time too. ( the 24 days is 3 trips) TIA

It depends on the amount of trips/length of days and if you get park hoppers or no. But let's put it this way:

2, 7 day day trips with a park hopper? It would cost you $131 less for an AP, that's without thinking about any food or shopping discounts.

2, 7 day day trips without park hopper? It would cost you $19 more for an AP, that's without thinking about any food or shopping discounts.

3, 2 day trips with a park hopper? It would cost you $27 more for an AP, that's without thinking about any food or shopping discounts.

3, 2 day trips without park hopper? It would cost you $222 more for an AP, that's without thinking about any food or shopping discounts.

This is also not considering if you plan on purchasing the in park photo service (photopass/memory maker) which is free with an AP but will cost you fairly hefty $$$ OOP. Oh and I calculated pre-tax FYI

 

[Shir Kahn]

Sorry to tack on a question to someone else's thread, but I was wondering if we have the dining plan and I'm thinking of upgrading 2 of our 10 day base tickets to annual passes, does that interfere with the dining plan at all? Or is the dining plan just attached to the room reservation? I seem to recall having some issue in the past with upgrading to annual passes and either having to book a 1 day room or a 1 day ticket, but I can't remember which.

 

[Robo]

Sorry to tack on a question to someone else's thread, but I was wondering if we have the dining plan and I'm thinking of upgrading 2 of our 10 day base tickets to annual passes,
1. does that interfere with the dining plan at all?
2. Or is the dining plan just attached to the room reservation? I seem to recall having some issue in the past with upgrading to annual passes and either having to book a 1 day room or a 1 day ticket, but I can't remember which.

1. Nope.
2. Once you check in at the resort you can do anything you’d like with each ticket without doing anything negative to your resort setup.
3. You already have tickets that are far above the minimum requirement for your package. After you arrive, you don’t need to worry about “the ticket minimum” anymore.

 

[Cinderelly911]

Thanks all. Looks like I should have done it in March since we are unsure we are going again next year. A friend had told me to do it....but I was nervous I'd lose my bounceback deal. Sounds like I would have saved more money had I pulled the trigger and gone for it!

 

[Robo]

Thanks all. Looks like I should have done it in March since we are unsure we are going again next year. A friend had told me to do it....but I was nervous I'd lose my bounceback deal. Sounds like I would have saved more money had I pulled the trigger and gone for it!

Yup.

 

[wisteria1019]

I purchased an 8 day hopper ticket through a travel agency for my upcoming October trip. It was booked as a separate room only for ten nights and then an 8 day hopper. I was told that the ticket is not upgradable. Does anyone know why that would be the case?

 

[wdw4rfam]

I purchased an 8 day hopper ticket through a travel agency for my upcoming October trip. It was booked as a separate room only for ten nights and then an 8 day hopper. I was told that the ticket is not upgradable. Does anyone know why that would be the case?

I know I was told the same when I booked through ***. It’s because they are bought as convention/ group tickets and heavily discounted. One of the main reasons we booked FD over their good discount in September.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

I purchased an 8 day hopper ticket through a travel agency for my upcoming October trip. It was booked as a separate room only for ten nights and then an 8 day hopper. I was told that the ticket is not upgradable. Does anyone know why that would be the case?

I know I was told the same when I booked through ***. It’s because they are bought as convention/ group tickets and heavily discounted. One of the main reasons we booked FD over their good discount in September.

Were you both told they were non upgradeable before your trips? or after you'd already been in a park?

I purchased a travel agent ticket and couldn't upgrade before I got to Disney, but once I'd used it to enter once, it was upgraded with credit for gate pricing. I have heard convention tickets, military tickets and student group tickets may be different though - I do not have any experience with those. Doesn't hurt to try and upgrade while you're there though

 

[wisteria1019]

I know I was told the same when I booked through ***. It’s because they are bought as convention/ group tickets and heavily discounted. One of the main reasons we booked FD over their good discount in September.

Ahhh......