Disney Premier Passport - any difficulties using at park entrance?

[SarahInMN]

Hey all -
We are looking at a 6 day trip to DL and 10 day WDW trip in 2019. We are DVC members and usually would get the Gold AP for the WDW trip. The last time we did DL we bought 1 AP and 1 of us did the park hopper. In looking at current AP options, we would want the DL signature plus for at least one of us and at a minimum a park hopper+max pass for one of us.

It seems that for at least one of us we would want the Disney Premier Passport. I had read in past posts though that people had trouble using them/linking them to their accounts at the parks and issues at the park entrance gates in terms of the system recognizing the pass. I would rather spend a bit more for hassle free separate AP's vs saving a bit on getting the Premier. I would hate to have issues linking it in fall 2019 for FPs at WDW.

Does anyone have recent experience with the Premier Passport on either or both coasts? Is it seamless? Or is it more hassle than its worth?

thanks in advance!!

 

[prov3v56]

We have the Premier Pass and are going to WDW this Friday. We purchased it at DL and have used it numerous times since April with no issue. I will report back any issues we may have using it at WDW for the first time.

The Premier Pass can only be purchased in person, so you would want to do that at DL (since you don't book FP in advance). Also, you would want to purchase it at least 61+ days out from your WDW trip. We did have to call WDW and spend some time on the phone (about 30 minutes) linking our passes to the WDW system. It took a few hours for them to actually link after we got off the phone with WDW. After they were linked correctly, they showed up my MDE and we were able to book all of our FP+ without any issues.

We were able to order AP magic bands from WDW and those arrived quickly.

As you probably already know, you can only book 7 days of WDW FP+ unless you are staying on property longer than that.

 

[SarahInMN]

Good to know you've not had any issues at DL with it. We are planning on DL in January 2019 and the WDW in October 2019 (for our annual F&W pilgrimage). That should give us plenty of lead time to call WDW and link the passes if need be before the FP+ window opens for us.

I would definitely appreciate it if you could post an update on any issues you run into at WDW - hopefully you won't run into any!

thanks!!

 

[bryanb]

I've had the Premier Pass a few times. In the first few years, when the two systems weren't completely linked together, Guest Relations mentioned that I might have to activate the pass in the other resort in person. It turned out that was no problem for me at all.

Last year, I bought a Premier Pass at Disneyland. About 2 days later, I linked it through the WDW (My Disney Experience) website with no issues, and it immediately unlocked the ability to see hotel discounts and book FastPass+.

 

[SarahInMN]

Last year, I bought a Premier Pass at Disneyland. About 2 days later, I linked it through the WDW (My Disney Experience) website with no issues, and it immediately unlocked the ability to see hotel discounts and book FastPass+.

That’s really good to know - I prefer to not call guest relations if I can help it.

Thanks!’

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I had the Premier for two years 2015-2016 & 2016-2017. The first time I bought it at Disneyland and I had no problems with it at all. The second year I bought it at Epcot Guest relations and everything was just fine at WDW but when I went to use it at Disneyland it wasn't in the system. At the Disneyland turnstiles they took some information and issued me a temporary paper Premier Pass. They said it might take a couple days to fix the problems but I had admission and could still use discounts with the temporary pass. By the end of the first day my regular plastic pass was in working condition. The cast members at the Disneyland turnstile said that they frequently have that problem with Premiers bought in WDW. Perhaps that is true but I think part of it was the Epcot cast member that sold it to me, as he screwed up my WDW AP this year too.

 

[bumbershoot]

We were able to order AP magic bands from WDW and those arrived quickly.

FYI the norm for the ap bands is to get them after your first trip using the ap. If you got the ability to order them before that first trip you were the lucky recipient of a glitch.

 

[bumbershoot]

We are looking at a 6 day trip to DL and 10 day WDW trip in 2019.

Why would you want to get the premier ap? Why would you get the gold ap for Wdw when a 10 day hopper is about 100 less? 5 day plus 1 day hopper at DL is less than a DL AP from my very quick math.

Especially having access to the Gold AP, I have yet to make the premier ap worth it. For me it’s when you have multiple trips to both coasts. And don’t have access to Gold.

 

[mamapenguin]

FYI the norm for the ap bands is to get them after your first trip using the ap. If you got the ability to order them before that first trip you were the lucky recipient of a glitch.

Not for Premier
Dis won't allow the link but it can be searched on disney.com from the main page.

I'm still in the research stage, I've got 34 days to decide and enough time between trips to order the AP magic bands.

 

[randumb0]

Why would you want to get the premier ap? Why would you get the gold ap for Wdw when a 10 day hopper is about 100 less? 5 day plus 1 day hopper at DL is less than a DL AP from my very quick math.

Especially having access to the Gold AP, I have yet to make the premier ap worth it. For me it’s when you have multiple trips to both coasts. And don’t have access to Gold.

I agree. Based off of the days you have planned the Premier doesn't make sense. I would buy one Gold AP (discounts and parking if your'e staying off property) and one 10 day for WDW. For DL I wouldn't just buy two 5 day and two 1 day.

 

[hodad]

I bought my Premier at WDW and had no trouble getting into DLR when I used it. I did have trouble accessing DLR photos scanned to the card, until someone online explained that I had to link the pass online. This sort of thing happens to people often enough that Disney should provide a FAQ (or make an existing one more apparent).

 

[SarahInMN]

Bumbershoot and Randumb0-

thanks for your thoughts on the pricing.

We usually get a Gold AP for WDW to get two trips out of it - ie late October for activation and then the next F&W we go early October to use it for a 2nd 10 day trip. I guess my "must have AP" stems from that but if we activated the premier (in theory) 1/2019 then we wouldn't get 2 F&W's out of it anyways - so yes my equating it to a gold AP makes no sense.

As for DL, I was leaning towards a park hopper + max pass for one of us but some sort of AP for the other one primarily for the food/merch discounts.

Hmmmm...I may need to break out my excel spreadsheet for this.

 

[mamapenguin]

Bumbershoot and Randumb0-

thanks for your thoughts on the pricing.

We usually get a Gold AP for WDW to get two trips out of it - ie late October for activation and then the next F&W we go early October to use it for a 2nd 10 day trip. I guess my "must have AP" stems from that but if we activated the premier (in theory) 1/2019 then we wouldn't get 2 F&W's out of it anyways - so yes my equating it to a gold AP makes no sense.

As for DL, I was leaning towards a park hopper + max pass for one of us but some sort of AP for the other one primarily for the food/merch discounts.

Hmmmm...I may need to break out my excel spreadsheet for this.

And then share your findings

 

[prov3v56]

We just used the premier at WDW the past two days after purchasing and using at DL multiple times since April. We did not have any issues at all getting into the parks or using it for discounts. A few double takes when I gave them my actual pass for the discounts. (I’m not sure how many of the premier passes some cast members see.). Also we have the AP slider on our magic bands and several times the CM offered the AP discount after seeing the slider.

 

[Turksmom]

I am definitely going to upgrade to Premier pass when I visit Disneyland (I've already done the math). If I purchase the DL Signature Plus pass on line, does it work like WDW where I can link it and possibly use it for a room discount, but it doesn't activate (for expiration date) until first use at the park?