Few ??? about APs

[azdisneylover]

Hello all!
I have read quite a few posts suggesting turning in your hopper pass for an AP pass. Does it matter what you paid for your AP, plus is the price for an AP pass the same if you order it online or at the gate? If it is cheaper online, how do you turn in your hopper pass to get the online rate?
Thanks

 

[DangerMouse]

There is no discount for ordering AP's online.

You upgrade at DLR by paying the difference between the actual amount you paid for your hoppers and the amount of the AP you are upgrading to. This is done at the Bank on Main Street and needs to be done at some point during your visit, and is best if you upgrade after using the MM's associated with your hopper. You can upgrade on a day that is blocked out on the AP you are upgrading to.

Hope that answers your questions.

 

[azdisneylover]

Thanks, Dangermouse,
Your post helped me! We booked a trip in April and I am trying to figure out how to justify getting AP tickets to the hubby (since we are in AZ, he is being a hard sell).
I ran some numbers for 3 day hoppers 2a/3kids x 12 visits =$9660.00 annual passes=$1345.00 Big difference! Now, if we go to DL only, by 2 day hoppers, only go one day, and upgrade to AP the passes would cost 1017.50.
I am sold! Now to sell the hubby on this!
Thanks again!

 

[DangerMouse]

Are you upgrading to a deluxe? Can I make a suggestion? If you can, go 3 days when you upgrade to your AP in order to take advantage of a Magic Morning (which is only available with 3 day or more parkhoppers), and then upgrade on your last day even if it's a block out for the Deluxe Pass. Otherwise, there is really no benefit in purchasing a 2 day hopper prior to upgrading to an AP.

 

[azdisneylover]

Dangermouse,
We booked thru Costco April 5-9, and we are staying at Paradise Pier Hotel. Any advice on how to get the best upgrade? Our tickets are "everyone pays kids' price".
Thanks

 

[DangerMouse]

Dangermouse,
We booked thru Costco April 5-9, and we are staying at Paradise Pier Hotel. Any advice on how to get the best upgrade? Our tickets are "everyone pays kids' price".
Thanks

How many days on your hoppers? Since you are staying on-site, the MM argument is irrelevant, because you will get MM each day it is offered. So make sure you go to DL on a day where MM is offered (Sat, Sun, Tues, Thurs)

 

[bumbershoot]

azdisneylover, I feel that it needs to be mentioned that you are *never* going to get a deal on an AP. The cost is the cost is the cost.

If you have tickets with a discount, the discount is lost, b/c you're always paying the cost. And the cost of APs is the same for 3 to infinity.

So when we upgraded, we had 2 adult 5 day hoppers and 1 child's 5 day hopper. They were through Costco Travel, and the tickets had the value of the 5 day advance purchase hoppers.

When we bought our APs it was before 2 ticket/ap price increases (wow how did THAT work?), and they were 239. So we paid the difference between the value of the adult hoppers and the AP, so 239 - 189 for me and hubby each. DS's hoppers were a bit under 189, and we paid 239-whatever his was, which means we paid more for his AP at that moment, but ultimately, we paid 239 each in total.

So since each of you will have the kids price hoppers, you will pay the different between the current AP (I assume you're getting Deluxe?) price and the value of each of those tickets. The discount you currently have makes no difference once you upgrade; you're going to be paying the total of the AP prices at the end.


I don't know if you noticed, but DangerMouse is in AZ too, and she visits relatively often. Heck, I live in WA and I visit often (this year) too!

Once you don't have to pay for tickets for a year, it becomes quite a bit easier, if you run across a great hotel deal or a great plane ticket, or you get a chunk of money to put towards gas for a road trip.

So if you even *think* you will visit even once, check out the price different.

When we had our hoppers, we knew we would be back for one more one-day visit. The 189 of the hopper plus the price of a one day ticket was MORE than the AP cost. That did it for us! So if you will be there 3 days on this trip, then might do another 3 day within the 365 day period of your first day at the parks, it will almost absolutely be worth it to put the outlay of cash for the APs, even if you only look at the cost of admission.

Add in the discounts and you're practically making money. (you have to steadfastly ignore cost of hotel meals and transportation when looking at it that way!)

 

[Gisele]

Wow! Bumbershoot, that sure is good reasoning! I am glad that I did not have to figure that out, at this time, for my brain is a bit tired at the moment! (9 plus hour train/bus ride (s) Friday) not to mention, it might actually help if I had an AP, to make it easier to figure these things out.

 

[azdisneylover]

Thanks for all the replies! Our passes are for 5 days and we got the everyone pays the kids price discount. I am seeing if I can save the difference for the tickets between now and April and if I can, once we are there, I think me and the kids can convince daddy to upgrade! 4 against 1.
Thanks so much for your help!

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, the convenient thing is that you'll know exactly how much it will be!

269-174 multiplied by each of the family members that needs a ticket.

And that's $95 per person.

So IF you plan on visiting again, unless you ONLY plan on going there for a one-day visit in the 365 days after your first visit, it makes $$ sense to go for the Deluxe AP.