How can I purchase an AP

[photobob]

with DVC discount before our trip? I was hoping to purchase them one at a time in advance to spread the cost out so I don't have to drop the big lump sum when we arrive. I am assuming they would send me a voucher that I would exhange for the AP at any of the parks guests services and that the year window starts the day we activate them at the park. Correct?

 

[Disneycouple99]

You can buy them through the members website and they would send you a voucher.

 

[Chuck S]

You can also call Member Services.

 

[robinb]

I'm not quite following why you would spend more in advance instead of earning a tiny bit on the money and spending it when you get there . If you are going to pay in advance anyway, then at lease save some money in the process. We bought 6-day non-expiry park hoppers from Undercover Tourist using the link from the MouseSaver's newsletter. I think we saved about $30 off the current gate price which was before the most recent increase. We then used the pass for one day at the MK and upgraded it at the Customer Service window outside the park to the DVC AP. Once the pass is used you get the full amount of the gate price applied to your upgrade, NOT what you paid for it. So, we ended up saving about $45-50 on each of our APs. The trick is to select the pass with the greatest savings over gate price where the gate price is LESS than the price of a DVC AP. They will not give a refund if the gate price is more than the cost of the pass you are upgrading to.

 

[photobob]

I'm not quite following why you would spend more in advance instead of earning a tiny bit on the money and spending it when you get there . If you are going to pay in advance anyway, then at lease save some money in the process. We bought 6-day non-expiry park hoppers from Undercover Tourist using the link from the MouseSaver's newsletter. I think we saved about $30 off the current gate price which was before the most recent increase. We then used the pass for one day at the MK and upgraded it at the Customer Service window outside the park to the DVC AP. Once the pass is used you get the full amount of the gate price applied to your upgrade, NOT what you paid for it. So, we ended up saving about $45-50 on each of our APs. The trick is to select the pass with the greatest savings over gate price where the gate price is LESS than the price of a DVC AP. They will not give a refund if the gate price is more than the cost of the pass you are upgrading to.

I am purchasing AP's with the DVC discount. I am looking to spread out purchasing them, buy one now, buy another in few months and so on. The cost will be the same regardless when I buy, I just don't want to have to purchase all of them at one time a few weeks before Christmas!

 

[photobob]

I'm not quite following why you would spend more in advance instead of earning a tiny bit on the money and spending it when you get there . If you are going to pay in advance anyway, then at lease save some money in the process. We bought 6-day non-expiry park hoppers from Undercover Tourist using the link from the MouseSaver's newsletter. I think we saved about $30 off the current gate price which was before the most recent increase. We then used the pass for one day at the MK and upgraded it at the Customer Service window outside the park to the DVC AP. Once the pass is used you get the full amount of the gate price applied to your upgrade, NOT what you paid for it. So, we ended up saving about $45-50 on each of our APs. The trick is to select the pass with the greatest savings over gate price where the gate price is LESS than the price of a DVC AP. They will not give a refund if the gate price is more than the cost of the pass you are upgrading to.

Sorry I didn't read your post as closely as I should! I'll look into that.

 

[robinb]

I am purchasing AP's with the DVC discount. I am looking to spread out purchasing them, buy one now, buy another in few months and so on. The cost will be the same regardless when I buy, I just don't want to have to purchase all of them at one time a few weeks before Christmas!

Right ... but you can simply put the money in a savings account when you have it and then the money is there and it won't matter if it's right before Christmas. Unless you're the kind of person who can't have access to cash or you'll spend it on something else .

I still think that Undercover Tourist might work for you even one pass at a time. IIRC shipping is free. I think we paid a total of $70 to upgrade our park hoppers to 3 adult APs.

 

[Disneycouple99]

They big problem would be that there is likely to be a price increase before he goes and we will not know if the ticket options he chooses will be the best pass with the greatest savings over gate price where the gate price is LESS than the price of a DVC AP. My guess is he would be safe with the current 6-day PH,Non Exp. ticket, but you never know.

 

[Disneycouple99]

I am purchasing AP's with the DVC discount. I am looking to spread out purchasing them, buy one now, buy another in few months and so on. The cost will be the same regardless when I buy, I just don't want to have to purchase all of them at one time a few weeks before Christmas!

FYI, tickets normaly go up in Aug. so it might be better to get all tickets or vouchers before than.

 

[robinb]

They big problem would be that there is likely to be a price increase before he goes and we will not know if the ticket options he chooses will be the best pass with the greatest savings over gate price where the gate price is LESS than the price of a DVC AP. My guess is he would be safe with the current 6-day PH,Non Exp. ticket, but you never know.

True, but the prices won't go down on the gate price of the park hoppers either! I just looked at my actual numbers. I actually purchased my park hoppers right after the gate prices went up. I considered purchasing my DVC APs at the time but decided that buying the PH's was a better deal -- and it was! I paid $348 per ticket with UT and a DVC AP in 12/2009 was $414. I had the $391 gate price applied to the AP, so I paid an extra $23 per ticket or $371 when all was said and done. APs prior to the August 2009 increase were $393 so I still saved $22 per ticket over the 2009 pricing.

 

[Chuck S]

Ticket prices have really only increased in August the last 4 or 5 years. Prior to that there was no set pattern. Historically, some years had 2 (maybe even 3) price increases while others had no increase.

While it seems likely that Disney will continue the August pattern, there is no guarantee. They can change at any time.

 

[dgaston]

When I have needed to spread out the cost of DVC APs I have used the Will call option. I print out the bar code after my purchase from the Disney website, stick it in my Disney accordian file, and when we go to Disney I show the relevant pieces of paper and we receive our ticket. You can do this at Parks or at Guest Services in DTD.

We have also done AP purchases where we had one-day tickets from DDP in regular rooms. We go to Guest Services with the left-over KTTW, our blue member card for DVC, a credit card, and have had the one-day ticket admission applied to the cost of the AP.

Hope that is helpful info for someone.

 

[photobob]

Is there any time limit on how long you can hold a voucher before exchanging it for the AP? Our trip for the week after Thanksgiving is tentative, we will definitely be going June of the following year. So it is ok to buy one now and not use it for 18 months?

 

[LisaS]

Is there any time limit on how long you can hold a voucher before exchanging it for the AP? Our trip for the week after Thanksgiving is tentative, we will definitely be going June of the following year. So it is ok to buy one now and not use it for 18 months?

Vouchers are supposed to be good forever. If you opt to have a voucher mailed to you rather than using Will Call, they add $5 to the cost for shipping and handling.

Also, your AP is activated at the time you exchange the voucher for the AP or when you pick up the AP if using Will Call, not when you use it the first time to enter a park.

 

[photobob]

Vouchers are supposed to be good forever. If you opt to have a voucher mailed to you rather than using Will Call, they add $5 to the cost for shipping and handling.

Also, your AP is activated at the time you exchange the voucher for the AP or when you pick up the AP if using Will Call, not when you use it the first time to enter a park.

thanks!

 

[bookwormde]

One nice thing about getting an AP voucher (I allway get one) is that if you do "blended" trips (CRO and DVC) you get access to the AP sight to check out availbility and discounted CRO room prices.

bookwormde

 

[flipflopmom]

We bought 6-day non-expiry park hoppers from Undercover Tourist using the link from the MouseSaver's newsletter. I think we saved about $30 off the current gate price which was before the most recent increase. We then used the pass for one day at the MK and upgraded it at the Customer Service window outside the park to the DVC AP. Once the pass is used you get the full amount of the gate price applied to your upgrade, NOT what you paid for it. So, we ended up saving about $45-50 on each of our APs. The trick is to select the pass with the greatest savings over gate price where the gate price is LESS than the price of a DVC AP. They will not give a refund if the gate price is more than the cost of the pass you are upgrading to.

Ok, this theory has my interest peaked, but I am confused. Never bought an AP before, but we are considering for this trip. I understand how/where you got the tickets, then you used them once? Why did you get the non-expiry ph's? Confused as to how this process works.... Thanks for any additional info you can give. Since we are not sure if we'll get to use the AP's more than once this year due to my Master's Degree class schedule, we're trying to decide if it is better to just buy PH's, but if I could save more money, we would "almost" break even.

 

[Disneycouple99]

The cost of the ticket through disney is valued at 367 dollars. The price of AP with DVC discount is 389 dollars. This is as close as you can come with Disney ticket prices between the two. The savings on the discounted ticket is 23 dollars. When you added it all up, the AP will cost you 390.38 with tax her way on the other hand buying through Disney is 414.29 with tax.