If you didn't get your confirmation email for your AP be prepared ......

[Dizneydaz]

....to waste a lot of time!

At least I did today. I am one of the masses who bought my AP online the day before the recent price increase (for DD12 and myself). Luckily I printed out the receipt after my purchase since I never received either email about my AP from Disney. I did the AP for my DM and she got her emails as did my sister.

I read here on the boards that if you didn't get your email it wasn't that big of a deal to get your AP. Well it was for me today. DD12 and I arrived about 8:30 and went to one of the ticket booths to get our AP. I was going to go to GS but the line there was long and the ticket booth lines weren't.

It took about 25 minutes, at the window, to get our AP. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! 25 minutes to process my AP that I bought online. My plan was to get there about 8:30, get our AP, and then head into DLR to pick up at least one FP (Space Mountain or Star Tours) ride a ride (BTRM) before heading over to DCA at 9:30. Well that plan went out the window.

While the CM was slightly apologetic about how long it was taking, and 2 supervisors had to get involved, it was still highly annoying! I brought my receipt (with the confirmation number on it ) as well as the card I used to purchase the APs.

After I got our APs and was refunded my $15 for parking, I asked the CM helping me for one of those any ride FP (Technically a Readmission ticket) and she said she wasn't sure I could get one since there's a min. time. I nicely said I think 25 minutes qualifies. She left and returned in a minute with one for us and made sure to let me know it was only good for one ride. Duh!

Anyway, I wanted to let those of you who bought your AP online but never received your email ticket to be prepared to spend 1/2 an hour to process your APs. And that wasn't counting waiting in line. BTW, I'm sure there are some out there who didn't have it take so long to process, but that wasn't my experience.

Oh, and one more thing-it wasn't easy to find a PP photog in DL, except at the entrance. There were sadly lacking today.

 

[disneychrista]

It took a good 15 mins to process our AP when we went and we didn't have any problems.

My daughter had issues because the printer broke. They gave us buttons but I would NEVER have thought to ask for a FP/readmission ticket.

 

[xsuki000]

Don't go to a PP in DCA either. When the DBF had to get his picture taken, we did it twice in DCA only to have to do it a third time in DL for the picture to FINALLY get processed.

 

[ArchOwl]

It took a good 15 to 20 minutes to get my DH's AP processed and we had the voucher. First, they were having troubles with the computer and then they put the wrong date for the AP. We didn't ask for anything.

A good tip for your photo in DL is to pop into the Main Street Photo Shop where you can buy your photos, etc. Ask for your photo to be taken by any of the CMs there and they will happily oblige.

 

[hlbtimes2]

I think it just takes them a long time to issue ap's. We upgraded 4 hoppers the day before the price went up. It took FOREVER!

 

[bumbershoot]

Back in December when I upgraded a one-day ticket to an AP, it took AGES at the ticket booth.

In Feb when we bought an AP for DH and upgraded a one-day ticket to an AP for DS, it took at least 20 minutes. The CM kept disappearing entirely then coming back a few minutes later, leaving again, etc etc.

So I am not sure that your experience was just because of the weird no-email thing! I think it just takes them forever. And I don't know why.

(but then just selling a ticket at those booths takes forever. When I've been forced by circumstance or my brother to stand in those lines, it always seems that the people in front of me are brokering a world peace agreement in 10 languages, rather than just buying a ticket, from how long it always takes...)

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Not sure that your experience is all that weird. Last August it took us at least 20 minutes to get our 4 APs processed. We had all documentation with us too. They first issued APs with the wrong date. We had to get a supervisor involved, The process dragged on. The photopass photographer thing was a problem for us then too. I've noticed on each of our trips in the past year that the photopass photographers are hard to find. There also seem to be several reasons an AP photo can be rejected, and they don't bother to tell you that has happened so if your picture hasn't appeared within 24 hours you just need to try again. We will need to process APs again before the end of this year, and I'm not expecting the experience to go much smoother or faster.

 

[dleyel]

Last July I renewed my AP at the ticket booth in order to get in on a blockout day. It took 15-20 minutes. The CM seemed to be having computer issues. Luckily, she gave me a front-of-the-line pass. It was worth the wait since we were with relatives from out of the country and the pass allowed us to bypass an hour wait for Nemo. We walked right on! Don't understand why it should take so long when they already have all the info for a renewal. But when I renewed DS's AP in October it was quick. Maybe it depends how busy the computers are.

 

[pixiewings71]

hmmm I don't think 30 minutes is long at all. When we have upgraded hoppers to AP's it takes longer than that, when we added a day to our 4 day hoppers at the ticket booth it took about that long. I wouldn't have even thought about asking for a FOTL pass.

 

[larina]

...It took 15-20 minutes. The CM seemed to be having computer issues. Luckily, she gave me a front-of-the-line pass...

That was very generous of her. That's just doesn't seem like a long wait at all to me.

hmmm I don't think 30 minutes is long at all. When we have upgraded hoppers to AP's it takes longer than that, when we added a day to our 4 day hoppers at the ticket booth it took about that long. I wouldn't have even thought about asking for a FOTL pass.

 

[Astylla]

hmmm I don't think 30 minutes is long at all. When we have upgraded hoppers to AP's it takes longer than that, when we added a day to our 4 day hoppers at the ticket booth it took about that long. I wouldn't have even thought about asking for a FOTL pass.

I feel the same way. I do feel like in general people have such little patience and assume people in customer service are just trying to waste their time. At my hotel I can check someone in in less than 2 minutes if they want me to and are in a rush but if something goes down , the room isn't ready or I need more information , etc - It can be pushed over to 10 minutes or more.

Everything has a process. The person isn't to blame , they have to do things in such the way so you can have the AP for the rest of the year. In the grand scheme of things 30 minutes is really not that big of a deal. This is why we are going down a day early , getting our passes done , spending maybe a few hours in DL and grabbing dinner and relaxing before the "big day" June 15th. Sometimes a little planning and patience goes a long way.

 

[dleyel]

I wouldn't have asked for the pass either. She just gave it to me. It seemed like she was having trouble with the computer. Guess I got really lucky, as I didn't know it was common to wait that long. It had always been much quicker for me previously when I had renewed at Guest Services.