Is it a big savings to renew AP?

[CaryHaven]

Wondering if it's a lot cheaper to renew, or if I should just wait until we go again after the expiration and get a new AP at that point?

 

[garjanjones]

Following

 

[Dan Murphy]

The break even point now is about 8 weeks, $675 vs $574. If it is going to be longer than 9 weeks until you use the renewal, probably better to let it go and get a non- renewal when ready to go again.

 

[CaryHaven]

The break even point now is about 8 weeks, $675 vs $574. If it is going to be longer than 9 weeks until you use the renewal, probably better to let it go and get a non- renewal when ready to go again.

Thank you! This was what I needed.

 

[puffkin]

We never renew. We do 3 trips on one AP by squeezing in the 3rd week right before the pass expires. Then we usually take at least a 6 month break before starting the cycle again. So renewal makes no sense to us. We still get 2 trips a calendar year but 3 on the AP year by careful planning.

 

[sonofanarchy]

At Disney - No.
At Universal - Yes.

 

[dawgfan]

just got my renewal notice in the mail. It is about a $300 discount to renew prior to expiration for our family of four I think.

 

[Disneylover99]

If you have two day tickets, can you use them towards a renewal of an AP?

 

[DisneyWisher]

We never renew. We do 3 trips on one AP by squeezing in the 3rd week right before the pass expires. Then we usually take at least a 6 month break before starting the cycle again. So renewal makes no sense to us. We still get 2 trips a calendar year but 3 on the AP year by careful planning.

Almost exactly how we'd do it exception of 3-4 months before going again. We always booked a trip before expiration. Last month was the first time I ever renewed. I'm a Floridian so I get the payment plan. By renewing I saved $53 plus my payments were split up 12 month equally $23.75, buying fresh I have to buy 1 day ticket and then the remainer is split up into 12 payments. DD expires Sept 13, we are going 9/7-9/11. I also renewed because I went a few weeks ago with my oldest DD and grandkids.

 

[Dan Murphy]

If you have two day tickets, can you use them towards a renewal of an AP?

If you have a two day pass, you can use it to upgrade to an AP. If you have 2 one day passes, you can use one, not both, to upgrade to an AP.

 

[Day-Day]

Whether its worth it or not depends on the travel plans. The 8-week break even point makes sense when the user plans to continue to visit year after year. If the OP plans to visit several times within the following year and then not visit for a while it may make sense to renew even if the next visit is several months after the initial AP expires.

We don't plan to visit for at least a year so we let ours expire on May 25...duh!

 

[weesignlanguage]

I have wondered about this.

We want upgrade on our June trip to APs for myself, my hubby and my son.

Then we are going in October and again in November. The November trip is FD so we bought the 2 day base tixs for each of us.

When our renewal comes up next June, how does that work? Can we each us our 2 day tix to apply towards the renewal?

 

[kmb584]

I have wondered about this.

We want upgrade on our June trip to APs for myself, my hubby and my son.

Then we are going in October and again in November. The November trip is FD so we bought the 2 day base tixs for each of us.

When our renewal comes up next June, how does that work? Can we each us our 2 day tix to apply towards the renewal?

You can't apply tickets to an AP renewal. You can apply them to a new AP only.

 

[CaryHaven]

You can't apply tickets to an AP renewal. You can apply them to a new AP only.

I hadn't thought of this question, but glad it was asked. It looks like for us, it would actually be worth it to not renew. As pp have mentioned, we would time it so we could cram more visits in but take a break during the expiration period (which we could probably stretch out as long as a year).

 

[disneyfan55]

I hadn't thought of this question, but glad it was asked. It looks like for us, it would actually be worth it to not renew. As pp have mentioned, we would time it so we could cram more visits in but take a break during the expiration period (which we could probably stretch out as long as a year).

Exactly. To me the renewal was never worth it. We always went near expiration anyway and wouldn't be back in 2 months. The renewals are probably a better deal for someone more local or that goes very often.

 

[Dan Murphy]

You can't apply tickets to an AP renewal. You can apply them to a new AP only.

Often done. I just used a UT ticket for a renewal about 3 weeks ago.

 

[Day-Day]

Often done. I just used a UT ticket for a renewal about 3 weeks ago.

Good to know.

What steps did you take to do this? Did you use a day on the UT ticket and then go to guest services at the park or is there some other method?

 

[TJA]

OP we have been AP holders for 10+ years. We had never renewed our AP's in the past and we did exactly as several posters above did -- squeezed 3 trips on our AP's by going to WDW right before our expiration date.

However, now with our dates more limited, we found that our AP's expire right before our next trip. I received a notice in the mail and was shocked to see the savings were actually a lot more than I remembered from the past. It was a savings of over $100 per ticket -- I thought I recalled $40ish in the past, so when I saw this amount, I didn't even hesitate to renew.

Family of 4, all age 10+, full price: $2,700.84 inc tax
Family of 4, all age 10+, renewal price: $2,296.16 inc tax

Renewal Savings $404.68

But, like others have said, renewal "worth" really depends on the dates of your trips. For us, this time it worked best to renew.

 

[SUSIEQ]

You can't apply tickets to an AP renewal. You can apply them to a new AP only.

That is incorrect info.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Good to know.

What steps did you take to do this? Did you use a day on the UT ticket and then go to guest services at the park or is there some other method?

I posted this a few days back on another upgrade thread....

My AP expired April 7. We arrived April 26 at the Swan. Took the boat over to Studios. I had a UT non RFID ticket from a year or so ago, purchased specifically to price bridge to an AP renewal, which was now worth a bit more at the current Disney gate price, than my AP renewal would cost. I went to the guest service window, outside the park, to swap non RFID ticket for an RFID ticket.

The CM there, after bringing up my account, told that my AP had expired and asked if I wanted to upgrade to my renewal. I replied that I knew it had expired but wanted to only get the RFID replacement for my 'paper' ticket. She was confused as to why I wanted to do that. I explained I wanted to bridge, after using at least once for an admission. She seemed to somewhat understand, made the swap.

We proceeded to enter the park, enjoyed our time, and then on the way out, stopped at guest services in the park. I explained what I wanted to do, knew my bridge math (had it in my Evernote on my phone, the ticket was actually worth about $15 more than the AP at this point)) and let the CM tell me the result. It took her some several minutes of lots of typing in the system, but came back with exactly my numbers, to the penny. After her informing me of that, I also told her I would be purchasing my Tables in Wonderland, at which time she told me the overage would actually be applied to my TiW purchase. I was not expecting that, so a bit of additional icing on the cake.