Join package or wing it?

[Verstehen]

Out of curiosity, how would the upgrading to an AP work, if the tickets are ordinary non-Florida resident tickets?

 

[Verstehen]

I tried it and you *can* book an AP package room+dine even if there are no discounted AP rates out yet. You can use the WDW Passholder site (at the bottom, click to see more about the Dining Plans and a "book now" button comes up) or call. Then, you could book the room+dine now and your family could buy their tickets from Undercover Tourist (at a discount) and everyone gets the best deal. When AP rates are released for POFQ, you could call and have the new rate applied.

Wait, you're saying I can book the room and apply the discount later? Is there any risk in that? And how much of a discount does Undercover Tourist give?

 

[vicki_c]

Out of curiosity, how would the upgrading to an AP work, if the tickets are ordinary non-Florida resident tickets?

You just take the tickets (use them once if they came from a discounter or were purchased before any Disney price increase on tickets which could happen in your case since prices usually go up in August) to Guest Relations at a park or DTD and tell them you want to upgrade to an AP. You pay the difference between the gate price of the ticket you have and the gate price of the AP you want.

Usually Undercover Tourist with the extra Mousesavers discount that you can get through their monthly newsletter might save you 4-5% I would guess - not really much more than that in most cases.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Wait, you're saying I can book the room and apply the discount later? Is there any risk in that? And how much of a discount does Undercover Tourist give?

You certainly can. People do it all the time - book now, hedging their bets that a discount will come out and when it does, they call and have it applied to their reservation. You can only have one discount, but you can add one or change it if you get a better offer. The risks would be that (a) no AP rate comes out for that time-frame, and (b) when they do, your preferred resort has no availability for that discount (they are limited). However, if your mom's current reservation is at rack-rate, then you're no worse off booking it through the AP site.

Undercover Tourist gives a slight discount, maybe $10-20 depending on the ticket. But, when you compare their website prices to Disney's, realize that UT's are inclusive of tax and shipping, while Disney's list price does not include tax, so the difference is more than you think. Also, if you sign up for the special newsletter at Mousesavers.com that comes out the 15th of every month, the newsletter has a special UT link that saves a few extra $ on top of the UT list price.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Verstehen]

One more question Claire, and thank you soooo much for your advice so far. Can the AAA reservation be transferred to an AP discount, or would we need to make an entirely new reservation?

 

[Diegosmom]

You said your annual pass expires in Oct right? Well do you plan on going between then and when your family comes?

Couldnt you just wait to renew it in Dec and take the tix you get from the package to use to apply to the new annual pass?

I'm not sure if this works but I thought I read that you could...

 

[Verstehen]

Yes, definitely, I could do that. The only thing is that by waiting over a month after it expires, I lose the renewal discount (around $60), but I think that's offset by how much I'm saving on food. It would also mean no trips between October and December, but I can live with that.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

One more question Claire, and thank you soooo much for your advice so far. Can the AAA reservation be transferred to an AP discount, or would we need to make an entirely new reservation?

That I do not know, because I always make all my own reservations.

Good luck with whatever you decide!