Lots of annual pass questions

[Hezzy04]

We are leaving in 3 days for a trip to WDW (yay!). Well, my kids school calendar just came out for next year, and I decided that another trip next year (March 10-17) could be a possibility! However, if we do that, it only makes sense to get an annual pass, right!?!? I mean, we have 6 day hoppers for this trip already. So it seems we would definitely have a savings.

However, I have lots of questions!

From what I have read on these forums, I can upgrade to the annual pass any of my park days on my upcoming trip. Can anyone confirm? Where would I go to do this? I assume they would take the total price of annual tickets for my family and subtract off what we already paid for this trip? Is that right?

Also, I know that Memory Maker/photopass is included in the annual pass now. Well, I already bought Memory Maker for this trip. Would I just have to deal with that loss, or would they refund it? With this in mind, would I still be able to upgrade any park day? Or would it have to be the first day so I could possibly get Memory Maker refunded?

Another one...Would I still be eligible for "room only" or "free dining" discounts if they become available for any future trips? Would I still get to make Fastpasses at 60+ days if staying on site? I feel like that is a yes, but how? Do I link up an annual pass number to my MDE account and/or any upcoming reservations?

Last, it says on the description for the annual pass that I found on the Disney website it says that there are no blackout dates. However, I swear I remember reading on these boards that some dates are blacked out. Can anyone give me more info on this!? If there actually ARE blackout dates, where can I find those?

I think that's all my questions for now....but I might possibly have more at some point! Thanks for anyone who tries to help!

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We are leaving in 3 days for a trip to WDW (yay!). Well, my kids school calendar just came out for next year, and I decided that another trip next year (March 10-17) could be a possibility! However, if we do that, it only makes sense to get an annual pass, right!?!? I mean, we have 6 day hoppers for this trip already. So it seems we would definitely have a savings.

However, I have lots of questions!

From what I have read on these forums, I can upgrade to the annual pass any of my park days on my upcoming trip. Can anyone confirm? Where would I go to do this? I assume they would take the total price of annual tickets for my family and subtract off what we already paid for this trip? Is that right? Yes! You can upgrade after you get there, up to (I think( the last day you use on your ticket). I upgraded my daughter's ticket to an AP on the 4th day of a 6 day ticket.

Also, I know that Memory Maker/photopass is included in the annual pass now. Well, I already bought Memory Maker for this trip. Would I just have to deal with that loss, or would they refund it? With this in mind, would I still be able to upgrade any park day? Or would it have to be the first day so I could possibly get Memory Maker refunded? I have no idea on this one.

Another one...Would I still be eligible for "room only" or "free dining" discounts if they become available for any future trips? Would I still get to make Fastpasses at 60+ days if staying on site? I feel like that is a yes, but how? Do I link up an annual pass number to my MDE account and/or any upcoming reservations? Yes. You can get FD, but you will also have to purchase the required ticket package for everyone in the room. We did this last year. My daughter and I had APs in September. We had to buy 2 day tickets, though, since we were getting FD. We just kept the two day tickets. My little girl used my older girl's ticket and my mom used my two-day ticket when we returned in April. Our AP linked automatically to MDE. No problem at all.

Last, it says on the description for the annual pass that I found on the Disney website it says that there are no blackout dates. However, I swear I remember reading on these boards that some dates are blacked out. Can anyone give me more info on this!? If there actually ARE blackout dates, where can I find those? No blackout dates for the regular passes. Only for the Florida resident passes.

I think that's all my questions for now....but I might possibly have more at some point! Thanks for anyone who tries to help!

I answered the questions I could in bold in within the quote.

 

[DaisyFoote]

Oh yes - getting an annual pass is definitely worth it if you are going more than 10 days. You can upgrade to an annual pass at any of the guest services. Try to get an experienced cm. When we upgraded we had a friend who upgraded at the same time and she finished an hour before us. They applied the value of our tickets to the cost of the annual pass. I wonder if they would apply the money you spent on memory maker to the tickets as well. They weren't offering memory maker when we got our annual passes. Make sure you've been in one of the parks before you upgrade - like don't go to Disney Springs and upgrade before you go to a park. About free dining, you could still get that but they make you buy tickets to go with it. Since you have an annual pass you would have to just save those tickets for a future visit, but you have to buy them. As far as other discounts, I don't know that any discount would beat the annual pass discount you get. You can still book fast passes - 60 days out if onsite and 30 if offsite. They only allow you to book 7 days worth of fast passes if you are staying offsite. There are no blackout dates unless you get a Florida resident annual pass.

Warning - annual passes are magnets that keep drawing you back to Disney. It's been expensive - but it's also been a year we will never forget. LOVE Disney. Have fun!