MaxPass - does 1 year start at purchase?

[halfmonkey]

We're planning to go to DLR next Saturday for our annual trip. We have SoCal AP and we plan to renew in person on Saturday while we're there. Technically, our passes don't expire until Dec 20th but we are thinking of adding MaxPass when we do our renewal on Dec 9th. Since our passes don't expire til Dec 20th, does that mean that MaxPass won't activate until Dec 20th or does it activate on Dec 9th but only last until Dec 20th? I thought I read early on that if you purchase MaxPass during the middle of your AP timeframe, they don't prorate the cost and it terminates when your 1 year time frame on your AP ends. So in other words, if I renew on Dec 9th and add MaxPass, will my MaxPass last until Dec 9th 2018 or will it last until Dec 20th, 2017?

 

[whoever]

Pretty sure it's for the duration of your AP. They really aren't clear, but "adding" it to your AP as they phrase it lends me to believe it's only for the duration of your current AP.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

It's just until your AP expires, and there's no prorating, so you'd be paying $75 for Maxpass until the 20th. You'd be better off adding for $10 per day until your new AP kicks in.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

My understanding is that if you add it as part of your renewal when you renew on Dec. 9, it will start on Dec. 21 and last through Dec. 20, 2018, so if you want Maxpass for Dec. 9 you will also need to pay the $10 day charge. I believe there was a poster here a while back who reported that experience. I personally would be a little nervous of adding it during renewal for fear that it would get coded in for the current pass year and expire Dec. 20 of this year, so I would definitely ask questions and confirm all the dates when doing this. I know they can't do anything about adding it after a renewal has been done because I did my renewal online earlier this month and asked at the ticket booth last week when I was there before this year's expiration date if I could add Maxpass at that time so that it would start when my new pass began and was told no, if I added the $75 Maxpass then it would only last until this year's expiration date. I needed to wait until the day after my expiration date for the first day of my new pass to begin before I could add Maxpass for the new pass year. Since I was back home in northern California by then, I just called the AP hotline this week and added it over the phone so I will be good to go next time I go to the park.

 

[twitch]

I would renew in person and ask, and then decide. I can tell you definitively that in August, I renewed my SoCal Select AP on a blackout date, and added MaxPass, which was valid immediately and until my new expiration date(about 13 months).

That may have been the policy, or it may have been pixie dust. The policy may have changed, or maybe not. The only way to be certain is to ask the ticket booth CM while renewing.

 

[Niltiac]

I would think adding it to the renewal price would only entitle you to MP when the new AP year starts, but if I were you I would be especially courteous and ask when you're at the ticket booth. It could be that they activate it early either as pixie dust, or because it might be easier technologically for them to activate it immediately rather than program it to activate on a certain date. I believe activation on the 20th is how it's supposed to work but, other than the post above mine, I haven't seen any personal accounts of how it works out in practice. Luckily, if you end up adding it day by day, you don't have to make that decision right away. If you don't get any extra magic at the ticket booth, you can make the choice to add it or not day by day based on crowds.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I would think adding it to the renewal price would only entitle you to MP when the new AP year starts, but if I were you I would be especially courteous and ask when you're at the ticket booth. It could be that they activate it early either as pixie dust, or because it might be easier technologically for them to activate it immediately rather than program it to activate on a certain date. I believe activation on the 20th is how it's supposed to work but, other than the post above mine, I haven't seen any personal accounts of how it works out in practice. Luckily, if you end up adding it day by day, you don't have to make that decision right away. If you don't get any extra magic at the ticket booth, you can make the choice to add it or not day by day based on crowds.

I can't find the post right now but there was a poster who did report that it didn't start until their new pass date. That was the answer I got too when I made my inquiries about how it would work. I'm thinking twitch either got pixie dust or practice has changed. Policy as written certainly indicated that Maxpass would only work for the pass year for which it was purchased. It's the same as if you upgrade your pass before it's expiration date; the benefits of the higher level pass don't kick in until the first day of the new pass year. Of course it never hurts to ask; you might be gifted with some pixie dust.

 

[swooshbear]

We renewed our APs a few weeks ago and added MaxPass. It did not kick in and only became active the day our new passes started. But on the day we did renew, we happened to buy MaxPass for the day and they refunded us the $10 at the ticket booth.