Need advice on trip planning from AP Holders.

[kakiegirl]

We will be going back to Disney for vacation in May 07, this will be the first time we plan to buy AP's . I have a few questions. (1) We like to plan early, DH wants me to make reservations in June after this years vacation so we can start paying on it. I know that AP codes only come out a couple of months in advance and we do not want to buy our AP's until right before we go so we will have a whole year to use them. How do you handle this, if you already have a reservation can you change it to the AP discount after they come out. (2) Another questions is if I reserved a package with tickets, can we upgrade those tickets to AP's before we go. Anyone that can give any advice on planning a trip when your an AP holder it will be appreciated. I would love to get a discount on our rooms if possible but I do not want to wait until a few weeks before our trip to start planning. Also, we plan to stay eight nights spending three nights at a nicer resort then the rest of the vacation at All Star Movies.

 

[Fire14]

what i'm guility of is booking room so i know i have a room and paying on it. than once AP rates come out I call and hope and pray I can get a room at AP rate. I have been able to just apply all money i had put on other room towards new ap booked room. I dn't know about booking pkg. than upgrading to ap but i'd say you can do better not booking pkg. You can buy ap vouchers anytime and they don't start until you activate them at guest services unless you buy at wdw during this vist, at airport than they are activated right than and there.

 

[Shells9]

You can book a room and then apply an AP discount when/if it comes out and if rooms are available at that rate. AP rates apply to room only, though and not packages, so I don't know if you can apply those tickets toward an AP. I would kind of doubt it, but I am sure someone else would know.

And, one more suggestion (even though you didn't ask for it, I'll give it -- just the kind of girl I am, lol!) I would flip your resort plans. Start out at the value and end at the deluxe -- it's so hard to go backwards!

 

[tink_n_pooh]

We just purchased AP's on our trip last week, how do I find out what the AP room rates are? Will I get something in the mail that shows other discounts? The CM at guest relations just printed our passes and sent us on our way. And is the paper pass the only pass or will we get a plastic one? I just know I could ruin the paper one. Thanks

 

[Mamie]

The paper pass is the only one you get but you can have a new one printed if yours is ruined or lost you just need a picture ID.

You can also go online to the Disney World website and sign in as a passholder it will list all discounts there plus if you give them your email address they will email you updates and they do mail information out about it. I find that watching the message boards and Disney sites is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to find out about special offers for passholders. We recently booked a trip and were told there was no discount for passholders I was online later that week and found out about a discount so I called them back and got the passholder rate we saved almost 300 on two rooms for three nights at a moderate resort.

 

[Karnak]

Not to worry about when your annual pass will take effect. The first time you enter a park with the pass, it will automatically become valid for a year. In other words, if you were to use your pass on Feb. 20, 2006, the pass would then become good all following days until Feb. 21, 2007.

You also asked about room rate for annual passholders. You did not say if you are a Florida resident or not. But if you are, the resident room rate is generally lower than the passholder rate. I, for example, am a Florida resident, and also have an annual pass; but when I reserve a room I ask, and the cast member has always indicated that I'd be better off with the residnet rate.

In any case, your best bet is to call WDW and ask about the best rate possible.

Enjoy

 

[lisabarr]

You also asked about room rate for annual passholders. You did not say if you are a Florida resident or not. But if you are, the resident room rate is generally lower than the passholder rate. I, for example, am a Florida resident, and also have an annual pass; but when I reserve a room I ask, and the cast member has always indicated that I'd be better off with the residnet rate.

Not always true. When I booked our upcoming Feb trip, the AP code was way cheaper than the redident rate. AP was $49 a night at POP and the resident rate was $64. I would ask what both rates were.

 

[loopner67]

We will be going back to Disney for vacation in May 07, this will be the first time we plan to buy AP's . I have a few questions. (1) We like to plan early, DH wants me to make reservations in June after this years vacation so we can start paying on it. I know that AP codes only come out a couple of months in advance and we do not want to buy our AP's until right before we go so we will have a whole year to use them. How do you handle this, if you already have a reservation can you change it to the AP discount after they come out. (2) Another questions is if I reserved a package with tickets, can we upgrade those tickets to AP's before we go. Anyone that can give any advice on planning a trip when your an AP holder it will be appreciated. I would love to get a discount on our rooms if possible but I do not want to wait until a few weeks before our trip to start planning. Also, we plan to stay eight nights spending three nights at a nicer resort then the rest of the vacation at All Star Movies.

I just bought my first AP, so I have one more thing to add. You only need ONE AP to be able to get the AP rate at a hotel. I saved our family a lot of money, but ony buying myself the AP and buying my DH and two sons regular park hopper tickets. We will NOT be able to go back within a year's time, so it didn't make sense for us all to have APs.

 

[hkwhite004]

I thought an AP became active when you got the certificate for it - not when you activate it at Disney.

 

[disneyluver626]

I have a question about the AP tickets.

If I buy an AP ticket so that I can get a discount on the rooms can I then get the disney dining package? I have tried looking into this but can't seem to find an answer.

 

[hkwhite004]

I do know for sure that as soon as you have a certificate for the AP you can get the DDE. I am still unsure about the time frame on the AP. As I posted earlier I thought your AP date started with the certificate not with the turn in of the certificate to get the actual AP. Any experts out there please help. If my info is inaccurate, I would purchase the AP earlier and get the DDE before getting to Disney and not have to deal with a bunch of faxed correspondence. Thanks.

 

[Mamie]

Last August my parents gave my family passes for my birthday. My father bought them at the base and I was able to use the certificate to book our room at the passholder rate. In order to check in we had to have atleast one activated pass. We tried with the certificate but the CM said we couldn't use that so my husband went to the TTC and activated his pass real quick. My passes are good from 9/22/05 til 9/22/06 because they weren't activated until we actually got to the park. I don't know if you can get DDE with just the certificate I just got that around Thanksgiving but I'm sure some one else could tell you if you can use just the certificate for that. But your dates don't start until you actually activate it and get your AP.

 

[mytwotinks]

In the past they start until they became "active". You should have 1 year and 1 day of use after your first activate your pass. You can buy it months in advance if you want. You don't need to have it to get the discount until you check into your hotel. Sooooo if you don't end up getting a great AP rate, you don't have to buy one!