Newbie questions - DVC AP

[fumipappa]

Hello,

I just bought copper creek as direct.

I need help and confirmation from “the experts” here. If the contents of question are not appropriate, please disregard or delete it.


I am trying to figure out the best way to buy annual pass for my family, 4 of us(all of us are over 10yrs old).


Here is the plan for the trip for now.

1. Trip from 1/1/19 to 1/7/19 - this schedule automatically knock off Gold pass as option
   
   
2. Trip in late August 2019 - 4-5 days at parks
   

So I figured Platinum Annual pass is the way to go for our option now.


Current Platinum costs 776.39/person(729 + tax&fee-47.39) with DVC member discount.


I want to utilize the discount of park hopper pass from UT then upgrade at guest services instead of buying the annual pass straight from Disney. So here is the plan I am thinking:

1. Buy 10 days Park hopper - which costs 530.83(474.71+tax&fee-56.12)/person at UT
   
   
2. UT should send e-mail with code to activate it on MDE. So will activate it immediately to book FP+ for January trip
   
   
3. On Jan 1st, go guest service of the park, buy Platinum annual pass as upgrade. At that time, I will pay the difference between the 10days park and Platinum pass(PRE-TAX).
   

Gate price for 10days hopper - 545+tax and 35.43

So 729-545=184 + tax is the amount I pay on 1/1.

But I paid for 474.71 for 545 value by UT discount. So basically I get $71 discount there.

This gives me that 729-71=658 as price for platinum pass-pretax.



The discount part is all pre-tax values and the final number may change by tax and fee but I thought this is the overall idea of getting discount through ticket bridging.


Based on this idea, I have a few questions:

1. How do I get DVC discount for AP at guest service when upgrade? Just show CM the DVC membership card? If so, Digital version of card works?
   
   
2. If the guest service accepts my DVC member card, either digital or physical, how can I show them the proof of 10days park hopper? Do they look up my MDE and they can check all my party members’ ticket status at same time?
   
   
3. FPs which I reserve with 10days park hopper, can we keep all of them when we upgrade it to AP? Is it possible guest service “loses” those FP accidentally?
   
   
4. And more than any, does the method above work? Can I get DVC AP discount through ticket bridging, which source ticket(10days hopper) bought at third party agent like UT?
   

Thank you for your help!

 

[kmc8826]

They should have you in MDE as a DVC member direct purchaser. So a digital version should work.

They can do all the upgrading to the AP's at the same time while you stand there but they have to process it one at a time.

I have upgraded existing UT tickets multiple times and never had them lose fastpasses. If you are paranoid as a just in case you could always screenshot or print out your FP's before you upgrade.

I do not see why it would not work. But I do not have personal experience. I have had AP's and upgraded existing tickets for years, but just became DVC this year. You might want to post on the Theme Parks board. There is a thread going on right now with AP issues. Someone there might be able to help/give you additional or different information.

Good luck.

 

[Mumof4mice]

You could consider upgrading only one person in your travel party to a platinum AP on arrival to get the food/merchandise discounts for the trip. Then at the end of your trip upgrade everyone else to the Gold AP (which covers your late August trip). This means going to guest services twice though. So it's a bit of added hassle.

 

[js]

Congratulations! We love and use our DVC.

There will be new ticket prices beginning October 16 so not sure your numbers will stay the same. Have you been reading the threads regarding the change in ticket prices on the Theme Park thread?

 

[starry_solo]

For this trip:
"Trip from 1/1/19 to 1/7/19 - this schedule automatically knock off Gold pass as option"

Did you tell the guide you want that trip? Since you bought direct, they can do a little magic and get you that first trip even though it's probably sold out.

 

[fumipappa]

Thank you all for replying back!

For this trip:
"Trip from 1/1/19 to 1/7/19 - this schedule automatically knock off Gold pass as option"

Did you tell the guide you want that trip? Since you bought direct, they can do a little magic and get you that first trip even though it's probably sold out.

Oh, I probably did not explain clearly. I got the room at BLT during that time. As you mentioned, yes, guest service made a little magic for us!

They should have you in MDE as a DVC member direct purchaser. So a digital version should work.

They can do all the upgrading to the AP's at the same time while you stand there but they have to process it one at a time.

I have upgraded existing UT tickets multiple times and never had them lose fastpasses. If you are paranoid as a just in case you could always screenshot or print out your FP's before you upgrade.

I do not see why it would not work. But I do not have personal experience. I have had AP's and upgraded existing tickets for years, but just became DVC this year. You might want to post on the Theme Parks board. There is a thread going on right now with AP issues. Someone there might be able to help/give you additional or different information.

Good luck.

Thank you for confirming about FP. I now feel better as my kids do not have to prepare for yelling/kicking me

Congratulations! We love and use our DVC.

There will be new ticket prices beginning October 16 so not sure your numbers will stay the same. Have you been reading the threads regarding the change in ticket prices on the Theme Park thread?

Yes, I saw that ticket price change info and I am expecting the number will be changed. But general concept is probably OK as kmc8826 mentioned. Thank you so much for info.

You could consider upgrading only one person in your travel party to a platinum AP on arrival to get the food/merchandise discounts for the trip. Then at the end of your trip upgrade everyone else to the Gold AP (which covers your late August trip). This means going to guest services twice though. So it's a bit of added hassle.

Actually, this method may save a bit more as we can get away from black out date of Gold pass. I reconsider the number. Thank you so much!