PAP's expiration - 12 months from??

[jcf]

I bought them online on 12/17 and thought they expire 12 months from actual activation...when I went to activate at guest services at MK on 12/26 they show exp of 12/17/13??

 

[drusba]

The one year period starts from date of activation, meaning date you pick up actual PAP at WDW. If yours did not do that, something is wrong.

 

[jekjones1558]

Go to a GR and have this fixed. When I bought my PAP at GR, the cast member made a mistake and had the wrong expiration date. I saw the mistake and he printed a new ticket.

 

[VLee]

Yes, it certainly pays to check the expiration date. When I upgraded a ticket to the promo PAP in November, the expiration date was actually August of the prior year!!!! Go figure.

 

[jcf]

I knew he was wrong...asked 3x too...

 

[jcf]

While after arguing with GR at City Hall...she said she would fix as a "one time exception as exp is from time of purchase"...

 

[Judique]

While after arguing with GR at City Hall...she said she would fix as a "one time exception as exp is from time of purchase"...

I think they were wrong and misunderstanding something.

If you bought online, they should be activated when you pick them up and be good for 366 days.

I'm glad you got them fixed.

On the flip side, I just purchased 2 PAP's by phone from Disney Ticketing a few days ago, as did many on this board. If they back date them to my purchase date, I will have missed a whole trip as I don't intend to arrive in 2013 (for my last trip on the PAP's) until just before New Years of 2014! That would make our tickets useless. So, there is a miscommunication somewhere.

To put in perspective, this promo was good for 2-3 months - from sometime in October until Dec 31st, 2012. That means all the 'temps' who work at Disney over the Xmas break had to learn all the ins and outs of new pricing, new rules for DVC PAP's and probably many other things that don't concern us. From personal experience of dealing with my own employees, there is a learning curve, and by the time the promo ended, there were probably a lot of CM's who hadn't even dealt with selling a PAP to a DVC member.

So, unless they took the time to look it up, they were going on the 'regular' rules for purchasing an annual pass at Disney in real time, which would have been the pass starts when purchased at the booth.

'We' (seasoned Disney Veterans) do stuff like ordering them ahead to beat a deadline, but in previous years I've only ordered a voucher to beat a price increase. Most of the time I purchase tickets AT Disney, which is probably the highest percentage of ticket sales - not counting buying packages, UT, AAA, or ML tickets. This type of transaction I believe is out of the norm for the possibly seasonal castmembers you may encounter.

 

[drusba]

To have two employees not understand the rule shows a slippage in basic training. The OP purchased via internet. The rule has been forever that a PAP or AP purchased by phone (or on-line) does not begin to run until you pick it up at guest services. Moreover, all Disney tickets of any kind have never started when you purchase them by phone but instead start after you get or first use them at WDW. In other words, the rule the two employees tried to create is one they could not possibly have been taught and they just made it up.

 

[Judique]

To have two employees not understand the rule shows a slippage in basic training. The OP purchased via internet. The rule has been forever that a PAP or AP purchased by phone (or on-line) does not begin to run until you pick it up at guest services. Moreover, all Disney tickets of any kind have never started when you purchase them by phone but instead start after you get or first use them at WDW. In other words, the rule the two employees tried to create is one they could not possibly have been taught and they just made it up.

Yes, they both made errors. Good help is hard to find, lol! You are right about how the passes work.

Too bad they couldn't just clone Cheshire Figment! Or make them ALL read his sticky! But my guess is most ticketing cm's are not retired cpa's - if they were it would be good for the customer and good for Disney!

But the lesson learned is if you don't succeed, try again. You'll eventually get a different answer.

I don't want this statement to be confused with 'trying to get something over' on Disney.

But, I imagine like many companies, Disney employees at ticket booths have to deal with people who expect extra or something for nothing. So, instead of looking at the 'mistake' the employees made, they may have jumped to the conclusion that jcf was trying to scam them and 'just said no' without even checking.

Case in point: I called Disney Ticketing to buy 2 PAP's with gift cards. I obtained my discounted gift cards legally and they should be good on any Disney merchandise, no matter how I choose to purchase it. The cards do not state that you can't use multiples by phone. MS just says they are 'unable to process' because of their system. So MS sends me to Ticketing, who is able to process such a transaction.

The first Ticketing CM says no way no how, even after I explained to her what I was told and that MS sent me to them. I return to MS with my story and I am told to try again. I also recheck the threads I've read on these boards. And I'm still reluctant to call. Because the first Ticketing agent made me feel as if I was trying to get some special favor done that was not allowed.

Later on another day, I call back. This time I receive the 'no problem' and all the pixie dust in Disney. I then felt good about my purchase.

So, I feel bad for jcf. I feel as if he had to claim what he bought and prove that he was owed it. And then the CM made him feel as if they were making an exception for him. Not good. Crowded room - everybody else listening to your business!

Maybe jcf should recount his experience in writing to Disney (not MS) so his experience could be used in training. Even Disney wants to retain happy customers. This will happen again to others....there's a whole year of PAP's to go.

 

[disneygal55]

We purchased our PAP's this fall and activated them on 10/25/12. I didn't notice the expiration date on the back said "expires 10/25/12", until I just happened to look on the back of the ticket a few days later. I went to guest relations at one of the parks and they had to issue new tickets. The same thing happened to our TIW card. By chance, I checked the back of the card a few months after I purchased it and noticed that it had expired...when I called WDW the CM told me just to bring it up to a guest relations window on my next trip...which I did. The CM's at guest relations should really pay attention to what they are entering into the ticket. I know that I will never leave the window again until I have checked all the info on the tickets.
Question....if the PAP ticket says expires 10/25/13 does that mean that we can use the ticket on 10/25/12 or is the last day to use it 10/24/13? We are trying to plan an October trip utilizing this pass.

 

[bumbershoot]

Question....if the PAP ticket says expires 10/25/13 does that mean that we can use the ticket on 10/25/12 or is the last day to use it 10/24/13? We are trying to plan an October trip utilizing this pass.

You can use it on the 25th.

The APs are actually good for 366 days because of that. 367 in a Leap Year.



OP that's awful that they made that mistake and were so lacking in basic ticketing training!

But "when I went to activate at guest services at MK on 12/26"...activation means *using* them. I assume you had used the AP to get into the park; that's activation. Assuming you did that on that day, it should have gone through 12/26/13. I'm sure that's what you did, doesn't make any sense otherwise, of course.

 

[Disneyholic]

Question....if the PAP ticket says expires 10/25/13 does that mean that we can use the ticket on 10/25/12 or is the last day to use it 10/24/13? We are trying to plan an October trip utilizing this pass.

You can use them on 10/25/2013. They actually give you a year and a day.

 

[disneygal55]

Thank you Bumbershoot and Disneyholic.

 

[MErnst]

Glad I found this thread....I pulled out my PAP's tonight to register them online and noticed they expire 10/7/13. I ordered them online in October and activated them on 12/1/12. I'm not going back until May...ugh!! If I call CM will they be able to help over the phone or will I need to resolve this in person in May? I can't believe I didn't notice the expiration date then!

 

[Irishmom23]

I also just looked at the PAP that was sent to me in the mail. I have not activated it yet, however it says it expires on 12/28/13. I bought it 12/28/2012. It is one of those plastic key card type PAP's instead of the paper type ones I have had for my regular AP. I plan to activate it on July 1 for my 4th of July trip and use it again in October, then again in March 2014. I will be sure to ask when I get down there

 

[jcf]

That's what I did. I arrived and went to MK guest relations and they did it wrong...went back and they said it is from date of purchase then went to City Hall GR and after getting annoyed with the girl. She decided to give me a "one time exception" and changed it to date of activation.

After got home, I emailed DVC and they called me back and were dumbfounded over how the park people got it wrong...it is from date of activation...I told them to inform someone in those areas to educate the people...

 

[MErnst]

I also just looked at the PAP that was sent to me in the mail. I have not activated it yet, however it says it expires on 12/28/13. I bought it 12/28/2012. It is one of those plastic key card type PAP's instead of the paper type ones I have had for my regular AP. I plan to activate it on July 1 for my 4th of July trip and use it again in October, then again in March 2014. I will be sure to ask when I get down there

I had received the plastic exchange tix in the mail....when I activated them I was given the paper passes. Makes no sense to me why the passes are paper and the exchange vouchers are plastic. I asked at the time and the CM said the paper passes are very durable. Right.

 

[Sammie]

I had received the plastic exchange tix in the mail....when I activated them I was given the paper passes. Makes no sense to me why the passes are paper and the exchange vouchers are plastic. I asked at the time and the CM said the paper passes are very durable. Right.

Actually that is one thing they did tell you correctly. They are not really paper as such and basically indestructible. We have never had any problems with them lasting.