Premier pass questions

[usagibuffy]

We are DL pass holders, planning to upgrade our SoCal level passes to Deluxe passes in the fall when we renew. I usually get parking on my pass only, as I take the kids by myself and DH only ever goes with me. We are planning on a trip to WDW in January. After doing the simple math, it looks like it would make sense to upgrade me to a Premier pass (DLX+parking is $638, 10 day park hopper is $414, so $979 is less even without the extra discounts). I have two questions.

Does anyone know if Premier passes can be paid on monthly like DL's passes?

According to Mousesavers, historically there have been AP discounts on room only rates in January-March. Are these as good as they sound? We plan to stay in a moderate level resort.

 

[CassieF]

We are DL pass holders, planning to upgrade our SoCal level passes to Deluxe passes in the fall when we renew. I usually get parking on my pass only, as I take the kids by myself and DH only ever goes with me. We are planning on a trip to WDW in January. After doing the simple math, it looks like it would make sense to upgrade me to a Premier pass (DLX+parking is $638, 10 day park hopper is $414, so $979 is less even without the extra discounts). I have two questions.

Does anyone know if Premier passes can be paid on monthly like DL's passes?

According to Mousesavers, historically there have been AP discounts on room only rates in January-March. Are these as good as they sound? We plan to stay in a moderate level resort.

This year I have a Premier and I took a single 5 day trip to WDW and that made up the difference between premium and premier.

First, no you cannot make monthly payments on premiers. I'm not sure if you are upgrading a pass op that is on monthly payments if they make you pay the difference plus the balance, or just the difference.

Second, for room only discounts, the general promos ended up being better than an AP discount, but I was at a value resort. Either way, book your room at least 180 days in advance you you can take advantage of the +10 window for ADRs and change it if a better discount comes along.

Do keep in mind that WDW AP discounts in park are not the same as DL...it's 10% on merch and dining discounts are few and far between.

 

[DoughR]

If your DLR annual pass is on the payment plan, the difference you would pay to upgrade must be paid at the time of the upgrade and the monthly payments for the previous balance stays the same. I think this is true even if you upgrade to any pass like a Premium from a Deluxe. Speaking of which, I would consider a Premium pass at $669, which comes with parking. That way you'll be able to put a larger amount towards the payment plan plus I'm not entirely sure you can make payments on a parking pass if you go with a Deluxe. The discounts for food and merch are also higher for Premium at 15% and 20%, respectively. Once you upgrade to a Premier, you'll be paying the same price whether you started with a Deluxe or Premium anyways.

After tax the Premier comes to about $1010 so keep that in mind. You can upgrade at any time at either of the two resorts. I upgraded my WDW pass at DLR and it took about 30 mins so it may take a bit of time. If you live nearby DLR, I suggest upgrading before you head to WDW.

 

[usagibuffy]

Thanks for the info! Our current passes expire in July and we are expecting a baby in September, so will likely not renew our passes until October or so. We had no trouble adding parking on my pass with the monthly payments this last year. Even before we decided to go to WDW, we had talked about getting me the Premium pass at DLR for the additional discount. We go about every 3-4 weeks on average. Either way, the ticket for WDW would bring my ticket total over the price of a Premier ticket, so Im thinking I'll just upgrade mine before we go. Thanks again!

 

[cpc430]

This is what my family did in November for our Premiere pass.

We went to the DLR Ticket booth and purchased Premium Annual passes. We put them on payment plans for my family of 4. Once that transaction was complete, we immediately upgraded them to Premiere passes. We had to pay the different in full ($310 per pass, I believe) at the time of purchase, but walked away with our premiere passes that day and still kept the bulk of the pass on monthly payments.

You'll be able to log on to the My Disney Experience for WDW and link your passes before your trip, request your magic bands, and sign up for FP+.

It does stink that the discounts aren't as good at WDW as they are in DL but it is what it is.

 

[JW9DVC]

Also, if you are an owner with. DVC, we are currently getting a discount on the Premier Passport. Buy the disneyland premium and do payments and upgrade right away. Pays for itself in one 5 day trip. JW