Premium and Premier AP question/ Disney math help

[hurleysweety]

We'll be buying premium APs to disneyland this weekend and then upgrading to Premier passes in WDW later in May. I know our Premier passes will expire when the date we buy the premium AP at disneyland - not a big deal. We're just splitting up the cost over a few months, instead of all at once.

Just curious if anyone knows of any disney math that would be to our benefit or discount? Like if we purchased 3 day special parkhoppers at $169, would we get the full value of a 3 day ($189), or just the $169 applied towards an AP?

Only asking since last time we bought deluxe passes through costco and got a $50 gift card, and then upgraded to premium, using the gift card as part of the upgrade. Just me and DH, no kids, if that matters into your calculations!

Thanks for any help or advice!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

No deals on APs. They'll only give you the price you paid for the PH. If you want to buy the 3 day PHs to get your MM, upgrade after using your MM. The sooner your upgrade, the sooner you can get the AP discounts on food and merchandise.

 

[hurleysweety]

No deals on APs. They'll only give you the price you paid for the PH. If you want to buy the 3 day PHs to get your MM, upgrade after using your MM. The sooner your upgrade, the sooner you can get the AP discounts on food and merchandise.

Sometimes I type faster than I think. So I do realize that getting deals on APs is very unrealistic. But I saw that commercial for $169, and it looked like you had to buy it in advance, so I thought...maybe...but nevermind. And then also realized if I just have PH, I don't get my discounts. I must be running slow today - need.more.coffee! Thanks for your help!

 

[GrandBob]

I don't have anything useful to add, but I just wanted to say that we also got that Costco deal for DAPs. One of the few deals that were available to everyone, not just SoCal'ers.

It's kind of amazing to think of. At the time, DAPs were $269. So with the $50 gift card, the effective cost was $219. And that was just 16 months ago! Now they're $329!

-Bob

 

[Brady's Mom]

We bought our AP's with the same Costco deal and sure wish that something like that was out there now! We probably aren't going any time soon because of the construction and waiting for some of the new stuff to open - so I don't know if we'd even use an AP at that price. Oh who am I kidding - OF COURSE we would figure out a way to take some more trips and get AP's if we could get them at the former price!

 

[hurleysweety]

That was such a good deal...I also thing 2008-09 is when AP numbers really seemed to jump too. Before that, I didn't know anyone who had APs. Now everyone I've met who has been to DLR in the past 3-4 years had them at least once.

I guess we'll just be glad we're not handing over the $$ for premier passes all at once. I'll call that my discount.

Also feeling really sorry for the CM that will be scanning about 10 gift cards/reward passes from Disney and Visa a-la-Christmas...

 

[mydisneyobsession]

I'm continually amazed at how different the policies are between WDW and DL in California!

If you were going to WDW first, it would be possible to buy your tickets from a discount broker, use them once at the gate (to bring the ticket price up to current pricing) and then upgrade to an annual pass.

The CM's at WDW can "bridge" the ticket price, so that you get credit for the regular Disney price of the ticket, event though you paid a discounted price for the ticket.

I saved about $86 off the price of an annual pass this way in November by buying an 8-day, park hopper with no-expiration option from Ultimate Tourist, and then upgrading to an annual pass for another $11.72.

 

[cccdisney]

I'm continually amazed at how different the policies are between WDW and DL in California!

If you were going to WDW first, it would be possible to buy your tickets from a discount broker, use them once at the gate (to bring the ticket price up to current pricing) and then upgrade to an annual pass.

The CM's at WDW can "bridge" the ticket price, so that you get credit for the regular Disney price of the ticket, event though you paid a discounted price for the ticket.

I saved about $86 off the price of an annual pass this way in November by buying an 8-day, park hopper with no-expiration option from Ultimate Tourist, and then upgrading to an annual pass for another $11.72.

I was going to say the same thing. It is possible to save $$ if you were upgrading at WDW, but not possible at DLR.

 

[bumbershoot]

But even if you got that discount on the WDW AP, if you wanted to do what the OP is doing, and upgrade to the Premier at the OTHER resort, they'd still run into the situation of losing the discounts they had when upgrading to it at DLR.

Which is the situation we'll be in, if we can find the time to get a trip or two to DLR that would make the Premier worth it...losing the discounts (bought ticket ahead of time and got the DVC-cost AP) when getting the "big" AP.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

But even if you got that discount on the WDW AP, if you wanted to do what the OP is doing, and upgrade to the Premier at the OTHER resort, they'd still run into the situation of losing the discounts they had when upgrading to it at DLR.

Which is the situation we'll be in, if we can find the time to get a trip or two to DLR that would make the Premier worth it...losing the discounts (bought ticket ahead of time and got the DVC-cost AP) when getting the "big" AP.

As the other posters noted, you can reduce your overall cost of the Premier AP if you buy a MYW ticket, use it at WDW, bridge the price to the current gate price when upgrading to a WDW AP (which locks in the discount), then upgrade your WDW AP to the Premier at DL. When you upgrade to the Premier, you will only pay the difference between the gate price for the WDW AP and the Premier AP. -- Suzanne

 

[mydisneyobsession]

As the other posters noted, you can reduce your overall cost of the Premier AP if you buy a MYW ticket, use it at WDW, bridge the price to the current gate price when upgrading to a WDW AP (which locks in the discount), then upgrade your WDW AP to the Premier at DL. When you upgrade to the Premier, you will only pay the difference between the gate price for the WDW AP and the Premier AP. -- Suzanne

I'm not sure how the DVC discount works, Bumbershoot. Since you started out with a discounted AP, you might be right.

But with a discounted MYW ticket, this is what I'll be paying:

444.95 (discounted ticket)
11.72 (upgrade to WDW AP and lock in current gate price)
191.31 (Difference between WDW AP and Premier AP)
This totals $647.98 (rather than the actual price of $722.75)

There seems to be a loophole that favors people starting this process at WDW. I'm not sure how long they will continue to allow bridging at WDW, but it's a great money saver for people that are bi-coastal park goers! It would just be nice if it worked in the other direction!

I also understand that there's some advantage regarding sales tax if you upgrade to the Premier at DL, rather than at WDW.

 

[disneydenisel]

Is it possible to buy a WDW AP using our DVC discount (we are going in November), but get to DL in June and upgrade it to a Premier to use at both resorts?

I know this isn't the savings that I would get from upgrading a MYW hopper to an AP and then to a Premier, but since I am not at WDW until November, I can't do this from California. Can I only upgrade a ticket/pass that has already been used? In other words, I would order my WDW APs online and get the DVC discount. So the passes would not be activated/used when we arrive at DL in June...

 

[Disney Dreams]

Is it possible to buy a WDW AP using our DVC discount (we are going in November), but get to DL in June and upgrade it to a Premier to use at both resorts?

I know this isn't the savings that I would get from upgrading a MYW hopper to an AP and then to a Premier, but since I am not at WDW until November, I can't do this from California. Can I only upgrade a ticket/pass that has already been used? In other words, I would order my WDW APs online and get the DVC discount. So the passes would not be activated/used when we arrive at DL in June...

Okay... wait... I'm confused.

Are you going to DLR in June of '11 or '12? Which trip is first? WDW or DLR?

If I am understanding correctly, you are going to DLR first so you could use your DVC discount to buy a DLR 3 day PH. This would give you Magic Morning access. Then, upgrade to a Premier AP which is good at DLR and WDW. I *think* that accomplishes what you are trying to do.... but not completely sure. (A little confused.)

HTH,
Dreams

 

[disneydenisel]

Okay... wait... I'm confused.

Are you going to DLR in June of '11 or '12? Which trip is first? WDW or DLR?

If I am understanding correctly, you are going to DLR first so you could use your DVC discount to buy a DLR 3 day PH. This would give you Magic Morning access. Then, upgrade to a Premier AP which is good at DLR and WDW. I *think* that accomplishes what you are trying to do.... but not completely sure. (A little confused.)

HTH,
Dreams

Sorry to be unclear! DL is June 2011 and WDW is November 2011.

Looking at buying a voucher for a WDW AP using a DVC discount, then going to DL and upgrading to Premier. But the WDW AP would be unused.

 

[calidreamz]

I'm continually amazed at how different the policies are between WDW and DL in California!

If you were going to WDW first, it would be possible to buy your tickets from a discount broker, use them once at the gate (to bring the ticket price up to current pricing) and then upgrade to an annual pass.

The CM's at WDW can "bridge" the ticket price, so that you get credit for the regular Disney price of the ticket, event though you paid a discounted price for the ticket.

I saved about $86 off the price of an annual pass this way in November by buying an 8-day, park hopper with no-expiration option from Ultimate Tourist, and then upgrading to an annual pass for another $11.72.

I actually did something like this at DLR this past December. I am able to get discounted tickets through my employer. At the time I bought our tickets they were an extra $20 and $30 (child/adult tickets respectively) off the Disney online pre-purchase special. We entered the park with the voucher that I got at work and went to the AP desk in Greetings. They did not give us a credit for "full Gate Price" on the tickets, but the rather a credit in the amount that Disney was selling them online, so we ended up saving $50 between me and DD10's APs. While it would have been awesome to get full gate price which was more that 100 dollars more than what we paid I was very pleased that we were able to save something.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Sorry to be unclear! DL is June 2011 and WDW is November 2011.

Looking at buying a voucher for a WDW AP using a DVC discount, then going to DL and upgrading to Premier. But the WDW AP would be unused.

Okay... that was my guess.

Why not use the DVC discount to buy DLR APs and then upgrade to the Premier? I am not sure that you can upgrade from an unused AP. (You might be able to, I just am not sure because it has not been activated yet.) However, you could certainly do it the way I suggested. In fact, if it were ME, I would buy a 3-day DLR PH which would give you a Magic Morning at DLR. Then I would upgrade to a Premier as soon as possible on my vacation so that I could reap the benefits of the Premier discounts while at DLR.

HTH,
Dreams

 

[DebbieB]

The DVC AP is not considered a "discount". It's a separate type of AP. So you don't get the price of a regular AP if you upgrade.

 

[disneydenisel]

Thank you all for your help! I can't believe that I have still not figured this out. I am feeling unorganized!

Does anyone here think that a trip to WDW over Thanksgiving and then DLR over Christmas is too much Disney all at once? Or is that just a plain silly question to ask anyone on these boards since we all love Disney so much? I know it would never be too much for me, an adult, but for kids....9 and 12?

We are definitely going to DLR in June 2011, WDW in November 2011. The DLR December 2011 Christmas trip is now on the maybe list. Has anyone ever done both in the same season? We are then back to DLR in June 2012 and Christmas 2012. Next WDW after that is November 2013.

So the proposed visits look something like this:

June 2011 DLR
Nov 2011 WDW
Dec 2011 DLR *maybe*

June 2012 DLR
Nov 2012 WDW
Dec 2012 DLR

June 2013 DLR
Nov 2013 WDW

Seems like in June 2012, a Premier would definitely be in order, if I could make it last through the June 2013 trip. Am I making any sense ?

 

[mvf-m11c]

Does anyone here think that a trip to WDW over Thanksgiving and then DLR over Christmas is too much Disney all at once? Or is that just a plain silly question to ask anyone on these boards since we all love Disney so much? I know it would never be too much for me, an adult, but for kids....9 and 12?

We are definitely going to DLR in June 2011, WDW in November 2011. The DLR December 2011 Christmas trip is now on the maybe list. Has anyone ever done both in the same season? We are then back to DLR in June 2012 and Christmas 2012. Next WDW after that is November 2013.

So the proposed visits look something like this:

June 2011 DLR
Nov 2011 WDW
Dec 2011 DLR *maybe*

June 2012 DLR
Nov 2012 WDW
Dec 2012 DLR

June 2013 DLR
Nov 2013 WDW

Seems like in June 2012, a Premier would definitely be in order, if I could make it last through the June 2013 trip. Am I making any sense ?

Going to WDW and DL in during the Holiday season is a good thing for any Disney park fan. If you like going to the resorts and enjoy the magic, it is not too much for anyone if you go to WDW in November and DL in December.

I didn't do a trip to DL during Thanksgiving weekend, but I did do a double trip last year when I went to DL during the Holiday season one week before Thanksgiving weekend and then went to WDW the 2nd week of December. There might be other DISers have done this just like me, I think it is great to go to both resorts during the Holiday season the same year.

Getting the Premier in 2012 does make sense since you get it in June 2012 and then make it last to the June 2013 trip. You will have four trips during that gap. If you go to DL during the Holiday season in 2011, it does make sense to get a Premier for June 2011 to June 2012.

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Quick, slightly off topic question about the past Costco deal. What were the dates that a person from outside So Cal could buy an AP from Costco with gift card? A friend last year told me she did that. I was bummed because I couldn't replicate at the end of 2010, figuring it was a dead deal.