Question about upgrading to Premier Passport

[jumpman23j]

I plan on purchasing a Deluxe Disneyland AP in the coming days by using the payment plan option. Well, my question is if I want to upgrade later to the Premier Passport and take a vacation to Orlando will I only have to pay the difference of Deluxe to Premier Passport up front and still keep the rest on payment plans? If that is possible than I plan to do it. Thanks. Sorry if it's confusing

 

[bumbershoot]

Q: Can I upgrade my Annual Passport under the Monthly Payments option?


A: Upgrades must be paid in full at the time of the upgrade transaction and cannot be added to a Monthly Payments contract. Monthly Payments will continue to be processed for the signed contract amount and current Passport expiration date will not change.


From the Disneyland AP FAQ page.

 

[glendalais]

It should also be noted that the Disney Premier Passport is not eligible for Monthly Payment Plans at either the Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort.

 

[jumpman23j]

So I can put the price of the premium on payment plans and just pay the difference btw the premiere and premium in full? thanks.

 

[ParkHopper1]

so yes, you would pay the difference between your pass and the premier in full at the time of the upgrade, your original payment plan would remain the same to pay off the original pass.

Keep in mind though, the expiration date of the new premier pass will remain the same as your original pass, you don't get one year from date of upgrade, still one year from original purchase date. So if your pass you have now expires in July, your new premier pass will still expire in July.

I recently also just upgraded my DL pass to a premier while at WDW...less the payment plan part.

...and FYI, if you are gonna upgrade at WDW, Guest Services @ Magic Kingdom is the only place you can upgrade with a DL pass. If you wanna save a few bucks, upgrade at DL before you go...if you upgrade at WDW in FL, you pay tax on the difference. I don't believe you do in CA.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Yes you can. I am thinking of doing this myself. My PAP exp. 12/23/11 and I plan on going to WDW in Sept/Oct. this year. I'm thinking it's worth it for the upgrade (about $250) and I'll just save my leftover days on my 10 day PH, with pluses, no exp. for another trip.

Last year when I upgraded from So Cal. to Deluxe I had to pay the difference, in full, at that time with the balance on my So. Cal. AP still being paid monthly. That's why this year I popped for the PAP not knowing until Feb. 2011 what DD's school schedule would be.

 

[Kathymford]

I feel like an idiot. I never thought of doing it this way. Even though we had experienced this before when upgrading from Deluxe to Premium. It just never occurred to me. Has anyone done this yet? Im curious what the actual numbers will be This really does seem like the cheaper option than 5 days of parkhoppers.

Also, how soon before expiration can you upgrade. Our passes expire in late Nov, and our trip to WDW is in early Oct. Is this going to work??

 

[Dizneydaz]

I feel like an idiot. I never thought of doing it this way. Even though we had experienced this before when upgrading from Deluxe to Premium. It just never occurred to me. Has anyone done this yet? Im curious what the actual numbers will be This really does seem like the cheaper option than 5 days of parkhoppers.

Also, how soon before expiration can you upgrade. Our passes expire in late Nov, and our trip to WDW is in early Oct. Is this going to work??

I don't think there's any deadline on when you can upgrade as long as it's before it expires. If you are going to WDW in Oct and your AP expire in Nov. it will totally work. We are thinking of going to WDW in Oct. and our PAP exp. in late Dec. It's about $250-263 to upgrade from PAP to Premiere. About the cost of a 5 day MYW with no PH or extras; a little more than a 2 day MYW with PH; or about $40 less than a 2 day MYW PH with Waterparks and more. Seems like a no brainer to me. (that's what I keep telling myself)

 

[Kathymford]

I'm with you. I was looking at 3 day MYW PH, with 2 days free, for $296 each through work, but this makes much more sense. Look, we'll be saving money!! And, no real excuse not to go again sometime next year if we find a deal on flights!! LOL!! so excited now!!

 

[Kathymford]

I just saw this on the "Everything About WDW Tickets" Sticky.

Once any level of AP has been purchased on the Monthly Payment Plan, if you wish to upgrade to any higher level of AP other than the DL/WDW Premier Pass you continue the payments on the MPP and pay the difference between the AP you are upgrading from and the AP you are upgrading to. For upgrading the Premier Pass only you must pay off the contract in full prior to doing the upgrade.

It was in the very last post. Looks like I need to call someone, huh? Thoughts anyone?

 

[Dizneydaz]

I just saw this on the "Everything About WDW Tickets" Sticky.

Once any level of AP has been purchased on the Monthly Payment Plan, if you wish to upgrade to any higher level of AP other than the DL/WDW Premier Pass you continue the payments on the MPP and pay the difference between the AP you are upgrading from and the AP you are upgrading to. For upgrading the Premier Pass only you must pay off the contract in full prior to doing the upgrade.

It was in the very last post. Looks like I need to call someone, huh? Thoughts anyone?

Yikes! That could be a deal breaker. I wonder why they do it that way?

 

[Kathymford]

So I chatted with someone from Disney (online) and this is what they said:

Because Monthly Payments are not applicable to Premier Passports, you may have to pay the full balance and the full upgrade. It would be best to check when you arrive at the parks to verify since upgrades for it are only available at Disneyland Park.

The policy on the Premier is different as it is also not available for purchase online. I would verify on the payment option when you visit the parks next before you upgrade.

Big fat boo. It makes sense though.

 

[Dizneydaz]

So obviously I wouldn't want to upgrade to a Premiere until the very last moment. Though that would still mean I would have to pay the remaining 2 payments (I think that's what I would have left) for the 2 of us. That's not too bad, I guess. About $140 total plus another $500 to do the upgrade.

 

[Kathymford]

You sound like us too! We are going to WDW in early Oct and our passes expire in late Nov, so it will work, and I think still be cheaper. I was just hoping to have the fancy pass for longer, and hopefully squeeze in another trip next year some time. Oh well. I guess the idea is just saving money...

 

[Dizneydaz]

Me too! This a.m. I checked out air fare to WDW in June but it's such short notice that it's really expensive. DD11 is out of school from June 1-July 10th. I would love to squeeze in a trip then but maybe it's for the best-it's so hot and crowded in June/July.

So then I was thinking if maybe we could squeeze one in at Thanksgiving time? We've been there once for the holidays (early Dec.) and it was great. But too cold for the water parks. Problem is DD would have to miss 3 days of school. Not having T day at home might be nice. I'm kind of getting bored with it. I see my 2 sisters almost everyday and my DM and I live together so it's not like I don't see my family all the time.

Then I was thinking about Dec. but DD's last day of school is Dec. 23rd...But wait, I just checked and the school calendar has changed. The is apparently a furlow week the week before. DD's last day is Dec. 16th. We could get about a week in before our AP would expire. This has just opened up a whole new world of possiblities!

Added-They are also now off the whole week of Thanksgiving! Wonder what the crowd levels are like during that week? Compared to the week before Christmas?

 

[Kathymford]

No clue myself, since this will be my first WDW trip. It sounds like it will work out for you one way or another!! Are hotel costs issues for you? Are you have DVC?

 

[MeredithRX]

Added-They are also now off the whole week of Thanksgiving! Wonder what the crowd levels are like during that week? Compared to the week before Christmas?

Thanksgiving week is very busy at WDW. The week prior to Christmas is much slower and IMO would be a much better bet. We went the week before Christmas last year and had a wonderful time.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

So I chatted with someone from Disney (online) and this is what they said:

Because Monthly Payments are not applicable to Premier Passports, you may have to pay the full balance and the full upgrade. It would be best to check when you arrive at the parks to verify since upgrades for it are only available at Disneyland Park.

The policy on the Premier is different as it is also not available for purchase online. I would verify on the payment option when you visit the parks next before you upgrade.

Big fat boo. It makes sense though.

We upgraded a DL PAP to the Premier at DL last December and are still paying on our monthly payment plan for the original PAP. --Suzanne

 

[Kathymford]

We upgraded a DL PAP to the Premier at DL last December and are still paying on our monthly payment plan for the original PAP. --Suzanne

That is the best news I've heard all day!