Renewing APs & Purchasing new ones....

[MissyDVC]

I am sure this has been asked many times before but I searched and couldn't find an answer that helped me so please bear with me I need to renew 2 adult APs with DVC discount with valid until date of 11/30/07 and I also need to purchase 2 NEW child APs with DVC discount. These would be for a trip starting on 11/29/07. Do I buy the child APs now through the site and wait to renew the adult APs when we get there? I'd love to do it all online but I don't see a way to do that. Thank you so much for your help

 

[MinnieGirl33]

If you purchase/renew online you will be issued vouchers that will still need to be taken to Guest Services & redeemed for actual passes.

Given that you would have to go to Guest Services anyway, I would just do it all at once when you arrive.

 

[n2mm]

YOu can purchase the kids AP (not yet activated) through the DVC website. You can get the willcall certificate and use that to pick up the tickets. My daughter did it in August before the rates went up. She had no problem turning in the certificate and picking up two new passes. They are activated the day you turn the certificate in.

Renewing: You have to do that through the AP website. Hopefully your card is registered with the AP website. Click on renew and you can then add additional cards to your purchase. You can pay with your credit card or disney reward points (my daughter did it this way) and again you will be given a willcall certificate to turn in when you pick up your new cards. Keep in mind that your renewals will have the date of the day they expired. So that is important to remember. (BTW: make sure that the website recognizes that you are a DVC member. My renewal says "renewal DVC AP".)

I did the renewal (before the rate change) and have my willcall certificate to turn in next week. My card expires on 10/20/07, so my new card will expire on 10/20/08.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Keep in mind that if you re-new the AP’s they are immediately valid. If you buy new, then the AP is valid from the first use. Also, you don’t save as much as if you buy new. To renew for an adult the savings are $93 (basic AP) for a child it is $82. If you buy new, then the AP is valid when you first initially use it and the discount for an adult is $100 and for a child $88.

 

[n2mm]

It does appear that the OP needs her pass for immediate use, so renewing is the cheaper route for them. Buying a new AP w/DVC discount adult is $348 before tax and the renewal price for a AP w/DVC discount adult is $315. That is a $70 savings by renewing instead of buying new. However, this only works if you need your pass as soon as it expires. This is exactly how we do it. We go for 2 weeks every May and every October (plus a couple of other trips too). My pass expires in Oct, while hubby's pass expires in May. Our passes always expire after week one of our 2 week trip, so we always renew. We get about 7 weeks out of each of our APs, so worth it for us. Financially this works best for us as we are only buying one AP every six months instead of two at the same time.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Buying a new AP w/DVC discount adult is $348 before tax and the renewal price for a AP w/DVC discount adult is $315. That is a $70 savings by renewing instead of buying new. However, this only works if you need your pass as soon as it expires.

Your right, the renewal is cheaper - was looking in the wrong spot. However, the site I am looking at lists a new AP (Basic) is $370.62 per adult with discount and then the renewal is $335.48. Are the prices you have directly from MS?

 

[karrit2000]

Renewing: You have to do that through the AP website.

Not true. You can renew your AP with DVC discount at any Guest Services window at any park. Make sure you go to Guest Services not the Main Ticket windows. When they first started offering the DVC member discount the only way you could do it was by calling MS and waiting for them to process it. Things are much improved now but I always do mine at Guest Services at the parks. I also highly recommend not doing a renewal if you are not going to be visiting the parks soon after your current expiration date. The price difference for new vs. renewal is only $20-30 which IMO I much prefer having my year start when I first need the pass than having several weeks/months pass before I actually first use the renewed pass. Also in the past they would automatically charge you the fee for processing the renewal and mailing you the renewal voucher.

 

[n2mm]

Not true. You can renew your AP with DVC discount at any Guest Services window at any park. Make sure you go to Guest Services not the Main Ticket windows. When they first started offering the DVC member discount the only way you could do it was by calling MS and waiting for them to process it. Things are much improved now but I always do mine at Guest Services at the parks. I also highly recommend not doing a renewal if you are not going to be visiting the parks soon after your current expiration date. The price difference for new vs. renewal is only $20-30 which IMO I much prefer having my year start when I first need the pass than having several weeks/months pass before I actually first use the renewed pass. Also in the past they would automatically charge you the fee for processing the renewal and mailing you the renewal voucher.

Yes I know you can renew in person as we've done this several times. The OP wanted to do it before arriving that is why I suggested doing it online. We have done it both ways several times by several family members and yes doing it in person is easy too, especially when you have one of the one day tickets you have to buy with free dining to apply to the cost (done that too). I did my renewal by willcall in August the day before the rates went up. I always expire in the middle of a 2 week trip, so always need my pass for week 2. I agree, if you don't go as often as we do, you do need to crunch your numbers to make sure you are getting the maximum usage from your AP. BTW, there is no fee for doing willcall via the DVC website or the AP website.

BTW, when I said the OP needed to renew through the AP website, I meant that you can't do a renewal through the DVC website, you can only purchase new through them.

 

[n2mm]

Your right, the renewal is cheaper - was looking in the wrong spot. However, the site I am looking at lists a new AP (Basic) is $370.62 per adult with discount and then the renewal is $335.48. Are the prices you have directly from MS?

The tickets on the DVC website are prices before tax.

 

[MissyDVC]

Thank you all so much for your answers. Just to clarify....DH & I have Premium AP passes that will expire during our upcoming trip so we need to renew them. We also want to purchase Premium APs for DS & DD because we will be making several trips in the next year. I am a planner so I just want all my ducks in a row before we leave, if I can. So that is why I asked how it works and if I can do it all ahead of time. If I understand correctly, I can renew our 2 APs online through the AP site and receive our vouchers and then purchase the 2 new child's APs through the DVC site and receive those vouchers. Is that right? I am sure that, to some, this seems silly when I can just do it when I arrive since I have to take the vouchers and trade them in anyway. But if I have them paid for and done online, I can check it off my list and move on to planning other great things at WDW. Thanks again

 

[n2mm]

You can do vouchers for a small shipping fee or willcall for free. I've been using willcall several times this year and all has gone perfectly each time. For your renewals I think you can only do willcall, but for the new purchase you can choose either one. For willcall you will be receive a certificate after your purchase that you need to print and take with you. It has your name on it and a barcode.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

Thanks for the info, I was just going to post a question about this. I am going May 4-8th and my pass expires on the 13th of May. Even though there is a discount if I renew, I think I should wait because my next trip is not until September. So I will have a lot more time on my pass if I wait even though I have to pay a higher price. So waiting would be the best thing right?? Sorry I think I even confused myself!

 

[n2mm]

Thanks for the info, I was just going to post a question about this. I am going May 4-8th and my pass expires on the 13th of May. Even though there is a discount if I renew, I think I should wait because my next trip is not until September. So I will have a lot more time on my pass if I wait even though I have to pay a higher price. So waiting would be the best thing right?? Sorry I think I even confused myself!

I thinking waiting would be a money saver for you. However, keep you eyes and ears to the disboards in case there is an increase coming. Then you would want to at least purchase your voucher prior to a price change. I only mention it because this happened to us for our August trip. The price was rumored to go up a week before our trip, so we all jumped on the computer and purchased our tickets and saved well over $100 by buying before the increase. (We had alot of tickets to buy, AP, 7 days, 10 days for a big family trip.) If you buy the voucher your date won't start until you trade it in at guest relations.