Seeking Advice - When to Upgrade?

[egritz]

I purchased our 5 day PH tickets earlier this year before the price increase, We are 95% sure we are going to upgrade to Deluxe AP's + MaxPass for our family of 4. The question is when?

For our trip we plan to be in the parks Sunday - Friday....here is our conundrum:

Upgrade first day: Pro - we get the MaxPass option immediately, and our 10% discount on food can be used immediately.
Con - we can't use the Extra Magic Hour on Tuesday, we love that EMH! Our kids are early risers so it isn't an issue getting out the door early!

I'm trying to decide if upgrading early and getting to use the MaxPass for the first 2 1/2 days is worth missing early entry. I'm thinking it is!

Hubby asked about just getting MP our first 2 days (to the tune of $80 total) so we can still use the EMH on Tuesday morning, and then upgrade on Tuesday afternoon (which is what we did last time). He REALLY wants to do the EMH since we've historically gotten A LOT done during that hour. But I'm not sure it is worth $80 + the loss of 10% discounts on food and park purchases

We stay at Good Neighbor hotels so this is our only opportunity to get EMH.
If it matters, this is the first week in December.

Are there any other pros/cons I haven't thought of that we should consider? Would love to hear other Dis-er's thoughts on this. TIA!

 

[smartlabelprint]

I Think the way the new mp works you will get a better trade off upgrading your first day.

 

[azdisneylover]

I agree with Smartlabelprint. Since you are adding MaxPass to your APs, it would be a good idea to upgrade the same day, if not first thing of the first day to take advantage of the discounts and the MaxPass. You get pictures from the rides too with the MP, so, just upgrade first thing. Have lots of fun!!

 

[JeannieJay]

We upgraded right away. We arrived late Saturday afternoon, with no plans to go to the park Saturday night at all, so we just walked over and upgraded then. That was there were no longer lines the next morning.

 

[wdwfan22]

Of course, financially it makes more sense to upgrade right away. But I am like your husband, I like my MM. We are going on a Thursday morning and will upgrade Saturday afternoon after we use our MM. And we are even staying onsite the 2nd half of our trip, so it will not be our only one. But when I look at the cost of the whole trip, and I know what the crowds will be like my first weekend (btw, it will be crazy. I thought of changing motels and there is not one room available at the close motels on Harbor.), it is worth it to me to have an extra hour where we can usually ride most of Fantasyland and some of Tomorrowland.

 

[Kender]

I would upgrade immediately as others said. MP and the discounts have more benefit than the MM in my opinion.

Something you could also do is see if an exception can be made. I've never tried it myself (I now haven't gone with a ticket to upgrade in a few years), but I've seen at least one person mentioning getting a pass from the ticket booth CM that still gave them their MM even after upgrading to an AP. It never hurts to ask. Worst they'll tell you is no.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I would upgrade right away. To me, one early hour in the park is not worth the extra money spent on Maxpass and dining discounts "lost" by not upgrading earlier. You won't have access to early entry on future trips with your AP if you don't stay onsite, so you may as well start getting used to it.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

I agree about upgrading the first day. With the time saved using maxpass, you might not miss EMH as much. It's a serious timesaver getting on rides, have fun!

 

[tlcdoula]

Thank you for asking!! I'm looking at the same thing except I will be the only one upgrading so I'll be the odd one out missing on the EMH. We arrive Friday afternoon and are heading to the park as soon as we drop out bags off.

I can either upgrade then or wait till the next day after EMH but before our lunch reservation. But we will miss out on photo pass. Hmmm

Maybe I'll get a nice cm who will spread me a little pixie dust so I can enter with everyone for Saturday's EMH

 

[egritz]

Thank you for asking!! I'm looking at the same thing except I will be the only one upgrading so I'll be the odd one out missing on the EMH. We arrive Friday afternoon and are heading to the park as soon as we drop out bags off.

I can either upgrade then or wait till the next day after EMH but before our lunch reservation. But we will miss out on photo pass. Hmmm

Maybe I'll get a nice cm who will spread me a little pixie dust so I can enter with everyone for Saturday's EMH

From my experience you won't miss out on the PP - last time we did this I got the Signature FP SOLELY for the access to the FP pictures and when I upgraded, we got all our pictures back to the first day we were in the park & used the ticket. (last time we went we used our 5 day park hoppers Sunday, Monday, and EMH Tuesday and then upgraded and I got all our FP photos and ride photos loaded onto my Signature AP starting Sunday). So I *assume* it is the same still.

 

[egritz]

Thanks everyone for your insight! I like the idea of asking if there is anyway to get a single EMH when we upgrade...that is if I can convince my hubby that it will be worth it to upgrade right away (either on Saturday afternoon when we arrive or Sunday at our mid-day break).

 

[kristabelle13]

When I upgraded before entering a park in April, I asked nicely to the cast member if there was a way to use my MM about a week later - she didn't bat an eye and said "sure, what date?" And printed me a pass to show at the gate. YMMV.

 

[Athenaa]

We are going on a five day trip a week from Friday, and we are definitely using our EMH, as well as buying MP for Friday and Saturday. We will probably upgrade to an AP Saturday afternoon. Since I'm using my AP for another 5 day trip in the spring, I'm essentially losing $20 for the MPs (I will be spending
$95 on MP for the year instead of $75). If I can squeeze in one more trip in the summer, I'll get some free use out of MP. Since we will probably eat at carts once or twice on Saturday and Sunday (hello Turkey leg!), the savings lost on food will be minimal. Our big meals aren't until Saturday and Sunday night. So, I'm spending somewhere between $20 and $25 for my one EMH. Oh well. I don't think I'll miss the money, lol. I'd rather have the time in FL and TL. EMH is the best time in the park. It's beautiful, cool, quiet, and I get to walk on Peter Pan. I'm meeting someone there, however, and we are splitting a hotel. If my whole family was going, I might feel differently about it.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I would upgrade right away. To me, one early hour in the park is not worth the extra money spent on Maxpass and dining discounts "lost" by not upgrading earlier. You won't have access to early entry on future trips with your AP if you don't stay onsite, so you may as well start getting used to it.

My thoughts, too.

 

[Winnowill]

I agree that MP vastly outstrips one EMH. You can get more done with two additional full days of MP than you possibly can in any single hour (that just applies to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland anyway).

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I wonder if you paid for MP for two days and then upgraded with Maxpass if they would prorate it?

 

[starshine514]

Thank you for asking!! I'm looking at the same thing except I will be the only one upgrading so I'll be the odd one out missing on the EMH. We arrive Friday afternoon and are heading to the park as soon as we drop out bags off.

I can either upgrade then or wait till the next day after EMH but before our lunch reservation. But we will miss out on photo pass. Hmmm

Maybe I'll get a nice cm who will spread me a little pixie dust so I can enter with everyone for Saturday's EMH

Actually you probably won't miss out on PP. We just activated our 13-month APs last week and added MaxPass. Guess what? All the photos that had been active in my account for the past 13 months reappeared and were now downloadable! Pictures from August 2016 were even there!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I wonder if you paid for MP for two days and then upgraded with Maxpass if they would prorate it?

I think that question was asked in another thread recently, and the answer was no based both on CM info and what a person actually experienced. I believe it's also spelled out somewhere in all the official Disney fine print.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I think that question was asked in another thread recently, and the answer was no based both on CM info and what a person actually experienced. I believe it's also spelled out somewhere in all the official Disney fine print.

Too bad!

 

[egritz]

I think I have him convinced to upgrade immediately and ask really nicely if they can give us EMH tickets to use that week