Silver AP renewed before new AP's required - Thanksgiving trip

[MARY-IN-OH]

Looks like I'm in the group of people who may or may not have trouble with a Thanksgiving Disney trip. DH and I are Florida residents, his AP was expiring October 5, 2021 so I renewed it on August 28, 2021. Online - and on payment plan. We haven't activated his pass yet.

The system won't let me make park reservations for him (not sure why), and I guess I can call about that. What I am more concerned about is the possibility I've been reading about here, that his pass may or may not be turned into a new annual pass? Could his pass be blocked out for Thanksgiving (in 2021)?

We have had POFQ booked since it was announced we could make reservations there. Since we did not make park reservations yet, and they're not "secured" in the system, is this what will happen? Hoping to get some insight from my dis group before I talk to disney (so I can be prepared to be upset). Guess we'll cancel if we both can't get into the parks, because I'm not going to buy additional ticket. Thanks for your input as always.

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

Found this article. But - Since his AP doesn't expire until 10-5, he couldn't activate the renewal by 9-7, so - shouldn't this be an exception? Guess I gotta call.

"If you have a pass that is not activated, you’ll want to activate it by September 7th to keep it. If you do not, the pass will be converted to the new Annual Pass system, but you will not lose any of the perks that were included like Disney PhotoPass or the Water Parks and Sports option (they will remain on your pass for free)"

 

[DavidNYC]

First - I'm confused by your statement that you "renewed" his pass but haven't activated it. My understanding is a renewed pass just continues - it doesn't get reactivated and just starts the day after the prior one expires.

But - there have been several reports with glitches in the system when you are putting people in your party with a combination of activated, unactivated, unrenewed, etc. tickets especially when you're trying to make reservations during the next renewal term. I have 4 unactivated Silver Passes (not renewals - new passes) in my account and the system WILL let me make park reservations over Thanksgiving and still has a silver calendar online through next September. Have you been trying to make reservations for both of you together of have you tried separately? If you tried to make him a reservation for before Oct. 5 would it let you? Does the system show that he has a silver pass? I suspect that on October 5 (or 6) you will be able to make the reservations for him as long as the system at least recognizes he has renewed his pass.

And yes - it sounds like they are trying to convert unactivated legacy passes to the new system. However - as a legal matter - if you have a silver pass, and the system says you have a silver pass, and they tell you online you can make a reservation for a certain day, and they actually give you a reservation for that day, they cannot once you show up tell you you cannot use the ticket that day. That ship has sailed for them. The time for them to have done that was before they offered you the reservation for that day and affimatively confirmed in multiple ways that you can use the ticket that day. Now - whether a cast member on the phone knows this is a different matter. But there have been several reports already confirming that if you have a valid reservation under old blackout dates, if they convert the pass they will, whether through a comp ticket or otherwise, make it so that you can use your pass on the days you booked. Once the pass has been issued however, I would suspect that you'll be locked into the new calendar for future reservations but even then if you can show you've made plans based on what the online calendar shows they may make arrangements.

Your issue I think is technical and not related to the possible pass conversion. But I suspect you may have a hard time finding a phone cast member that will know how to properly deal with legacy silver passes and the blackout dates on the system. You're not that far away from Oct. 5 so you may want to hold tight a few more days but you can give calling a shot.

 

[disneydentist]

Sounds like a glitch. He SHOULD have renewed with the same AP he had since he was within his renewal window and it was done before September 7th.

My Disney experience should show both the current (active) AP and the renewal, It will show you what each pass is. They (again) SHOULD be the same.

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

I shouldn't have said "activated" it... It is a renewal. So, that would mean that the "activating by September 7th" rule wouldn't apply to him. You have made me feel confident it's all going to work out. And, I will wait until the renewal year starts next week. Hopefully, that will do the trick. If not, I'll call. I'll pop back in this thread after it's all resolved and post how it went.

 

[T-i-double-guh-er]

First - I'm confused by your statement that you "renewed" his pass but haven't activated it. My understanding is a renewed pass just continues - it doesn't get reactivated and just starts the day after the prior one expires.

When you renew by phone or online, you still have to go go guest services and activate the renewal certificate before it becomes a usable pass. I just did this yesterday with my Gold Pass renewal. I had to show ID and proof of eligibility for the Gold Pass (DVC card or proof of residency) at the ticket booth before I could use my pass to enter the park. Even though I just activated it yesterday, it still expires in July, a year from when my previous pass did. At the window, the cast member made sure to explain my Gold Pass renewal, which was backdated to July, would be converted to a Sorcer Pass with the new blockout dates.

 

[DavidNYC]

When you renew by phone or online, you still have to go go guest services and activate the renewal certificate before it becomes a usable pass. I just did this yesterday with my Gold Pass renewal. I had to show ID and proof of eligibility for the Gold Pass (DVC card or proof of residency) at the ticket booth before I could use my pass to enter the park. Even though I just activated it yesterday, it still expires in July, a year from when my previous pass did. At the window, the cast member made sure to explain my Gold Pass renewal, which was backdated to July, would be converted to a Sorcer Pass with the new blockout dates.

Right - that's what I meant. Typically I think of "activating" as starting the clock on when your pass starts. With the renewal - you go right into your next period. I think Columbus Day weekend coming up may be one of the first major times where we have a silver pass allowed but new pass blocked out issue. Curious to see if anyone with a silver pass reservations on those days reports how Disney handles it. We'll see a lot more at Thanksgiving. My money is still on anyone with a valid reservation gets comp tickets for the days that the new pass would not work. I think the blackout calendars right now go until end of Sept. 22. Will be interesting to see if when Oct. and Nov. 2022 come out they make the silver/gold calendars match the blackouts for the new passes so they will have an end date of when any possible conflicts could arise.

 

[erionm]

When you renew by phone or online, you still have to go go guest services and activate the renewal certificate before it becomes a usable pass.

Online renewals which are only available for Tourist and FL Resident rate passes DON'T require activation before use (changed a few years ago).