So how does upgrading to an AP work now with MBs?

[Stinky_Pete]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked and answered a dozen and a half times but I haven't come across it.

I have an old 6 day hopper that I purchased through Undercover Tourist. I've linked it via MDE, so I don't think I actually need it to enter the parks. But I want to upgrade to an AP while I'm there. So how does it work now?

• Do I need to take my paper ticket and upgrade it to a physical RFID ticket?
• Do I need to scan the ticket to enter a park to bring it up to current gate price? Or is it o.k. to just use my MB which accesses that ticket to enter?

I'm so confused...

 

[vicki_c]

1. No you don't.
2. Entering the park with your MB is the same as using the ticket at a park once.

It works the same, I think we did show the CM our tickets but I don't remember if she kept them or not. She took all our MBs and our IDs for adults and did the upgrade and then returned them to us.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Thanks! This is so helpful.

On my last trip they had just switched from paper tickets to RFID and magic bands. I had a paper AP and a magic band, linked to my MDE account, so I could get into the park with my magic band, then eventually upgraded my paper AP to and RFID AP. Just seemed like the right thing to do. Just didn't know what I needed to do this time with the whole upgrade thing thrown in.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

We upgraded 6d hoppers to APs in January. We researched and discovered some expected things and got our upgrades and some unexpected surprises. Our original 6d tix were from WDW, so I can't speak to the UT to MB part. Regarding the 6d to AP part, Guest Services wanted all of our MBs and all of us. (We are parents and two "juniors" over 9 so adult price but still kids except for pricing.) They wanted ID for adults. They did not get the date correct and gave one of the four of us a Florida Resident (restricted dates) pass. We don't know what happened, but we didn't notice the date error until we were home so we had to fix it on our June trip. We didn't know why one card was a different color until we fixed the date glitch and Guest Services told us. We had our original purchase information for both the 6d and the upgrade so we were able to get it all sorted.
Be prepared to have your entire party there to upgrade from 6d to AP, adults should have ID, and be sure to check the dates of your upgrade to ensure that APs expire one year from the date of first use of your 6d tix. You probably already know that you must complete your upgrade before your 6d tix expire - so do it on one of the first days your are at WDW. On day 7 your 6d ticket is dead and can't be upgraded - if you wanted an AP on day 7 then you would have to buy a new full-price AP rather than upgrading.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

We upgraded 6d hoppers to APs in January. We researched and discovered some expected things and got our upgrades and some unexpected surprises. Our original 6d tix were from WDW, so I can't speak to the UT to MB part. Regarding the 6d to AP part, Guest Services wanted all of our MBs and all of us. (We are parents and two "juniors" over 9 so adult price but still kids except for pricing.) They wanted ID for adults. They did not get the date correct and gave one of the four of us a Florida Resident (restricted dates) pass. We don't know what happened, but we didn't notice the date error until we were home so we had to fix it on our June trip. We didn't know why one card was a different color until we fixed the date glitch and Guest Services told us. We had our original purchase information for both the 6d and the upgrade so we were able to get it all sorted.
Be prepared to have your entire party there to upgrade from 6d to AP, adults should have ID, and be sure to check the dates of your upgrade to ensure that APs expire one year from the date of first use of your 6d tix. You probably already know that you must complete your upgrade before your 6d tix expire - so do it on one of the first days your are at WDW. On day 7 your 6d ticket is dead and can't be upgraded - if you wanted an AP on day 7 then you would have to buy a new full-price AP rather than upgrading.

Thanks for all this info and the caveats of what to look out for. I will probably upgrade on day 1. That's what I did last time and it worked out great! The CM at Epcot knew all about price bridging and his price was exactly what I expected so I was happy.

 

[vicki_c]

I agree to check everything you can before you leave the GR desk and know in advance the price you should pay. The upgrading can be a bit involved and we had a new CM that quoted me the wrong upgrade price at first.

Also,we had a secondary problem the following day, but it couldn't have been predicted or seen at upgrade time. Somehow she assigned a few of our bands back to the wrong people! We had a few minutes of delay getting into the park the next day and then later had to go to another GR to get that straightened out.

 

[jprieur]

Definitely make sure that the CM is well versed and comfortable with upgrading and APs. We were quoted the wrong price 2x and finally found someone at Downtown Disney GR that knew it cold. Its simple, take the price of the annual pass, subtract by the amount you spend on your current multi day pass. You would be amazed at how many CMs screwed this up and quoted over $100 over.

Once you upgrade, it should automatically be linked to your MDE (when you upgrade at GR they should ask for your Magicbands to make sure it links at the time of transaction), but if not just make sure you link the AP when you log on. Once its linked, all your Magicbands you have every had that are still on MDE will now provide you access under your AP - so long as they are active.

You still need to have the card for the AP discounts.

You will also have the chance to go on MDE and order new MagicBands that come in a PASSHOLDER box, with a discount card (the card to show for discounts) and sliders indicating you are a pass holder for that current year (note that some CMs will accept this for your AP discount on merch, but its hit or miss as official policy is a card and ID).

Hope this helps.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Thanks! It does help!

 

[ajworthy]

I am planning on upgrading our tickets to AP on our next trip. We have the waterparks and more option on our tickets now. How does that work when you upgrade? Are we still able to use the waterparks option on this trip?

 

[vicki_c]

I am planning on upgrading our tickets to AP on our next trip. We have the waterparks and more option on our tickets now. How does that work when you upgrade? Are we still able to use the waterparks option on this trip?

If you use any of the water park or more entries, you will only be allowed to buy an Premium AP, that includes those features. If you don't use any of them , you can upgrade to the regular AP but of course you won't have tickets for those plus items then.

 

[cubuffalo36]

We upgraded 6d hoppers to APs in January. We researched and discovered some expected things and got our upgrades and some unexpected surprises. Our original 6d tix were from WDW, so I can't speak to the UT to MB part. Regarding the 6d to AP part, Guest Services wanted all of our MBs and all of us. (We are parents and two "juniors" over 9 so adult price but still kids except for pricing.) They wanted ID for adults.

We will be going there in December with 6d passes as well. We were originally going to buy APs and use them in December, but without knowing what the AP resort special was going to be, we went ahead and took advantage of the free dining with the plan of upgrading to APs when we are there. Could you please tell me what was the difference you had to pay? We are similar to your party, Two adults, one child over 9 but our 4th is under 9 but am curious as to what the difference was that you had to pay.

We have been debating if it was worth upgrading while we are there, or possibly just buying APs on our next visit at full price if the difference we had to pay in December was not discounted enough since our next visit likely will not be until June of next year followed by a fall trip. So we may just buy them in June and have our year start then.

Any and all feedback appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Stinky_Pete]

We will be going there in December with 6d passes as well. We were originally going to buy APs and use them in December, but without knowing what the AP resort special was going to be, we went ahead and took advantage of the free dining with the plan of upgrading to APs when we are there. Could you please tell me what was the difference you had to pay? We are similar to your party, Two adults, one child over 9 but our 4th is under 9 but am curious as to what the difference was that you had to pay.

We have been debating if it was worth upgrading while we are there, or possibly just buying APs on our next visit at full price if the difference we had to pay in December was not discounted enough since our next visit likely will not be until June of next year followed by a fall trip. So we may just buy them in June and have our year start then.

Any and all feedback appreciated.

Thanks!

You will need to do some math. I think this link will give you access to the value of your current ticket, along with the cost of APs.