Sorry...another PAP to new Gold "Upgrade" Question

[IloveDisney77]

Hi Everyone-

I do apologize for asking but just wanted to be able to confirm prior to heading down to the World in 5 days.

Question: My daughter and I each have the PAP that expire on November 27. I was about to to buy Memory Maker for our trip for $169 but did some research and realized that I think I can "upgrade" my ticket to the Gold Pass, pay the $20 upgrade fee, and then be able to have memory maker now as part of my annual pass. I guess my concern is that since my pass expires within 8 days upon my arrival, will they still let me upgrade my current PAP for only that short of a time period?

Thanks so much for any insights that you can provide!

 

[Pirate Granny]

The new pass isn't good until the day after your current PAP expires. They can't replace it...

 

[DebbieB]

You have a PAP, have you used any of the water park or Disney Quest options? If yes, I don't think you can upgrade to gold. You could renew as gold eff Nov 27.

 

[IloveDisney77]

Thank you both for the information. We did use the water park option a couple of times during our last trip so it sounds like I won't be able to upgrade the pass.

 

[erionm]

Thank you both for the information. We did use the water park option a couple of times during our last trip so it sounds like I won't be able to upgrade the pass.

I believe your only upgrade option would be the Platinum Plus Pass (equivalent to old PAP but includes PhotoPass downloads). Also, not sure if Disney would let you upgrade during the last month the pass is valid.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I confess I'm not a ticket expert by any stretch, but I'm not sure I agree with these assessments. I certainly thought you could upgrade or "downgrade" any AP to any other AP at any time within the normal time parameters. That certainly has always been the case. You certainly should be able to "downgrade" your PAP to a Gold AP within the 60 day prior or 30 after window. You just won't be able to do waterparks (on that ticket, obviously) AFTER your PAP is expired and becomes essentially Gold. Up to that day, your PAP is still a PAP regardless when you did the upgrade.

What did I miss? Did I just misread something above?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

You have a PAP, have you used any of the water park or Disney Quest options? If yes, I don't think you can upgrade to gold. You could renew as gold eff Nov 27.

Why do you think that? What does prior use of a pass have to do with an upgrade at all? Not sure where you're coming from here.

You can renew that PAP to gold right now (It's inside the 60 day prior expiration window). It becomes the rights of a Gold AP on the day after the PAP expires. Up until then, it retains all the rights of a PAP ticket.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I believe your only upgrade option would be the Platinum Plus Pass (equivalent to old PAP but includes PhotoPass downloads). Also, not sure if Disney would let you upgrade during the last month the pass is valid.

That would be true ONLY if you desire to continue to RETAIN the Waterparks use AFTER the PAP expires. Otherwise, it doesn't matter.

 

[erionm]

Why do you think that? What does prior use of a pass have to do with an upgrade at all? Not sure where you're coming from here.

You can renew that PAP to gold right now. It becomes the rights of a Gold AP on the day after the PAP expires. Up until then, it retains all the rights of a PAP ticket.

The OP is looking to upgrade their pass to one that offers PhotoPass downloads and want's that option to be in effect prior to renewing their pass. The upgrade of a current pass (Not a renewal) has to be for a pass that costs more than then pass they are upgrading from.

Renewals are handled differently. You can change your pass level at renewal time, but the new level does not take effect until the anniversary date of the pass.

 

[erionm]

That would be true ONLY if you desire to continue to RETAIN the Waterparks use AFTER the PAP expires. Otherwise, it doesn't matter.

The OP is asking about upgrading a current pass.

The upgrade of a current pass (Not a renewal) has to be for a pass that costs more than then pass they are upgrading from.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

You can upgrade from any ticket to any other ticket. The only three conditions that really apply are these:

1) You will NOT get a refund if the "downgrade" is to a lesser priced ticket.
2) With MYW tickets, water park credits are not passed to the new tickets BUT are retained on the old tickets for whatever the expiration was of that original ticket.
3) You will be given gate price credit as of the day you exchange your ticket (Think that's right. Might be just the opposite. That's changed over the years.)

 

[WilsonFlyer]

The OP is asking about upgrading a current pass.

The upgrade of a current pass (Not a renewal) has to be for a pass that costs more than then pass they are upgrading from.

I don't THINK that's correct. I may be wrong, but I disagree. If what you're saying is true, that's new.

You have ALWAYS been able to downgrade from a PAP to an AP. I don't see how this is any different.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I'd call MS and have them get ticketing on the phone and ask. My money's on you CAN do this. You won't get any refund on the difference, but I think you can do it.

This is what we have to deal with for them short-changing us under the disguise of different ticket names.

Can't treat us like FL residents when it comes to our benefit but you certainly can when it comes to our detriment.

 

[DebbieB]

Why do you think that? What does prior use of a pass have to do with an upgrade at all? Not sure where you're coming from here.

You can renew that PAP to gold right now (It's inside the 60 day prior expiration window). It becomes the rights of a Gold AP on the day after the PAP expires. Up until then, it retains all the rights of a PAP ticket.

If you have a MYW ticket with waterparks and you have used the waterpark option, you can only upgrade to a Premium AP, not a regular AP. The OP has a premium AP, I don't think they will let them "Downgrade" to a gold which does not include waterparks if they have used waterparks. This is on an existing ticket, not a renewal. At renewal they can do what they want.

 

[supersnoop]

You can upgrade from any ticket to any other ticket. The only three conditions that really apply are these:

1) You will NOT get a refund if the "downgrade" is to a lesser priced ticket.
2) With MYW tickets, water park credits are not passed to the new tickets BUT are retained on the old tickets for whatever the expiration was of that original ticket.
3) You will be given gate price credit as of the day you exchange your ticket (Think that's right. Might be just the opposite. That's changed over the years.)

Where in the world did you find this list? #1 may be technically accurate but would usually require some sort of management to process a downgrade. #2 is completely wrong. And #3 has so many "if's," "but's," "as long as's," and "only when's" that it's a terrible generalization to make.

We know that Disney will allow you to upgrade any ticket to an annual pass, and they'll ignore black-out date restrictions when upgrading. We know that Disney will only allow you to upgrade a WPFM ticket to an annual pass that includes water parks if you've already used that option on the ticket. In this scenario, where someone has an Annual Pass which includes water parks, I highly doubt they'd be allowed to "upgrade" (or "downgrade") to a different pass that does not include that ability.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

#2 was supposed to have been for the old non-expiring tickets. I forgot the clarification. the list was completely off the top of my head for things as they retain to this thread. I never stated it as gospel but believe most of it to be correct. I got off on a tangent that didn't matter relative to the OP.

I wish Mike was here (Cheshire Figment).

This person is renewing an AP within the 60 day window to an AP that costs more. I think this thing is being way over-complicated. It most certainly is a renewal... and an upgrade at the same time. This is not unusual at all.

The only part I'm unclear on is whether the benefits of the new ticket take effect immediately or the day after the old ticket expires. My guess is that it's immediate. I know that goes against what I said earlier but now that I think about it, it only makes sense.

I think this person can do EXACTLY what they're trying to do. I wish they'd call MS and ticketing to find out or post what they find out when they get there. I went back and ignored all the rest of the thread and re-read the OP and I'm pretty sure they can do what they want to do: Upgrade to Gold and immediately have use of MM. Somebody's gotta prove me wrong. Sorry.

 

[supersnoop]

This person is renewing an AP within the 60 day window to an AP that costs more. I think this thing is being way over-complicated. It most certainly is a renewal... and an upgrade at the same time. This is not unusual at all.

I think you're oversimplifying here. The trip starts in four days, which means the current AP is valid for the first 7 days of their trip. They can certainly renew the AP at any level, but if they want the photopass benefit to be valid for those first seven days of their trip, then they need to upgrade the current AP, too.

My guess is that it's immediate.

No, the benefits of a renewal are not immediate. The new pass type begins when the original expires.

Upgrade to Gold and immediately have use of MM

You keep using the term "upgrade" when you seem to mean "renew." There is a difference; a very important difference. And you're making it more confusing than it needs to be, especially since this is really a downgrade.

I went back and ignored all the rest of the thread and re-read the OP

The OP doesn't even mention a renewal. It's not a renewal. So, back to the OP; an "upgrade" from a PAP to a Gold pass is not $20. And it's likely not possible. The upgrade would require a "Platinum Plus" pass, which would probably be comparable to the cost of Memory Maker.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

We're just going to agree to disagree until an authority addresses the issue, if ever. We both think we're right and it's as simple as that. Unfortunately, I don't care enough to sit on hold and waste time at MS and ticketing as it doesn't affect me.

I will likely upgrade my family's gold APs in the spring to Platinums in the spring. I've already been told I can do this and that the blackout dates are gone immediately. I'm not sure how this is any different but again, we just agree to disagree. I could certainly be wrong. It won't be the first time.

The OP should call MS and get an answer, in my opinion. I do know there's some sort of window in front of MM relative to purchase v. use in a trip. I think it's 3 days prior to first use (purchase) so I wouldn't waste much time in doing SOMETHING.

 

[supersnoop]

I will likely upgrade my family's gold APs in the spring to Platinums in the spring. I've already been told I can do this and that the blackout dates are gone immediately. I'm not sure how this is any different but again, we just agree to disagree. I could certainly be wrong. It won't be the first time. .

Your plan will work perfectly as long as you're actually upgrading and not renewing. Annual passes can be upgraded at any point in time.

Our point of contention seems to be around renewal. If you renew your AP to a higher level before your current AP expires, what happens to your current AP? My position is that the current AP is still the "old" version; and the new benefits of the upgraded renewal take affect on the expiration date; the start of the new pass. You seem to think that the new benefits begin when you pay for the renewal, even though you didn't upgrade the current pass, just the renewed pass. Did I state that correctly?

Regardless, we won't find out now, since the OP isn't asking about a renewal. At this point, it's all academic.

 

[Kevin Hayes]

I do not have an AP. As a DVC member, if I decide to get one, at this point are the only two AP I could buy would be one that includes the water parks and one that doesn't? Is it as simply as that? There are no other "ticket" choices. Right? Thanks