Tickets and Annual Pass Questions - Please add your ticket questions to this thread

[supersnoop]

I'm getting lost in some of the new requirements. I'm under the impression that park reservations are now linked to the specific ticket. If that's true, how might I best approach this situation?

I have old tickets (really old; several days left with no-expiration option) and I've made park reservations for an upcoming trip. I'm considering purchasing an annual pass. If I buy the annual pass, what do I need to do in order to ensure the old tickets aren't used and the annual pass works?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I'm getting lost in some of the new requirements. I'm under the impression that park reservations are now linked to the specific ticket. If that's true, how might I best approach this situation?

I have old tickets (really old; several days left with no-expiration option) and I've made park reservations for an upcoming trip. I'm considering purchasing an annual pass. If I buy the annual pass, what do I need to do in order to ensure the old tickets aren't used and the annual pass works?

From personal experience, i have the following recommendation if you do this. If you buy the AP, you'll need to get it activated, which you'll need to do at Guest Services (available at any of the 4 theme parks, or at Disney Springs). When they activate the AP, make sure they prioritize the AP to be used first. Are you staying at a Disney resort? If so, your park reservations should be tied to the resort stay. If not, I'm not 100% certain what happens to your original park reservations.

But please make sure they prioritize your AP properly. We had it done improperly at GS several years ago, and lost most of our non-expiring tickets. We didn't lose, lose them, they did still give us the tickets back. But not as the original non-exp tix, and if we want to use them, we have to go to GS and have them activated - we no longer control them.

 

[PolyRob]

I'm getting lost in some of the new requirements. I'm under the impression that park reservations are now linked to the specific ticket. If that's true, how might I best approach this situation?

I have old tickets (really old; several days left with no-expiration option) and I've made park reservations for an upcoming trip. I'm considering purchasing an annual pass. If I buy the annual pass, what do I need to do in order to ensure the old tickets aren't used and the annual pass works?

If you know you want the AP before arriving and won't be upgrading the old ticket to an AP, I would personally purchase the AP, remake all park reservations linked to the AP, and move the old ticket to a separate name in MDE that you still control. You can make a fake name like John Smith and just let the ticket sit there. As long as it's not a linked Friend or Family Member (with their own MDE email) you will retain complete control over the ticket. Doing this ensures there is no way the ticket will be used when you tap in since it won't be attached to you. It will be attached to another person in your account until you transfer it back. This is how I have my account setup. My family has had APs for years, but I still have non-expiring tickets that I got super cheap and never had the need to activate.

You can definitely ask GRs to prioritize an AP over tickets, but I have read reports that it doesn't always work which is why I go with the separate name in my account.

 

[KNovacovschi]

Do we feel like they will stop AP sales again? I waited in 2021 to buy my AP when I arrived and they stopped selling a couple days before. I’m upgrading in October when I get there since my trip package is already paid off and this is worrying me, a lot. I miss my AP and wish I would’ve renewed it at the end of 2019 but 2020 was a trip to Paris and only 1 trip to Disney so knew it wasn’t worth it but then the world came to a stop and neither happened. I’m also in Canada so really Sept 2021 was the real first time we could get to Disney since it all began. We went 5x between Sept 2021-Dec 2022 and I should’ve upgraded once they started selling again but we went to Romania for 2 weeks in June and I wouldn’t have gotten my moneys worth. Now I know I will get my moneys worth. I wish you could do the upgrade over the phone. My DH wants me to wait until there so we can put the cost of the tickets I already paid for towards the AP since the trip is paid in full.

 

[Portugal1000]

Can you still buy an annual pass for water parks only? Hoping to return next year for first time since covid. 14 day ticket prices insane so thinking skip the main parks as we just love the water parks including g those outside Disney. Thanks for your help.

 

[DJFan88]

Anyone here familiar with AAA tickets? I usually add on a package through Disney which is easy, but have the opportunity to take a quick jaunt down for a party and then an Epcot day. It’s about a $20 difference for each ticket. Then I guess I just link it up? Is that smooth? Then just make my Epcot reservation after linked?

 

[CarolynFH]

Anyone here familiar with AAA tickets? I usually add on a package through Disney which is easy, but have the opportunity to take a quick jaunt down for a party and then an Epcot day. It’s about a $20 difference for each ticket. Then I guess I just link it up? Is that smooth? Then just make my Epcot reservation after linked?

Yes, any tickets bought from an authorized reseller should be easy to link to your MDE. MDE will walk you through the process. I've never had a problem.

 

[DJFan88]

Yes, any tickets bought from an authorized reseller should be easy to link to your MDE. MDE will walk you through the process. I've never had a problem.

Nice! Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Mikey15]

What's the max savings people are getting these days "bridging" to an AP? Looking at my dates on UT & WDW I think I could buy a 10-day hopper through UT and upgrade to AP for about ~$1435 (tax inc.) versus ~$1490 (Incredi-pass tax inc.) but I wasn't sure if I was missing anything?

Thanks!

 

[Tom_E_D]

Can you still buy an annual pass for water parks only? Hoping to return next year for first time since covid. 14 day ticket prices insane so thinking skip the main parks as we just love the water parks including g those outside Disney. Thanks for your help.

I don't think so. The screenshot below is from a question answered last year, but I don't think anything has changed with regard to water park annual passes.

 

[h&D3]

I have a question about APs.... activations.... park reservations.

We will be going to WDW next summer, and I plan to purchase an AP for that trip before we arrive.

Just as in the past, I understand that once I purchase the pass, it will show up on MDE that I have a pass. Not activated, just that the pass is in my account. I will activate it prior to hotel check-in by visiting guest relations at DS.

Since my AP will not be "active" until we arrive, how do I go about making park reservations? (I'm hoping that they do away with the AP reservations before we arrive next August, but I'm not holding my breath.)

Will the reservation system know that I hold the "certificate" for the AP and allow me to make reservations, or does the pass physically need to be activated before I can make any park reservations?

Thanks!
~D

 

[PolyRob]

What's the max savings people are getting these days "bridging" to an AP? Looking at my dates on UT & WDW I think I could buy a 10-day hopper through UT and upgrade to AP for about ~$1435 (tax inc.) versus ~$1490 (Incredi-pass tax inc.) but I wasn't sure if I was missing anything?

Thanks!

Disney no longer "bridges" or brings a day ticket up to current gate prices. A ticket is minted the day it's purchased. You will get the value Disney was selling the ticket for at the original time of purchase. You could play around with the Touring Plans ticket calculator to find the "best deal" and then upgrade to an AP. You could also try getting some discounted Disney GCs. Even just 5% straight from Target with a Red Card would be more savings and a lot less effort IMO. It would also ensure you aren't locked out of an AP in the even they are no longer on sale by the time you take your trip.

 

[PolyRob]

I have a question about APs.... activations.... park reservations.

We will be going to WDW next summer, and I plan to purchase an AP for that trip before we arrive.

Just as in the past, I understand that once I purchase the pass, it will show up on MDE that I have a pass. Not activated, just that the pass is in my account. I will activate it prior to hotel check-in by visiting guest relations at DS.

Since my AP will not be "active" until we arrive, how do I go about making park reservations? (I'm hoping that they do away with the AP reservations before we arrive next August, but I'm not holding my breath.)

Will the reservation system know that I hold the "certificate" for the AP and allow me to make reservations, or does the pass physically need to be activated before I can make any park reservations?

Thanks!
~D

You can make park reservations on an unactivated AP voucher as long as it's within the 365 calendar days of purchase. Once it expires you would still get value for the old AP voucher, but you would no longer see it in your account and be able to book reservations on it.

 

[Eastern]

edited

 

[Sea of Progress]

On my last trip GS improperly prioritized some of my tickets so I now have a couple of non-expiring tickets that are in the system but not readily availble to me on MDE. I was told I need to go to GS on my way into the park and I will be allowed in, even if park reservations are not available. This seems fishy to me, has anyone else had this happen? I was given some sort of ticket numbers on a piece of paper so I have "proof". We are going in October and staying onsite and I wonder how/if I can purchase Genie+ for myself when I book for my family if I don't actually have a ticket and reservation. I was planning on waking at 7:00 so I could get our group a return lightening lane times for popular attractions before we get to the park (like for Remy on our Epcot day). Will this no longer be possible for me?

 

[Cyberc1978]

I'm considering buying a 14-day magic ticket, from a UK vendor.

Have anyone here recently (in 2023) tried upgrading or bridging that ticket to an AP? if so what was the price?

Just wanted to add my own experience of upgrading/bridging my UK 14-day ticket to an annual pass.

The day before yesterday I called DVC MS and the phone system allowed me to pick the annual pass option. Here I was denied an upgrade.

Then I called again yesterday and was told "sure no problem" and I ended up upgrading the ticket to a Sorcerer pass, and paying an additional $265

So if anyone wants to upgrade/bridge it can be done but you might need to call a few times and dont take no for an answer. Also I read that if you do it in person you might need to try multiple times before someone will/can help you.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I've read some conflicting information regarding activating an AP and I could use some updated information. My sister used to have an annual pass but did not renew it when it expired in 2022. She bought a brand new Incredi-Pass in April. We will be going to WDW next month, her first time going to the parks since she bought the AP. Does she have to go to guest services to activate her AP or can she just enter the parks without having to go to guest services first?

Thanks.

 

[erionm]

I've read some conflicting information regarding activating an AP and I could use some updated information. My sister used to have an annual pass but did not renew it when it expired in 2022. She bought a brand new Incredi-Pass in April. We will be going to WDW next month, her first time going to the parks since she bought the AP. Does she have to go to guest services to activate her AP or can she just enter the parks without having to go to guest services first?

Thanks.

Seems that those that purchased an AP after the last sales restart don't need to activate them first.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Seems that those that purchased an AP after the last sales restart don't need to activate them first.

I think this is correct. I bought my AP at the onsale date but haven't been to a park yet and when I log in to make hotel reservations it shows me the AP rate. In the past, you had to activate the AP first before hotel discounts would be available. It is still the case, though, that your AP doesn't actually "start" until the date you scan into your first park and then expires 365 days from that day.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

I passed on Memory Maker when I bought my AP in April but now would like to have it. Can I add it on for the year at Guest Relations? I am not finding success on the Disney website.

NEVERMIND, lol. I figured it out.