Trying to renew AP - Question

[southlake]

Hi all,

I am trying to renew my AP online, which expires Nov 27. The website is only giving me an option to ship a new card to me (with an arrival date of Nov 27, when I will already be in Disneyland).

I was told by a CM that Disneyland just renews your current card and doesn't give you a new card anymore upon renewal. Why isn't this an option on their website? Now I will need to stand in a ticket line at DLR to renew my passport, unless I'm missing something!

 

[Tyggress]

When did you originally buy your AP?

I had the old-style card that they replaced every year...so when I renewed this year, I had to go to the ticket booth to do it, in order to get the new card style. That might be the case with yours as well.

Does your current AP have an expiration date printed on the back?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Hi all,

I am trying to renew my AP online, which expires Nov 27. The website is only giving me an option to ship a new card to me (with an arrival date of Nov 27, when I will already be in Disneyland).

I was told by a CM that Disneyland just renews your current card and doesn't give you a new card anymore upon renewal. Why isn't this an option on their website? Now I will need to stand in a ticket line at DLR to renew my passport, unless I'm missing something!

Why isn't this an option on their website indeed? Because while Disney does a lot of things well, their website technology stinks. They will just renew your pass, and you will keep the old ones. You should currently be in possession of a pass that has no photo on it and that does not have any text indicating what level AP it is or when it expires and that does have an "8" as your starting barcode number. If so, then that pass will get renewed, and you will continue to use it. Disney will mail you a receipt and your 20% off merchandise coupon. Just did this at the beginning of the month. Very irritating how poorly explained the whole process is. I had a text chat with a CM to confirm that I would not be receiving a new card and to complain about the poor information Disney provides both during the ordering/renewal process and with the follow-up automated e-mail.

 

[southlake]

Why isn't this an option on their website indeed? Because while Disney does a lot of things well, their website technology stinks. They will just renew your pass, and you will keep the old ones. You should currently be in possession of a pass that has no photo on it and that does not have any text indicating what level AP it is or when it expires and that does have an "8" as your starting barcode number. If so, then that pass will get renewed, and you will continue to use it. Disney will mail you a receipt and your 20% off merchandise coupon. Just did this at the beginning of the month. Very irritating how poorly explained the whole process is. I had a text chat with a CM to confirm that I would not be receiving a new card and to complain about the poor information Disney provides both during the ordering/renewal process and with the follow-up automated e-mail.

Thank you for this. I do have the new pass, no photo, starts with an 8. So I should just go ahead and renew online then, and not worry about not having a new pass by the time I arrive?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Thank you for this. I do have the new pass, no photo, starts with an 8. So I should just go ahead and renew online then, and not worry about not having a new pass by the time I arrive?

It seemed to have worked for me. I renewed mine a couple of weeks before the expiration date. About a week later I received in the mail a receipt and a 20% off coupon for each renewed pass. That was what the cast number I communicated with told me would happen: "... you will be getting your receipt of your purchase in the mail as well as your coupon. If the current Annual Pass has an eight as your starting barcode number, you will continue to use that Annual Pass." When I look up my annual pass online, it shows next year as the expiration date. On what would have been my actual expiration date this year, I received an e-mail from Disney welcoming me as a passholder.

 

[southlake]

Thank you. What is the 20% coupon for?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Thank you. What is the 20% coupon for?

It's the one they always give with an annual pass renewal. 20% off a single merchandise purchase of $50 or more (there's a list of excluded items). It's a nice coupon for those renewing all but the premium passes; it currently doesn't mean anything to someone with a premium pass since they already get 20% off merchandise.

 

[southlake]

Ok thanks. I don't believe we've received one before and since we're getting the Premium pass we don't need it! Thank you!

 

[Sherry E]

I have to echo longtimedisneylurker's sentiment about being given poor information, or having it poorly explained by Disney. I just had to contact them with some AP renewal questions myself (I've renewed plenty of times in the past, but on this specific occasion I was doing things a bit differently and needed some clarification on the steps involved).

I tried the online chat feature on the DLR website and got the necessary info from the CM. There was something I didn't think was accurate in what the online CM told me, though, and I ended up having to call the AP folks to see if I was given the correct information. The CM on the phone gave me a lot of the same info that the online CM gave me, but also told me a couple of important details that directly contradicted what the online chat CM told me.

 

[Gisele]

Now I am confused.
The new annual passes don't have a photograph? So then how are you identified?
Is Disney finally using retinal identification scanning ? Because if so, that would be really cool! Or if not that, do they scan your thumb print?

TIA

 

[tarheelalum]

When I renewed our passes about two months ago they did not send us new cards. But when we first started using the passes we were not getting the premium discount. I went to the town hall and the guy I spoke with there said I was not getting the discount because my AP card did not have the letter D on the back of it. They replaced our one year old AP cards we were issued for our socal select AP's and given new cards that looked the same except for the letter D on the back. We now get the discount all the time with food purchases.

Maybe that is why they are sending you new cards.

 

[KatrinaVanTassel]

This has been very helpful.
Do you know if that policy still applies if my AP has already expired?
It expired in March and I'm going to purchase my new AP in December. Do you think they'll still allow me to use the same card?
I really don't want to wait at the ticket booth.

 

[Sherry E]

This has been very helpful.
Do you know if that policy still applies if my AP has already expired?
It expired in March and I'm going to purchase my new AP in December. Do you think they'll still allow me to use the same card?
I really don't want to wait at the ticket booth.

KatrinaVanTassel --

They will not allow you to use the same card, unfortunately. This was one of the things I just found out when I was asking about my own situation.

I normally renew before expiration to take advantage of the renewal discount. This time I wanted to let the AP lapse and start fresh with it in December, which works better for me than the previous November start/end date. My (now expired) AP was the newer kind, with no expiration date, photo or type of AP printed on the back of it, so I thought that when I get a new one I could use that same card, but I can't.

If you let your AP expire and then get a new one, you have to start from scratch. The online chat CM told me that I would have to go to the ticket booth to get my new AP, and that I would have to get a new photo taken by their photographers when I am there.

The telephone AP Cast Member, on the other hand, told me that I do not have to go to the ticket booth to renew if I order the AP in enough time before my trip. I can order online, set up payments online and even submit my own photo online. None of it has to be done at the ticket booth if it is more than 10 or 15 days before the date I am planning to be in the parks (because they have to have time to mail the new card to me). If the AP is ordered only a few days before I am due to be at DLR, I'd have to take care of most of the other paperwork, and the photo, etc., at the ticket booth and in the parks.

So a new card with a new # will be necessary. Can't use the same one. Try to order online, more than 10 or 15 days before your trip, if not earlier than that.

 

[disneychrista]

Now I am confused.
The new annual passes don't have a photograph? So then how are you identified?

They still take your photo but it is not printed on the card. It is linked to the card and shown on a screen when the pass is scanned. The same as they do with multi-day passes now

 

[SMD]

When my AP lapsed, I went to the ticket booth, they asked if I'd had an AP before, they looked up the address on my ID and transferred everything. I got a new AP and I didn't have to retake the picture.

 

[KatrinaVanTassel]

Thanks very much!
I don't want to order far in advance because I was it to be a December to December AP. Not sure if we'll renew next year but I'd like to see DL at Christmas again.

I think I will just purchase our APs online and see what happens at the ticket booth. Kind of annoying, but oh well.

 

[Sherry E]

My AP will be December to December too. I don't think it will be activated until I use it for the first time, but I am going to order it online, most likely, so I can submit my own photo and avoid waiting in the line at the ticket booth.

 

[SMD]

My AP will be December to December too. I don't think it will be activated until I use it for the first time, but I am going to order it online, most likely, so I can submit my own photo and avoid waiting in the line at the ticket booth.

Are you sure you're not just renewing your existing expired AP within the grace period? Usually if they ship you a physical card it's active when they ship it.

 

[Sherry E]

Are you sure you're not just renewing your existing expired AP within the grace period? Usually if they ship you a physical card it's active when they ship it.

Then it may be active when they ship it. They said there was no grace period (my AP just expired 5 days ago), and that I'd be starting from scratch with an all new card, but I wasn't clear on if it would be activated when I entered the parks or prior to arrival.

Either way, I will order it in time to be able to use it when I need to use it in December.

 

[SMD]

Then it may be active when they ship it. They said there was no grace period (my AP just expired 5 days ago), and that I'd be starting from scratch with an all new card, but I wasn't clear on if it would be activated when I entered the parks or prior to arrival.

Either way, I will order it in time to be able to use it when I need to use it in December.

Well, they may have done away with the grace period with the last price increase, but you used to be able to get the discount for up to so many days if your AP kept your original expiration. In your case I'd probably just go to the ticket booth. They can easily look up your old AP and reuse your picture. I'd rather have the new extra days on the expiration date if I'm only letting it lapse a month. But that's just me.