Upgrade To AP? Thoughts.

[Scar1199]

So my wife is going to Orlando for a conference in October and staying an extra 3 days to go to Disney. She bought a 3 day hopper. As a family, we're heading down to Disney in March for 9 nights. We don't do any package, we'll get the Canadian tickets and a room only reservation. I'm wondering if it makes sense for my wife to upgrade her ticket in October to an AP. I know the are discounts on food and souveniers, just wondering if AP discounts on rooms is better than the usual room discounts for the spring or any bounceback offer she might be able to get in October.

 

[mco65]

What kind of a discount do you get to upgrade a current multi-day ticket to an AP? I ask because my wife wanted me to purchase APs for this upcoming trip but in the end, i could not swing it so we simply purchased the multi day ticket in a package...

We hope to go again next summer (July) and my wife was hoping to go this winter for the marathon...

 

[loves to dive]

I always tell people don't upgrade to an AP unless the price of the actual tickets is less, don't do it for any discounts because they are not guaranteed. I've had one for 5 years and I've used the room discount maybe twice, otherwise the general discount was just as good or even better when stacked with an Orbitz discount. The merchandise discounts are nice but not worth upgrading for and the restaurant discounts are a moving target. If you never get park hoppers, take the price of non hoppers for how many days you are going to be there and get whichever one is less. If you plan on buying memory maker, factor that into your math because it's included in the AP. If you plan on getting hoppers, use that price. If you aren't staying on site, also factor in the price of parking since that's included in the AP as well.

 

[Scar1199]

I always tell people don't upgrade to an AP unless the price of the actual tickets is less, don't do it for any discounts because they are not guaranteed. I've had one for 5 years and I've used the room discount maybe twice, otherwise the general discount was just as good or even better when stacked with an Orbitz discount. The merchandise discounts are nice but not worth upgrading for and the restaurant discounts are a moving target. If you never get park hoppers, take the price of non hoppers for how many days you are going to be there and get whichever one is less. If you plan on buying memory maker, factor that into your math because it's included in the AP. If you plan on getting hoppers, use that price. If you aren't staying on site, also factor in the price of parking since that's included in the AP as well.

Thank you. We always get hoppers and just playing around with the numbers this morning it looks like the cost of her 3 day in October plus what she'd pay for a 9 day in March are about the same price as an AP. We never get photopass but would use it if it's included. I guess I'll wait and see what they say the cost would be to upgrade when she goes in October.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Thank you. We always get hoppers and just playing around with the numbers this morning it looks like the cost of her 3 day in October plus what she'd pay for a 9 day in March are about the same price as an AP. We never get photopass but would use it if it's included. I guess I'll wait and see what they say the cost would be to upgrade when she goes in October.

In this case my decision would be to get the AP -- she will pay the difference between what she has now and what the cost of the AP is the day she does the upgrade. You'll have access to any of the discounts for the entire year and if the cost difference is even close to a wash ANY discount is better than nothing. Show that card everywhere -- including the resort gift shop when you buy a bottle of water! The photopass is great to have if you're a family that likes to share picture on social media -- you're even able to do that while on-site.

 

[Scar1199]

What kind of a discount do you get to upgrade a current multi-day ticket to an AP? I ask because my wife wanted me to purchase APs for this upcoming trip but in the end, i could not swing it so we simply purchased the multi day ticket in a package...

We hope to go again next summer (July) and my wife was hoping to go this winter for the marathon...

I think you'd have to figure out how much tickets would cost for your trips and if it's more than $850 per person, which is a Platinum AP then go with an AP. I'm only upgrading my wife to an AP as I read somewhere that it's good for a group up to 4 people including the AP holder. So we'll get the discounts with only the one AP. This is all new to me, so I'm figuring it out as I go.

 

[Scar1199]

In this case my decision would be to get the AP -- she will pay the difference between what she has now and what the cost of the AP is the day she does the upgrade. You'll have access to any of the discounts for the entire year and if the cost difference is even close to a wash ANY discount is better than nothing. Show that card everywhere -- including the resort gift shop when you buy a bottle of water! The photopass is great to have if you're a family that likes to share picture on social media -- you're even able to do that while on-site.

That's what I was thinking, if it's basically the same price, why not take advantage of any discount and photopass.