Upgrading a FL Res. Seasonal Pass to an Annual Pass?

[Eljay]

I am considering upgrading my FL Resident Seasonal Pass, which is blacked out from June 12 - Aug. 19, to an unrestricted Annual Pass. My renewal date is January, so I have used about half of the pass. I have spoken to no less than 6 different people at Disney, including PassHolder hotline, ticketing, general info & reservations, often more than one person at those numbers. Here's the thing, they all tell me that the pass will be "pro-rated" but nobody can give me exact info on how much it will cost to upgrade. They all say, "Bring the pass, in person, to Guest Services & they can calculate it for you." I would really like to know whether or not the price seems fair to me, before I make the trip. Has anybody else ever upgraded this way? Was it worth it? I'd like to go possibly twice this summer during what would be my blackout period.
Thanks for any info on this!

 

[GoldenOldie]

The way they will do it is the same as when someone wants to upgrade an AP to a PAP. They will charge you the difference in price no matter how much time remains on your old pass.

In your case, the Seasonal sold for $199 plus tax and the Annual sells for $299 plus tax. So they will charge you the $100 price difference plus tax ($106.50) to do the upgrade and you will keep your January expiration date.

One other thing to consider when doing this: you will get free parking with the AP that you don't get with the Seasonal. That can save you at least another $8 per trip in parking fees.

 

[Eljay]

Thanks so much for the info. It doesn't sound like it's really worth it for me to upgrade. I always stay on property, so the parking fees don't apply for me. Somehow it doesn't seem fair that I had to observe the spring break blackout, but I would end up paying the full amount. I'll just have to go into withdrawal for 9 weeks until my blackout is over!

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by Eljay
...Somehow it doesn't seem fair that I had to observe the spring break blackout, but I would end up paying the full amount....

That's not the way it always was as I'm sure you know. But Disney caught on to the trick of upgrading a pass (SP or AP) with a small time frame remaining for very short money. They figured out that it was the prorating that got them into the problem to begin with so they eliminated the prorating on the passes.

It's the same situation if someone upgrades an AP to a PAP with only a few months left. They couldn't use the water parks, PI, DQ, or WWoS for the first part of their pass but ended up paying for it anyway.

Whether it's fair or not isn't for me to say. But I personally have no qualms with it as long as it's applied the same way to everyone as it seems to be.

 

[PartyofSix]

I have a qustion. I have family in florida that want to buy my girls ap at the florida rate for there birthdays at the end of this month.. I am afraid that the kids will not be able to use those as we are in georgia. So can anyone tell me forsure if they can do that and would the girls be able to use them. Thanks

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by PartyofSix
I have a qustion. I have family in florida that want to buy my girls ap at the florida rate for there birthdays at the end of this month.. I am afraid that the kids will not be able to use those as we are in georgia. So can anyone tell me forsure if they can do that and would the girls be able to use them. Thanks

The official Disney answer is that they cannot use them as they are not FL residents.

Now in practice, as long as they are using a child's AP (under age 10) the ID of the adult with them when activating the passes will suffice for ID purposes. Your family in FL just uses their address for the child's info.

Can this be done? Yes. Is it the right thing to do? Only you as their parent can make that call.

 

[CarolMN]

Aside from the ethical issue, I would be nervous about doing it - especially if your Florida relatives won't always be with your children when they visit the parks. If the child's AP failed for any reason and had to get re-issued or the CM asked for your ID, you wouldn't be able to show them a Florida ID. Might not happen, but if it did, I'd be just mortifed!

Best wishes -

P.S. If your family in Florida can't afford the regular APs, maybe you could offer to contribute the difference.