Upgrading to AP?

[Weisfam04]

For the dates I’m going the price for 4 day 2 park is listed as $366 whereas a seasonal pass is $349. I bought my tickets with 4 nights at cabana bay through Costco so we got a discount. Are these tickets still able to upgrade to a seasonal pass if we choose? I’m assuming the hotel wouldn’t be further discounted with the pass discount but we did book an additional night at royal pacific that wasn’t discounted so I think the AP discount could apply. I don’t see a downside to upgrading. Am I missing something? Not sure if we should upgrade all 5 or just 1 for the discount at royal pacific.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

You have to book the AP rate at the time you book the room reservation - it can't be applied "at the desk" when you arrive.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

You also need to check that there is a discount rate available for your date. The discount on hotels is like other deals that only apply to a limited number of rooms so they could be out.

But if you think you might get back to FL in a year and there aren’t any black out dates during your trip there’s no drawback to upgrading.

 

[starry_solo]

Did you buy a package through Costco? Can you cancel the package if AP rates are available? Did you calculate tax into the prices?

 

[Weisfam04]

Did you buy a package through Costco? Can you cancel the package if AP rates are available? Did you calculate tax into the prices?

Yes, yes and yes But it’s all hurting my brain at this point! It looks like AP rates aren’t available on my dates. I don’t think that we would return within a year. I’m not sure what the upgrade price would be since the ticket price looks higher than the seasonal pass price. I’m not sure if there would be any benefits.

 

[AJA]

Yes, yes and yes But it’s all hurting my brain at this point! It looks like AP rates aren’t available on my dates. I don’t think that we would return within a year. I’m not sure what the upgrade price would be since the ticket price looks higher than the seasonal pass price. I’m not sure if there would be any benefits.

If AP rates aren’t available, especially for the RPR night, and you know you won’t be back within the year then I would not worry about it.

If you do decide to cancel the package, make sure you get a hotel reservation first, you can use an AP rate if it becomes available, then show your AP at the hotel before you check out. Just get a hotel reservation secured first. You can always purchase your AP at the desk in the hotel lobby, you don’t need to buy it now online. If the hotel doesn’t have AP rates available and the rates are actually higher than your current package then don’t change it.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You can find out the cost to upgrade while you're there, and upgrade all if it is free / crazy cheap to do so - no reason not to, if blackout dates don't affect your trip.

For 5 people over 4 days, you might consider whether upgrading one person all the way to the Preferred AP is worthwhile - that will net you a 10% discount on almost all food / merchandise. You'd need to do the math on your expected spending.

 

[lisam70]

I upgraded my husbands ticket a few weeks ago at Sapphire Falls and because the ticket price was less than the seasonal AP I was told I had to go with the next one up which was still only $35 but just FYI

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If the tickets are less than the AP, they can make the exchange at the parks but not the hotel - I got the impression that is because they assume you want the refund. I suspect you can let them know you just want the AP with no refund and they could do it at the hotels. But you can do it at the parks regardless.

 

[starry_solo]

If the tickets are less than the AP, they can make the exchange at the parks but not the hotel - I got the impression that is because they assume you want the refund. I suspect you can let them know you just want the AP with no refund and they could do it at the hotels. But you can do it at the parks regardless.

Yup, plus you still don't get a refund at the parks...

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You can also mix & match AP types to balance out a "more expensive" ticket - I upgraded 1 ticket to a Seasonal AP & 1 to a Power AP for a grand total of $4.

Then I thought about it for an hour and ended up upgrading the Power to a Preferred for the discounts, because at that point it was only $40 to gain all the discounts - we saved way more than the $40 difference over 2 trips, plus a sneaky bonus day when I used the free parking!

 

[Weisfam04]

Thank you so much!

 

[ROV]

Hi! I've got a similar question and wondering if any of you have experience with this scenario. If we bought the 4-day park to park through Costco, when we go to upgrade will universal base the cost of our upgrade on the gate price for that 4 day ticket or will they base it off how much the Costco ticket cost (which I don't know the amount since it was part of a package)? The Costco package is a great deal but if my upgrade would cost $100 a person then other options might be better. Thanks in advance.