Upgrading to Disneyland Annual Passes

[BrittNeal]

My hubby and I are planning a trip to the parks for December 19-20. Our plan has been to purchase 2-day tickets, one park per day (NO PARK HOPPER) and then upgrade to an annual pass at the end of the second day.

A couple of questions...As I've been reading about this I keep reading about folks upgrading from a park hopper to a annual pass. Disney's site says tickets must be "eligible" for upgrade. Are one park per day tickets eligible or do we HAVE to buy park hoppers to be able to upgrade?

Second, Saturday the 20th is a blackout day for the type of pass we plan to buy. What happens when we buy the pass? Will we have to pay the additional fee? Get kicked out ?

Lastly, I read somewhere that if you upgrade you have to pay the remaining balance of the cost of the annual pass on the spot. So this means we are not eligible for the monthly payment plan correct? Anyone found a way around this?

Also, for annual pass and parking would the best strategy be to just apply it to one of our passes since in 99% of scenarios my husband and I will be coming together?

Thanks for your help!

 

[figment_jii]

Which AP are you considering getting? The Deluxe or the SoCal?

If you're thinking of getting the Deluxe with Parking, I would consider just going to the Premium AP. The premium is $699 and includes parking. The Deluxe is $678 with parking. So for $21 more you can get an AP without blockouts and slightly higher discounts. Either way, if you're almost always going to be going together, then it makes sense to get one AP with parking (you don't need two with parking).

Disney's site says tickets must be "eligible" for upgrade. Are one park per day tickets eligible or do we HAVE to buy park hoppers to be able to upgrade?

It should be fine. There are some type of tickets (usually the complintary ones, the special event tickets, and a few others types) that cannot be upgraded. Standard tickets (like the 2-day non-hoppers) should be fine for upgrading purposes.

Though, if you're going to upgrade to an AP anyway, why not get a 2-day PH ticket? That gives you the flexibility to hop on Fri and Sat before you upgrade.

Second, Saturday the 20th is a blackout day for the type of pass we plan to buy. What happens when we buy the pass? Will we have to pay the additional fee? Get kicked out ?

This is open for debate at this point...there are some posters that swear you will get a blockout-style pass for the rest of the day so you can go back into a park after you upgrade. Other posters have said they were told/warned that you could not re-enter the park after you upgrade the ticket to an AP on a day that is blocked out.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3356480

 

[wdwfan22]

If it were me, I would by 3 day hopper passes ahead of time, that way you can go to a magic morning in Disneyland, then upgrade the end of your second day. You still have to pay the difference between your original ticket and the AP, so why not pay more ahead of time to get a MM.

Unless you are getting a Premium pass, then I would just upgrade or buy that straight away. I would give up 1 hr of mm to get 20% discounts.

 

[BrittNeal]

Very helpful information so far thank you! To provide more background...

We are going with family from out of town that are not going to be getting season passes, and are on a tighter budget. That is why we are choosing not to do the PH upgrade or do a 3 day to get a MM, just because they aren't.

After your suggestion I did the math and it does look like getting one Premium and One Deluxe is the best way to go financially! Exciting for me since I may have the opportunity to go more than my husband and this way I could be free of blackout days!

 

[figment_jii]

If you are going to get one Premium AP, then I would upgrade that one on the first day. That way, you can take advantage of the discounts on shopping and dining that come with the Premium AP. Given that it does not have blockout days, you don't have to worry about what happens on Saturday.

 

[BrittNeal]

I'm even thinking as wdwfan22 suggested buying the Premium pass ahead of time then we'll save $17 for that first day of parking!