What's Wrong With Just Buying Your AP When You Get There?

[WDW*Dreamer]

My family will be making our first trip to “The World” as DVC members next month . We have decided to go the annual pass route. We know we will be making at least 3 trips in the next 12 months, so the math works out best with the AP…the DVC discount makes things all that much better.

I’ve never purchased an AP before. Is there any reason NOT to simply go to Guest Relations our first day there and buy our passes? I see all the posts about vouchers and trading up tickets, etc. I don’t really understand all this. If there’s a better way to purchase your Annual Passes other than simply showing up at the park and buying them, I would appreciate it if someone would let me in on the secret.

Thanks,

 

[tjkraz]

Unless you hear about a price increase shortly before your trip, there is no reason to buy AP vouchers in advance.

Some people like to play games with MYW tickets purchased in advance which are later upgraded to APs. Not really my thing.

 

[jekjones1558]

I'm with Tim. You can save a few bucks by buying a discount MYW ticket, using it one day, then taking the used ticket to Guest Relations and upgrading to an AP with DVC discount. I am a coupon clipper and like to save money but when I buy an AP I just go to Guest Relations and buy it. I have sometimes bought vouchers for APs with the DVC discount ahead of time to avoid an upcoming price in tickets.

 

[erionm]

Some people also spread out the cost of purchasing multiple APs by buying one exchange voucher a month.

 

[Greatfalls]

BTW -- You can now buy APs at the concierge desk of any DVC resort, so you don't have to go to guest relations.

 

[tea pot]

You can certainly buy your annual pass at the gate and we often do this.

The only time/reason to buy ahead is to lock in a lower price,
for example Disney usually increase it's annual pass rates in August
so if you were planning on visiting in the Sept or Oct you can save $
if you buy on the phone from MS esp. if you are buying passes for the whole family.

Trading in the vouchers at Guest Relations is not a big deal
you simply give them the bright colored cards they send you and show your ID
and they hand you your annual pass.

Congrats and Welcome to the DVC Family

Wishing you many Magical Vacations Welcome Home

 

[Simba's Mom]

We always buy our APs when we get there. To us, there are very good reasons NOT to get them by mail, as we learned. We ordered them by phone, and they sent us the wrong ones (Florida residents passes, mailed to Texas?). So we had to send them back and hope they sent us the correct ones in time.

 

[kent285]

I just like having them paid for before I get there-plus I used my Disney Redemtion Dollars and now have one less thing to take down with me.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

For the first time I think we'll be getting park tickets and then upgrading to the pass. We'll be doing that because we arrive early evening and DH likes to start out the trip with a visit to a park so I figure if we have the ticket in hand then it's less time to get in.

 

[szymcl]

I am trying the buy the UT tickets and upgrading in a few weeks. Same reason as above, I want to go right to a park as soon as I get there. I seem to always get in a REALLY SLOW line when I buy my annual passes, hopefully this way I can time my upgrade to when there is no line...
Of course if I can really save some money that would be nice too...Hope it works!

 

[psac]

BTW -- You can now buy APs at the concierge desk of any DVC resort, so you don't have to go to guest relations.

Wow! This is good to know. Can you get the Tables In Wonderland card at the concierge desks as well?

 

[bangzoom6877]

Our last trip was in July 2010. Originally, we had purchased 7-day base tickets from UT a year before our trip, because the price usually goes up at the beginning of August and we wanted to lock in the lower price. We were also going to do the DDP. That was the plan, and then that changed...

A few months later, DH and I were figuring out our dining ADRs (I am up at the crack of dawn at the 180-day mark to make our ADRs!!), and we realized that we had a lot more TS meals than CS, and the basic DDP wouldn't fit into our plans. And the deluxe plan was too many meals and snacks. So, I did the math and DH and I discovered that if I upgraded just my ticket to an AP with the DVC discount, and purchase the TiW card, we would spend less money than the original plan. So, we checked in at BWV, and then I walked over to Epcot (took about 5 minutes but I am a fast walker...could take up to 10 minutes walking slower). I had asked about this on the boards and was told that if I enter the park with my 7-day MYW base ticket first, and then exit and go to Guest Relations, I would only pay the difference between the current WDW ticket price and the AP price...so I saved even more because I had paid LESS for the ticket through UT the year before.

So, that's what I did and it worked out great. We spent less money between the AP upgrade, buying the TiW card and paying for food as we went along, than we would have spent if we had gotten the DDP and paid OOP for the extra TS meals. We also paid less than we would have if we had gotten the deluxe dining plan. I am going to buy another AP for our summer 2012 trip, and buy the TiW card again. We loved the freedom to order whatever we wanted, and the 20% discount on alcohol was an added bonus, since we sometimes like a glass of wine or a cocktail with dinner. In addition, they add an automatic 18% gratuity when using the TiW card, so we didn't have to figure out how much to tip. We just gave extra when the service was exceptional.

 

[bumbershoot]

There's nothing wrong with doing it that way.



We weren't totally sure if we were getting APs. So we bought 7 day base tickets from undercovertourist (at a discount). A few days into the trip we knew we would come back in under a year, so went and upgraded. Saved $90 total by upgrading the already-used discounted ticket to a DVC AP vs buying the DVC AP at the start.

Keeping the discount is their policy, it's not a loophole, so I didn't think twice about doing it. I feel bad for the people who upgrade who get bad CMs who don't know policy and can't read the posted policy, but I didn't get one of those CMs.

 

[Eeyorerocks!]

BTW -- You can now buy APs at the concierge desk of any DVC resort, so you don't have to go to guest relations.

We did this a couple weeks ago at BCV, and it was a great experience! Beats waiting on line at Guest Relations. My family relaxed in the lobby while I purchased the APs

 

[Rest&Relax]

Wow! This is good to know. Can you get the Tables In Wonderland card at the concierge desks as well?

We just returned home a week ago from BWV. We bought AP at the concierge desk but we had to go to IG to get the TIW card.

 

[keishashadow]

BTW -- You can now buy APs at the concierge desk of any DVC resort, so you don't have to go to guest relations.

can you upgrade a MYW tix there to an AP during your stay, as you would @ the gates?

 

[TisBit]

can you upgrade a MYW tix there to an AP during your stay, as you would @ the gates?

even if you could, I wouldn't try it. There are enough complaints about CM's in the ticketing area's not doing it right or understanding the process, I wouldn't have a concierge desk that only does very basic ticketing and are usually doing other things (dinner reservations, show tickets, etc).

To me, the cost savings of the MYW to AP just doesn't seem to be worth the hassle, especially if you get one of those CM's or managers that don't understand the process.

 

[henderkm]

We upgraded our MYW tickets after we used them the first day at DHS Guest Relations. This must happen quite often because our CM seemed very familiar with it. We all needed to be present and DH and I had to show our ID's.

If you decide to do this, I would upgrade after you use the first time. That way, you can take advantage of the AP discounts as soon as possible. We saved quite a bit on merchandise during our last trip.

 

[Metsoskil]

I'm one that likes to "play games" and upgrade MYW tix to DVC APs. I get the MYW tix discounted through our local AAA office, get a Diamond Parking pass, and save a few bucks.

There's nothing wrong with just buying when you get there, though.

 

[dizzneebabe]

If you purchase in advance, you receive the vouchers which allows you to access the passholder website and Mickey Monitor online. Just a little added extra.