Which ticket option is better?

[JFox]

Current AP dates are 10/18/17-10/18/18. I bought the Platnium Plus pass that was offered to DVC members.

Our next trip in January 2018 will be covered with my current AP.

The next trip is 11/18/18-11/24/18. Should I,

1. Renew in October 2018, and lose 1 month of access but benefit from the renewal discount. What is the cost to renew? Is there a DVC rate?

OR

2. Purchase another DVC discounted AP and activate in November 2018? Can I have one in my back pocket for a future trip? According to the fine print the first use must be by 12/31/2018.

 

[Phatscott25]

I think the answer would depend on whether you want/need water park or blackout date access for subsequent trips. Keep in mind that if you wait until October to renew you'll get the renewal rate but it will be much higher if you want to stick with Platinum Plus. If you know you want water park and blackout date access down the road, your best bet would be to buy another Platinum Plus voucher now before the promotion ends and then wait until your current pass expires to activate it.

If you don't care about the added perks of Platinum Plus then waiting until your pass expires and renewing it to a Gold Pass at the renewal rate will be your best bet.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Agreed. If you want the Platinum Plus again then you should buy a new one prior to Jan 3, 2018 that you would activate in November. If a Gold AP is ok then you would have the option to renew and go down to that next year or if your trips lined up so that you would get 2 trips with a new pass vs one trip with a renewal then you could be a new Gold AP next November.

 

[mustinjourney]

of course the Gold AP price is going to likely go up again sometime in the next 3 months -- so paying for the new platinum deal right now might not be much more expensive than the next renewal rate. The platinum cost right now is $559 + tax and the renewal rate is about $475 I believe (around $75-80 cheaper if my memory is correct).

Presumably the Gold AP renewal rate is going to be closer to $490 ($15 increase is conservative), so my guess is that your options are basically:

1. Renew at Gold level for about $490 when you go to renew ($70 savings over option #2) and your expiration date is October 2019.
2. Buy DVC Platinum now for $560 and get an expiration date of November 2019.

So first option you save about $70 but you're at Gold instead of platinum (might not matter at all if you don't go to water parks or have issues with blackout dates). You also wouldn't have to pay for the new AP renewal until October 2018.

Second option gives you a lot of flexibility and an additional month of coverage for only $70, but you would be paying NOW.

I would personally go with option #2 (in fact I made this same decision just recently -- although mine was more like 8 weeks instead of one month).

 

[JFox]

I do like the benefits of the Platinum Plus and the option of watermarks and no blackout dates. We have been known to take unexpected trips to FL so a fully active AP with no blackout dates is important.

I think my best plan is to buy another Platinum Plus voucher and activate at our November trip. It will cover me for our November trip, January trip and anything else I can squeeze in before it expires in November 2019.

Perhaps there may be another ticket option in the future.

 

[Peg]

I have a Platinum Plus pass that will expire December 27, 2018. My question is, if I buy the Platinum Pass that is on sale for $559 til Jan 3, 2018, can I hold it and use it to renew my present pass . Thanks for any clarification.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I have a Platinum Plus pass that will expire December 27, 2018. My question is, if I buy the Platinum Pass that is on sale for $559 til Jan 3, 2018, can I hold it and use it to renew my present pass . Thanks for any clarification.

It isn't a renewal then but you can hold it up until Dec 31, 2018 and activate a new pass. Your timing will have to be precise as you'll have to be there between Dec 28th and 31st to activate it. At least I don't believe they let you activate a pass when you already have one active.

 

[Peg]

Thanks, wasn't sure..That won't work for me as I will be there the end of Oct, beginning of Nov.. Oh well maybe there will be a new offer between now and then!

 

[ahen]

So our passes expire the 31 of January. So after doing some math I ordered the platinum passes today, we have trips planned for February, March and November so far and I am kinda planning for New Years. So I figured we would activate them in February.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So our passes expire the 31 of January. So after doing some math I ordered the platinum passes today, we have trips planned for February, March and November so far and I am kinda planning for New Years. So I figured we would activate them in February.

Did you do a renewal? It sounds like that would work for your trips just fine and would save you money vs buying a new pass.

 

[ahen]

These were actually cheaper when I did the math, I was surprised but I won't argue.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

These were actually cheaper when I did the math, I was surprised but I won't argue.

Ok, I'm confused. The renewal right now is $505 and change for the DVC Platinum plus - the same as a Gold pass renewal. The new is $559 plus tax so around $595.

 

[ahen]

So I saaved about 41 dollars vs just renewing them. Not much but it would pay for lunch LOL!

 

[supersnoop]

So I saaved about 41 dollars vs just renewing them. Not much but it would pay for lunch LOL!

You can get the renewal price on the platinum pass.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So I saaved about 41 dollars vs just renewing them. Not much but it would pay for lunch LOL!

Any savings is nice! But I'm still not understanding as a the new DVC Platinum plus pass costs approx $90 more vs renewing. While the special is going on you can renew to a DVC platinum plus pass for $505/pass. That renewal can be done from any pass that you have. Buying new DVC platinum plus passes would be approx $595/pass. The math just doesn't work in anyway that I can think of that it costs less to buy new vs to renew. Just wanting to make sure you were comparing the correct numbers and not something that wasn't taking into account the possibility to renew the Platinum Plus for approx $505/pass.

 

[JFox]

You mean the DVC special that expires 1/3/18? I can’t find that $505 renewal rate anywhere. My Platinum plus pass doesn’t expire until October 18 so I can’t renew now.

How long after the pass expiration can you access your Photopass pictures.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You mean the DVC special that expires 1/3/18? I can’t find that $505 renewal rate anywhere. My Platinum plus pass doesn’t expire until October 18 so I can’t renew now.

How long after the pass expiration can you access your Photopass pictures.

Most have to call in to get it. I called and inquire on the price back in October.

Good question on the expiration. I was thinking I needed to check that as we have a few picture we haven't downloaded and my pass expired mid-Dec.