AP Questions from a newbie

counselormom

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Hello all! Some lovely person posted a link to AP resort discounts and saved me $1,500 on our July stay at Royal Pacific 🥳. I’m very thankful but now I’m trying to figure out all this AP business bc I was planning on only getting 5 day tickets. We usually just order from undercover tourist. So a couple of questions please:

1. Should I get us all AP’s , or 1 for me and the rest 5 day tickets? ( 5 adults)
2. Do I just order from the UO website and they will mail to my home or do I pick up at the resort ?
3. We were planning on getting separate 1 day tickets to Volcano Bay? Is there a better way? Will we still get in an hour early since we won’t have AP’s for Volcano Bay?
4. Do the AP’s start from the day of purchase or the first day in the parks? (Thought we might do a few days next June)
5. Is there a list somewhere of places that give AP discounts?
6. Do I have to wear a mask while I’m on the waterslide and when I’m eating lunch? (😂JK, I’d wear a helmet to the parks if they told me to, I just want out of this house!)

Thank You! I know it’s a lot.
 
I think given your situation, unless you plan to come back in the next 365 days, you should only buy the one AP. You can always upgrade the tickets before your last day if you decide you want to stay an extra day or plan a trip back in the next year.

The pass will start the clock on the first day you use it, not purchase it.
 


I think given your situation, unless you plan to come back in the next 365 days, you should only buy the one AP. You can always upgrade the tickets before your last day if you decide you want to stay an extra day or plan a trip back in the next year.

The pass will start the clock on the first day you use it, not purchase it.
Thank you for the help, I didn’t think about being able to upgrade.
 
I just used the above provided link (Thank you!) for AP holders-it doesn't go out far enough in advance for my planned dates. How far in advance are the AP rates usually posted?
TIA!
Also-can just one member of your party purchase the AP for the hotel discount?
 
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I called and they said new AP discounts would come out at or around when current ones expire which I believe they go through July right now. I looked at seasonal AP’s and found they were cheaper than the 3 day 2 park tickets I was looking at
 


Does anyone know if we buy AP passes today, would we be able to get into the park starting on June 3rd?
 
Does anyone know if we buy AP passes today, would we be able to get into the park starting on June 3rd?
I answered my own question...called and spoke to a rep, she said that the June 3rd and 4th opening and through invite only.

She did not know if water rides were going to be shut down or not, they weren't given a whole lot of information
 
Since you will be going in July, you will need a Power Pass ($355) to remove the July blockout dates for Seasonal Passes. You will definitely need one for the APH hotel discount. I would actually bump that up to a Preferred Pass ($395) as it comes with some nice discounts at the parks/City Walk, and the hotels. We did that for our family of 4 and definitely saved more than the $40 cost.

For the other 4 tickets, you'll have to do the math to see if it is worth getting Power Passes. If you do 4 days at US/IOA and 1 day at VB, you can get the "Buy 2, Get 2 free days deal" for $285-$295 (park-to-park) vs $355 for a Power Pass. As others has mentioned, you can start with the tickets and upgrade to Power Passes if you decide that you will come back a second time.
 
This seems like the right place to ask. I'm considering getting an AP but currently have WDW AP as well. It would be worth it to me if WDW isn't open for even the first 3 weeks of June. I'm about an hour 20 away and am off all summer. My question really is, once WDW does open, do any of you feel like you have to go every weekend to get value? How realistic is park hopping from WDW to UOR and vice versa? Anybody have both and think it wasn't worth it? Unfortunately my Disney AP renewed during the shutdown so I can't just wait a year. Thanks in advance.
 
Since you will be going in July, you will need a Power Pass ($355) to remove the July blockout dates for Seasonal Passes. You will definitely need one for the APH hotel discount. I would actually bump that up to a Preferred Pass ($395) as it comes with some nice discounts at the parks/City Walk, and the hotels. We did that for our family of 4 and definitely saved more than the $40 cost.

For the other 4 tickets, you'll have to do the math to see if it is worth getting Power Passes. If you do 4 days at US/IOA and 1 day at VB, you can get the "Buy 2, Get 2 free days deal" for $285-$295 (park-to-park) vs $355 for a Power Pass. As others has mentioned, you can start with the tickets and upgrade to Power Passes if you decide that you will come back a second time.

I’ll check out the buy 2 get 2, thank you. Maybe they will offer some other discounts in the coming days. Would you pick up the AP at the resort before check in or how would that work?
 
I don't think we have ever been asked to show our APs at the resort to get the APH discount. But my understanding is that if they ask, you would need to show them any time before you checkout.

We bought our tickets at the resort (PBH). I assume that RPR has a booth as well...
 
I don't think we have ever been asked to show our APs at the resort to get the APH discount. But my understanding is that if they ask, you would need to show them any time before you checkout.

We bought our tickets at the resort (PBH). I assume that RPR has a booth as well...
It does! Bought APs there in January. Very easy, and the staff explained everything clearly and could not have been more friendly and helpful.
 
I think I've come up with a plan to save a few bucks but I'm nervous that I'm new and I've missed something in my research. I'd appreciate any feedback.
We are a family of 4 from TX. Staying 4 nights Cabana Bay June 7-11 in a 2 bedroom family suite. I'm super excited for my boys to see the view of Krakatau! I'm happy with our room rate due to using CC points to offset the price, (AP hotel rate wouldn't be any benefit for this hotel booking). However, I've now been thinking about a throwaway booking at Royal Pacific during our stay for the EP. We have no intention of using the room, but I can get 2 days of EPs for the price of one day buying directly from Universal.
And that brings me to the AP question. We have already bought tickets using the" buy 2 get 2 special". But I can upgrade one ticket to a Seasonal AP and get the AP rate for RP and STILL come out ahead of my original plan due to the reduced AP hotel rate offsetting the Seasonal Pass upgrade cost and then some.
So my concerns are:
Booking a hotel at an AP rate before I actually buy an AP.
Can I upgrade one ticket to an AP at the hotel or do I need to go to the park to upgrade and then the hotel to show the AP?
I will obviously have an activated AP by the time we check out of RP, but I would utilize express checkout and hopefully I would not have to physically go back to RP just to check out of a room I never used.
Does my whole family have to be there at check-in to get the EP or can it just the one adult AP holder?
The rest of us could end up upgrading to seasonal passes too, but will wait until closer to the end of the trip to do that. The seasonal seems to work best for us because we are out-of-state and the blocked out dates don't bother us.
Thoughts? Am I missing anything? Appreciate your opinions and knowledge!
 
If you want to upgrade one of your tickets to an AP, you can.
You would get the value of of what you paid for your ticket towards the cost of the AP.

Just because you have an AP does not guarantee you that discounted hotel price.
You have to book with the AP discount if your date is available for your throw away room.
You can secure the discounted rate by activating your AP before you check out of the throw away room or before you check out.

You don't need the entire family with you to check into the hotel.
One adult can obtain the hotel card key for all in their group.
 

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