AP/Codes 101...HELP!

[Ness2289]

Please explain or lead me to a thread that talks about the whole AP and discount thing! I've never done it and don't understand and need help to determine if I should be trying to make some changes to my already booked vacation. If I were to purchase an AP for myself and not my DD, and we are the only two going, what would that mean? What can I do?

 

[Lollipop Mom]

What are your current travel plans? Where were you staying, for how long and what type of passes were you planning on buying? What are your travel dates and are you booked with a pacakge or room only. If you can post that info, I'd be glad to plug it in to the formula I used in figuring if an AP was the best option for my clients who didn't have one already.

As far as what it would mean if you purchased an AP...you would be able to park hop and it would give you 1 year of admission to the 4 major theme parks. You'd have some dining and retail purchase discounts and other entitlements in addition to the room discounts (which are not guaranteed). You can see all of the 2005 benefits at http://www.magicalmemoriestravel.com/APBenefits.html A regular AP would not cover admission to the water parks, Disney Quest or Pleasure Island but you would get a discount off of purchasing tickets for those parks. You could get a premium AP that would include those admissions but honestly, you'd have to go quite a bit to make up for the cost increase.

You don't have to have the pass purchased before booking the AP discount so you can make sure that it is going to be the least expensive option AND that there are discounted rooms available for your dates before you actually purchase the pass.

Like I said, if you post your travel plans as they are now, I'd be glad to help you analyze it!

 

[jmclester]

What are your current travel plans? Where were you staying, for how long and what type of passes were you planning on buying? What are your travel dates and are you booked with a pacakge or room only. If you can post that info, I'd be glad to plug it in to the formula I used in figuring if an AP was the best option for my clients who didn't have one already.

As far as what it would mean if you purchased an AP...you would be able to park hop and it would give you 1 year of admission to the 4 major theme parks. You'd have some dining and retail purchase discounts and other entitlements in addition to the room discounts (which are not guaranteed). You can see all of the 2005 benefits at http://www.magicalmemoriestravel.com/APBenefits.html A regular AP would not cover admission to the water parks, Disney Quest or Pleasure Island but you would get a discount off of purchasing tickets for those parks. You could get a premium AP that would include those admissions but honestly, you'd have to go quite a bit to make up for the cost increase.

You don't have to have the pass purchased before booking the AP discount so you can make sure that it is going to be the least expensive option AND that there are discounted rooms available for your dates before you actually purchase the pass.

Like I said, if you post your travel plans as they are now, I'd be glad to help you analyze it!

So, let me get this straight. I don't really want an AP but would like to have the AP rates if there is no GP code for say...Sept '05. Are you saying that I can request an AP and book a room with AP rates (if available) and then, if GP codes come out, cancel the AP request and the AP ressie so I can buy the 7 or 10 day tix with no expiration option? Does that make sense and is it possible to do so?

 

[NCombs]

Another important point-You only need one AP to get a room discount- not everyone in your party needs one.

 

[weluvpluto]

So, let me get this straight. I don't really want an AP but would like to have the AP rates if there is no GP code for say...Sept '05. Are you saying that I can request an AP and book a room with AP rates (if available) and then, if GP codes come out, cancel the AP request and the AP ressie so I can buy the 7 or 10 day tix with no expiration option? Does that make sense and is it possible to do so?

Yes you can, but a room would have to be available at your resort (that qualified for the GP code)

 

[Lollipop Mom]

So, let me get this straight. I don't really want an AP but would like to have the AP rates if there is no GP code for say...Sept '05. Are you saying that I can request an AP and book a room with AP rates (if available) and then, if GP codes come out, cancel the AP request and the AP ressie so I can buy the 7 or 10 day tix with no expiration option? Does that make sense and is it possible to do so?

Yes, that is correct but it will do you no good to call and ask for an AP rate for September now so you would still be booking at rack rate. MOST of the time they've released the discounts pretty close together if not on the same day so you wouldn't need to change around too much. But yes, if you had a room at say POR and AP codes were released. You ran the #s and saw it would save you $ overall to get 1 AP so you call and request an AP rate. Two weeks later they released GP codes and you ran the #s again. Now it would be $20 cheaper overall to use the GP codes and to buy regular tickets. You could call and have the GP code applied and drop the AP code.

I will say that if you are staying in a value resort in one room, most of the time the discount on the room won't make up for the increase in ticket cost to buy an AP. In a moderate if you are staying for a week, it will usually save you maybe $200, in a deluxe it can save a LOT. When you compare AP to GP codes, you may do better with GP in a mod but usually for a deluxe you are still better with the AP rate.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[jmclester]

Yes, that is correct but it will do you no good to call and ask for an AP rate for September now so you would still be booking at rack rate. MOST of the time they've released the discounts pretty close together if not on the same day so you wouldn't need to change around too much. But yes, if you had a room at say POR and AP codes were released. You ran the #s and saw it would save you $ overall to get 1 AP so you call and request an AP rate. Two weeks later they released GP codes and you ran the #s again. Now it would be $20 cheaper overall to use the GP codes and to buy regular tickets. You could call and have the GP code applied and drop the AP code.

I will say that if you are staying in a value resort in one room, most of the time the discount on the room won't make up for the increase in ticket cost to buy an AP. In a moderate if you are staying for a week, it will usually save you maybe $200, in a deluxe it can save a LOT. When you compare AP to GP codes, you may do better with GP in a mod but usually for a deluxe you are still better with the AP rate.

Hope that makes sense!

We'll be staying in a deluxe for 5 nights so this is looking pretty interesting. Also, we'll most likely be going back before Sept '06 (value resort- maybe 2 rooms)so I could book our next trip on it too. The main drawback is having an AP that expires and a 7-10 day that never expires. That's 2-3 yrs worth of tix for us. (BTW- is there really a 10 day pass? I don't see it listed anywhere...only 7 days).

 

[mommykds]

Now if you get an AP you can't use the MYW Dining plan, only the DDE?

 

[Lollipop Mom]

Now if you get an AP you can't use the MYW Dining plan, only the DDE?

Yes, that is correct. We've been asking agents and clients to share their dining plans with us and compare the savings for the MYW Dining Plan and the DDE and we're finding the savings to be very similar even with the cost of the DDE. If an AP code brings the total cost of your room and tickets down, it's worth it to consider the DDE if you had been planning to use the MYW plan. You can see the comparison at http://www.magicalmemoriestravel.com/DiningComparison.html