Is there a DVC rate for current Standard Theme Park Ticket?

[Peter Johnson]

My current Gold AP expires a week before our next trip to AKL in October. In order to make park reservations now, I'm planning to buy a 10-day single-park pass, use it to make park reservations, then upgrade it to my Gold AP renewal at Guest services when we arrive. However, the cost of the 10-day pass is very close to the AP renewal, and V.I.PASSHOLDER says they don't refund any extra cost (which in itself is a huge problem).

So, is there a DVC rate for the 10-day pass? And will the single-park pass upgrade to multi-park status for the Gold AP renewal at the usual Gold AP renewal cost?

Thanks! I can't wait for all this aggravation to go away. Planning used to be so much fun, but now it's just a chore.

 

[Brett Wyman]

No, there is not. Full price like everyone else.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

I wouldn’t do that right now... they are allowing AP renewals, but aren’t upgrading from tix to an AP. Since you are doing a combo of those- it could “muddy the waters” and you could be told no. I know it’s an extra 10 days on your AP that way, but I wouldn’t risk it. I would just go straight for the renewal

 

[Brett Wyman]

I wouldn’t do that right now... they are allowing AP renewals, but aren’t upgrading from tix to an AP. Since you are doing a combo of those- it could “muddy the waters” and you could be told no. I know it’s an extra 10 days on your AP that way, but I wouldn’t risk it. I would just go straight for the renewal

I have no idea if this would work every time but I was able to stack two sets of tickets, one 7 day and one 2 day, for all four of us, for our AP "reactivation". During the initial call the CM actually told me they can use one but ONLY one towards the reactivation. But when my 30 day call came through they had already added them together and charged me $20.24 total. But not worth the gamble.

 

[kes601]

I wouldn’t do that right now... they are allowing AP renewals, but aren’t upgrading from tix to an AP. Since you are doing a combo of those- it could “muddy the waters” and you could be told no. I know it’s an extra 10 days on your AP that way, but I wouldn’t risk it. I would just go straight for the renewal

In December we upgraded our tickets to a recovery AP (we had cancelled during the closure). Perhaps it is different for a renewal or the rules had changed, but just wanted to mention our experience.

 

[CarolMN]

I'd call MS and ask to renew your current pass early. Explain that you have a reservation right after the current one expires and want to make park reservations now. IIRC, they have done this for others. Can't hurt to ask. Good luck.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

In December we upgraded our tickets to a recovery AP (we had cancelled during the closure). Perhaps it is different for a renewal or the rules had changed, but just wanted to mention our experience.

Yeah, I think yours would be a special case bc of the recovery ap... and I’m not saying the OP’s plan couldn’t work, I’m just saying it’s not worth the risk right now, IMO.

(This from a person who decided in late 2019 not to renew her 2 oldest daughter’s AP’s bc they wouldn’t be back until 2021- and I’ve been kicking myself for it every day since AP sales shut down!!)

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

I'd call MS and ask to renew your current pass early. Explain that you have a reservation right after the current one expires and want to make park reservations now. IIRC, they have done this for others. Can't hurt to ask. Good luck.

They aren’t allowed to do this anymore either. I renewed early for myself, but not my husband since we wasn’t planning to travel with me. A month or 2 later & we changed plans so that we could go together & I tried to get his pass renewed early as well and told the special policy had been changed & was no longer allowed. You can renew 60 days in advance- no exceptions. I tried a few times. Every time, I got the same answer... but it’s always worth a try

 

[Peter Johnson]

They are allowing normal Gold AP renewals, since I renewed DW's a few weeks ago. We had had it extended rather than canceled while Disney was closed, and it was renewed just at the 30 day limit after the extended expiration date.

This morning the CM at V.I.PASSHOLDER specifically told me that I could buy the daily ticket, then upgrade it to my AP renewal. However, I can only do that in person at Guest Services, not by phone when my AP renewal is due.

My only other option would be to wait until its normal renewal date to renew it and make park reservations, but that will only be about 65 days before we get there. It seems there's a big risk that there won't be much availability that close.

@CarolMN, I'm on hold with MS now. Fingers crossed that they say yes!

 

[Peter Johnson]

I'd call MS and ask to renew your current pass early. Explain that you have a reservation right after the current one expires and want to make park reservations now. IIRC, they have done this for others. Can't hurt to ask. Good luck.

Thanks for that heads-up, Carol. It worked! The MS CM says they are only allowing early renewals if you have an existing DVC reservation that falls after your AP expires. No DVC reservation, no early renewal.

They aren’t allowed to do this anymore either. I renewed early for myself, but not my husband since we wasn’t planning to travel with me. A month or 2 later & we changed plans so that we could go together & I tried to get his pass renewed early as well and told the special policy had been changed & was no longer allowed. You can renew 60 days in advance- no exceptions. I tried a few times. Every time, I got the same answer... but it’s always worth a try

Apparently this is a very fluid policy. You should try again! Ask for Damien, since he just did it for me

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Thanks for that heads-up, Carol. It worked! The MS CM says they are only allowing early renewals if you have an existing DVC reservation that falls after your AP expires. No DVC reservation, no early renewal.


Apparently this is a very fluid policy. You should try again! Ask for Damien, since he just did it for me

Oh good! I’m so glad it worked for you!!! I knew you needed a reservation, and we have one too. So crazy- my husband is now within his 60-day window, so we’re good, but I’m very happy to hear they are going to be reasonable about that issue! Thanks for updating!!

 

[Sandisw]

I wouldn’t do that right now... they are allowing AP renewals, but aren’t upgrading from tix to an AP. Since you are doing a combo of those- it could “muddy the waters” and you could be told no. I know it’s an extra 10 days on your AP that way, but I wouldn’t risk it. I would just go straight for the renewal

They will apply the value of the ticket to a renewal at GS without an issue. I did that in January.

Whether MS can do it, I don’t know.

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for that heads-up, Carol. It worked! The MS CM says they are only allowing early renewals if you have an existing DVC reservation that falls after your AP expires. No DVC reservation, no early renewal.

Happy to hear it worked for you!

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

They will apply the value of the ticket to a renewal at GS without an issue. I did that in January.

Whether MS can do it, I don’t know.

In usual times, I know that is the case.

That’s a very interesting thought- MS vs ticketing- but I was told flat out that if I bought tickets, I would not be allowed to use that money towards an AP (even a renewal)... I thought it was odd, but the CM seemed so sure that she scared me off! She said things were different at this point post-covid & rules were changing yet again

 

[mousestruck]

We have a trip planned 12/30/21 through 1/7/22. My family had Gold APs that expired right before the park closure, but within the 30 day renewal period. Although we don't technically qualify for the recovery program, I have heard about a couple of similar cases in which they've made exceptions and granted the passes because of the renewal window. I can't decide what to do!

It's actually better for us to get regular passes, since we could not use our Gold APs until 1/2, but we will probably return for another trip within the year. Assuming that gold passes return by the end of the year, and they continue to allow upgrades from existing tickets, does anyone know if they would upgrade our regular passes at the end of our trip to gold APs (even though I used them during a blackout period)?

Of course it is tempting to see if they would renew our APs through the recovery program - in case they stop selling APs for a long time - but then we could not go to the parks first three days of our trip. Honestly, that would not be terrible for us because we are likely to minimize our time in the parks those first few days anyway. What would you do?

 

[Sandisw]

In usual times, I know that is the case.

That’s a very interesting thought- MS vs ticketing- but I was told flat out that if I bought tickets, I would not be allowed to use that money towards an AP (even a renewal)... I thought it was odd, but the CM seemed so sure that she scared me off! She said things were different at this point post-covid & rules were changing yet again

I did it at the Epcot guest relations and it didn’t seem to be a problem at all!

 

[PinMan]

All sounds nice , I’m hoping for next year