Some AP Upgrade Questions...

[Balt ravens fan]

I have a couple of questions .. sorry if they are repeats .. but this is my first time doing this and I am a little "weary" (or on the fence):

1) When I upgrade will Disney make the "start date" The first day I use the tickets (March 31st in my case) and then I could use the tickets up to and "including" March 31st next year?

2) Will Disney reimburse my parking for the day I upgrade to AP? Is that something I need to ask them to do? (One of the main reasons I am doing this is parking! - 200 dollar savings)

3) If I buy tickets from say "Undercover tourist", will Disney give me the full price plus tax for the upgrade. For instance the UC tourist cost is 304.95, the disney cost is 314.00 pre-tax and 334.41 post-tax. Do they give you the 344.41 value? (At the 314.00 value the upgrade may not make sense for me.)

4) I was planning on going into either EPCOT or DHS the first day and doing this. Will it go smooth in these places? Any tips on making it go smooth? Will all the ticket people know about doing this? Will I run into any problems?

(FYI: For me, I plan on going to Disney over the week before Easter this year and next year. Which falls into the same calendar year - yeah! So I think APs make the most sense, since it will save me 200 in parking, doesn't save too much when compared with 7 day MYW this year for my family (1018.81) times 2 = 2037.62 (although cost could go up - but I could buy them before cost goes up), the APs will be 2051.69 IF it is the post-tax value they give me for the tickets. So the AP actually costs me $14.07 more, but I get free parking - $200.00 and free hopping - which has a disney value of about 183 dollars a year (although I could live without it.) So I am really debating this whole thing but leaning toward the APs. I guess I could buy 1 AP, but I I think the whole family would enjoy park hopping for only 12 dollars more.)

Thanks for listening and TIA for responding,

Dave

 

[Robo]

I have a couple of questions .. sorry if they are repeats .. but this is my first time doing this and I am a little "weary" (or on the fence):

1) When I upgrade will Disney make the "start date" The first day I use the tickets (March 31st in my case) and then I could use the tickets up to and "including" March 31st next year?

2) Will Disney reimburse my parking for the day I upgrade to AP? Is that something I need to ask them to do? (One of the main reasons I am doing this is parking! - 200 dollar savings)

3) If I buy tickets from say "Undercover tourist", will Disney give me the full price plus tax for the upgrade. For instance the UC tourist cost is 304.95, the disney cost is 314.00 pre-tax and 334.41 post-tax. Do they give you the 344.41 value? (At the 314.00 value the upgrade may not make sense for me.)

4) I was planning on going into either EPCOT or DHS the first day and doing this. Will it go smooth in these places? Any tips on making it go smooth? Will all the ticket people know about doing this? Will I run into any problems?

1- Yes.

2- Yes. Save and bring along your parking receipt to the ticket booth.

3- Yes. (But... you need to USE your UT tickets at least one time to go into a theme park
BEFORE you do the upgrade.)

4- You should be just fine. But, that's simply the luck-of-the-draw with the CM staffers.
(Like asking if it will be sunny or cloudy that day.)
Regardless, if you encounter any problems, either ask to speak with a manager and/or
politely ask for your tickets back and head to another park's GR.
(But, you should have no problems, anyway.)

 

[Huff]

1) When I upgrade will Disney make the "start date" The first day I use the tickets (March 31st in my case) and then I could use the tickets up to and "including" March 31st next year?

If you upgrade an existing AP then the renewal date will be the same as your existing AP. If you are upgraded MYW tickets then the AP will expire 1 year from the date of 1st use of your MYW tickets.

2) Will Disney reimburse my parking for the day I upgrade to AP?

They have done this for me when I've asked for it and show my parking receipt for that day.


3) If I buy tickets from say "Undercover tourist", will Disney give me the full price plus tax for the upgrade.

I get conflicting stories. Some say yes if you use it 1 day 1st, others as in my case say no, you are only credited the actual amount you paid, not the gate value.

4) I was planning on going into either EPCOT or DHS the first day and doing this.

You can do this at any ticket booth, guest services or even at your resort. But resorts can't print AP cards, your AP is put onto your KTTW card. You do not need to do this on your 1st day. Just has to be on or before your last day. I have heard that up to 14 days from 1st use is ok, but never tried that.

 

[Robo]

3) If I buy tickets from say "Undercover tourist", will Disney give me the full price plus tax for the upgrade.

You are only credited the actual amount you paid, not the gate value. Years ago this was not the case and Disney did credit the value but hasn't done that in a long time.

Sorry, Huff, but your info is incorrect about that.

You will receive full new gate value for the kind of ticket that you have, IF
you have USED that ticket to go into a theme park at least once BEFORE you do the upgrade.

Make sure that the CM gives you that full value in the deal.

 

[Balt ravens fan]

This is what I am "worried" about! Having to "barter" with a CM while on vacation. Yikes.

2 Other questions:

1) Does my family have to be with me while I upgrade all of our tickets to AP Or can they be doing other things in the Park?

2) What happens if you lose your AP? If you have a picture of it - can it be replaced? Not planning on losing it but still would like to know what would happen.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Everyone 18 or older must be present and show a photo ID. They will enter name, address, date of birth, and telephone number into the Automated Ticketing System prior to actual issuance of the AP.

If a person loses their AP, any ticket window (or Guest Relations) can look the person up by name and provide a replacement ticket at no charge (identification is required).

 

[Balt ravens fan]

One last question - Am I going to have haggle to get the current price of the ticket (with tax)? If I am going to have to haggle my family is going to be embarassed and I am just not going to do this.

Can anyone answer this honestly?

 

[Huff]

Sorry, Huff, but your info is incorrect about that.

You will receive full new gate value for the kind of ticket that you have, IF
you have USED that ticket to go into a theme park at least once BEFORE you do the upgrade.

I have heard this both ways from many. Last month CM's all told me credit for amount paid only.

At Disneyland its been credit for amount paid for about 5 years now. Seems hit or miss at WDW.

 

[Huff]

If a person loses their AP, any ticket window (or Guest Relations) can look the person up by name and provide a replacement ticket at no charge (identification is required).

I know at Disneyland they will do this once per 12 month period free of charge. After that they will give a temporary paper ticket for the day. They ask you to come back the next day and see if your AP was turned in at lost and found. If it was, they make a note of it and shread it then issue a new one free of charge. If AP was not found then you are charged $20 for a duplicate. Not sure why they shread the found one but they do! Sounds like WDW is more lax on their policies on this.

 

[joe1946]

I have heard this both ways from many. Last month CM's all told me credit for amount paid only.

At Disneyland its been credit for amount paid for about 5 years now. Seems hit or miss at WDW.

I have actually heard a third way, namely that if you haven't used the ticket first you will only be credited the amount that Disney sold the ticket to UT for, not the amount that UT sold it to you for.

 

[Balt ravens fan]

Again, is this going to be a hassle? If so forget about it.

Robo, how positive are you?

Chesire, how positive are you?

My wife hates confrontation, then she we will blame a lousy vacation on me the whole week, and the whole point of upgrading will be down the tubes, because everyone will be sour!

 

[Robo]

I have actually heard a third way, namely that if you haven't used the ticket first you will only be credited the amount that Disney sold the ticket to UT for, not the amount that UT sold it to you for.

Exactly.

Disney has no way of knowing what YOU paid UT for the ticket.
Disney only knows two things-

1) The price they SOLD the tickets to UT.
-or-
2) The current new gate price for that ticket at WDW.

That's why they can only offer you-
1) The value that UT paid Disney when UT bought the tickets.
-or-
2) The current new gate price for that ticket at WDW.

That's why:

Disney will give YOU (the guest) the price paid Disney from UT for the ticket
that you are holding in the Upgrade process...
BEFORE you have USED that ticket at the gate of a Theme Park.
-or-
Disney will give YOU (the guest) the new gate price for the ticket
that you are holding in the Upgrade process...
AFTER you have USED that ticket at the gate of a Theme Park.


Sooooo...
Be sure to USE your ticket at the gate of a Theme Park BEFORE
you do the upgrade.

 

[vicki_c]

I (not Robo or CF) am 100% positive that the policy is that as long as you use the ticket once, you will be credited with the current gate price of that ticket.

That said - can anyone guarantee you that you will have a perfectly trained CM doing your transaction and no mistakes will be made? No. There have been isolated reports where guests had issues getting the correct amount credited.

So if your risk tolerance is that low, buy your tickets from Disney.

 

[Robo]

Again, is this going to be a hassle? If so forget about it.

Robo, how positive are you?

Chesire, how positive are you?

My wife hates confrontation, then she we will blame a lousy vacation on me the whole week, and the whole point of upgrading will be down the tubes, because everyone will be sour!

We are as certain as can possibly be about this as:

A) I answer (literally) dozens and dozens of these questions on this board,
and participate in dozens of discussions about it... and keep copious records of exactly the outcome of any disputes or problems.

B) Cheshire Figment is a current WDW Cast Member whose job it is to sell tickets at the parks.


.

 

[Robo]

can anyone guarantee you that you will have a perfectly trained CM doing your transaction and no mistakes will be made? No. There have been isolated reports where guests had issues getting the correct amount credited.

So if your risk tolerance is that low, buy your tickets from Disney.

Agree 100%.

The point of answering these questions so carefully is to give accurate information.
And, very often, it is proven to be far more accurate than the info
you can get by contacting "Disney."

If YOU have with you the expected amount you SHOULD be paying, and the reasons for that,
you will know whether or not to accept what your ticket CM is doing for the upgrade.

If you get the wrong info/amount in the deal, just politely ask for your tickets back,
and move on to another ticket booth at another park.


.

 

[Robo]

Last month CM's all told me credit for amount paid only.

You got bad info.

That is far too common a situation.

 

[Missyrose]

Just to chime in here, I had ZERO problems upgrading a UT ticket to an AP and received credit for gate price after using the MYW to get into the park. This was this past October at Epcot guest relations.

 

[Balt ravens fan]

Ok I am going to go for it. Wish me luck. I will let you know how it works out when I get back in April.

 

[WTDing]

The one key that Robo mentioned was to know what the upgrade cost should be before you go to GR. If the CM offers a different amount then you should ask some questions to determine why your figures don't agree. Make sure when you do this that you have included the tax for the APs in your calculation.

I did this once and the CM quote was different than mine, but it was lower by about $0.10 so I went with it.

 

[willowsnn3]

Robo, how positive are you?

Chesire, how positive are you?

Robo & Chesire both have saved me a LOT of money.....thanks guys!!!