When to Buy the Gold AP?

[HappyDisneyWife]

Thanks! I'm planning more trips because I'm frugal. I'm going to get my money's worth of these APs and then take some time off.

No, I totally get it. I always try to get every bit out of those AP’s... but that generally has meant another trip. We never all have AP’s in my family- it’s just too expensive. After our first big family trip to Disneyland (which we told the kids was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity), we started taking just 1 or 2 kids at a time to WDW... and because of FL passes, they could go twice in that year! The next year would be different kiddos turn, and so on. It’s been really fun (& much more economical) to have those special trips! We’re hoping we can take the whole family to WDW in a few years, but that will be a major undertaking if the prices keep going up at this pace!

 

[otterpop]

If you call DVC guest services, you can upgrade your ticket (and have/keep it linked in MDE) before going in October (though you may still need to activate your DVC AP ). I was very pleasantly surprised to find they could even upgrade my tickets to FL resident AP’s, not just DVC gold.

This is awesome!

So, just to confirm, you can buy discounted tickets (for example from UT) and then call DVC to upgrade to AP? You can do this before using the tickets and they will also credit you the full value of the discounted tickets to put towards the DVC AP (I think this is what is meant by bridging?)? So in a sense, by doing an extra step, will save you $40-60 off of each DVC AP?

I always thought that to do any kind of ticket upgrade to an AP, it had to be done in person at a Guest Relations location. Also thought that about a year or two ago they stopped ticket bridging, as Disney knows exactly what was paid for the ticket.

We have a trip planned for Summer and we were going to get AP certificates ahead of time to be able to get our Fps at 60 days out, but were thinking we had to buy directly thru DVC!

 

[CJGamer]

Not to hijack this thread, but this seemed the closest to my question when I did a search- as I'm going thru this same dilemma right now.
I'm travelling in July with just myself and 10 year old. We have 3 others in the family- and usually trips are 4 or 5 of us every other year.
Anyway- we are going for a full 10 days- and I bought the 10 day Park Hopper Plus Ticket for $622 plus tax for each of us. I will get a memory Maker. We will use the water parks and play a few rounds of mini golf. I do not know if we will go again next year- within 12 months of this trip. I wanted to see if I was missing anything.
I was trying to decide if I should convert 1 ticket to a Gold Pass at $699. I would also have to buy the water park pass and pay for mini golf, correct? If we play 3 rounds of golf- my total cost would be $880 versus $791 for a 10 day plus MM. Is there anything else I'm missing?
I already paid for the two 10 day passes in December in case of a price jump

Obviously the big difference would be if we ended up going again within 12 months- and there is the huge savings- but for now, I think I keep it how it is, correct? And then I decide within a week of heading down- as I'd want to prepay for the MM to save $30.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

This is awesome!

So, just to confirm, you can buy discounted tickets (for example from UT) and then call DVC to upgrade to AP? You can do this before using the tickets and they will also credit you the full value of the discounted tickets to put towards the DVC AP (I think this is what is meant by bridging?)? So in a sense, by doing an extra step, will save you $40-60 off of each DVC AP?

I always thought that to do any kind of ticket upgrade to an AP, it had to be done in person at a Guest Relations location. Also thought that about a year or two ago they stopped ticket bridging, as Disney knows exactly what was paid for the ticket.

We have a trip planned for Summer and we were going to get AP certificates ahead of time to be able to get our Fps at 60 days out, but were thinking we had to buy directly thru DVC!

I’m sorry, but I am not sure if they will bridge it for you. They will upgrade any ticket over the phone if it’s not been activated yet, but I don’t know if you’ll “keep” your discount or be asked to pay the full difference. I have bridged some special price tickets over the phone before, but that has probably been over a year. I now see that @kristenrice was planning to purchase from UT as well... sorry if I missed something there!

The tickets I just upgraded were FL-res multi-day tx, which I purchased direct from Disney (UT offers very little discount for FL-res tx... I’m much better off buying Disney GC’s at Kroger during double gas days with a point-earning credit card). So, I wasn't trying to bridge in the scenario I gave. It was just a ticket to annual pass kind of deal.

Either way, it absolutely never hurts to ask! I’ve had all sorts of ticket changes over the phone (even including refunds- gasp!!). There are many great CM’s out there that are happy to help!!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I’m sorry, but I am not sure if they will bridge it for you. They will upgrade any ticket over the phone if it’s not been activated yet, but I don’t know if you’ll “keep” your discount or be asked to pay the full difference. I have bridged some special price tickets over the phone before, but that has probably been over a year. I now see that @kristenrice was planning to purchase from UT as well... sorry if I missed something there!

The tickets I just upgraded were FL-res multi-day tx, which I purchased direct from Disney (UT offers very little discount for FL-res tx... I’m much better off buying Disney GC’s at Kroger during double gas days with a point-earning credit card). So, I wasn't trying to bridge in the scenario I gave. It was just a ticket to annual pass kind of deal.

Either way, it absolutely never hurts to ask! I’ve had all sorts of ticket changes over the phone (even including refunds- gasp!!). There are many great CM’s out there that are happy to help!!

And this is why I didn't even really look into buying from UT and then upgrading to the Gold AP. I can save too much money buying Disney GCs from Kroger when they have the 4x fuel points and I can use either my 5% Chase Freedom (during a certain quarter) or my 2% Bank of America card. It's either a 16% or a 19% savings. I don't see how going through UT and then upgrading to an AP could save that much.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Not to hijack this thread, but this seemed the closest to my question when I did a search- as I'm going thru this same dilemma right now.
I'm travelling in July with just myself and 10 year old. We have 3 others in the family- and usually trips are 4 or 5 of us every other year.
Anyway- we are going for a full 10 days- and I bought the 10 day Park Hopper Plus Ticket for $622 plus tax for each of us. I will get a memory Maker. We will use the water parks and play a few rounds of mini golf. I do not know if we will go again next year- within 12 months of this trip. I wanted to see if I was missing anything.
I was trying to decide if I should convert 1 ticket to a Gold Pass at $699. I would also have to buy the water park pass and pay for mini golf, correct? If we play 3 rounds of golf- my total cost would be $880 versus $791 for a 10 day plus MM. Is there anything else I'm missing?
I already paid for the two 10 day passes in December in case of a price jump

Obviously the big difference would be if we ended up going again within 12 months- and there is the huge savings- but for now, I think I keep it how it is, correct? And then I decide within a week of heading down- as I'd want to prepay for the MM to save $30.

You’ve done a great job looking at the cost/value of each option! The only other things I can think of are:

• free parking at the parks (if you’re not staying on-site, but I assume you are, so probably no benefit there)
• discounts on dining & shopping (not much different from what’s offered if you’re already a DVC member)
• room discounts (this is possibly the only one that may be of value to you- and it just may be enough of a benefit to get the pass! But again, if you’re a DVC member and you’re staying on points- then this is no benefit to you either!)

 

[Sandisw]

And this is why I didn't even really look into buying from UT and then upgrading to the Gold AP. I can save too much money buying Disney GCs from Kroger when they have the 4x fuel points and I can use either my 5% Chase Freedom (during a certain quarter) or my 2% Bank of America card. It's either a 16% or a 19% savings. I don't see how going through UT and then upgrading to an AP could save that much.

Sometimes, the discount with UT is close to $60. I buy tickets and then upgrade to Gold at the park as I make sure that the ticket I buy is enough to cover the FPs that I need before I do the upgrade.

In October, when I upgraded, I kept the $60 discount when I paid the difference. The CM just bridged without even making me go through the gate and come back. I then used Disney Gifts cards I got using my CC to pay that difference. So, maybe not quite as much as what you can get, but at least if someone doesn’t have Kroger, they could save some.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Sometimes, the discount with UT is close to $60. I buy tickets and then upgrade to Gold at the park as I make sure that the ticket I buy is enough to cover the FPs that I need before I do the upgrade.

In October, when I upgraded, I kept the $60 discount when I paid the difference. The CM just bridged without even making me go through the gate and come back. I then used Disney Gifts cards I got using my CC to pay that difference. So, maybe not quite as much as what you can get, but at least if someone doesn’t have Kroger, they could save some.

I saved $120 on each AP using the 4x fuel points and a 2% cashback credit card. I am curious though about how the UT thing works in case Kroger ever stops doing the 4x fuel points. What happens if you buy tickets from UT and then a price increase happens before you upgrade?

 

[kristenrice]

Sometimes, the discount with UT is close to $60. I buy tickets and then upgrade to Gold at the park as I make sure that the ticket I buy is enough to cover the FPs that I need before I do the upgrade.

In October, when I upgraded, I kept the $60 discount when I paid the difference. The CM just bridged without even making me go through the gate and come back. I then used Disney Gifts cards I got using my CC to pay that difference. So, maybe not quite as much as what you can get, but at least if someone doesn’t have Kroger, they could save some.

I think this is what I am planning to do, just to be safe. Currently, the price difference between the Gold AP and the 6-day PH is about $165 (incl tax). We are planning to buy 6-day PH and my dad will probably upgrade to a 7-day and I will upgrade to an AP. Right now, we are flying on Delta and our flight arrives at 10am and departs at 7pm. That means that we will use a park day on our arrival and departure day. If our flights change between now and October, we may not use an admission on one of those days so we don't want to be stuck with a day on our ticket. That's why dad is planning on buying a 6-day ticket now and then adding a day once our plans are solid.

 

[Sandisw]

I saved $120 on each AP using the 4x fuel points and a 2% cashback credit card. I am curious though about how the UT thing works in case Kroger ever stops doing the 4x fuel points. What happens if you buy tickets from UT and then a price increase happens before you upgrade?

When you upgrade, you get current gate price toward the AP. So, if the gate price increases, then the savings is more. Of course, if the price of the AP goes up, then you’ll be paying more too.

But, at least it is a way to save some if you don’t hsve the great deals with grocery stores like you do!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

When you upgrade, you get current gate price toward the AP. So, if the gate price increases, then the savings is more. Of course, if the price of the AP goes up, then you’ll be paying more too.

But, at least it is a way to save some if you don’t hsve the great deals with grocery stores like you do!

Thanks for the explanation. That totally makes sense.

 

[Akck]

I just wanted to add that I purchased our AP Gold tickets this week too. Based on other threads, any AP price increase would outweigh any savings in purchasing discounted tickets in many opinions.

 

[otterpop]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions!