Upgrade to AP questions

[ktkerber]

So family and I are visiting in July and have already purchased a 7 day park hopper plus ticket. My husband and I are considering attending Destination D in November and also have one or more other short stays in mind in early 2019.
We were thinking we would upgrade mine and my husbands 7 day park hopper plus ticket to an AP, but you'll be shocked to know I have gotten some conflicting answers to a few questions from CMs.

1)We have purchased the plus pass because we do want to go to the water parks a few days while we are there in July. We do not want to upgrade to the AP with the water park option since we don't plan to go to the water park after the trip in July. So I have been told by one CM that we will have to upgrade to the AP with the water park included and I have been told by another that we should just upgrade to AP after we have done all of our water park visits. We are not Fl residents so we really only have 2 AP options.

2)We usually get the Photopass. I know its included in AP. I assumed we shouldn't purchase it before we go since it is included in AP. I also assumed since the AP start date will be the first date we used a ticket(not the date we upgraded) that the Photopass will also roll back to that date. The CM I talked to said that we should buy it before because we would not have any photos from the days before we upgraded and I asked if a refund would be given since it's included in AP and she said no. Just wondering if this is in fact true?

Also if there any other tips I should know about upgrading to AP I would welcome them. We usually only visit once a year so have never upgraded before.

Thanks in Advance!!

 

[sammykster]

Your photopass should roll back ... I had access to far too many old pictures that I was told were long gone before when we initially upgraded! Sorry I can't answer the first question but some advice in case you bought your tickets as part of a travel package. The value you of a ticket in a package is valued really weird and not every cast member will gap the prices when you go to upgrade. The advice we got last time (after going through many channels to get some money back) was to upgrade it to the next day possible. They will gap the price for a day to day ticket and then you can go back again later and upgrade from that ticket to the annual pass to make sure you are getting the full value! Hopefully that all makes sense but if you just bought the ticket outright and not in a package, doesn't matter anyways

 

[ktkerber]

Your photopass should roll back ... I had access to far too many old pictures that I was told were long gone before when we initially upgraded! Sorry I can't answer the first question but some advice in case you bought your tickets as part of a travel package. The value you of a ticket in a package is valued really weird and not every cast member will gap the prices when you go to upgrade. The advice we got last time (after going through many channels to get some money back) was to upgrade it to the next day possible. They will gap the price for a day to day ticket and then you can go back again later and upgrade from that ticket to the annual pass to make sure you are getting the full value! Hopefully that all makes sense but if you just bought the ticket outright and not in a package, doesn't matter anyways

Not sure I understand .
We do have a package. We are on a BB free dining package. So if a have a 7 day ticket I should upgrade to 8? And then go back and upgrade it to AP?

 

[sammykster]

Not sure I understand .
We do have a package. We are on a BB free dining package. So if a have a 7 day ticket I should upgrade to 8? And then go back and upgrade it to AP?

You may be OK if you booked directly through Disney. What I would do is figure out how much it should be to upgrade and when you try if the number they give you is more see about upgrading days first! I was just told that when they're booked in packages the tickets have a different value, which always seems silly to me since they told me my package discount was room only. The total they gave me was $250 more than what I had calculated the difference between my tickets and my annual pass renewal. I was able to get it straightened out but the sticker shock and day inbetween getting it freaked out would have been nice to avoid! Just an option in case the amount you hear is not what you expect

 

[Fangorn]

Go to the All About Tickets and Upgrades sticky at the top of this forum. Everything you want to know is covered in the first 8-10 posts of that thread. There's even a handy table of contents in the first post. There are some differences between having tickets as part of a package and just buying then separately. The thread lays all that out for you.

Don't purchase Memory Maker ahead of time. You should see all of the photos starting from the first day you use the ticket, regardless of when you actually do the upgrade. If they don't show up within a couple of hours after you upgrade, stop by on of the PhotoPass places and ask them to help you. If you do purchase it ahead of upgrading, they will refund the money.

Steve

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

#1 - if you use your Plus visits prior to upgrading, you can only upgrade to the Platinum Plus pass that includes the water parks. If you’re only visiting a WP once, buy a separate ticket. More than one WP visit makes the higher pass a better value anyway.

#2 - Don’t buy MM ahead of time. Just upgrade early in your trip and it won’t matter whether or not the photos roll back. (They’re supposed to, just FYI.) Guest Relations CAN refund MM for AP upgrades but it’s not a standard procedure; ticket booths can’t do it.

 

[starry_solo]

#1 - if you use your Plus visits prior to upgrading, you can only upgrade to the Platinum Plus pass that includes the water parks. If you’re only visiting a WP once, buy a separate ticket. More than one WP visit makes the higher pass a better value anyway.

#2 - Don’t buy MM ahead of time. Just upgrade early in your trip and it won’t matter whether or not the photos roll back. (They’re supposed to, just FYI.) Guest Relations CAN refund MM for AP upgrades but it’s not a standard procedure; ticket booths can’t do it.

Agreed with this poster. Because you'll have used an entitlement (water parks) that is not available in the regular AP, you have to get the Platinum Plus Pass.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I'm doing the same thing and was told the same thing by several CM's. So here's my take:
You have to get rid of the Memory Maker before the 30 day mark. If you do anything to your reservation past 30 days prior to your stay, it will be a $50 charge if you are changing anything that decreases the cost of your package. Getting rid of Memory Maker will decrease your cost.
You cannot update from MYM to AP unless you're physically there. I was advised to go to Guest Services at Disney Springs to do so (we're not doing parks on our arrival day). You pay the difference between your MYM tickets and the AP. You cannot do this ahead of time nor over the phone nor at your hotel. Has to be at Springs or a Park.
I would suggest getting the AP with the waterpark option and ditch the waterpark individual tickets. The cost is $100 extra per AP, and the cost of entry to waterparks is $65.00 per adult. If you plan on going more than once during your trip in July (such as one time each to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach) then it will be worth it to get platinum.

 

[ktkerber]

Thank you all for the info!