We have the opportunity to buy Premium Annual Passes for a total of $1936 for the four of us. Park hopper tickets for all of us would come in at about $1400.
Can I purchase Annual Passes today, and have them start counting down the 365 days on October 10 (the first day of our trip)? Because if I can, we can probably get down there again before October 2015, and thus average $968 for park admission over two trips.
Has anyone done this kind of thing? My aunts have APs, but they go to Disney several times every year, so of course that makes sense for them.
Any other advice/experiences with using Annual Passes? I take it because these are Premium, there are no blackout dates, but I wonder if there are any other caveats.
(ETA: I realize this is the ultimate First World Problem!)
I’m pretty sure the annual pass is good for only one year from date of issuance, which is when you purchase it. You could delay purchasing it, but you may not get the same deal then.
My experience has been that the one year of admission begins the first day of use of the pass, not on the purchase date. This is with Florida Resident Seasonal Passes, but I would assume Premium Annual Passes work the same. Buying in advance through Disney will net you a receipt/voucher that then has to be redeemed on site to get the passes. I don’t believe they will prepare and send out passes through the mail. Did you try calling Disney and asking how it works?
That’s a pretty good price for 4 passes - current Premium passes are $750 each. If this is a special offer, I would suggest you confirm that you can use them Oct 2014 thru Oct 2015.
You might also see if you can get a “voucher” for the deal you mentioned, that could be exchanged for passes in the future. The year would start once you exchanged the voucher.
According to allears.net, it depends on where you purchase it. If you buy it at WDW, you’re buying a pass that’s immediately activated, so you’ve got one year from that date. So you can’t buy it there and wait to use it.
But if you buy it online or at a Disney store, you’re really buying a voucher that you can exchange for an AP at WDW. So the clock doesn’t start ticking until you actually get to WDW and use it.
Which only makes sense. I’m sure they make a TON of money who buy passes online while making all their vacation plans, thinking “Well, if we go back 11 1/2 months after this trip, we’ll come out ahead” and who never do, whereas if you bought it ahead of time and only had 8 or 10 months after your trip to go back , far fewer people would do it.
I can definitely confirm that for Universal Orlando, it’s 365 days from first use.
Oh, it’s quite happy. I have an annual pass at Disneyland and I’m counting on visits there to bring much happiness during my year of cancer treatment. We also timeshare-traded into the Animal Kingdom Lodge this coming September for even more happiness.
Meant to add earlier, although the deal probably won’t be as good, you should be able to apply the cost of regular tickets toward an annual pass if you decide to upgrade. You just have to do it before you use all the days.
You guys are good - and good at reading between the lines! Yes, it’s for Disney World, and the deal is through DVC. I will go ahead and call them to confirm it’s a voucher deal where the clock starts ticking when we first use them. I wish Disney’s web site was clearer. I learned all about the terms and conditions in detail, how blackout dates apply or not, and all the exclusions and conditions, but no info on what “annual” really means!
Good to know we can convert tickets as well - thanks!
