Annual Pass 101...

[lenshanem]

I have figured out that the AP is our best option since we joined DVC. (We're gonna do the summer and the following year spring thing to get two trips off of it.)
But, I've never bought them before. What si the easiet, quickest and cheapest (no shipping charges?) way to get them?

Before your trip at TDS?
Ordering them by phone or online?
Guest services at your resort? (don't know if thsi is an option?)
Once you get to the parks?

Do all of these above options except the last one give you a voucher that you still have to redeem once you get to the parks?
So then in actually, just buying them at the parsk might be the best bet anyway since you ahve to redeem them? How long does it take?

What do the passes look like? Do they atke your picture? Do they give them to you right when you redeem the vouchers? Or do they give you a temp and mail you the other one?

If I have a voucher the pass doesn't start until the day I redeem it, correct? Not the day the voucher was bought?

Do you get on mailing list where they let you know about special events, etc?

Thanks!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

You can avoid shipping charges by buying them at TDS or at guest services at the parks or DD or buying them at the airport.
They look just like the mylar paper passes, it just says annual on them. I find them to be sturdy. No pictures, just a bio scan when you enter the park. If you purchase them anywhere but the airport or the parks you get a voucher.

 

[WDWAurora]

Ok, with the vouchers, some people have had good luck. For us, it was horrible and we wasted half our morning getting them redeemed because our lady and the three other people she called over didn't know what they were doing and it just absolutely took forever. The only time you could save at all is the time spent paying, because you still have to give them your driver's license, etc. for them to get your information to put onto the pass. I recommend just getting them at the park.

 

[lenshanem]

Thansk! Can I get these at the resorts, too or woudl I still ahve to go redeem them at the parsk if I do that? Sounds liek it is just cheaper (no shipping) and less time consuming to just buy them at the parsk. Just at the guest realtiosn windows?

Why then do peopel evn buy them beforehand?

 

[casmanuel]

Some may buy their APs early to freeze the rate. The 1-year countdown won't start until the passes are activated at the park.

We bought ours in a shop in the Wyndham Palace Resort, a DTD hotel, so I'm assuming that other affiliated hotels would have them available. Of course your best best is to call ahead. I didn't even know we could do this, but haphazardly wandered by the shop on our way to purchase them at the parks. The only other thing I'd ad is that they were activated at the time of purchase. In our case, this was a time-saver because we didn't have to activate them at the park. But, if you are buying for someone who isn't on that trip, they will lose time on the 1-year countdown.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by lenshanem
Thansk! Can I get these at the resorts, too or woudl I still ahve to go redeem them at the parsk if I do that? Sounds liek it is just cheaper (no shipping) and less time consuming to just buy them at the parsk. Just at the guest realtiosn windows?

Why then do peopel evn buy them beforehand?

You cannot purchase them at your resort.

I always buy them before I get there and have no problem getting them activated. Takes no more than 10 mins. for the two of us. They have to input your info, which they cannot do until you get to the window.

 

[dgaston]

Since I have a Disney Club membership valid through the end of the year, I bought mine early at the local Disney store to get the $15 discount. I spaced out a couple of them, and then bought two when the Disney Visa had the double points promotion.

It took me about 10 minutes to activate mine and DH his at Epcot. We had read that the Epcot Guest relations office was generally less busy.

 

[mommystieg]

I also used my DC membership to purchase our APs at TDS. We got vouchers which we activated at Epcot. It took about 15 minutes to do all 4 of ours. You should receive a subscription to the Mickey Monitor. We activated ours in June and I had to e-mail to ask about the Mickey Monitor. I got a response and my first issue came a couple of days later.

 

[patsal]

Even if you get them at TDS you still pay the $3.00 handling charge (at least we did). I usually order them over the phone with the DC discount and have them mailed but thought I could avoid the HC by getting them at TDS. I liek to have them all ready and paid for before we get to the parks. I don't like to charge 4PAP's back to the room, etc. Just one less thing to worry about. It has never taken us more than 15 minutes to activate our vouchers at MK or the International Gateway.

 

[lenshanem]

dgaston, how did you find out about the Disney Visa double rewards? I have that card and have yet to see any double rewrds offers?!? Thanks!