AP Hotel Rate - If I booked today can I buy my AP closer to my trip?

[PDXmouse]

I saw a post today about AP Hotel rates being down, and I can't for the life of me find it now. But thank you to the poster... I was able to rebook our RPR for same dates, same room classification, and drop our cost from $2325 to $1572! The AP for me will cost $100 more than buying a dated ticket, and we lose the AMEX $200 refund from booking through the AMEX site, but the net is still a savings of $453. I'll take it.

Here's my question... the AP Hotel booking I made just says I need to show my AP at check in. And the cancelation is 5 days before check in.

If I buy the AP now, though, it is 100% non-refundable. And if for some crazy reason I find a better deal I'd rather not be stuck with an annual pass when we will only be in the parks for 2-3 days. I'm thinking about waiting to buy my AP until closer to my trip. Should I be worried about rates going up or are they set annually?

Also, we are flying in and won't land until 7:30 pm. At that point we will go straight to the hotel. The AP says that I will have to go pick up my AP at a park ticket window. Depending on when they close that night (a Tuesday) I may or may not be able to make it to a ticket window. Do you think the hotel will accept an email showing I bought it even if it hasn't been issued? Because if not, this could get messy.

 

[starry_solo]

The hotel may not even ask for it. so you should be ok to pick it up the day after, and wait to buy it too.

 

[emmabelle]

I have an AP and haven't been asked for the last few stays to see it. I'm not sure if I've ever been asked?

 

[wdwrule]

If you purchase an AP in full, you can pick it up at the travel desks in the on-site hotels’ lobby area. Their hours are typically 7am until 7pm. Also, TMs have asked to see my AP during the first trip or two but after that they haven’t asked to see it because they said it shows up in their computer system.

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

The prices for AP's didn't change at all during Covid, they actually had a 15 month deal offered in early 2021, but no deals since with hotel demand high.
However, I believe they raised prices twice in 2022, once in early March and again in early June to make up for it.
They used to raise prices in lockstep with Disney, but that hasn't been true since Disney stopped selling AP's for awhile. Now that Disney is opening up ability to buy AP's again later this month, I'm wondering if a Uni AP price increase is coming soon.

 

[emmabelle]

I'm wondering if a Uni AP price increase is coming soon.

well I can renew mine on May 1st so probably

 

[mamapenguin]

well I can renew mine on May 1st so probably

This is what worries me. I would like to wait until next week, but I won’t be happy with myself if the price changes…