AP Pricing Concerns

[PrincessV]

I know nothing about regular tickets, but for those who want to talk APs...

My son's FL Gold AP expires in Oct. and I am not renewing because he won't be visiting WDW again until late spring, at the earliest. My AP doesn't expire until March, so I'll have no choice: whatever the new structure (if there is a new structure) is will be in place. No, I'm not buying full-price vouchers for either of us before Oct. 16.

If the current structure remains the same, it'll be FL Silver APs for us next time around. We're done with our mid-summer visits for a while, so the blockout periods are fine and I need the cost savings. WDW might place some restrictions on AP use for Star Wars, but I don't really care: if it's going to be so insane that they need to do that, I'd rather wait to visit, anyway, even as a rabid SW fan!

But the addition of the new FL Select AP is what gives me pause... right now, it strikes me as an odd duck. Same price as Silver, but in some ways more restrictive: I'd say it has "dynamic" blockout dates. Whereas Silver has a few periods of time blocked out (Spring Break, Christmas weeks, high summer), Select blocks certain parks on certain days. Sort of like the new ticket program, Select users would need to consult a calendar for every visit to see when and where they can use their Select AP each day. I have a feeling Platinum and Gold will remain basically unchanged, but I fear Silver is a goner down the road, to be replaced by Select, which can easily be configured to block out SW on certain days.

 

[Roxyfire]

But the addition of the new FL Select AP is what gives me pause... right now, it strikes me as an odd duck. Same price as Silver, but in some ways more restrictive: I'd say it has "dynamic" blockout dates. Whereas Silver has a few periods of time blocked out (Spring Break, Christmas weeks, high summer), Select blocks certain parks on certain days. Sort of like the new ticket program, Select users would need to consult a calendar for every visit to see when and where they can use their Select AP each day. I have a feeling Platinum and Gold will remain basically unchanged, but I fear Silver is a goner down the road, to be replaced by Select, which can easily be configured to block out SW on certain days.

Yeah I think most people worried about APs are probably not going to get a satisfactory answer now. Platinum level is currently sold as no blackouts so I would imagine they will continue to have that, and price it accordingly. I suspect Gold (which is what I have) will see a few more blackouts and as what you say Silver will see more. Perhaps having HS blacked out on certain days once SW opens up might be possible but perhaps not. For me, I looked at the price of buying new vouchers and I just dont' want to do it being 7 days out from our next trip. I will decide in June if I want to renew or just buy new APs before we go in 2020. Basically, future me will have to figure out this problem but hopefully will have better information to use.

 

[AngiTN]

Yeah, FL AP holders are really going to have a lot of question marks.
Right now, those of us NOT DVC and NOT in FL have only 1 (well 2 if you count with/without WP as 2 options) AP to pick from.
So not so many questions. Will they add more options for us? No idea. I'd actually like it if they would. The everything AP that we have to purchase is the priciest of all. A lower cost option would be nice to have.

 

[AngiTN]

Okay. I just read through all the posts on this thread and can’t help but wonder if Disney realizes the increase in heart rate that cause with stuff like this.

I just purchased four 10 day park hoppers from UCT with plans to upgrade to annual passes when we go at the end of December.

Should we stick with that plan?
Should we return them and purchase an AP voucher directly from Disney now?
Should we link them and upgrade them to annual passes through the website (not even sure if this is an option)?

To make things more complicated my mom plans to go with us in March so she could need a ticket.

But if they do something like add black out days it could ruin all of our plans as we are only going at “busy” times: Dec 29-Jan 5, Spring Break, June, and Thanksgiving.

Any advise?

Which AP? Platinum, I'd go ahead. You'll have your calendar for the AP through December 2019 by the time you buy.
Any other, I'd maybe wait, unless more info is known.
You can't upgrade them to an AP until you get to Disney and use the ticket one day. While you don't have to use them one day to upgrade them in person you do on the website.
I would purchase a ticket for your Mom if you know the number of days you'd need.

 

[rteetz]

Yeah, FL AP holders are really going to have a lot of question marks.
Right now, those of us NOT DVC and NOT in FL have only 1 (well 2 if you count with/without WP as 2 options) AP to pick from.
So not so many questions. Will they add more options for us? No idea. I'd actually like it if they would. The everything AP that we have to purchase is the priciest of all. A lower cost option would be nice to have.

I agree although I probably would still choose a no black out date AP. If they give us more options it’s bound to have black out dates. I am typically going around Disney races or other events so the platinum works best for me as it is.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I figure we will get some advance warning here about AP changes and price increases. I do plan to just buy 3 vouchers instead of renewing, but I am so curious on what's to come. Not sure if I should wait or not.

 

[gatorlisa]

I would like to see them offer something like the Gold to non-FL residents. I'm sure it would be a different price, since FL residents do get a price break, and I'm ok with that. But it would be nice to have the option to save a little, and as someone who doesn't have to work around school schedules for trips, I'm fine with the holiday blackout dates.

As to the original post, if I were a FL resident interested in the Silver pass, I think I'd go ahead and buy a voucher/certificate for it while it's available. By the time you are ready to activate, that pass may no longer be available, replaced with the select pass, which is much more restricted. But I do understand these passes are expensive and the funds might not be available now to do so.

 

[PrincessV]

As to the original post, if I were a FL resident interested in the Silver pass, I think I'd go ahead and buy a voucher/certificate for it while it's available. By the time you are ready to activate, that pass may no longer be available, replaced with the select pass, which is much more restricted. But I do understand these passes are expensive and the funds might not be available now to do so.

Yeah, I don't have the money to dole out for vouchers, and I just don't care enough about what comes next to do more than wonder, since we have no WDW family plans until well into next year. Whatever will be will be, and I'll deal with it when we get there. My #1 goal is saving money, so paying full price now for something that I don't know for sure we'll use doesn't make sense. It may even be that if Silver is eliminated, something else might be a better fit for our needs! I'm just waiting to see.

 

[summerlvr]

I figure we will get some advance warning here about AP changes and price increases. I do plan to just buy 3 vouchers instead of renewing, but I am so curious on what's to come. Not sure if I should wait or not.

Hmm, so do vouchers not have an expiration date? Might be worth it to buy a voucher before all the changes since my current AP doesn't expire until the end of February 2019.

 

[randumb0]

Hmm, so do vouchers not have an expiration date? Might be worth it to buy a voucher before all the changes since my current AP doesn't expire until the end of February 2019.

Vouchers expire in 2030.

 

[summerlvr]

Vouchers expire in 2030.

Thanks! I just posted this question in another thread, probably at the same time you were answering here!

 

[missnic]

Same. Our Silver passes expired a few days ago, and we're still on the fence about renewing. I'm hoping to hear something about a possible price increase/elimination of Silver before my 30 days are up. I think if they eliminate Silver, we're done with APs. The Select is just way too much planning for us.

 

[gharter]

It will be interesting to see what does happen with AP with the new ticket structure in place.
As most are guessing, prices for the restrictive APs may stay the same or go up slightly. The less restrictive ones will probably go up (I hope not).
At least I've got 6 months before we have to deal with it and hopefully have it all sorted out by then.

 

[mmps108]

With all the above information and I read all 34 pages of the other post...Looking for advice. We have been to WDW 5 times in the last 3 years but AP didn’t make sense until now. We’re headed in January (8 days) and December (6 days) 2019. We had planned to buy 1 AP and 8 day PH for my DH and DD (6). Maybe upgrade my DH pass to a AP upon arrival in January but just buy 6 day PH for our December trip.
But, now with the new system coming, do we worry that the AP price will go up before our trip in January and we’ll lose any savings we might have gotten from holding off? Do we get my daughter an AP too or buy her 8 and 6 day PH now from UT now?
I don’t really have the cash to blow on 3 AP right now but it might be money well spent if it ends up saving hundreds between the 2 trips.
I’m so conflicted!!

 

[DOOM1001]

The select is worthless to me,I have silver and if they were to do something crazy like take away silver I would imagine a large number of passholders not renewing.Gold also isnt that attractive,who wants to go and sweat and get rained on all summer.Silver is the most popular pass for a reason,they mess with it people are not going to be happy!

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

What Disney's future plans are for WDW APs is far beyond my pay grade, but I can't imagine they'd receive any positive response whatsoever to replacing the Silver pass. The "Theme Park Select Pass" has, so far, been wildly unpopular.

 

[shh]

we've had "weekday select" passes for a couple years - which restricts us to mon-fri, plus all the peak dates are blacked out - which has worked fine for us since we want to avoid them anyhow. But wonder if they're going to make that any more restrictive or change it.

We just have vouchers at point, since we're not going till Dec.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Like most I am waiting to see how Disney decides to manage the FL AP blackout dates. When we got our Florida property we at first just continued with the platinum pass. I admit I didn't put a lot of thought into it and just enjoyed getting the FL discount. After our first Disney snowbird year we realized that we really didn't like visiting the parks during the peak holiday crowds so next renewal, incentivized by the price increase, we shifted down to Gold. We went Gold as we had plans for a mid summer visit. After that 2 week August visit DW decided the Florida summer was not to her liking. The last two summers I have still made quick trips down to check in on our place and enjoy a couple of park visits. But this year I realized I was paying quite a bit for those couple of summer park visits. So next renewal I am thinking I would shift us down to Silver and just plan my summer solo visit for later in August.

Our passes expire at mid April so I have time to see and absorb what Disney announces. I appreciate they are looking at how to manage the opening of Galaxy's Edge but I hope they don't succumb to a complicated, dynamic, 'we've got an app for that' solution.

The "Theme Park Select Pass" has, so far, been wildly unpopular.

Yes, I can believe that. I would prefer not to have to deal with a lot of complexity just to figure out whether we can wander over to Epcot for a walk some morning. It is easy to mark a few blackout dates on our calendar.

Silver is the most popular pass for a reason,they mess with it people are not going to be happy!

Agree!

 

[vinotinto]

I really do wonder if there will be passes with Blockout dates for everyone (not only FL residents). If the Disney trends continue, they will charge us the same as now for something with Blockout dates, and if we want to not have the Blockout dates, then we would need to pay more.

I have basically convinced myself that I want to get an AP because I have a week-long trip in April and want to return after SWGE opens. But, I likely won't travel over Christmas, so I am wondering *if* they do provide AP options with Blockout dates for non-FL/non-DVC, if I would save a little. It is pretty tough to shell out almost $4,000 up front for these AP vouchers.

 

[DizFan13]

DH and I are planning a five-night trip beginning 12/27/18. Our plan was to buy five-day hoppers, but if all goes well (financially) between now and then, we'd like to upgrade them to platinum APs our first day. We have another trip planned for end of January 2019, and tentatively one in November and December 2019.

With this new structure, would I be better off buying hoppers now and hoping the upgrade to AP works the same in December, or just bite the bullet and buy AP vouchers now?

I'd like to say we might have to cut a trip or two based on rising costs, but history shows we'll just find a way to go. We want APs because we are part of the group that wants to brave the crowds to see SWGE: the talk of blocking APs has me nervous. . .