Renewal of Annual Passes

[Princess49]

I thought I read somewhere that after your annual pass expires you have a 30 day window in which to renew it at the discounted price. For example July 3, 2002 - July 3, 2003 then you have untill August 2, 2003 to buy it. But a friend of mine just went to renew & they said they did not have the 30 grace period & he ended up having to pay the original price. (this isnt their 1st time buying ap's they've been getting them for about 5 years now.) Anyone who knows if this is true, or if it used to be true-- I would love some light to be shed on the topic! Thanks so much!

 

[Magickndm]

They have stopped the grace period...you have to renew before your or on your anniv. date that's printed on the back of your pass. I found this out the hard way myself almost 2 years ago when I was renewing. I was lucky and had a nice CM from CR who cut me some slack and let me purchase 3 of the 6 passes I was getting for my family at the renewal rate. But it was just put into effect right before that, so I don't think they'd let it slide now.

 

[adamak]

Will they send you a notice when it's expiring? I may forget mine.

 

[Princess49]

MagicKgdm-
Thanks so much for that. A follow up question-- does the pass expire a year from when you re-purchase or a year from when the old one expires. I'm assuming that its not the same as when you originally purchase it (your year begins when its activated) Thanks again!

 

[Magickndm]

adamak...yes, the do send a gentle reminder a month or so before yours expires and Princess, it expires a year from whenever you activate it, it just needs to be purchased before your anniv. date. Hope that makes sense.

 

[dcfromva]

Magickndm,

it expires a year from whenever you activate it,

I thought I should post something because this used to be the policy of WDW. In fact, the last time I renewed my AP (Feb 1999), Disney specifically sent me a letter saying I could lock in the price of my AP renewal and the AP did not start until the first day I activated it. I renewed all 3 of our passes. We received our vouchers. Along with our vouchers was a paper that explained the benefits and also said in bold print that the pass did not go into effect until the first day we activated it. We were waiting to use them until my sister and her family could also go to WDW (which will be AUG of this year), so we did not activate our vouchers until May 31st of this year and I had a most unDisneylike experience.....
It seems some months after we purchased our vouchers, they changed the policy so that the AP renewals go into effect immediately (no break). So, they refused to activate the passes without charging an additional $51.93 per pass. What really frosted me was the CM insisted that this is the way it had always been (renewals go into effect immediately). I tried to get the situation fixed on the spot by talking to the supervisor--who also refused to honor the voucher without an additional charge. I wrote a letter to Guest Relations asking for a refund on the money that I was overcharged on the 13th of June and received a letter back a month later--saying they couldn't reach me, please call them at (number) so we could "discuss" this (what is there to discuss? how about refunding my $$). I have tried calling this number for 4 weeks now, leaving messages each time and have not received a call back.....
I was so upset when they charged me extra for my voucher (on the first day of my trip) that I could not sleep my first night at WDW. I am still upset that they have not refunded my money and I am upset that they have not returned my phone calls. Anyway, I know that the policy has changed for renewals and I don't want anyone else to have an experience similar to mine.
-DC

 

[Magickndm]

dcfromva, thanks for posting this. I had no idea this was how they did it. In fact, just last year we had an AP that was bought at Christmas time, but was not activated until Oct. and we were not charged anything additional. What happened to you is very confusing to me...hope you get it all straightened out.

 

[dcfromva]

Magickndm,

In fact, just last year we had an AP that was bought at Christmas time, but was not activated until Oct. and we were not charged anything additional

I am assuming that in your case, you were purchasing a voucher for an Annual Pass and not renewing your AP--because it is different. The vouchers for your initial AP work just like you described--activated on the first day of use (without any additional $$).

-DC

 

[Magickndm]

Actually it was a renewal..we've been getting them for 10 years now.

 

[madonna31]

Mk- my DH and I activated our AP's the first day of our honeymoon (April 22/02) - we have YET to receive the Mickey Monitor nor any papers regarding discounts and such...

My fear is that they don't *have us* on file and I am worried that they will forget to send us our *30 day renewal reminder* - as we need to renew for our May 2003 trip to the world...

...any ideas of how to find out?

Thanks!

 

[Magickndm]

Hmmm madonna...do you have the Pass Holders's phone number? I guess they can check there to see if you're in the system. If you need the # just let me know.
By the way...the Mickey Monitor only comes out 4 times a year, so maybe a new one hasn't come out since you got your pass.

 

[madonna31]

Mk- no - I dont have the phone number for the AP's - I didn't know that there was one...

 

[dcfromva]

Magickndm,

Actually it was a renewal..we've been getting them for 10 years now

Oh gosh--that really frosts me--why did I get so much hastle?! You spurred me on to call the number one more time! Today, I was lucky, I got in touch with the person who sent me the letters. She said that the renewal policy change occurred on June 6th, 2000 and my voucher should have been grandfathered at no additional expense. The AP should have processed as a new AP. She is sending me a refund for the additional $$ that was charged me. (Which begs the question--why didn't she send me a refund a month ago when she first received my letter? )

If I were renewing my pass again, I would plan for the pass to go into effect immediately--unless Disney decides to change back to the old policy. (For that reason, I don't plan to renew my pass, I will just buy a new voucher. )

-DC

 

[Magickndm]

dc....I'm so happy for you...glad you rechecked!!! That's quite a chunk o'change you'll be getting back!

madonna, here is the # for passholders : 1 407 560 7277
I hope that's not just for FL residents, I don't think it is.
And I also looked and the Mickey Monitor comes out Feb., May, Aug., and Nov.

geez...I just saw that it says : Newsletter are only mailed out within the U.S. and Puerto Rico. You're in Canada, aren't you? Maybe when you call that # you can find out how they notify you about renewing. I know you can get the MM online too if you're interested.