Just wondering if anyone has any experience upgrading an existing ticket to an annual pass. I already have a 5 day Hopper + WPF&M ticket which I purchased to use on a family trip in October, however now we are looking to book another long’ish trip a few months later with my wife’s side of the family…would be better value just to have an annual pass at this point. I called Disney and they said its not a problem and to just visit a guest relations office and they would work it out…I doubt this is something they deal with everyday though so just wondered if anyone had experience doing this and how much of a headache it was!??
Although I personally haven’t encountered this, I have friends who deal with guests and reservations and this is actually a pretty common thing. I couldn’t tell you how long it takes but it’s a pretty easy process.
In June my DD and I upgraded our 8 day park hoppers to APs. We went to guest services at AK when they opened and it took about 10-15 min. Did you buy your tickets from Disney or another vendor?
I actually got them through Expedia a while back during a promotion…I believe that I can only get the value of the purchase (not the like for like value of purchasing through Disney)
I had read somewhere or heard on a podcast about someone doing that as well. They had bought their tickets from somewhere else and were going to wait till they were a few days into using their tickets before upgrading them to an AP. By doing that supposedly the disney value would be applied towards the AP price instead of the purchased value. I have no idea if that is actually true though. Good luck.
Im not gonna run the risk of using them a day or 2 and then upgrading. I am just gonna try and upgrade right away. I feel like its gonna be a bit of a nightmare anyways!!
I’m not sure about Expedia tickets. I bought mine through Official Ticket Center. We used them once to get into AK before I upgraded. They gave me credit for the Disney price of the ticket.
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Upgrading your third party tickets to an AP is actually not difficult at all. It is a very routine thing for guest services. It is better to use a single day on the ticket and then upgrade. By doing that you get the full Disney price, instead of the price you paid, credited to your upgrade. I did this last year with a ticket I bought from undercover tourist. Just know your numbers when you go to upgrade and prepare to try again with another cast member if they don’t quote you the correct amount. As long as you have at least one entry left on your ticket you can upgrade. I did it my first day to get discount and TIW benefits.
True! I did this last year.
so @AuntB_luvsDisney just to be clear. I paid $395 for a 5 day hopper plus water parks fun and more ticket (Disney value would be $464) but if I was to use a day of my ticket, I could then trade it in with the value of a 4 day hopper plus water parks fun and more ticket which is valued by disney at $447 ($395 before tax). If they will only give the value prior to tax then it probably isnt worth the risk and hassle…but if it does then that $50+ saving…let me know
We do this all the time and it’s super easy. There are 2 options that can happen:
- they give you the price you paid.
- they “bridge” the ticket (if you used at least one entry) meaning they give you the current-gate price.
Some things to note:
- check the expiration dates of the new APs BEFORE you leave the CM. I’ve had the CM mess up and have it be one year from when UT purchased the ticket (which only gave me 2 months to use the ticket).
- Know how much you should be paying – including tax (if they “bridge” the ticket or not). Sometimes the $$ doesn’t add up correctly and I’ve had to have them re-do the transaction (not a big deal – just be polite and ask them to explain the numbers). One time it was > $100 more than what I calculated (I had everything in a printout so I could compare).
- Some CMs want everyone there, other’s have let me do the upgrade for all the tickets without anyone else having to be there.
- I dont know why some CMs will bridge and others do not. One year, I simply asked and was told that they couldn’t so I said “Thanks” and moved on. I upgraded the tickets a the next park and they bridge the tickets with no issues.
- You need to have at least one entry/day left on the tickets to upgrade. I dont know if that means you can wait until the last day or not… it’s simply what I was told by the CM upgrading the tickets.
HTH As you can tell, I’m a little “Type A” about things. 
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No. You have a 5 day hopper even if you used one day it does not make it a 4 day hopper. You should pay the difference between the Disney price of a 5day hopper and the price of the AP
Why are they cool with you using a day or more? Seems incredibly generous for Disney!!?
They want your money. If they had harsh rules about adding days or features, most people would not add while on their vacation. Spontaneous spending! They want it to be easy for you to increase your number of park visits. 
Still seems very generous!! I know they love you coming back again and again but they also usually try to squeeze every last cent out of you at any opportunity LOL
Yea, it does seem generous. Until you start doing “Disney Math” to book a trip (“OH look! Air is only $xx. I can get an AP rate on a room, and I dont need tickets – I already have an AP! This trip will be so “inexpensive”!” ha ha. I’ve done that at least 1x each year I upgraded to an AP. Disney knows how to get my $$.
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Now in all fairness there have been rumors about them not allowing the bridging but it has not happened yet so it’s still worth trying! Even if they do away with the bridging they will still allow you to add to tot patiala used ticket (extra days, extra features, or change to AP).
Yep! That is my vote and personal experience from 2015 AP.
Yup! We did this at least 4x that I can remember…