*UPDATED* 28/1 - Upgrading from U.K. Disney ticket to annual pass?

[act1980]

Originally Posted by A&S&O

Some people are confused into thinking they can upgrade Ultimates Platinum / Platinum Plus quite cheaply because they don't realise that some of the upgrade prices mentioned include a DVC discount / passes.

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I did specify it was a DVC Gold Pass 😊

[act1980]

Originally Posted by BarryandCaron

Even with a DVC discount, our upgrade prices were extremely varied.

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Exactly! 👍🏼

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by A&S&O

Some people are confused into thinking they can upgrade Ultimates Platinum / Platinum Plus quite cheaply because they don't realise that some of the upgrade prices mentioned include a DVC discount / passes.

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You're correct that some people do get mixed up with the upgrade price to DVC Gold passes instead of the Platinum Passes. And I wouldn't be surprised if some people got mixed up between Disney APs and Universal APs.

That aside, there's still a significant variability in the upgrade prices that are quoted for the very same ticket. To quote from post #12 in this thread (this was to upgrade to the DVC Gold pass):

"It doesn't seem to be standard anyway - we asked on 2 different occasions in Oct and were quoted $177 at AK and $63.90 at Disney Springs"

If it was a $10 difference then that might be due to fluctuations in the exchange rate. But not a $113 difference! Different CMs use different methods to calculate the upgrade price.

[Shooby doo]

Perhaps I've over simplified things but I could have just as easily been brutal & said actually no-one knows! What you get this morning, will be different tomorrow & the next & so on ... The variables as we know:
1 Where you ask
2 FX rate
3 The wholesale price - this is what I was told by Disney
4 How they determine the worth of your pass- a 10 MYW you would be quids in
On a question that must get asked several times a week, we should just have a sticky where "we" can post where & how much
SD

[A&S&O]

Originally Posted by Shooby doo

Perhaps I've over simplified things but I could have just as easily been brutal & said actually no-one knows! What you get this morning, will be different tomorrow & the next & so on ... The variables as we know:
1 Where you ask
2 FX rate
3 The wholesale price - this is what I was told by Disney
4 How they determine the worth of your pass- a 10 MYW you would be quids in
On a question that must get asked several times a week, we should just have a sticky where "we" can post where & how much
SD

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Precisely. This question get asked so many times.

We can advise how to calculate what the upgrade should cost, but explain that if people get a better deal, then great, but its no guaranteed.

A sticky please with what should happen, listing all options (which Ultimate, which Platinum, which DVC pass, which discount etc.)

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by A&S&O

Precisely. This question get asked so many times.

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Lots of questions get asked lots of times here on the DIBB. Even ones that already have a sticky or are already included in the guidebook.

I'm not against having a sticky that says, "We don't know how much it costs to upgrade to an Annual Pass because it depends on several different things such as...". It's just that:

1. I'm not sure how much help that would be.
2. It won't stop people from asking for an idea on how much people paid to upgrade to an Annual Pass recently.

If you want, you can create a guidebook page and explain everything in there and point people towards it. There's already an Annual Pass page here:

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/Dis...der-p-681.html

You could add another "Frequently Asked Question" to the end of that page along the lines of:

"Q. How much does it cost to upgrade a 7/14/21 day Ultimate ticket to an Annual Pass?
A. It varies significantly based a variety of factors and therefore no one can say how much it will cost you on the day that you upgrade your ticket. Some of the factors include (there may be others):
- Where you ask for the upgrade,
- Which CM you ask for the upgrade,
- The exchange rate at the time you upgrade,
- The wholesale price of your ticket, which only your ticket seller and Disney will know,
- Whether Disney are using the wholesale price or some other price (eg. equivalent MYW ticket price),
- Which Annual Pass you want"

If you think that would help, then give it a go? Or just tell them that's it's roughly the difference in price between the current Annual Pass price and how much they paid for their Ultimate ticket (and point them towards the above Annual Pass page for prices).

Originally Posted by A&S&O

We can advise how to calculate what the upgrade should cost, but explain that if people get a better deal, then great, but its no guaranteed.

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The point Shooby Doo was making was that it's very variable. As they said, "whilst I could tell you what *I* paid today [or, how much it should cost today] the FX rate could be totally different tomorrow". Or the wholesale price you paid could be totally different. Or the person you ask could be different. It "really is dependant on what they will value the Ultimate at", which we don't really know.

[Shooby doo]

I wasn't sure if you had to be a "Passholder" to do stickys? For anyone that's researched DVC, they will know that a certain website that is very much like ours but american has a ROFR thread that basically details prices that are getting through or taken.
Without DVC discount, on current pricing, an AP is pretty close to the equivalent of a Platinum plus & it isn't going to be a massive saving, of course parking & discounts could make the difference. One of the perks of DVC is that "we" can get a Gold pass, even adding an waterpark AP makes that cheaper than a Platinum plus.
The Upgrade price is really a bit of a dark art tbh !
SD

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Shooby doo

I wasn't sure if you had to be a "Passholder" to do stickys?

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I assumed it was only moderators that could make a thread into a "sticky"? I've never done it. It's why I suggested doing a guidebook page instead, which admittedly is not as visible as a sticky.

Anyway, using your little equation...

Upgrade price = Cost of AP - (wholesale price of your pass x FX rate on the day)

...to create a list of the "should" upgrade costs is a bit difficult because no one here will know what the wholesale price is and it varies with everyone's ticket.

Instead, I'm going to use the current prices for the 2019 Ultimate tickets listed on Disney's UK website: £395 for an adult 14-day ticket and £415 for an adult 21-day ticket. I've also assumed the AP prices are as listed on this page. And I'll assume an FX rate of $1.30 to the £, which is about the current exchange rate. Based on those assumptions, here's a list of approximate upgrade costs:

Approximate cost to upgrade a 14-day Ultimate ticket to a...
Gold Pass = $114
Platinum Pass = $391
Platinum Plus Pass = $498

Approximate cost to upgrade a 21-day Ultimate ticket to a...
Gold Pass = $88
Platinum Pass = $365
Platinum Plus Pass = $472

As already discussed, these upgrade prices can vary considerably depending on which CM you ask, how much you paid for your ticket, the exchange rate on the day you upgrade, and a few other things. You may be quoted a higher or lower price than the above, and the difference could be $100 or more.

[missdopey]

The other variable with upgrade costs is pixie dust.
I went to guest relations in animal kingdom last week to see about upgrading a 14 day ticket to a gold pass and was quoted $84. Said thanks but no thanks as i had a cut off of $50 in mind as we don’t know for sure if we would be coming back within a year and he told me to hang on a second while he went out back, he said he was able to ‘move things around’ and there was no charge for the upgrade.
Certainly worth asking around!

[Hendriks]

Hello Just upgraded 4 tickets bought in Black Friday sales November from Orlando attractions for £1512 3 adult x1 child

We are DVc members and on the Disney app it offered us 524 x2 558x1 and 492 x1 credit agains a platinum pass

It wanted 496 436 and 470 x2
Ie 1872 +tax

We went to Hollywood and they said 183 dollars to upgrade to Gold each

After reading this forum we went tnGuest relations at Magic Kingdoms —-inside the park on the left as you enter next to restrooms

The cast member took ages — said ticket was blocked ?
And that we been to water parks
We said no we hadn’t

And then offered an upgrade for $603

$54 for 1 ticket and the $179 for 2 and $201

Anyway happy with price paid
Would have preferred $54 x4 or $83x4

But better than laying another 1600 for our October trip