Help with Obtaining an Annual Pass - How to physically get it?

My friend who lives in Ohio purchased an annual pass from Disney online and was told that she will be mailed a "voucher" that she will take to a theme park ticket window to exchange for her annual pass.

Here are her questions:

1) She will be driving herself. If she wants to obtain her pass at the Animal Kingdom ticket window - will she have to pay to park in the lot ( Parking is free with an annual pass, but she won't have the pass until she gets to the ticket window).

and

2) Isn't there a place at Downtown Disney where can take her voucher and obtain her annual pass. Can anyone explain IN DETAIL where this is ? Downtown Disney is BIG and I would like to give her accurate instructions about where to go to get her pass. She thinks she will probably go to Downtown Disney to try to get it rather than Option 1 above.

Thanks!

I don't know the answers to your questions, but I would think that the Voucher would be good enough for parking until she gets the actual AP.

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Originally Posted by WDWPrincess

1) She will be driving herself. If she wants to obtain her pass at the Animal Kingdom ticket window - will she have to pay to park in the lot ( Parking is free with an annual pass, but she won't have the pass until she gets to the ticket window).

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Is she staying on property? If so, check in first and she'll be given a resort pass which will allow her to park for free.

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Originally Posted by WDWPrincess

2) Isn't there a place at Downtown Disney where can take her voucher and obtain her annual pass. Can anyone explain IN DETAIL where this is ?

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Yes, there is. She would need to go to Guest Relations which is located in between Team Mickey (the sports apparel store) and Giradelli. It's about halfway between World of Disney and Rainforest Cafe. It's tucked back a little but there's a sign that says "Guest Relations." If she goes to the desk there the CM can get her AP activated with no problem.

To answer your question on parking (if she has to go that route), yes you do have to pay. But as soon as the pass is activated, she can get reimbursed at Guest Relations.

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Originally Posted by JenniferS.

I don't know the answers to your questions, but I would think that the Voucher would be good enough for parking until she gets the actual AP.

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As mentioned, a voucher IS NOT enough for get "free" parking. At $15 a day, you can get a AP voucher and milk it for free parking for a long time. To get any of the perks, it must be an activated AP, this applies to parking, hotel discounts, etc.

You can go to Guest relations at DTD to get your annual pass. They are usually pretty easy in and out there.

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Originally Posted by DizneyRox

As mentioned, a voucher IS NOT enough for get "free" parking. At $15 a day, you can get a AP voucher and milk it for free parking for a long time. To get any of the perks, it must be an activated AP, this applies to parking, hotel discounts, etc.

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Why would someone buy an annual pass voucher, and only use it to park at the parks for free?
How are they eventually getting in to the parks?
Where is the advantage?

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Originally Posted by gerald72

Why would someone buy an annual pass voucher, and only use it to park at the parks for free?
How are they eventually getting in to the parks?
Where is the advantage?

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Never underestimate the determination of a scrooge...

People were abusing the AP dscount for hotel accomodations because they knew that the CMs wouldn't ask to see one. So, for a while CMs were very diligent about asking for and requiring an activated pass.

Locals could get a voucher and use it for the parking (the seasonal pass doesn't include parking) for their visits for quite a while. At $15 a day, it would pay for itself after only 40 visits. A voucher could also be shared pretty easily.

Money is also the reason why Disney requires an ADULT AP for hotel discounts and I assume the TiW card. People would get their kids an AP just for the discount. It's only a couple bucks cheaper than an adult AP but you would be surprised at the lengths that people will go through to save a dollar.

I know people who drive a half hour out of the way to save a penny on a gallon of gas.

And again, how is this an advantage to anyone?

You are saying that a local will buy a $250 season pass (which doesn't include parking) and a $450 annual pass voucher (used only for parking).
Why wouldn't they buy Only the annual pass, and also avoid blackout dates?

And how is that a loss to Disney? Maybe Disney should offer them $300 parking passes.

Makes about as much sense as driving a half hour out of the way to save that penny.

:mickey: You can also get an annual pass activated at the Epcot International Gateway ticket entrance ticket booth. It works out well if you are staying at one of the Epcot Resorts hotels.

:mickey:

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Originally Posted by gerald72

And again, how is this an advantage to anyone. You are saying that a local will buy a $250 season pass (which doesn't include parking) and a $450 annual pass voucher (used only for parking).
Why wouldn't they buy Only the annual pass, and also avoid blackout dates?

And how is that a loss to Disney? Maybe Disney should offer them $300 parking passes.

Makes about as much sense as driving a half hour out of the way to save that penny.

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Because a voucher is good until it's converted to an AP. The voucher could be used for years, so yes, it's in effect a $450 parking pass, good for three, four, five years or more. The more people they share it with, the more of a value it would become.

I seem how that can work. Sounds extreme.
People actually do that?

I used to buy printers for the ink refills they contained. It was cheaper than buying the refill packs seperately. Kindof a shame to put a perfectly good printer in the landfill. Now with the starter ink they package with printers, not so much, but it's worth checking on it.

So yes, people would do that...

And as far as sharing... There's a reason why the TiW second card is almost as much as the first.

We bought AP's for the first time in December. We paid to park and went to the ticket booths To buy the AP's. They took 15 bucks off the purchase price. so I wouldn't worry to much about it.

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Originally Posted by DisneyEpcotDad

:mickey: You can also get an annual pass activated at the Epcot International Gateway ticket entrance ticket booth. It works out well if you are staying at one of the Epcot Resorts hotels.

:mickey:

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Thanks DisneyEpcotDad! We are staying at Boardwalk Villas and will be walking immediately to International Gateway! Just to clarify... we are not going to pre-purchase the Annual Pass online. We can still go to the International Gateway ticket counter to PURCHASE the Annual Pass correct? And for that matter, purchase the TIW card?

Thank you in advance for clarifying! :thumbsup:

Yes... When purchased at the Guest Relations booth you should receive an activated AP good for immediate entry. TiW can be had at the same time, International Gateway can do both.

A couple comments:

- If you buy your AP online, yes you get a voucher, but I'm pretty sure its emailed to you, not snail mailed.

- There are two Guest Relation locations at Downtown Disney to pick up the AP (or any other ticket related things, including purchasing Tables in Wonderland). One is in the Marketplace: if you are at, for instance World of Disney, continue back towards Rainforest Cafe. You'll pass Ghirardelli (where, of course you pick up a piece of chocolate), then Guest Relations will be on your right, before you get to Team Mickey. (If you happen to miss it, just go in Team Mickey and turn right...it's connected to Guest Relations). I actually prefer this location as opposed to the parks, since it tends to be less crowded, especially since the park Guest Relations can be crowded in the morning. I haven't used it, but I understand the West Side Guest Relations is inside Disney Quest.

Just a quick update - she did get a physical voucher in the mail. And she took the voucher to Downtown Disney Guest Relations by Team Mickey and got her AP there.