As you know by now, I am a frequent visitor of the most magical place on earth and always look for deals to minimize the cost of an otherwise very expensive Disney vacation. In an earlier post, I detailed how I got a free Disney World 7-day park hopper ticket by booking on Expedia and using credit card points for a travel statement credit. With a little research, I was able to maximize that deal even further. After spending 7-days hopping around the Disney parks this past November, my husband and I were able to upgrade our existing tickets to an annual pass (Disney Platinum Pass) for only $313.11 per person. Here is how I got my Walt Disney World Annual Pass for $313.11…
Step 1:
Sign up for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®
Step 2:
Follow steps 2 and 3 from my Score a Free Disney World 7-Day Park Hopper Ticket post
Step 3:
Once you’ve used your park hopper ticket at Disney World at least once to enter the parks, visit a ticket sales location outside any of the park entrances to upgrade to the Disney Platinum Annual Pass. I recommend visiting the location at Epcot’s back entrance, the International Gateway, because it seems to be the least crowded.
Step 4:
Enjoy an entire year at Disney World!
Lets break down the numbers to see how I got my Walt Disney World Annual Pass for $313.11…
A Disney Platinum Pass currently sells for $779 + tax for anyone over the age of 10. With tax, the total cost is $829.64. The ticket I purchased from Expedia was running a promotion at the time; buy a 5-Day Park Hopper Ticket® and get 2 FREE days. My total cost for a 7-Day Park Hopper was only $473.93! Add in the $313.11 I paid to upgrade to an annual pass, and my total cost was $787.04; $42.60 less than the $829.64 Disney price.
Several Disney blogs have said not to upgrade until you use your ticket at least once. I can’t confirm this, but can say it was true with my purchase. Disney’s system does not track discounted tickets once they have been used. If you purchase your ticket with a special discount, using my Expedia discount as an example, it will show in their system as a 7-day park hopper once the ticket is used, not knowing you only paid for a 5-day park hopper and got 2 days free. That is how I saved the $42.60 on my annual pass.
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