Costco Citypass 3 day hopper to Deluxe Annual pass--Credit amount

[ktrm]

So my friend is at Disneyland right now and she went to the Main Street Bank to ask about upgrading her 3 day hopper adult ticket from a CityPass purchased from Costco to a Deluxe Annual Pass. They told her she would get $164 credit towards an annual pass. I thought this was an incredible deal since she only paid $204.99(about $205) for the Citypass through Costco. That means she got a one day pass to Seaworld, to Universal, to Knotts Berry Farm, and to either the San Diego Zoo or the San Diego Wildlife Park for only about $41 ($205-$164). I bought my 3 day hopper through AAA for $159 and only got $159 credit towards my deluxe annual pass. By buying through Costco she also gets, I believe, 2% credit on her purchases towards her executive membership. I know this is only $4.10 but still.....when your on a budget every little bit helps. Soooooo....if you like to go to other attractions besides Disneyland and want to upgrade to an annual pass at the end of your trip, I personally think this is an amazing deal. You don't even have to got to all the other attractions on the Citypass to justify this purchase. As a bargain hound, I just thought I would pass this savings idea on.

[87path]

Wow! Thanks. I was wondering that myself. We have been hemming and hawing about City Pass vs. AP and just decided to do City Pass. Great to know they have the option. I wonder if Universal would do something similar as well?

[ktrm]

So its definitely offical, my friend just called and said she upgraded the Costco CityPass 3 day hopper tickets to a Deluxe Annual Pass. She got a credit of $164 for the adult pass and a credit of $134 on the children's pass.

[jory29]

So if an annual adult pass is $239, and a person gets a $164 credit, that means you would be spending only $75 additional, for an annual pass with some blackout dates?

Does one need to reside in the state of California to be able to take advantage, I wonder? It sounds tempting, as if we were to plan another trip, 11 mos. down the road from our trip in November, it would pan out well.

Our Canadian Costco stores also sell that city pass, so it is definitely something to weigh the pros and the cons.

Thanks for posting this!

[ktrm]

Yes, that right. She only paid $75 to update to a Deluxe Annual Pass. I am pretty sure you don't have to reside in Ca to take advantage of this. The person at the bank on Main Street made absolutely no mention of this. I'm not even sure you have to belong to Costco to get the Citypass for $204.99. I think you can buy it online at Costco.com. Just make sure on your trip that one of your scheduled days is not a blackout day. If so, people usually wait until their last day to update.

[jory29]

Yes, that right. She only paid $75 to update to a Deluxe Annual Pass. I am pretty sure you don't have to reside in Ca to take advantage of this. The person at the bank on Main Street made absolutely no mention of this. I'm not even sure you have to belong to Costco to get the Citypass for $204.99. I think you can buy it online at Costco.com. Just make sure on your trip that one of your scheduled days is not a blackout day. If so, people usually wait until their last day to update.

Hey, thanks so much, KTRM, for your fast reply. I am soooo kicking myself for last year when we went. We had a 5 day parkhopper, and could have just done a simple upgrade on the last day to an annual pass, to have gone this year. Sigh...

So... are you saying that we can actually use 2 days of the Disneyland pass to get into the gates, then go on some tours, and then on the third visit to DLR, prior to using the last day of the 3-day pass, then do the upgrade to the AP? For some reason I had it set in my head that a person has to do all of the other citypass tours first, such as universal studios, sea world, etc. - Or is the 3-day DLR pass set up in such a way that you MUST turn in your entire booklet to them in order to upgrade to the AP, [and that is why one must wait until the end of using their citypass other attractions prior to getting the annual pass?] Thanks!!

[wwithers]

Hey, thanks so much, KTRM, for your fast reply. I am soooo kicking myself for last year when we went. We had a 5 day parkhopper, and could have just done a simple upgrade on the last day to an annual pass, to have gone this year. Sigh...

So... are you saying that we can actually use 2 days of the Disneyland pass to get into the gates, then go on some tours, and then on the third visit to DLR, prior to using the last day of the 3-day pass, then do the upgrade to the AP? For some reason I had it set in my head that a person has to do all of the other citypass tours first, such as universal studios, sea world, etc. - Or is the 3-day DLR pass set up in such a way that you MUST turn in your entire booklet to them in order to upgrade to the AP, [and that is why one must wait until the end of using their citypass other attractions prior to getting the annual pass?] Thanks!!

It's just like a regular ticket; you have to use the whole DL ticket within 14 (or is it 13?) days of the 1st visit. Disney would not be able to confiscate the whole booklet since the other ones are provided by those specific venues.

If memory serves, don't you get regular tickets at each venue in exchange for your voucher?

Thanks for the info, ktrm. That's great info to have.

[jory29]

Thanks for the quick responses - does anyone know how much $$ can be applied toward an annual pass with a 5 day pass? Thanks.

[wwithers]

Thanks for the quick responses - does anyone know how much $$ can be applied toward an annual pass with a 5 day pass? Thanks.

If bought in advance, $189. At the gate, $229. Both are fully applicable. (unless they were purchased prior to price increases then whatever you paid for them)

You can also combine ticket values, but only 1 of them can be previously used.

Also, a little known fact is that if you go to the AP place before you leave the parks on the last day, you can get a voucher to get an AP on your next visit (it is backdated to the last use of the original ticket).

[AVP]

Thanks for the quick responses - does anyone know how much $$ can be applied toward an annual pass with a 5 day pass? Thanks.

If you purchased it through Disney, the full price you paid should apply towards an upgrade, so long as you upgrade while the ticket is still valid. There have been some issues with people using discounted tickets to upgrade, and receiving less than the value of the ticket towards their upgrade.

AVP

[jory29]

If you purchased it through Disney, the full price you paid should apply towards an upgrade, so long as you upgrade while the ticket is still valid. There have been some issues with people using discounted tickets to upgrade, and receiving less than the value of the ticket towards their upgrade.

AVP

Thanks for your reply. Hmmm, actually, I was thinking of 'purchasing' the disneyland tickets using my 'air miles' [a Canadian rewards program. whereby the ticket would end up being free as a result] and from my knowledge, the original price is stated on that ticket. Perhaps I will have to call them to ask if they would allow an upgrade.

[Baloo]

ANyone can buy a citypass, you do not need to be from southern California.

The city pass was made with tourist in mind. If you were to buy all the tickets for the dieferent attractions seperately it would cost you over 300 dollars. By buying the city pass you save over 100dollars.

Its a great deal for tourist especially since most tourist plan there trips within the time frame alloted to use the pass.

[AVP]

Thanks for your reply. Hmmm, actually, I was thinking of 'purchasing' the disneyland tickets using my 'air miles' [a Canadian rewards program. whereby the ticket would end up being free as a result] and from my knowledge, the original price is stated on that ticket. Perhaps I will have to call them to ask if they would allow an upgrade.

DEFINITELY check on that. I seem to remember someone posting not very long ago that they had done something like this, and the ticket was essentially worthless for an upgrade.

AVP

[jory29]

DEFINITELY check on that. I seem to remember someone posting not very long ago that they had done something like this, and the ticket was essentially worthless for an upgrade.

AVP

THANK YOU!! You rock!! And now I don't feel badly about not getting in on the annual pass last year on our last day of our 5 day pass if it turns out it won't work for an upgrade. I think in this case, it may though, as the ticket was printed up to be identical to the ones sold by Disney, I do believe, but I will phone to ask, for sure!! I'll post back here once I know the answer, in case anyone else is wondering something similar.

Hmm, just looked on my ticket that we used last year [photo], and for the one pass, it stated $149 right on it - kids pass - it even stated that it includes 1 day early entry, etc.

[AVP]

Hmm, just looked on my ticket that we used last year [photo], and for the one pass, it stated $149 right on it - kids pass - it even stated that it includes 1 day early entry, etc.

I believe that you can apply the "face value" of the ticket towards an upgrade - if your ticket has $149 printed on it, that should be the face value. I just can't remember the specifics of the other situation, but it seems that maybe the ticket had no face value because it was part of some promotional offer? I don't remember the details - just call and cover your bases before you get here. Don't rely on my faulty memory!

AVP

[jory29]

I believe that you can apply the "face value" of the ticket towards an upgrade - if your ticket has $149 printed on it, that should be the face value. I just can't remember the specifics of the other situation, but it seems that maybe the ticket had no face value because it was part of some promotional offer? I don't remember the details - just call and cover your bases before you get here. Don't rely on my faulty memory!

AVP

Ha ha, no worries, I won't hold you at fault if I get there and can't upgrade to an annual pass. I'll phone ahead first, and will post here. Now I'm back to feeling upset that on the last day of our trip last year that I didn't do the AP upgrade. Thanks so much for your very quick responses, and for your informative answers, too. I will update my answers after I call them on Monday.

[ktrm]

yes, my friend said her costco 3 day hopper pass from the citypass was printed with a face value of $164 on it. She asked about such a great deal because she felt it was too good to be true and she is a very honest person. The CM at the bank said that they honored the "face value" on the ticket even though it was part of the $204.99 City Pass through Costco. I bet those "kids play free" tickets from last years spring promotion had no value at all towards a deluxe annual pass. In fact, if memory serves, I think those kids tickets were printed with a zero value.

[ktrm]

If memory serves, don't you get regular tickets at each venue in exchange for your voucher?

Thanks for the info, ktrm. That's great info to have.

I would have to ask my friend since I did not do the Citypass thing myself. But she has not gone to the other parks yet so I am sure she would not have given up those tickets(i.e. seaworld, knotts etc.) or anything that represented those tickets. I believe she is giving something to the parks in exchange for tickets to the park such as a voucher. Next time she calls I will ask.

I think what I was blown away by was the "face value" of $164 for the 3 day hopper from the Costco Citypass. There was quite a bit of speculation about what sort of credit you got for it. I in no way dreamed it was such a high "face value" I would have bought it for the trip I came home from last week if I had known. I wasn't willing to gamble since I could never find out for sure what the value was. In my mind I was guessing it wasn't worth much since the whole pass was so inexpensive. Is there a telephone number at Disney(i.e. the bank on main street) to call to get all these upgrade questions answered?

[splash]

When we were at the park in Dec. we went in one day and asked about upgrading our 5 day park hoppers to annual passes. We were told it would be an additional $50 each (or $150 for the three of us) At the time it was like do we want to spend all that money now? I kind of wish we had done it though. Even though we live in Washington, it wouldn't be too hard to get there 2 times in a year.

[kiwifuz]

...If memory serves, don't you get regular tickets at each venue in exchange for your voucher?...

We used the Citypass in '05 and we didn't actually get a ticket at all of the venues.

Actually I'm pretty sure DL was the only place that we actually had to stop to trade our "coupon" in.

This was when Knotts was on the pass not Universal, but every gate we went through the ticket taker removed the appropriate coupon for our books & we proceeded through.

[ktrm]

Wow! Thanks. I was wondering that myself. We have been hemming and hawing about City Pass vs. AP and just decided to do City Pass. Great to know they have the option. I wonder if Universal would do something similar as well?

Just to let you know, my friend just went to Universal and the Universal ticket from the Citypass has absolutely no "face value" towards the purchase of an annual pass there. In other words you get no credit towards the annual pass price. The Universal person said most of the value of the CityPass ticket is in the Disneyland portion and the Universal portion is a freebie.

I will update you on Seaworld, Knotts, and the San Diego Wild life park annual passes when I get the info.

[DLFan]

jory29,

I was wondering if you had heard anything regarding the airmiles tickets. I was also planning to "purchase" hoppers through airmiles and upgrade to annual passes. We are also planning to go to Seaworld and Universal so I am trying to figure out which will be the best option: airmiles or City Pass.

Regarding the City Pass tickets at Costco in Canada, can you only order them through their website or do some stores actually have them?

Thanks

[jory29]

jory29,

I was wondering if you had heard anything regarding the airmiles tickets. I was also planning to "purchase" hoppers through airmiles and upgrade to annual passes. We are also planning to go to Seaworld and Universal so I am trying to figure out which will be the best option: airmiles or City Pass.

Regarding the City Pass tickets at Costco in Canada, can you only order them through their website or do some stores actually have them?

Thanks

Hi I actually wrote to the Disneyland Resort customer service reps. yesterday evening [via email] so I'll post back as soon as I hear from them.

I think if you are going to Seaworld and Universal, and choose to upgrade to an annual pass, that will be your best bet, over the air miles. My ticket looks like a purchased ticket, I'm not sure if when they do a scan of the #'s on the back of the ticket, if something different shows for them, so I have asked them about this.

Also, transportation to get to Universal and Seaworld from your hotel using grayline bus would be only $72 per person using the coupon ticket in the booklet. Good deal, too. If you are coming back once next year to Disneyland, and go for a total of 9 days [4 this visit, and say 5 next time], then even with all of that, INCLUDING the annual pass upgrade, you would be paying, for 3 adults and 1 kid, $37.18 CAD per person, per daily event! Not bad at all!!!

I figured the average price, in CAD for all taxes, 2% back from Costco, BUS transport to Universal, etc., AND $1.10 USD to CAD conversion, that it was around $409 CAD TOTAL per person - [on average - we have one child, and our 10 year old 'counts' as an adult, so when I figured out prices, I factored it in with 3 adults and 1 child.] So... to get a pretty accurate estimate, to see if you want to buy the Costco citypass, and upgrade to a DLR annual pass, take $409 per person and divide it by the # of days you will be going to an event to figure out accurately, your final cost of the entertainment price per day per person. As you know, with air miles, they 'give' you around 14 cents per each air mile. In the end, you might wish to forgo using your air miles to buy the DLR passes, and just find a Best Western WITH a restaurant on premises that you can charge the meals to your room if you stay at a Best Western - [it is 1050 air miles for a $150 CAD gift card, and it works on a USA hotel, they just do the USD conversion when you are there] and then pay for your meals with the gift cards you bought through air miles. The Best Western Gift cards give you a better bang for your buck than 'buying' the DLR parkhopper passes. And with the air miles you save from not buying Disneyland passes, you could spend the remainder on hotel gift cards to pay for your room and meals. However, that being said, I know of one Best Western [Park Place Inn & Mini Suites] that does NOT have a restaurant on premises so one can not charge their food and pay later with their best western gift card.

I will let you know what they say about going the air miles route. It should be o.k. to upgrade to an annual pass. I am trying to decided if I should splurge and spend 810 more air miles for a family of 4 [3 adult, 1 child] for an air miles 5 day parkhopper pass, or just go with the [810 air miles less per family of 4] 3-day parkhopper pass using air miles and then paying the additional. It all will work out to how much extra one has to pay on each pass, [3-day or 5-day] to upgrade. I was really hoping to see an air miles 'sale' on the Disney passes at air miles, since the WDW passes had just had an air miles sale.

I have not seen the citypasses at a Canadian Costco, but perhaps the bigger city centres have them? DLFan, when are you planning on going? What province do you live in?

Sorry for the rambling.... I get so excited to be planning our trip!

[DLFan]

Thanks for all the info jory!

I have been trying to do all my calculations here at work this afternoon to find out what the best deal will be with airmiles.

We will be going in August travelling from Victoria BC.

Do you know how long it takes to receive the rewards from airmiles?

I think I better give them a call to find out. If I find out anything new I will let you know.

When are you going to DL and where are you from?

[jory29]

Hey, DLFan,
I just phoned DLR ticket office, and read off my old ticket number [that had been purchased using air miles] to them - she figures it would have been upgradeable [sniff, sniff, I missed the boat!] The back of my ticket did not state it is not upgradeable, plus, it shows the 'cost' of the ticket [at the time, there was an air miles sale that coincided with the reduced rates of the current Disneyland sale. The cost of a child ticket showed $149, and the adult ticket showed as $179, so for $280 USD more, we could have done the annual upgrade for the 4 of us. If only I had found mouseplanet at that time.

Anyway, the current 5 day park hopper pass from air miles will likely show up in their system as being only $10 cheaper than the annual pass, [if you buy your park hopper pass through air miles when there is not an air mile sale, or 'special' offer on] so it may be worth it to save up for the air miles 5 day pass, and go from there to do the upgrade. Not sure for you which route to take now - for us, we want only to go to Disneyland, and 1 trip to Universal during our stay. It may pan out better for you to buy the Citypass so you can also visit Seaworld, and buy the reduced bus transport $72 deal. On the other hand, Universal has online, where they provide a free shuttle to Universal from your hotel if you buy your ticket online, and once at Universal you can upgrade to the front of the line pass if you so wish. I'm not sure for how much more $$ that one is.

I don't think it took long for the DLR tickets to arrive - perhaps 7-10 days? I don't recall, but I would order them soon if I were you. I would also photocopy my tickets, [bar code, in the event you lose them, it is the ONLY way they can reissue them] and make sure you sign the actual ticket, too. I learned this from mouseplanet, too!

I am from Alberta, and we plan on going in November. November gets pretty chilly and lots of snow, so it will be a great time to head to the warm Californian sun!

Take care, and thanks for sharing any of your info. with me, too, I appreciate that!

Edited to add: I also asked if the reason that they could allow the Citypass upgrades to annual pass was because they don't state on the back of the citypass disneyland tickets that they are not upgradeable, and she said yes. I'm not sure what ticket puchasing event would lead to a ticket saying it is not upgradeable, but maybe any sort of free bonus pass?