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Hydroman
09-22-2002, 07:07 AM
Greetings all! After a two-year absence from DL, my family and I are going to take the plunge and get APs on Friday (my two oldest kids go off-track that day). Which brings up some simple questions:

1) The "official" DL webpage recommends purchasing APs at the ticket booths outside the gate. However, it also recommends purchasing other entrance media on-line or at your local Disney Store so that the ticket booth lines can be avoided. Now it seems to me that since single-day tickets can be converted (for a fee, of course) to APs at the AP center, and that a stop at the AP center is still required even if you purchase the AP at the ticket booth outside the gate, it would seem that the most expedient method of getting an AP is to buy a single-day ticket ahead of time, and then converting it at the AP center. Does this make sense?

2) Where is the AP center located? I know it used to be at the old B of A, but I recall hearing its been moved .....

3) The "official" DL webpage has not updated the blockout dates for the SoCal and Deluxe APs in some time. Does anybody know what they will be after March 2003?

Thanks for any help you can offer:)

MonorailMan
09-22-2002, 07:27 AM
I say buy the AP at the Ticket Booths. Then they give you a ticket to go to Plaza Pavilion or the Bank. Then you get a pic., and your card. :)

Denise624
09-22-2002, 07:41 AM
We bought my husbands AP last Friday. We went to the customer service booth, which is located to the left of the entrance. The line was very short. We paid for the pass and went inside to the processing center, which is at the end of main street, by Coke Pavillion, again we found only a short line. The whole process was very quick and smooth. Good luck and have fun!

DJ_MENTOS
09-22-2002, 08:17 AM
1.) If you would really like to be quick about it, go ahead of time to a DisneyStore, and buy your annual passes. (Call ahead of time to make sure they are still selling them.)
2.) The AP Center is located at the old Carnation Plaza, at the end of main street on your left.
3.) You might want to contact Disney to get the info on some block-out dates after 03-03. Most likely the Disney Store will have them along with Disneyland.

EandCDad
09-22-2002, 08:31 AM
Originally posted by Hydroman
Greetings all! After a two-year absence from DL, my family and I are going to take the plunge and get APs on Friday (my two oldest kids go off-track that day). Which brings up some simple questions:

1) The "official" DL webpage recommends purchasing APs at the ticket booths outside the gate. However, it also recommends purchasing other entrance media on-line or at your local Disney Store so that the ticket booth lines can be avoided. Now it seems to me that since single-day tickets can be converted (for a fee, of course) to APs at the AP center, and that a stop at the AP center is still required even if you purchase the AP at the ticket booth outside the gate, it would seem that the most expedient method of getting an AP is to buy a single-day ticket ahead of time, and then converting it at the AP center. Does this make sense?


1. What you suggest will work. But going to the customer service line to the left of the main gate is also pretty quick. If Disney Stores don't sell AP's, then I would suggest buying the one day pass online or at a store and then going to the old Carnation Plaza at the end of Main Street to upgrade. I would do this as soon as the AP Center opens, don't wait till the end of the day, when lines can be quite long.

Good luck.

Hydroman
09-22-2002, 12:13 PM
Originally posted by DJ_MENTOS
3.) You might want to contact Disney to get the info on some block-out dates after 03-03. Most likely the Disney Store will have them along with Disneyland.


I sent an e-mail to Guest Relations requesting the future blockout dates. Their response was to quote the dates already shown on the website (nothing new). :mad:

Thanks for the advice, all!

EandCDad
09-22-2002, 02:26 PM
Originally posted by Hydroman
I sent an e-mail to Guest Relations requesting the future blockout dates. Their response was to quote the dates already shown on the website (nothing new). :mad:

Thanks for the advice, all!

I don't think they change the dates all that much from year to year. I would look at a list for 2002 and just note which weeks and days of the week are blacked out and place it on the date in 2003. It's imperfect but it will give you some idea.

stinkerbell
09-22-2002, 11:12 PM
I went to buy our AP's at our local Disney Store for our trip next month and they suggested waiting til we get there, as it takes 6-8 weeks for the AP's the get to the store! :eek: So we'll be in line at the customer service center next month instead. :)

HBTiggerFan
09-23-2002, 12:04 AM
for my first AP I bought it at the Disney Store. I paid the $$ and they gave me a ticket (looked like a normal passport at that time...pre dca) and told me that it would get me in the park and to go to get my AP first thing and be sure not to lose it. I had parking on it too, and when I went to park just showed them the ticket and didn't get charged for it.

As a side note, if you get parking on any of the APs and you pay to park, be sure to bring your parking ticket with you and have them refund your $8.00 :)

tabacco
09-23-2002, 06:13 PM
Yeah, Disney Store should be able to give you a NIB AP like Tigger said. It's a generic AP -- no name, etc. until it's processed.

stinkerbell
09-23-2002, 10:54 PM
Wellllll, that's what I thought, too! But nope. They scan a sheet in a binder, and have to wait for the "ticket" to arrive in the store. I would have to come back to get it in 6-8 weeks, and then I'd still have to have it processed at Disneyland. This was the manager I was working with. I made her tell me "6-8 weeks" three times. :rolleyes:

Me: Are you sure it's not 6-8 days?
Manager: No, 6-8 weeks.
Me: That sounds like a really long time.
Manager: Yes, it's how we do it. If you're going next month, you'll want to wait until you get there.
Me: So 6-8 weeks?
Manager: Yep.

I kept hoping I could get some kind of explanation or something from her. But I got nothing.

I'll be in line there soon enough........:)

Morrigoon
09-24-2002, 12:15 AM
That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

stinkerbell
09-24-2002, 06:56 AM
Originally posted by Morrigoon
That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

Okay, that made me laugh so damn hard!!!!! :D

But picture this: I walked in there, like I owned the freaking world and was telling her HOW to do the whole AP thing. I'm sure she just loved that!!!!! She pulls out her little white binder, shows me the UPC she has to scan, then shows me the "how-to" sheet and and sure enough, it says, "Six to eight weeks" on it! I still don't understand it, but I'm not trusting that little piece of paper to be there any sooner. Why wouldn't the little piece of paper be there in the store????? It's not like it's a real AP or something, it's a little freaking piece of paper!

Okay, my rant is over. I just had an idea of how getting my AP was going to be, and let's just say, that's not exactly how I had it planned. :rolleyes:

Hydroman
09-24-2002, 07:26 AM
Don't feel bad, Stinkerbell. You were probably expecting something simple like a special ticket printed on the "standard" ticket media. Which is what I would have expected. I agree with Morrigoon, 6-8 weeks is just plain dumb!

Reading you signature line, Stinkerbell, I have to wonder if your DisneyStore is in a small town ....... ;)

Bill Catherall
09-24-2002, 08:11 AM
When I bought our APs back in 1999 I went to the Disney Store in the Thousand Oaks Mall. They gave me tickets that I used to get into the park and present at the Bank to get our picture taken and the little cards. It was a very painless and quick process. No waiting 6-8 weeks and no waiting in long lines at the park to buy the tickets. Was there something wrong with that method that made them want to change it?

EandCDad
09-24-2002, 08:18 AM
Just a reminder. If you buy a one day media at the Disney Store and upgrade it at the AP Processing Center, you're line standing will be exactly the same as if you buy an AP at the Disney Store. You can't avoid going to the Processing Center to get your permanent card (unless you already have a picture on file). So just buy the one day ticket and have it upgraded.

It would be as quick and painless as Bill's experience and you'll be keeping you line standing to the absolute minimum.

stinkerbell
09-24-2002, 11:22 AM
Originally posted by Hydroman
Don't feel bad, Stinkerbell. You were probably expecting something simple like a special ticket printed on the "standard" ticket media. Which is what I would have expected. I agree with Morrigoon, 6-8 weeks is just plain dumb!

Reading you signature line, Stinkerbell, I have to wonder if your DisneyStore is in a small town ....... ;)

Actually, I was expecting a parade, or at least some sort of banner commemorating the occasion...... :D But, whatever. It all works out the same way. No worries.

Salem, OR Disney Store, BTW. :)

DSNYDad
09-24-2002, 02:08 PM
I was at an event at the Grand Californian and my brother (AP holder for a few years) convinced me to get AP's for me and the family. So I bought the AP's at the ticket gate and were told on our first visit to go get our permanent cards after 3:00PM. Well we just wanted to go in for lunch that day so the nice lady at the ticket counter said to go in and ask at City Hall if it would be OK just to go into the park for lunch and then come back for our AP's. So we did and it was cool and we had lunch (corndogs) left and then I came back with the family a week later :^)

SusanP.
09-24-2002, 06:20 PM
6-8 weeks? That's outrageous!

But you know, I'm sure they changed it because those temporary tickets were untrackable or something. And I can hear the stupid people whining "I bought an AP, I swear, but I lost my ticket!"
Another idiot ruined it for everyone else, I'm sure.

I still don't understand WHY you would have to wait that long though. It's not like they were going to take your picture right there in the store and you would have to wait for it, like a driver's license. Whatever. :confused:

LLevy
09-25-2002, 03:15 PM
What probably happened was she wasn't at a southern califonia store. I was told a couple of years ago that only the southern califonia stores carried the APs in stock. so we waited till we got to LA to buy the "voucher' that we used to get in the gate, then went to the AP processing center to have it changed to the "official" AP.

Linda

roberts1398
09-25-2002, 03:55 PM
That sounds like a reasonable explanation. Realistically, how many times a year is a person going to walk into a Disney Store in Minnesota to buy an AP for DLR?

Ace
09-25-2002, 06:51 PM
Originally posted by Hydroman
Don't feel bad, Stinkerbell. You were probably expecting something simple like a special ticket printed on the "standard" ticket media. Which is what I would have expected. I agree with Morrigoon, 6-8 weeks is just plain dumb!

Reading you signature line, Stinkerbell, I have to wonder if your DisneyStore is in a small town ....... ;)

If you knew why it takes 6-8 weeks, you wouldn't complain.

First, they make the paper that it's printed on by hand in the deepest Californian forests. Then they tie a bag of them to a fish and send it to Antartica to be printed. Then they take 1 at a time by helicopter to Australia and have a kangaroo breathe on them for some reason. Then they put them on a boat and send them to Anaheim and then they are sent out when the receptionist gets around to it.

LibraryGirl
09-25-2002, 07:48 PM
Originally posted by Squinky
If you knew why it takes 6-8 weeks, you wouldn't complain.

First, they make the paper that it's printed on by hand in the deepest Californian forests. Then they tie a bag of them to a fish and send it to Antartica to be printed. Then they take 1 at a time by helicopter to Australia and have a kangaroo breathe on them for some reason. Then they put them on a boat and send them to Anaheim and then they are sent out when the receptionist gets around to it.

ROTFL :D :D

So THAT'S how they do it!!

Since you were the expert at answering the 6-8 weeks question, can you answer this:

How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? :)

I guess I'll wait until DL to get my AP too!

Ace
09-25-2002, 08:18 PM
928743872173.12

LibraryGirl
09-25-2002, 09:13 PM
::Laughing and holding my tummy::::


I can now "officially" use your information to answer reference questions! :)