Welcome to planDisney, Athena!
Oh, boy – having lots of tickets to the
Walt Disney World Resort in your account is one of life’s greatest blessings, right? I was in a similar situation for a trip I enjoyed this past weekend and had the same concern. I also purchased a new
Annual Pass but am waiting until this fall to activate it, so I wanted to be certain the other ticket for a set number of park days was used this past weekend. I’m happy to help you understand how to organize these valuable assets within your account for a seamless theme park day on your next visit!
There are two ways to approach this to ensure you don’t activate your Annual Pass before you plan to. First, when you make a
theme park reservation for your upcoming trip you will be prompted to
Create Your Party (select Guests) and to
select exactly which ticket to use (Theme Park Ticket or Annual Pass). Select the 7-day Park Hopper Ticket and then the dates for your theme park reservation for the duration of your trip. This will ensure that when you enter your first theme park on that visit, the system will use an allotment from the ticket assigned to that day’s theme park reservation.
If you’d like extra peace of mind (I’m a chronic double checker), you may then
call the Walt Disney World Resort and
press the option for “already have tickets.” That team can look at your account and please
ask them to “prioritize” the 7-Day Park Hopper. On the administrative side of the system, they can rank the tickets in your account to be scanned in a designated priority order. Asking specifically to prioritize the 7-Day ticket should do the trick, as well as your theme park reservations made for that one.
One more tip for you, Athena – this weekend, after I scanned into a theme park with my dated ticket I noticed I could suddenly see my
PhotoPass photos for download without the watermark (a benefit of the Annual Pass). This made me worry that my Annual Pass had been activated by mistake. I took the time to visit Guest Relations in person, who confirmed I had not activated my pass but that since I had the Annual Pass on my account and new photos, they were available. So please don’t worry if you see this, you can always confirm that your Annual Pass does not have an expiration date assigned to it yet in your My Disney Experience account.
I hope this helps you feel more organized and relieved that your Annual Pass is tucked away for safe keeping until you’re ready to activate it! I’m looking forward to a year ahead full of fun as a Passholder, and I know you are too! Be sure to follow the
Disney Parks Blog for any additional news on
fun events or perks just for Passholders.
Please come back and see us if you have any more questions, we love to help!
Wishing you a magical vacation,
Amy