Hey Howdy Hey Carla and welcome to planDisney!
Thank you so much for stopping by with your question on Annual Passes for Walt Disney World Resort. I will be happy to give you a little more insight into what to expect for your upcoming trip!
Annual Passes for Walt Disney World are such great buys if you live close to the parks or visit regularly. Ever since Disney resumed sales of Annual Passes last year, they went quickly causing Disney to pause any new sales because of their demand. This pause in sales will directly relate to your question. In a recent conversation with a Cast Member, I was informed that if you have an expiring Annual Pass, you can renew at the same level only. As long as new sales of Annual Passes are paused, you are not able to upgrade your pass as this is seen as a new sale.
Looking at the
Blockout Calendar, you are right a few weeks towards the end of December are blocked out for the Sorcerer pass, but all dates in January are open. At this time, it looks like the solution you have is to purchase regular theme park tickets for the days in December you will be visiting the parks and then switch over to admission using your Annual Pass in January.
The other option you have is to wait a bit to see if anything changes with the sales of new Annual Passes. If Disney does resume these sales soon, then you will be able to upgrade your pass, but if not, your daily ticket purchase is your option. At this time, there has been no official word on when sales will resume for passes, just the note that they will at some point. If you wanted to wait, I would recommend not waiting long as these dates in December usually tend to fill up with regard to theme park attendance.
Sorry, this is probably not the news you were looking for but hopefully now have a plan on what to expect for your trip. If you have any further questions, please feel free to stop back and let us know, we would be happy to help!
Have a Magical Day,
Nick