Upgrading Disneyland Hoppers into Annual Passes

Have you been one of the thousands browsing eBay for some multiple day hoppers? Is so there are some things you should know before purchasing hoppers from strangers.

When buying hoppers, make sure you know exactly how much the seller paid for the hopper. A lot of sellers get discounts for their hoppers through their employers. So you may see an auction on eBay for $150 for a 4 day hopper with 1 day left and see the same exact pass for $125 through another auction. Disney will give you credit on what the seller paid for the pass. So if the seller originally bought it for $130, that's how much will go towards your annual pass. Make sure you know how much the seller paid for the pass (they always advertise how much it costs at the gate, but you need to know how much they paid for it). The passes sold at the Disney Store do not have an amount on the back, but can be upgraded to annual passes.

When buying a hopper make sure the seller is reputable. There is no way you can tell if there are any days left on certain passes (for example the plastic passes they sell at the Disney Store). If the seller is not reputable, you may go to Disneyland with some passes that have already been used. When you try to file a claim with paypal, all they will look at is if the seller shipped the item. So it's best to buy from a seller that you know will be around after you get back. If you happen to purchase a hopper w/o days on it, see if someone from Disneyland can give you something you can use as evidence when presenting a claim to paypal. Every bit of information helps you win your case.

A lot of sellers like to meet in person and exchange park hopper passes for cash. I would strongly discourage this. It is true that the hoppers expire within 2 weeks of the first use, so a lot of sellers like to meet in person. If you must meet in person do not pay the seller until you verify that there is at least 1 day left on the hopper. You can walk with the seller to the ticket window and have the seller ask the ticket attendant if the pass is still good. Once you confirm it is good then you can pay the seller. There have been some people who meet at a hotel closeby who buy hoppers with cash from other sellers. No receipt, no way to find the seller, no way to get your money back on the bogus passes.

Finally, when upgrading the annual passes you have to upgrade them to a dollar amount higher than what your pass is worth. So if you have an annual pass worth $169, they will not allow you to get the $129 SoCal Select. When I upgraded 2 - $169 Hoppers and requested the $154 SoCal Pass, they said I could do it if I added parking so the value of the annual would exceed the value of the hopper. I assumed I had $338 worth in passes so I could get 2 SoCal $154 passes which would be $308, add parking to one of the passes since both passes did not need parking making my total bill $20 for everything. The cashier rung me up and said my total was $88! When I asked her why, she said both passes needed to be upgraded to higher dollar amounts, so she had to add parking for BOTH passes!

When buying hoppers, make sure you get one that's priced slightly lower than the annual pass that you want. Chances are a lot of families don't want to add parking to all passes when 1 pass with do.

So to review, buy from reputable sellers and try to pay with paypal so you have a receipt. Also when buying hoppers, know which pass you are going to upgrade to and get a hopper that's priced slightly lower than the pass.