Tickets and Annual Pass Questions - Please add your ticket questions to this thread

[Robo]

So will it work to turn those 2 day tickets into AP that will then not activate until we decide to go back, correct?

Yes.
You would ask to purchase an "AP Certificate" (and not an activated AP.)
Currently, AP Certificates have an expiration date at the end of the year 2030.

 

[ustasmom]

Yes.
You would ask to purchase an "AP Certificate" (and not an activated AP.)
Currently, AP Certificates have an expiration date at the end of the year 2030.

Thank you!

 

[jenmsmith]

I think I know the answer, but just to confirm, there have not yet been any reports here from anyone post 2/12 who has tried to upgrade a pre-2/12 discounted 7-day PH ticket to an 8 or more day or add the "Plus" option, correct?

When we bought the tickets from Parksavers in January, our plan was always to add the 8th day to use on arrival day (in late April), depending on how our red-eye flight went, and add the WPF&M option. Based on the prices in effect at the time, that would have cost about $46 per ticket (two adults, two Disney kids). We built our schedule with two water park visits with this plan in mind. When the new pricing came out, I was initially excited because it looked like it would actually cost less to upgrade to what we wanted, due to the reconfiguration of the WPF&M to the "Hopper Plus", so roughly $26 per ticket. So I'm a little disgruntled and discouraged to come back to this thread and see the reports that price bridging isn't being done anymore. If that's the case, it will now cost us $75 per ticket to add the extra day and the "Hopper Plus." We'll probably suck it up and pay the extra $100+ because there's no real alternative other than completing reconfiguring our trip to drop the water park visits (which our kids are excited about), eliminate the hoppers and switch to 10-day non-hoppers.

I get that they didn't want people buying discount non-expiring tickets to horde, but if they were going to do away with long-standing price bridging policies, they should have offered a grace period to people before implementing the change. And despite what my situation would indicate, I think Disney is going to end up losing money, because I venture to guess that when people find out it will be $60, rather than $10.65+tax, to add an extra day, they'll opt not to go into the parks for a partial day on their arrival or departure day.

We inquired about upgrading a pre-2/12/17 5-day PH to a 6-day PH last week. In the past, that would have been about $15. With the new policies, we were quoted $65. For one day. Um, no. We decided to stay at the resort for the day. I really hope Disney reconsiders this new policy. But I'm not holding my breath.

An odd wrinkle: we inquired at AK guest services. The CM quoted me $80 to upgrade to just one more day. She said their systems had just been "updated", but that if I went to Disney Springs - where, according to the CM, the systems hadn't been "updated" - I could add the day for $65. We didn't do either and respectfully expressed our dissatisfaction.

 

[Robo]

We inquired about upgrading a pre-2/12/17 5-day PH to a 6-day PH last week. In the past, that would have been about $15. With the new policies, we were quoted $65. For one day. Um, no. We decided to stay at the resort for the day. I really hope Disney reconsiders this new policy. But I'm not holding my breath.

An odd wrinkle: we inquired at AK guest services. The CM quoted me $80 to upgrade to just one more day. She said their systems had just been "updated", but that if I went to Disney Springs - where, according to the CM, the systems hadn't been "updated" - I could add the day for $65. We didn't do either and respectfully expressed our dissatisfaction.

And, adding fuel to this unfortunate fire...
I'm going to postulate that both of those CMs (and prices) were incorrect.

The info I have recieved is that there is a "special process" for adding "days" to pre-Feb. 12 tickets.
The price is much closer to $20 per added day (at least on a 5-day, or greater, ticket.)

I wish I had some more solid info and recommendation for solving this, but there have been so few DIS members reporting back on their upgrade experiences that I can't be more definitive about this.

Thank you, jenmsmith for reporting in. I wish your results had been better, of course.

 

[TwoLittlePrincesses]

Just double checking that I have this correct--

The 13 month AP promotion is only available for current AP holders than are renewing, correct? I am thinking about buying an AP for my 7/30-8/6 2017 trip, but am planning on also going late August 2018. My AP would not be valid for a late August 2018 trip, correct?

 

[Robo]

Just double checking that I have this correct--

1. The 13 month AP promotion is only available for current AP holders than are renewing, correct? I am thinking about buying an AP for my 7/30-8/6 2017 trip, but am planning on also going late August 2018.

2. My AP would not be valid for a late August 2018 trip, correct?

1. Correct. Renewals.
2. Correct.

 

[TwoLittlePrincesses]

1. Correct. Renewals.
2. Correct.

Thanks Robo! Bummer for me! We'll have to run the numbers and see what makes sense for us, as we're also going for a few days for the Princess Half Marathon weekend in February 2018.

 

[breick]

What would you advise me to do?

I purchased a Gold AP last November to get the 13 months offer and avoid a price increase. It hasn't been used. (Just sitting in MDE.)

Now, it seems that I will be taking a trip next month during block-out dates. Should I upgrade that voucher to a Platinum AP? Will I still get the 13 months or just 12 months? Best way to do that upgrade?

OR should I just buy a new Platinum AP out of pocket? Are they still offering the 13 months deal?

Thanks!

 

[mel2014]

We inquired about upgrading a pre-2/12/17 5-day PH to a 6-day PH last week. In the past, that would have been about $15. With the new policies, we were quoted $65. For one day. Um, no. We decided to stay at the resort for the day. I really hope Disney reconsiders this new policy. But I'm not holding my breath.

An odd wrinkle: we inquired at AK guest services. The CM quoted me $80 to upgrade to just one more day. She said their systems had just been "updated", but that if I went to Disney Springs - where, according to the CM, the systems hadn't been "updated" - I could add the day for $65. We didn't do either and respectfully expressed our dissatisfaction.

Thanks for reporting in. The $60 number seems to be correct for non-price-bridging based on the allears archived prices and the current WDW website prices (435.59 old 5-day PH vs. 495.23 new 6-day PH). I wonder where the $80 came from? Did you buy your 5-day ticket at a discount?

Unfortunately we are planning to upgrade at our resort (CBR) on the morning of our arrival day to be able to make FP+ reservations for that afternoon/evening, so I won't have the ability to CM "shop" to try to find a lower price (I suppose I could try in Customs House first, then the concierge desk in Old Port Royale). The alternative would be to drop our Fast Passes for our evening visit to HS on the 8th day of our trip, use our existing ticket entitlements for the first day, try several different ticket desks the first few days to try to get a lower-priced upgrade, and then try to re-book the FP+ when we finally buy the 8th day. But our timelines are tight on that 8th day to work around our Sci-Fi dine-in reservation and the Star Wars fireworks.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Thanks for reporting in. The $60 number seems to be correct for non-price-bridging based on the allears archived prices and the current WDW website prices (435.59 old 5-day PH vs. 495.23 new 6-day PH). I wonder where the $80 came from? Did you buy your 5-day ticket at a discount?

Unfortunately we are planning to upgrade at our resort (CBR) on the morning of our arrival day to be able to make FP+ reservations for that afternoon/evening, so I won't have the ability to CM "shop" to try to find a lower price (I suppose I could try in Customs House first, then the concierge desk in Old Port Royale). The alternative would be to drop our Fast Passes for our evening visit to HS on the 8th day of our trip, use our existing ticket entitlements for the first day, try several different ticket desks the first few days to try to get a lower-priced upgrade, and then try to re-book the FP+ when we finally buy the 8th day. But our timelines are tight on that 8th day to work around our Sci-Fi dine-in reservation and the Star Wars fireworks.

Is there a day mid-trip that you can leave free of FPs until you do the update? That will also give you the time you need to search different Guest Relations to attempt to upgrade at a, hopefully, lower cost.

 

[Robo]

Thanks for reporting in. The $60 number seems to be correct for non-price-bridging based on the allears archived prices and the current WDW website prices (435.59 old 5-day PH vs. 495.23 new 6-day PH). I wonder where the $80 came from? Did you buy your 5-day ticket at a discount?

Unfortunately we are planning to upgrade at our resort (CBR) on the morning of our arrival day to be able to make FP+ reservations for that afternoon/evening, so I won't have the ability to CM "shop" to try to find a lower price (I suppose I could try in Customs House first, then the concierge desk in Old Port Royale). The alternative would be to drop our Fast Passes for our evening visit to HS on the 8th day of our trip, use our existing ticket entitlements for the first day, try several different ticket desks the first few days to try to get a lower-priced upgrade, and then try to re-book the FP+ when we finally buy the 8th day. But our timelines are tight on that 8th day to work around our Sci-Fi dine-in reservation and the Star Wars fireworks.

Again, I want to emphasize that the price-bridging figure for adding a "day" to a ticket is appearently NOT the same as when upgrading to an AP. I don't want guests to get the wrong upgrade price.

 

[ThornXBL]

Again, I want to emphasize that the price-bridging figure for adding a "day" to a ticket is appearently NOT the same as when upgrading to an AP. I don't want guests to get the wrong upgrade price.

Yeah, this will be relevant to my trip this September.

I'll be upgrading my pre-Feb 2017 7-day PH to a Platinum Plus AP.
The rest of my group has 6 Day PHs, and is looking to upgrade to PH Plus (add water parks). And also possibly add 1 day.

I know for my AP upgrade, I'm looking at bridging based off the pre-Feb 2017 price increase gate value of my 7 Day PH.

For the rest of my group, it's unclear if they are looking at a $15~ or $60~ charge to add water parks (or something in between).

Hopefully more posters report back on how their upgrades go.

 

[mel2014]

Is there a day mid-trip that you can leave free of FPs until you do the update? That will also give you the time you need to search different Guest Relations to attempt to upgrade at a, hopefully, lower cost.

We could, but I'm sort of evaluating the risks a late-arriving plane, jetlagged cranky kids, and the possibility of not being able to get our FP choices later in the week and coming down on the side of keeping the FP+ for later in the week. Here is our plan for the week. Logically, I think it would make the most sense to drop the FP for either day 8 or 9 at HS.

(1) Arrival day/no advance FP+/HS studios afternoon/evening -- hoping to be able to pick up a couple of FP+ on the day of, maybe GMR and Star Tours
(2) MK -- FP+ for PP, Enchanted tales with Belle, 7DMT
(3) AK -- FP+ EE, Kali, Safari
(4) Epcot -- FP+ for TT, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth
(5) Blizzard Beach/mini-golf (need to add the "Plus" option to do this)
(6) MK -- FP+ for BTMRR, 7DMT, Space
(7) Epcot -- FP+ for FEA, Character Spot, Seas with Nemo
(8) Typhoon Lagoon morning/HS studios evening -- FP+ for TOT (4:30-5:30), Toy Story (5:30-6:30), Star Tours (7:30-8:30), with dinner at Sci-Fi between Toy story and Star Tours and Star Wars fireworks after Star Tours
(9) HS morning before getting DME back to airport at 3:30 -- FP+ for RnRC, TOT, Star Tours at 10, 11, 12
.

 

[hiroMYhero]

We could, but I'm sort of evaluating the risks a late-arriving plane, jetlagged cranky kids, and the possibility of not being able to get our FP choices later in the week and coming down on the side of keeping the FP+ for later in the week. Here is our plan for the week. Logically, I think it would make the most sense to drop the FP for either day 8 or 9 at HS.

(1) Arrival day/no advance FP+/HS studios afternoon/evening -- hoping to be able to pick up a couple of FP+ on the day of, maybe GMR and Star Tours
(2) MK -- FP+ for PP, Enchanted tales with Belle, 7DMT
(3) AK -- FP+ EE, Kali, Safari
(4) Epcot -- FP+ for TT, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth
(5) Blizzard Beach/mini-golf (need to add the "Plus" option to do this)
(6) MK -- FP+ for BTMRR, 7DMT, Space
(7) Epcot -- FP+ for FEA, Character Spot, Seas with Nemo
(8) Typhoon Lagoon morning/HS studios evening -- FP+ for TOT (4:30-5:30), Toy Story (5:30-6:30), Star Tours (7:30-8:30), with dinner at Sci-Fi between Toy story and Star Tours and Star Wars fireworks after Star Tours
(9) HS morning before getting DME back to airport at 3:30 -- FP+ for RnRC, TOT, Star Tours at 10, 11, 12
.

Day 8 is a good choice. I also think Day 4 would be good if you are planning to rope drop Epcot. I have tickets sitting in my MDE and checking for availability 3 days from now, TT as well as your other rides have open slots for a party of 4.

Be sure to have a good idea as to the approximate cost of adding on the Plus as well as adding on the one day.

 

[barbliny]

Back in January we upgraded our park hoppers to platinum annual passes on the last day of our vacation at the guest services window at the Epcot International Gateway.

We were given pamphlets and told our magic bands now reflected the AP. Everything is fine on MDE, and the annual passes are reflected.

We are planning a trip in the beginning of June, and are booked under an AP rate on property. I was reading a thread about AP discounts and having to carry your annual passholder card with you.

We were never given an AP card. I am now concerned that I will need this card to properly complete check-in at the resort and to receive discounts in the restaurants and shops.

I also have not received a card in the mail - only the magic bands (without the back-ordered AP sliders) and a magnet.

Do I need the card? Or does my magic band and photo id suffice?

 

[mel2014]

Day 8 is a good choice. I also think Day 4 would be good if you are planning to rope drop Epcot. I have tickets sitting in my MDE and checking for availability 3 days from now, TT as well as your other rides have open slots for a party of 4.

Be sure to have a good idea as to the approximate cost of adding on the Plus as well as adding on the one day.

Thanks, for checking availability! We are planning to rope drop on Day 4, but we're doing ROL at AK Monday night and my kids (6 and 8) may straggle a little in the morning, so I don't want to count on getting there early. I think I'll talk to my husband and see what he thinks.

My calculations of the costs are as follows:
If price bridging applied:
7-Day Child PH $495.23
8-Day Child PH Plus: $521.85

7-Day Adult PH $516.53
8-Day Adult PH Plus $543.15
Cost per ticket: $26.62

Total cost: $106.48

No price-bridging:
Pre 2/12 7-Day Child PH: $446.24
8-Day Child PH Plus: $521.85

Pre 2/12 7-Day Adult PH: $467.54
8-Day Adult PH Plus $543.15

Cost per ticket: $75.61
Total cost: $302.44

When we bought the tickets before the price increase, I assumed the cost to upgrade would be $38.34 per ticket ($505.88-467.54 and $484.58-446.24, respectively) or 153.36 total. It's not going to make our break our vacation either way and even $75 per person for two days of water parks and an extra park day isn't a bad price, it's just unexpected.

 

[jmmess]

Again, I want to emphasize that the price-bridging figure for adding a "day" to a ticket is appearently NOT the same as when upgrading to an AP. I don't want guests to get the wrong upgrade price.

Does this mean that hate postentislly upgrading one day would bring you to a current gate price for possibly $20 more and then you could bridge to an AP? 41 days to go! Hoping something works out by then.

 

[Robo]

-upgrading one day would bring you to a current gate price for possibly $20 more and then you could bridge to an AP?

Unlikely.

 

[jmmess]

Unlikely.

I knew it was wishful thinking.

 

[jenmsmith]

And, adding fuel to this unfortunate fire...
I'm going to postulate that both of those CMs (and prices) were incorrect.

The info I have recieved is that there is a "special process" for adding "days" to pre-Feb. 12 tickets.
The price is much closer to $20 per added day (at least on a 5-day, or greater, ticket.)

I wish I had some more solid info and recommendation for solving this, but there have been so few DIS members reporting back on their upgrade experiences that I can't be more definitive about this.

Thank you, jenmsmith for reporting in. I wish your results had been better, of course.

We have several other 5-day PH to which we would like to eventually add days. Am I understanding you correctly that we should be able to do this at about $20 per day? As long as we find a CM who understands that?