Need help with policy re child turning 3 during stay? UPDATED W/WDW REPLY

[welovedis]

I have seen recently on the Families board the posts about children turning 3 during their trips to WDW. I am in the process of helping some distant relatives plan their first trip to WDW. They speak very little english and have asked me to help them with the reservations, etc.... We made ressies and have some PS arrangements set up for them. Now I am trying to determine the "official" policy about children turning 3 during the visit.

When I made the hotel ressies I told the CM that it would be the 2 adults and 1 child in the room, they asked her age and I said she will 2 when they check-in and 3 when they check-out. The CM chatted with me a bit about how nice it was to spend her birthday at Disney and we went on to other things. She was really nice and helpful and I never thought to ask about park admission.

Her parents assumed they would get get DD a park pass for the day of her birthday and the following 5 days of the trip. Now I see some posts here stating that the WDW policy is to let the child in the parks without a pass if they turn 3 during their hotel stay. I emailed WDW before reading about the most recent post here because I saw it referred to in a post on another board. I figured if I could save them the cost of the pass it would be worth it but they would rather go by the official rules than risk having a problem later. I got an email back but it seemed rather canned--please tell me what you think:
"Dear Karen,

Thank you for contacting WALT DISNEY WORLD!
We appreciate your interest in ticket media for the Walt Disney World Resort. You will be happy to learn that our theme park ticket pricing for children begins once a child reaches the age of three. We do not charge admission for children under this designated age.
It has been a pleasure to be of assistance to you. We hope your upcoming visit will be filled with many happy memories."

So would you take this to mean that she will need a park ticket for the days after her birthday or what? I emailed back with this message :
"Earl-
Thanks for the quick response but I am emailing back to make sure I understand properly. When they check-in the hotel, she will be 2 and they don't need a park pass for the days until her birthday. After her birthday,
they will need a park pass regardless of when they checked in-correct? I had heard that she would not need a park pass because they will check-in before she turns 2 but couldn't understand how that would have any bearing on park admissions.
Thanks again-
Karen "

Any input from those who have done this already?
TIA!

 

[undertheradar]

Disney has a policy that the room rateif in value season, stays at value season during a stay that enters into full price rates. When my son celebrated his 3rd birthday, we started our stay 2 days before his birthday and were told to consider that this visit was the same throughout, as if he were two. Consider this to be the only price break that they will receive during vacation. This is Disney practice as quoted to us by Guest Relations.

Have a Great Trip!

Familyoffive

 

[welovedis]

Family of five-thanks for sharing the info, so it was guest relations at the hotel that told you this? I just want to clarify so I know who to address my questions to.

DH & I were talking about it and we both agreed that asking WDW for their specific policy would be good for this family since they are not "seasoned" travelers and would be upset if this caused them any problems while they were there. I just don't want to give them the wrong info.

I know the info about the rates but still can't figure out how the age thing would be thought of the same way, KWIM?

 

[BevS97]

just a guess here, but if you are buying a package with Length of Stay Pass (my brain can't remember the new name anymore), then I think that like the value season thing, you would just pay the amount for your package and that would include admission for all the kids, including the one who was turning 3.

now if you are talking about hoppers, then I think you are on rockier ground, and it's really going to depend on the CM you are dealing with at any point in time. I had a look around the WDW website, and couldn't find any official word on this policy, and then I looked on MousePlanet, and the guy on there said that he had asked 2 different CM's and had conflicting answers. (Look Here It's quite far down the page)

Bev

 

[welovedis]

Bev--Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen that page and found it interesting. They are not going to be getting LOS or UPS (whatever they are calling them today-lol) as they want to go down and see what they want to see and not rush too much. They feel that for the money they would rather get PHPs and feel more relaxed, plus they may end up coming back with unused days or plus features for another trip in the future.

I'm still awaiting the response to my email from Disney and hope it puts things more clearly. After re-reading the original email from them it seems as though they are expected to pay for her admission from the 3rd birthday on.

I'll post back when I hear from them and thanks again!

 

[welovedis]

I got the response to my email from WDW:
Dear Karen,
Thank you for contacting WALT DISNEY WORLD!
She would not need a park pass at all for this stay.
Hope this clears up the matter for you. Looking forward to your stay here at Walt Disney World.
If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us.
Please include your full name, E-Mail address, and reservation number if applicable on all correspondence.
Thank you!
Sincerely,

Earl

So thanks again to all who helped and I'm glad I emailed back and forth about this. I'm going to print out my emails and have my relatives take them along just in case there is any question about this when they arrive. Thanks again!

 

[strawberryblonde]

I'm so glad things have turned out Disney gave you such a common sense answer, I'm pleased. I found the CM's were really sweet at the turnstiles and give the benefit of the doubt so as to not offend. This last March my freshly 3 DD was never asked for admission. Most of the time she was in the stoller or being carried and we just stuck her hopper on through with everyone else's. No one ever asked her age but had they she would have replied happily "three!"

 

[vicb]

welovedis,

I applaud your honesty! You went above and beyond what many would have done!

 

[welovedis]

I just felt that it was what I would do if it was my trip. Since they are my relatives & asked me for my help I feel strongly about them having a relaxed and enjoyable time on their trip. With the language difficulty (they speak Polish) I wanted to be assured that they would have no problem with any of the changes that might occur during their stay.

I'm just glad I got a straightforward answer from them and hope this helps anyone who was wondering what the official policy was.



Now if only those AP rates would come out-lol!

 

[lalapodip]

Thanks for posting this topic! I was wondering what happens if a child turns 10 during the visit - it sounds like the child rate would apply for the entire trip, but I am going get that clarified as well. Very interesting and glad to hear that this worked out for your relatives (I'd print out the emails, too! )

 

[dennis99ss]

don't worry about it. they don't check the ages. they believe you if you say 2. take the price break.

 

[BethC]

Actually, the CM's WILL ask children their age if they suspect they are older than you say they are.

However, Disney's policy is that as long as your child is 2 when you start your trip, she is considered as 2 for the whole trip and there is no need to purchase park admission midway through your vacation. The same applies for 9 year olds who turn 10 in the middle of the trip.

If your child is already 3 when you arrive, then you are required to purchase passes for her. The same policy applies for children who are 10, they would need to purchase an adult pass.

 

[lvs_eeyore]

I was told the other day when renewing our AP tickets that even though my son would be turning 10 before his expired he could continue to use the childs AP until it expired. I would assume that if a child turns ten during a trip the same rule would apply. They would continue using the childs ticket until the end of the trip. Im not sure though if you bought a ticket that you didnt use all of the days on that you could use that at a future time.

 

[tjmw2727]

Originally posted by lvs_eeyore
I was told the other day when renewing our AP tickets that even though my son would be turning 10 before his expired he could continue to use the childs AP until it expired. I would assume that if a child turns ten during a trip the same rule would apply. They would continue using the childs ticket until the end of the trip. Im not sure though if you bought a ticket that you didnt use all of the days on that you could use that at a future time.

If the child is with you and the dates make sense Guest Relations will upgrade the childs ticket to an adult with exactly the same number of days and plus options. This can only be done at the parks not the resorts.

TJ

 

[Brian688]

I am new to this so please excuse me if this should be a new thread.

What if tickets were bought for a child as a gift for christmas (then age 9), and then turns 10 prior to use? Thought was only of the childs age at the time, not at time of useage.

 

[FreeTime]

You can update the childs ticket to an adults by paying the difference.

 

[NCRedding]

We had left over park hopper tickets from 2000 when my DD was 7. When we went in Dec. 2002, I took them to guest relations where they gave me a new adult pass with 4 days on it (which was what was remaining on the old pass) There is no cost to this, as long as you are using the same pass for the child who is now no longer in the child age bracket as defined by Disney (3-9). It took less than 5 minutes to complete.

 

[DorotheaJN]

Originally posted by lalapodip
I was wondering what happens if a child turns 10 during the visit

We're having this problem on our trip in June. We're bringing my nephew along, who will celebrate his 10th birthday on the second day at WDW. I wrote WDW and asked, and this is the reply I got

Helle

Dear Helle,

Thank you for contacting WALT DISNEY WORLD!

As you may be aware, unused days on admission tickets (which have no printed expiration date) may be used for admission to our theme parks on any future visit; however, when children become older than the established "child" age range, they will require the adult priced admission media to enter our theme
parks.

In these circumstances, existing passes may be presented in person at any Guest Relations location, to have the tickets exchanged for the required media (at no additional charge). As another option, the remaining value of the tickets may be credited toward the purchase of a new multi-day ticket.

We look forward to your visit.

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us.

 

[lalapodip]

Thanks for posting the clarification, Helle and NCRedding. It is great to hear that there is not an extra charge to celebrate your 10th birthday in WDW! I was hoping for a June trip to celebrate DD's 10 b-day, but it isn't looking too good right now!

 

[Pienut]

I wouldn't worry about it. I took my son and my daughter (different years) before their birthday and they turned 3 while there. No one ever asks and its not an issue in most places. My son who was almost 5 got in the park for free once riding in the stroller (my husband had his hopper pass and they waved him through the turnstyle). I went back and slid his through but no one asked.

I just wouldn't even think about it. You go when he's two so don't worry about it