New ticket system coming to WDW - Begins October 16th

[Doug M]

What? They aren't going to want or add the Flex option so explain to this blonde what the heck you mean?
Wow, some of y'all really have on some negative nancy pants today.
Can't you be happy that people are now paying less for what they will use? Why should someone be happier to pay higher prices yesterday for a ticket they wouldn't need to use till the end of 2019? Dang, it's not even me, we have AP but I'm happy for folks who are now seeing a lower cost on their tickets and they aren't going to be steamrolled, whatever the heck that means.

Because this is a first step. They reduce the value of the tickets and sure a small % this will not impact, but rest assured these tickets will go up very soon. For a larger %, people who travel farther are likely to stay in Orlando longer than the new expiration dates they allow, so those folks now pay 50 a ticket go get back what they removed or have to do all their days quickly changing how they like to vacation.
Also its like say Disney removes several attractions from the base ticket and reduces the cost by 2 bucks. You you can pay 50 to add them back. IASW, COP, some others. Now i don't ever ride them because i don't like them, so to me my ticket is cheaper but I'm not going to be making claims that my new ticket is cheaper because the value is reduced. This isn't apples to apples as what they just did apples to apples. A true comparison is the flex option to the new price.
Disney has been reducing the value of everyone's tickets for years now and also raising prices at the same time. If people keep drinking the koolaid they are offering they will continue.

 

[gwynne]

Ok I just need someone to reassure me...if I buy tickets from UT (non date specific tickets) I am not going to have a problem, right? They are still going to work? I assume it is the same as any other tickets that were purchased prior to today. Is that right?

You can call UT and ask them all your questions. They are very helpful. I've purchased (as have many other folks) tickets from them for years.

 

[ninafeliz]

Yes, tickets are good for the length of your stay, this has already been posted.
Split stays will likely complicate things. Will be curious to see how they work, or if they've even thought about it. Outside of DISers I'm not sure they are commonly done. I'd say vast majority of guests stay in 1 room the entire time.
I also wonder how this will impact anyone who wants to use their package tickets early. Currently, you can get them what is it, 2 weeks early? I can't see any way that can still work but no idea. It's not something I've ever done

To me this becomes one of the main reasons to stay onsite if you don't either have APs or don't plan on going to the parks nearly every day of your trip. maybe we were in the minority, but when I was growing up we routinely took week long trips and only went to the parks 2-3 days, often staying offsite until we started staying onsite around the time CBR opened. We could't do that now offsite unless we did the two days close together in the trip.

We actually have APs for this trip, and the grandparents that are coming bought tickets from resellers prior to the change, so luckily we won't have to worry or be the guinea pigs to see if they would let us use the 14 days through a split stay instead of all one resort. I'll be curious to find out how it works with split stays, though. I do wonder how common that is outside of people here. I always read about people doing split stays here on the Dis and thought they were crazy, but now we do them. Honestly I still prefer staying in 1 resort, but we got a cc that gives the 4th night free so splitting gets us 2 free disney nights - worth it for the inconvenience to me.

 

[Marionnette]

It won't be hard to keep it tied to a resort stay length, package or room only. However, break that stay up and that changes everything. Those are going to be the complicated ones for sure

You say that, but do you have any coding experience to back it up? If so, maybe Disney IT has an opening for someone with your skills because so far, they have been rather unimpressive. Buying a ticket with a package, conceivably, would automatically add the flex benefit to the ticket at no additional cost. How will a stay be linked to a specific ticket which has not been purchased as a part of a package?

 

[StacyStrong]

Are you asking about the "Flex" option? The example provided last month looked like a flat $50 but it is not. It's variable, depending on the dates you choose and the number of ticket days. I did some quick spot-checking and posted on the other thread. Flexible Date option ranged from $8.50 to $71.92 to add to a 5-day ticket. The Flex option cost more for the lower-priced tickets (I looked at January) and cost less for the higher-priced tickets (I looked at Spring Break).

I was looking at whatever tickets I had in my cart.

But still not sure why anyone would spend that much given that you can make changes and use expired ticket values if absolutely necessary.

 

[Bmath]

After adding the flex option, I realized my UT tickets (with free 5th day) saved me over $500 off the current prices today. Even comparing 4-day to 4-day it's a savings of $452.

 

[AngiTN]

You say that, but do you have any coding experience to back it up? If so, maybe Disney IT has an opening for someone with your skills because so far, they have been rather unimpressive. Buying a ticket with a package, conceivably, would automatically add the flex benefit to the ticket at no additional cost. How will a stay be linked to a specific ticket which has not been purchased as a part of a package?

They can do it with FP or ADR (tie the options to length of stay, be it a package or room only) so tickets would be exactly the same.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Huh? I didn't ignore anything. I said that if you stay on site you don't need to add the 14 day stay option. If you knew that, you didn't state it so I had no way to read your thoughts
I guess I am lost on what the rest of your argument is.

Yes I did know about the onsite option. Your quote that I had been commenting about was "You can't assume that matters to everyone. If the person buying never needed them to last till 12/19 then having the cost of it removed from their tickets would still be a saving to that person."

It doesn't take a person to care about needing them to last until 12/19 in order for them to be impacted by it. Now your tickets automatically come with more restrictions on how long they are good for from date of first usage. That is part of the new policy. So it also impacts those folks too not just those who don't need them to last til 12/19.

Also consider it used to be 14 days from first usage and onsite/offsite wasn't a point of contention. Unless you're staying at least 14 days or more the "length of stay" exception is still a reduction from what you had previously.

For example I stayed 11 days 10 nights in 2017 though I only had 5-day park hoppers. My tickets were good for 14 days from first usage. Now no matter what if I was staying onsite the same time period they will only be good for 11 days unless I add on the Flexible Date Option which will gain me those few extra days. That will still impact people. Who knows how many people but it's still a reduction in what you had before and something else that should be considered when people add up the costs for comparison of old vs new ticket pricing-not just "I don't need my tickets to last til 12/19".

 

[TheMaxRebo]

To me this becomes one of the main reasons to stay onsite if you don't either have APs or don't plan on going to the parks nearly every day of your trip. maybe we were in the minority, but when I was growing up we routinely took week long trips and only went to the parks 2-3 days, often staying offsite until we started staying onsite around the time CBR opened. We could't do that now offsite unless we did the two days close together in the trip.

We actually have APs for this trip, and the grandparents that are coming bought tickets from resellers prior to the change, so luckily we won't have to worry or be the guinea pigs to see if they would let us use the 14 days through a split stay instead of all one resort. I'll be curious to find out how it works with split stays, though. I do wonder how common that is outside of people here. I always read about people doing split stays here on the Dis and thought they were crazy, but now we do them. Honestly I still prefer staying in 1 resort, but we got a cc that gives the 4th night free so splitting gets us 2 free disney nights - worth it for the inconvenience to me.

I think that is the person most impacted by the less flexibility - those that vacation in Florida for a while and would do a few days at Disney. Now they need to do those days closer together vs spreading them out

We normally stay offsite but the focus is Disney - maybe would have 1 or 2 "off days" but that would still within the window

 

[Bmath]

I think that is the person most impacted by the less flexibility - those that vacation in Florida for a while and would do a few days at Disney. Now they need to do those days closer together vs spreading them out

We normally stay offsite but the focus is Disney - maybe would have 1 or 2 "off days" but that would still within the window

That's exactly what I am doing over Thanksgiving. 4 days at Disney then down to Ft. Myers Beach for Thanksgiving then back up to Disney for 1-2 days at the end of the trip.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That's exactly what I am doing over Thanksgiving. 4 days at Disney then down to Ft. Myers Beach for Thanksgiving then back up to Disney for 1-2 days at the end of the trip.

yeah, so i think that will be harder (more $) to do going forward ... same for people that want to do Disney on either end of a cruise

 

[vanjust14]

Ugh... I bought UT tickets for my trip with intention of upgrading to AP so I couldn't buy an AP before the change now the prices are up

Same here! I need to figure out the new calculation for bridging...not sure how to go about it just yet.

I wonder how FP day went for everyone today.

I was wondering the same.

My FP window opened today. I couldn't get on MDE on the website, but quickly switched to the app on my phone and it worked just fine.

 

[ninafeliz]

That's exactly what I am doing over Thanksgiving. 4 days at Disney then down to Ft. Myers Beach for Thanksgiving then back up to Disney for 1-2 days at the end of the trip.

Yes, this is a scenario when you really get screwed (is that too crass??). You have to pay to make the tickets flexible or adjust your plans. I know people are saying the loss of 14 days isn't a big deal to most people, but I think it is a big loss to the tickets in general.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Looks like our tickets increased by $2.24 overall (2 adults, 10 day ticket with park hopper 8/24/19-9/4/19 - package)

 

[Marionnette]

They can do it with FP or ADR (tie the options to length of stay, be it a package or room only) so tickets would be exactly the same.

Again, you talk as if this is easy-peasy. Do you know this for a fact or is this conjecture on your part? Just saying something will work because something else (often) works does not make it a fact.

 

[AngiTN]

Yes, this is a scenario when you really get screwed (is that too crass??). You have to pay to make the tickets flexible or adjust your plans. I know people are saying the loss of 14 days isn't a big deal to most people, but I think it is a big loss to the tickets in general.

Well, technically no one knows for sure yet. Probably going to have to add the option to these tickets but this is one thing I think needs clarification/position from Disney. On-site could be different. Off-site will be SOL for sure, I see no way around their having to purchase the Flex

 

[AngiTN]

Again, you talk as if this is easy-peasy. Do you know this for a fact or is this conjecture on your part? Just saying something will work because something else (often) works does not make it a fact.

And you know for fact it won't work? Or is it just thinking the worse?
Knowing how coding works is enough for me to know if it works for FP it can work for Tickets expiration date

 

[Mikey15]

I think that is the person most impacted by the less flexibility - those that vacation in Florida for a while and would do a few days at Disney. Now they need to do those days closer together vs spreading them out

We normally stay offsite but the focus is Disney - maybe would have 1 or 2 "off days" but that would still within the window

4 day tickets get a 7 day window, so that's 3 "off days" in a week, which is a reduction from previous flexibility but I don't think it's too bad. People impacted are probably going to be people coming from farther away (Europe, etc.) who may be spending two weeks or more in the area, but then again, for them a 10 day ticket gets 14 days to use it.

They've thankfully retained the pricing structure that it's not much more to add on a day after 4 days. 4-day->5-day ~= $16. 5->6 ~$15, etc. Whether you used a 6th day or not, at least it's not much more to extend your window.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think that is the person most impacted by the less flexibility - those that vacation in Florida for a while and would do a few days at Disney. Now they need to do those days closer together vs spreading them out

We normally stay offsite but the focus is Disney - maybe would have 1 or 2 "off days" but that would still within the window

Yes, there's Disney, there's Universal, there's SeaWorld, there's Legoland, etc and then there's Busch Gardens, which even though it's not in Orlando it's still within a reasonable driving distance in Tampa for people to go to.

I don't doubt that a lot of folks make it Disney-centric but there's a lot to be had in terms of what places to go to.

 

[pkrieger2287]

Overall, I'm not too upset with most of these changes. We knew prices would go up some but they've done it in a reasonable approach so far... I'll be curious to see what happens next year.