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

[Robo]

This was probably addressed previously but I couldn’t find it. I am upgrading to an annual pass when I go this week because I have a long trip in November.
I was just wondering if I could pay for the upgrade by using gift cards and a credit card.

Yes.

 

[Robo]

Here are my new questions of the day! We need to purchase by August 10th for a family trip that is attached to my husbands convention, but we have no idea if we will be offered convention rate tickets:

1. My father is going to purchase our two kids 3 day Florida Resident Park Hopper Tickets. Hopefully by proving Florida Residency online.
1a. He will not be coming on the trip. I have in writing from Disney that he doesn't have to show up in person to confirm residency,
1b. but I will have to go to GR to show the connection on my MDE.
1c. We are considering upgrading these to Florida Resident Silver passes.
1d. What is the last day we can make that upgrade?

2. I have to bite the bullet and purchase myself and my husband 3 day park hopper tickets b/c hubby refuses to ask if he will get convention tickets. I will search for the best price and pull the trigger. What should I do if we are offered convention tickets after the fact and the convention tickets are cheaper?

3. I'm thinking of upgrading my 3 day ticket to an annual pass, but again, only once we are there in the parks.
3a. If we wind up getting convention tickets, should i use those for the trip and use those to upgrade to the AP?

1a. MIGHT prove to be problematic.
1b. What did "Disney" say that process would be?
1c. Again, MIGHT prove to be problematic.
1d. If they will allow the upgrade, you have until close-of-business ON the same day
that you use the tickets' last asset.
2. You can SAVE the new, unused tickets for future use or to help buy new tickets at the time of your future trip.
3a. You can. (Many convention tickets can be upgraded.) But, there is no monetary "advantage" in upgrading convention tickets, as you would only be
given the amount you originally paid for those tickets in the AP upgrade.
AND, if the convention tickets include any Water Park entries and you USE any of the Water Park entries,
you can only upgrade to an AP that includes Water Park entries.

OTOH, if you buy discounted tickets from an authorized discounter (like UT, ParkSavers, BoardwalkTickets, etc.) you will get to "keep" whatever discount you got with the original tickets
if you decide to upgrade.

 

[JJ2017]

1a. MIGHT prove to be problematic.
1b. What did "Disney" say that process would be?
1c. Again, MIGHT prove to be problematic.
1d. If they will allow the upgrade, you have until close-of-business ON the same day
that you use the tickets' last asset.
2. You can SAVE the new, unused tickets for future use or to help buy new tickets at the time of your future trip.
3a. You can. (Many convention tickets can be upgraded.) But, there is no monetary "advantage" in upgrading convention tickets, as you would only be
given the amount you originally paid for those tickets in the AP upgrade.
AND, if the convention tickets include any Water Park entries and you USE any of the Water Park entries,
you can only upgrade to an AP that includes Water Park entries.

OTOH, if you buy discounted tickets from an authorized discounter (like UT, ParkSavers, BoardwalkTickets, etc.) you will get to "keep" whatever discount you got with the original tickets
if you decide to upgrade.

Thank you - I will post back here once we find out for sure if we are getting convention tickets to figure out the better plan. Thank you for explaining that if we use the Water Park entitlement, we could only upgrade to an AP with Water Parks.

Disney said this when I inquired about my dad NOT showing up at GR once residency was verified online:
"You will just need to verify the My Disney Experience® account that the tickets were purchased such as the email address and mailing address. It will also be a good idea to have the confirmation email and credit card details."

What do you make of that?

 

[Suejacken]

Yes.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it

 

[Robo]

Disney said this when I inquired about my dad NOT showing up at GR once residency was verified online:
"You will just need to verify the My Disney Experience® account that the tickets were purchased such as the email address and mailing address. It will also be a good idea to have the confirmation email and credit card details."

What do you make of that?

I can't verify or deny that, but it would be an iffy proposition in practice, as there
would be no photo ID and no guarantee that the CMs would honor the "instructions"
that you were given.
Might work just fine.
Might not.
What happens if "not?"
I figure that if they won't honor the FL Resident status (without the actual "resident")
they would likely just have you pay the difference up to the non-resident price for
3-day Hoppers.

The PURPOSE of the FL Resident being able to buy discounted tickets for
underage kids is so that the kids can enjoy WDW along WITH the FL resident.
It is pushing the situation to allow the FL resident to just buy a slew of tickets
for kids at lower-cost... without the presence of the resident.
Hence, the long-standing rule of the FL resident showing ID at the time
of the first use of the kids tickets.
But, if they do allow it... you're good.

 

[Oscar Madison]

I have a AP that expired, but it is still listed in MDE with an expiration date of last week.
I bought a Sam's voucher. If I load the voucher to my same name and MDE account, am I okay? I don't plan to use at the gate in the near future.
I just don't want it to think it's a renewal and then the clock would start ticking.

Thank you

 

[Robo]

I have a AP that expired, but it is still listed in MDE with an expiration date of last week.
I bought a Sam's voucher. If I load the voucher to my same name and MDE account, am I okay? I don't plan to use at the gate in the near future.
I just don't want it to think it's a renewal and then the clock would start ticking.

Thank you

If there is any doubt (and with the MDX infamous I.T. record, there may BE a doubt) I'd just not load the Sam's certificate, yet.
(Why tempt fate if you don't have to?)

 

[Oscar Madison]

If there is any doubt (and with the MDX infamous I.T. record, there may BE a doubt) I'd just not load the Sam's certificate, yet.
(Why tempt fate if you don't have to?)

How long should I wait, until my old AP disappears? If so, how long will that take?
Thank you

 

[Robo]

How long should I wait, until my old AP disappears? If so, how long will that take?
Thank you

The window to renew an expired AP is 30 days following the expiration date.
And, BTW, with the terrible track record of how tickets appear (and disappear) in MDX,
I'd not put a tremendous amount of stock in what "shows" (or not) in your account at any given time.

 

[Oscar Madison]

The window to renew an expired AP is 30 days following the expiration date.

I'm going to follow your advice! Thank you

From what I've been reading, am I correct in thinking that once my voucher is loaded I can get AP room discounts, even though I haven't been to the gate to activate yet?

 

[Robo]

I'm going to follow your advice! Thank you

From what I've been reading, am I correct in thinking that once my voucher is loaded I can get AP room discounts, even though I haven't been to the gate to activate yet?

You do NOT NEED to have an AP or AP voucher at ALL in order to book an AP room.

You can book the room, and just buy the AP (or activate a previously-purchased voucher) after you arrive at WDW on that trip.

To find out if there are/will be AP rooms for an upcoming trip...
Call WDW and ask, and/or go to the DISboard's "Resorts" Forum.

 

[gifmar]

Hello,
1. I have two 1 day park hopper tickets that I received when I turned in two 5 day no expiration passes, each with an unused day, from 1996. I did this exchange at the guest services window at the Magic Kingdom. I would like to upgrade each of them to a 3 day park hopper plus for my son and daughter-in-law. Can they be upgraded or are they some special ticket that can only be used as a 1 day park hopper? I have confirmed they are a 1 day park hopper no expiration ticket.
2. Has there been any reports that guest services has added fast passes to a bring a friend ticket to match the annual passholder fast passes?

 

[Oscar Madison]

You do NOT NEED to have an AP or AP voucher at ALL in order to book an AP room.

You can book the room, and just buy the AP (or activate a previously-purchased voucher) after you arrive at WDW on that trip.

To find out if there are/will be AP rooms for an upcoming trip...
Call WDW and ask, and/or go to the DISboard's "Resorts" Forum.

Okay, perfect. I'm trying to understand why they would allow someone to book the AP discount without an AP.
Does one have to activate the voucher before check in or they charge the going rate?

 

[Robo]

Okay, perfect. I'm trying to understand why they would allow someone to book the AP discount without an AP.
Does one have to activate the voucher before check in or they charge the going rate?

They are only concerned that you have an AP to STAY in the resort.
A lot of guests don't (or used to not) have an AP until they get to WDW for their trip.
(This is legacy from back well before guests needed to purchase their tickets in advance.)

If you DON'T buy the AP, they simply bill you for the full (non-AP discount) room cost.

It has been this way for a very long time.

 

[Robo]

Hello,
1. I have two 1 day park hopper tickets that I received when I turned in two 5 day no expiration passes, each with an unused day, from 1996. I did this exchange at the guest services window at the Magic Kingdom. I would like to upgrade each of them to a 3 day park hopper plus for my son and daughter-in-law. Can they be upgraded or are they some special ticket that can only be used as a 1 day park hopper? I have confirmed they are a 1 day park hopper no expiration ticket.
2. Has there been any reports that guest services has added fast passes to a bring a friend ticket to match the annual passholder fast passes?

1. I have a strong feeling that you won't be allowed to do any upgrades or modifications on these tickets.
That's because they were the result of trading in tickets that were not eligible to be upgraded in their previous form. (Partially-used non-expiring tickets could not be upgraded over 14-days from their first use.) But, you can certainly "ask nicely."

2. I'm not sure what you're asking.
Do you mean would they MATCH the already-booked FP's made previously by the AP holder?
That would be a VERY unusual situation. Almost never done.

 

[SWLeia]

Okay..here goes my question that I tried looking up first so I'm sorry if it's a repeat. I've never had an AP before. My dates booked and paid for using pin through disney direct. Aug 10 thru 22 Aug 9 day park hopper. Question(s)can I call and upgrade to AP? Or do I need to wait until I arrive at park? I only am considering for potential Star Wars preview.

 

[Robo]

My dates booked and paid for using pin through disney direct. Aug 10 thru 22 Aug 9 day park hopper.
1. can I call and upgrade to AP?
2. Or do I need to wait until I arrive at park?

1. You can call and ask. There is no reason they could not upgrade in advance,
2. Or, you can certainly do that.
Not much difference between doing this "now" or "then" unless there happens to be ANOTHER
AP price increase (which, based on there just having been an increase about 10 days ago, seems unlikley.)

 

[hiroMYhero]

How does this work? Will her name be tied to the AP or can she pick it up for me and I activate @ later date in my name?

She can email the certificate to you and you link the voucher number to your MDX account.

When you go to the parks, activate your AP before you enter your first park.

 

[mousefan73]

So I read that the validity of tickets is for the lenght of the package or the validity rule which ever is longer. Long story short we have a split stay with a cruise in the middle. Our package is the start where we have 4 nights resort and got a 10 day ticket. We only need 7 or 8 days but by buying the 10 day we spread our tickets out until post cruise. I just got an email from WDW confirming this:

"The start date of a ticket that is part of a package is always the arrival date for your resort stay, however the ticket will not start until the first day you activate it. Once activate you will have 14 days from the first use to use the ticket. We hope you have a magical visit! "

Can anyone confirm that yes you can start your tickets later than your package start date? I believe them and will take a copy of the email with me.

This is awesome as our package start date is a MNSSHP night.. So if we do this and wait until next day to activate, this means we can spread our tickets validity out until our last day.. we had thought the last day we have no tickets.

 

[Robo]

So I read that the validity of tickets is for the lenght of the package or the validity rule which ever is longer. Long story short we have a split stay with a cruise in the middle. Our package is the start where we have 4 nights resort and got a 10 day ticket. We only need 7 or 8 days but by buying the 10 day we spread our tickets out until post cruise. I just got an email from WDW confirming this:

"The start date of a ticket that is part of a package is always the arrival date for your resort stay, however the ticket will not start until the first day you activate it. Once activate you will have 14 days from the first use to use the ticket. We hope you have a magical visit! "

Can anyone confirm that yes you can start your tickets later than your package start date? I believe them and will take a copy of the email with me.

This is awesome as our package start date is a MNSSHP night.. So if we do this and wait until next day to activate, this means we can spread our tickets validity out until our last day.. we had thought the last day we have no tickets.

In general...
Is there some reason that you are booking your tickets as "part of your package?"
If you buy stand-alone tickets, they won't "start" until the date that YOU choose
when you order them.