Park Hopper question

[ivanova]

Why is it that at WDW you buy park hopper passes and unused days never expire, but you buy a park hopper pass at DL and it expires 13 days after 1st day of use???

Just wonderin'

[Michelle]

Good question. :) Park hoppers never even were an option at Disneyland until DCA opened, just multi-day passes, and I think that Disney feels that most folks use them all up in one trip with the limited number of parks...not many have days left over.

[ivanova]

Could it also be due to the mix of "locals" versus "tourists"?

I've heard that DL attendance is like 60/40 with locals being the 60%, and that WDW is more like 40/60 with the locals being the lower number.

I was also thinking that it might be because there are only the 2 parks in DL. I never went to WDW before 2000, so I don't know how they did park hoppers when they only had 2 parks.

[AKASnowWhite]

I would think that Disney would encourage you to buy a ticket for MORE days than you were going to use in 1 visit......that way it's a win-win for them! Either you 1)*waste* the ticket by never using it, and Disney gets to keep your money, or 2) you come back for another visit, and Disney gets even MORE of your money!

I know that sounded rather cynical....don't get me wrong, I LOVE Disney.....but it seems to me they've never passed up a chance to make a buck!

[JenniferW]

Just FYI I bought 4 day hopper tickets a while back that for DL (yes, I said DL) and the days expired 2 years after the first day's use. It did NOT expire after 13 days. It was only available at the park and it seems that they must have discontinued it or something since no one seems to talk about it. At the time it had to be bought at the parks in person and was not advertised at all.

I used the first day in October/Nov 2001 (can't remember when) and then one day in Jan 2002 and there are two days still left. They clearly hole punched each day you used it and then there was a magnetic code also.


Jenn

[ivanova]

I asked about that "13 days after first use" and was told it applies to park hopper deals purchased on line or via the phone. If bought in person at the parks you have 2 years from date of purchase.

We ended up getting APs after all, so wasn't able to test this theory personally. Glad to hear from someone who has....