A word of advice for all my fellow DVC members!

[treloarf]

I don't know if this info belongs on this board, but all I can do at this point to make myself feel better is to be a voice to help someone not make the same mistake I made with Disney park passes. As soon as you buy those passes, write down the numbers on the back of the tickets & keep them somewhere safe.

We were 'home' a few weeks ago just for 4 days & I had bought 5 day hopper plus passes before we went, but since it was so hot the kids just wanted to swim & pool hop. We never went to the parks - well somewhere between Orlando & Pgh., I've lost them. And if I would have had the number on the back of the tickets Disney could have voided them & reissued new ones. I did not know Disney inventories all their tickets.

The company I bought them from, Connections, does not record these numbers so, I'm just sick & probably won't be visiting WDW for a long while - a $1000 dollar lesson well learned.

Besides tearing my house apart several time, I've checked with my credit card co. & they can't do anything either. My only hope at this time is to try my home owners insurance, but that's probably a long shot.

[DebbieB]

Sorry to hear what happened. I was so paranoid about the AP voucher I bought in April. I photocopied it and kept a copy at work and in a separate place at home.

Side note - I activated my voucher at MK last Saturday night. The CM was having a problem with his computer and it took about 10 minutes to fix. I was patient with him, didn't say anything. He ended up giving us 3 sets of fastpasses for any ride! Lines were long - so we used them for Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan & Buzz. What a surprise!

[ReneeQ]

I always make 2 photocopies of the back of our tickets. I leave one at home (just to be safe) and put the other in my luggage.

[SINK]

Thanks for the info. We will keep it in mind next time we buy hopper tickets.

[ripleysmom]

Thanks for the reminder!!

[AnnaS]

Wow, I can imagine how you must be feeling and so sorry to hear that. Off topic or not, I just bought my son a season's pass ticket for Six Flaggs Great Adventure (we know who kids are too) - what a great idea, I never thought about the chances of him loosing it. I will definitely be making a copy. Thanks.

[Doctor P]

Great advice!

[iluvdisney]

I sorta know how you feel. When my DS joined me on my recent trip, he left his park hopper at the Pleasure Island window and when he went back the next day, no one knew anything about it. We went over to Guest Services there and with me having all of the tickets I have purchased over the years, we were able to narrow it down and get it replaced. That was lucky - the CM said that they are not supposed to replace them without a receipt but she did it for us. It had 2 days left of 4 and my DS was a wreck but smiled after she was able to help. I wish there was a way to set those park hoppers the way they do the annual passes. Hope it works out for you as well.

[mooses41]

Wow, I can imagine how you must be feeling and so sorry to hear that. Off topic or not, I just bought my son a season's pass ticket for Six Flaggs Great Adventure (we know who kids are too) - what a great idea, I never thought about the chances of him loosing it. I will definitely be making a copy. Thanks.

I'm pretty sure if you go to guest services they can look his name up and for mabye a 10 dollar fee give you a new pass;)

[auntsue]

So sorry to hear that, but thanks so much for the heads up. I, too, bought 2 5-day park hopper plus passes for my nephews. I bought them from floridaorlandotickets, and I don't know if they keep a record or not. Thanks to your advice, I will photocopy them before we leave.

iluvdisney: What do you mean 'set' those park hoppers the same way they do the AP's? My DH, niece and I have APs.

[BIERMUGG]

We lost our annual passes once. We just went to guest services andd the cm looked up our names in the computer and issued us new ones. Only on eproblem we have a very common last name and it took almost one hour to found all of our five passes. felt real sorry for the cm. Needless to say we now copy our numbers down and keep in a safe place.

George

[treloarf]

George,
Did you buy the tickets from Disney? I bought mine thru Connections & Disney just sells them a bulk no. of tickets & has no idea who Connections then sells them to. I still say that for liability & inventory purposes COnnections should have a database of these tickets. But I learned a lesson - should have bought from DIsney!!!!

[BIERMUGG]

We brought them thru Disney

George

[dianeschlicht]

WE have not managed to lose any APs yet, but remembering to put them in the safe when we return from a vacation and remembering to take them with us when we return to WDW has been a slight problem. DH found his in his wallet one day about 3 weeks after the trip. Last year we got almost all the way to the airport before remembering the tickets and had to go all the way home again to get the APs out of the safe!!!:rolleyes: We now put notes on our airline tickets to remind us to get the APs out.

[Peter Johnson]

We create a documents folder for each trip as soon as we make the DVC ressie. The AP stays in the old folder after vacation, and I swap it to the new one when we start it.

I never thought of making a copy just in case... I'll definitely pick it up at lunch and copy it this afternoon! Thanks for the great idea :)

[iluvdisney]

auntsue - by setting the park hoppers I meant that I think that Disney should find a way to either restrict them like the annual passes with your name on the back and the hand id machine to allow you into the parks or maybe give you the option of adding them on to your room key if you're staying on property.

[doubletrouble_vb]

Wow I really hate that idea. The only reason park hoppers are cost effective is because we buy 7 day passes and share them amongst the family.

Thanks for the suggestion about photocopying the tickets.

[Cora]

About 2 trips ago we lost one pass. I didn't even realize it. I guess my lanyard fell off and I never saw it since we were heading back to the hotel to leave. About 2 weeks after we came home a package arrived from Disney...in it was my pass and lanyard. Apparently it fell on the monorail and someone turned it in or a CM found it and mailed it to us. I think what helped was that my room key (yes, with charging privileges) was with it and they were able to track down my address.
Cora

[yesdisneyfool]

I'm so sorry I can't imagine how you feel :( I always thought I was careful with our AP, but thanks for the head up - photocoping or scanning into my computer will be done this afternoon when I get come.

[Rock'n Robin]

I have 4 AP vouchers sitting in my jewelry box right now for our July trip, waiting for activation--bet I'll be copying those numbers down tonight!!
Robin M.

[treloarf]

I'm going to post a separate post, but for those of you tracking this, here's some good news. It's not totally complete, but I am getting closer to a resolution.

I'm a member of AAA and called them today inquiring to purchase Hopper passes & to to see if they track the numbers. Here's what they said: "we are required by law to track the purchaser's name & number from the back of Hopper pass and keep on file for 4 years".

Gee, hmm, why would Connections be any different. Guess what, after calling & asking different questions, I finally found someone who committed to say "Customer Relations tracks the numbers on the Disney tickets". Gee, why didn't they tell me that days ago.

So I'm on my way to coordinating Connections ticket number disbursement & Disney cancel & reissue policies - I'm NOT going to lose this battle. I will keep everyone updated.

[WorknFires]

That's one of the best pieces of advice I've gotten from these boards! I'd have NEVER thought of that possibility. Luckily we have annual passes that aren't that hard to replace but I think I'll make copies just the same.

Cheryl

[iluvdisney]

treloarf - that is great news - hope it all works out for you!

[treloarf]

Talked with connections again today - now they're telling me they DO NOT track these numbers - and that the person yesterday gave me the wrong info.

I may have to pursue from a legal standpoint - they're really *(#*@ me off!

[Partridge4ever]

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble! Thanks for the excellent advice. I thought I'd lost our 7 day hoppers about a year ago. I bought them early and put them in a safe place. Too safe. The day we were supposed to leave I realized I couldn't remember where they were. I was a wreck. Luckily, I found them at the last minute. Maybe your tickets will still show up. Have you checked your bag to make sure there's not a small rip in the lining?

[Disneymagicfor4]

As a DVC member when can we buy tickets? I thought I could buy them at Disney store but a person at the 800 number told me I had to wait to get to OKW to buy them? All this talk of lost tickets and photocopying has me wondering if I am hearing the correct info. Thanks, we leave next wednesday. Kathy

[HorizonsFan]

It really depends on what kind of pass you want.
Park Hoppers and AP's can be bought at the Disney Store but there is no DVC discount.
UPH passes can only be purchased at WDW and have a DVC discount price.

[KathyR]

I have always scanned the backs of my tickets along w/the receipt, and given a copy to myself and a second to a trusted family member just in case. I actually scan them as soon as I get them and confirm that they are correct. I keep the tiickets in one place w/the original reciept and the copy for myself somewhere else. I feel pretty safe w/this set up. Before I had a scanner I just kept the reciept along w/the numbers that I copied from the backs of the tickets somewhere other than where my tickets were, but the scanner makes the whole process much easier :)

treloarf-
I hope you get your tickets replaced soon and w/o too much trouble! I will keep checking on your progress! Good luck!! It was nice of you to pass on this advice. I am sure a lot of people have learned from your experience!