What do you mean I can't add more days?!

[nyjets53]

If I have the 5 day pass, use it one day, and can't find anyone to upgrade it to a 8 day pass and I decide to upgrade to an annual pass...(after I finish crying)...

What happens when I go to upgrade to an annual pass...do they give me credit for the total cost of the 5 day pass or do they subtract some money cause I used one day?

Going to be there for 9 1/2 days, if I get the 8 day pass we will go over to lego land for one day but if we do the annual pass we will probably be on property for the entire time....

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Yes, I've read that, but is it like, "100% of ticket-booth CMs will accept your WDW tickets without batting an eye, and you'll be given entry no problem," or is it more like the $5 add-on days, "Well, you can do it, but you might have to try five ticket booths and talk to a supervisor to find someone who will let you do it AND who knows how to do it"?

You have to trade it at the gates not the ticket booths. And I am almost 100% sure it is policy.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

If I have the 5 day pass, use it one day, and can't find anyone to upgrade it to a 8 day pass and I decide to upgrade to an annual pass...(after I finish crying)...

What happens when I go to upgrade to an annual pass...do they give me credit for the total cost of the 5 day pass or do they subtract some money cause I used one day?

Going to be there for 9 1/2 days, if I get the 8 day pass we will go over to lego land for one day but if we do the annual pass we will probably be on property for the entire time....

They do give you credit for the price you paid for your ticket. They also back date your annual pass to the first day you used your regular ticket.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

They do give you credit for the price you paid for your ticket. They also back date your annual pass to the first day you used your regular ticket.

This wasn't my experience. We upgraded our 5 day pass to an AP in January. Our first day in the park was 12/30/11 and we upgraded on 1/3/12. Our AP's are all dated 1/3/12.

 

[starshine514]

This wasn't my experience. We upgraded our 5 day pass to an AP in January. Our first day in the park was 12/30/11 and we upgraded on 1/3/12. Our AP's are all dated 1/3/12.

This would be a rare occurrence (basically a mistake made in your favor by the CM). Standard procedure is that it would be backdated to the date of first use.

 

[ValpoCory]

So I went to City Hall tonight to add days to our 5 day park hopper. We are on day 3 today. I knew I had bought the biggest ticket I could find but had read on here that we could add days. The young man was very nice, checks with a supervisor...etc...and informs me that they can't add days. I have the biggest ticket Disneyland sells and in order to get more days I have to buy a whole new set of tickets. Essentially starting over. He was very sorry etc but they no longer have an 8 day park hopper and I could only buy new tickets, not add days to my existing ones. I am VERY unhappy. Not with him but with this info. HELP! Anyone have any ideas? I was told it was not Disney World and no one stays here this long. I'm pretty stunned, annoyed, frustrated. We would have gone to Disney World because I could have stayed on Property for what I would have spent if we have to buy a whole new set of tickets. Thanks in advance!

~Amy

It's very hypocritical. Check out Disneyland Park Vice President Jon Storbeck's latest quote ...

Q: Where are you at in the process of turning this into the 4 and 5 day resort?
JON: Wow. I think we’re always looking for an opportunity to bring guests into the resort and give them an opportunity to stay another day, and I certainly think we’ve done that here with what you see with Cars Land. I think what we’ve done here…what the Imagineers have done…is just give the guests a reason when they come to Southern California to stay one more day here, whether they’re on ... a five day vacation and they want to stay a sixth, so it’s just a great environment for them.

The DLR ticket office is not officially a great environment for them to extend to a 6th day on their tickets.

 

[pixiewings71]

ITA w/ all of that. What I don't get is how they can offer special passes and tickets to SoCal (or Florida at WDW) residents based on ZIP codes of residence proven with IDs, and don't just reverse that idea for longer passes? Like, if you can offer SoCal APs, why can't you offer a 7-day pass to people who live further away who can prove they don't live anywhere near there the same way locals prove they do live nearby?
I've heard that there is all this eBay scalping, which I guess anyone could do, but given the 14-day expiration on tickets, I have to believe that most scalping or unauthorized ticket transfers are being done by locals who a) have less need for longer passes because they can go more often, and b) have easier, quicker access to people who can take unused pass days and use them before they expire. As an international guest, I guess I could try hustling on Harbor to sell unused days ::shudder::, but I certainly can't go 2700 miles back home and give/sell passes to neighbors or family who could never get there in time.

Meanwhile, DLR just keeps creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of people not coming for longer stays when the tickets suggest they cannot/should not.

I would love to buy a big 10-day WDW pass and use it at DLR (especially since every travel agent around here specializes in WDW and knows nothing about DLR), but I would be so so afraid of them not being accepted and me being stuck with $1200 in tickets I can't use. And then being back at square one with the DLR ticket issues.

You can use a WDW pass at DLR, but I'm not sure it's cost effective. I thought WDW passes were more $$ than DLR passes, but I could be wrong. They are easy to change, you just take your WDW ticket to the turnstyle and they get a lead to change one day to a DLR ticket, you do have to do it each day tho so be aware of that when you're going. But you shouldn't run into anyone who says it can't be done, they should all know for sure it can be.

This wasn't my experience. We upgraded our 5 day pass to an AP in January. Our first day in the park was 12/30/11 and we upgraded on 1/3/12. Our AP's are all dated 1/3/12.

You got very lucky then, we've upgraded multiple times and each time our AP has been backdated to the first day of us on our park hoppers.

 

[ValpoCory]

You can use a WDW pass at DLR, but I'm not sure it's cost effective. I thought WDW passes were more $$ than DLR passes, but I could be wrong.

You are right. WDW are significantly more expensive than DLR tickets, especiall if you are buying them for several people.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I think it might depend on where you get them. I have no idea on what WDW regularly charges for their tickets, but here:
http://www.flightcentre.ca/vacations/disneyworld
Click on "Park Tickets" in the center, gray bar.
FC sells Canucks 7-day Magic Your Way WDW tickets for $318 (CDN), so less than $30 more than DLR's own price for five days. I'd pay $30 per person for two more days. 10-day tickets are $352, so ~$60 more for twice the number of days. Again, a deal I'd gladly take if I were certain the tickets would be accepted (and could convince my even more anxious DH of the same).

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

FYI, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I did write into Disney asking what their firm policy is and why the inconsistencies with upgrading tickets. I sent the email on the 26th and got a reply today.

My email consisted of briefly explaining we will be onsite for 7 nights, 8 days and were wondering why they stopped upgrading tickets past 5. I explained an AP wasn't beneficial to us as we weren't coming back soon and also there were blockout days on our trip.

The reply I got back was a standard "thank you for your comments, we love feedback from our guests" etc, etc. No information about anything.

I tried!

I urge anyone else though who is bothered by the inconsistent upgrades and lack of policy (so it seems) to write in asking for the upgrades to go back into effect or if they still are available to get the CM's better training on it.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We were talking about this thread in our podcast this week. (Thread of the week)

I think the Disneyland Resort is still trying to figure out how to offer days for their guests without other people taking advantage and selling extra days to make a profit.

 

[ValpoCory]

We were talking about this thread in our podcast this week. (Thread of the week)

I think the Disneyland Resort is still trying to figure out how to offer days for their guests without other people taking advantage and selling extra days to make a profit.

Thanks Mary Jo! I hope they have a policy in place by January, as I don't want to use my 5-day PH on my arrival night and not be able to upgrade to a 6-day PH pass for a reasonable amount ($5-$15 per night added per ticket).

 

[PrincessIM]

FYI, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I did write into Disney asking what their firm policy is and why the inconsistencies with upgrading tickets. I sent the email on the 26th and got a reply today.

My email consisted of briefly explaining we will be onsite for 7 nights, 8 days and were wondering why they stopped upgrading tickets past 5. I explained an AP wasn't beneficial to us as we weren't coming back soon and also there were blockout days on our trip.

The reply I got back was a standard "thank you for your comments, we love feedback from our guests" etc, etc. No information about anything.

I tried!

I urge anyone else though who is bothered by the inconsistent upgrades and lack of policy (so it seems) to write in asking for the upgrades to go back into effect or if they still are available to get the CM's better training on it.

I agree! I'm planning on sending a letter too. Who did you send your letter to?

 

[PrincessIM]

Thanks Mary Jo! I hope they have a policy in place by January, as I don't want to use my 5-day PH on my arrival night and not be able to upgrade to a 6-day PH pass for a reasonable amount ($5-$15 per night added per ticket).

We are facing the same problem for our upcoming trip in August. We were able to get 6 day tickets for the kids but would like to add an extra day so that we can go in on our day of arrival. I'm definately going to try and will report back.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Thanks Mary Jo! I hope they have a policy in place by January, as I don't want to use my 5-day PH on my arrival night and not be able to upgrade to a 6-day PH pass for a reasonable amount ($5-$15 per night added per ticket).

You've probably already thought of this, but I would make sure to try to upgrade the tickets at a ticket booth or the outside guest services window before ever entering the parks. That way if you go up the whole chain of CMs to the supervisor and they still deny you the upgrade then you at least know where you stand and can make an informed decision about whether to use that first day of your ticket for only a partial day or just go hang out in DtD or something else instead for the evening.

 

[ValpoCory]

You've probably already thought of this, but I would make sure to try to upgrade the tickets at a ticket booth or the outside guest services window before ever entering the parks. That way if you go up the whole chain of CMs to the supervisor and they still deny you the upgrade then you at least know where you stand and can make an informed decision about whether to use that first day of your ticket for only a partial day or just go hang out in DtD or something else instead for the evening.

Thanks. I did think of that, but it's not ideal unless I can breakaway from the wife and kids and go upgrade the tickets. Because taking my DD7 and DS3 up to the DL entrance and then telling them to turn around just isn't happening.

Another variable is that at WDW, upgrading tickets after first use is different than upgrading before first use (you don't have to forfeit any ticket discount if you use your tickets for a day before upgrading). And from the looks of several posts here on the DL board, a similar policy exists at the DLR. Where's the DLR version of Cheshire Figment when you need them?

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

I agree! I'm planning on sending a letter too. Who did you send your letter to?

I just went to Disneyland.com and went through the contact us page. The standard form letter I got back, while generalized, did mention that my concern was over the availability of 6 days + park tickets. So they obv read it and sorted it correctly

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

We were talking about this thread in our podcast this week. (Thread of the week)

I think the Disneyland Resort is still trying to figure out how to offer days for their guests without other people taking advantage and selling extra days to make a profit.

Thanks Mary Jo! I hope its figured out soon! My whole goal of the trip was not to do parks open to close and relax, enjoy the pools, etc. I really was hoping for 7 or 8 days not 5! I hope they figure out a way to avoid scammers and make guests happy

 

[SkRiderMom]

I also sent a comment using the contact us form on Disneyland's website, here is the reply I received-

Thank you for your e-mail to the DISNEYLAND® Resort.

We appreciate your valuable feedback for our operation and would like to
assure you that our goals for providing a happy and unique experience in
our theme parks have remained constant throughout the years. One of the
ways in which we attempt to maintain this goal is to continually
evaluate the various aspects of our operation and to make changes at
times. We also rely on input such as yours to help us determine when
these changes should remain in effect or when we should implement
something different.

While our decision to modify our ticket options and pricing structure is
always based on a review of the local marketplace as well as Guest
visitation trends, comments such as yours are always welcomed as we
continue to evaluate our operation.

We hope you will enjoy your upcoming November visit to the Resort and
that our Cast Members, attractions and entertainment will help create
more magical memories for you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,

Suzn Gates
DISNEYLAND® Resort
Guest Experience Services

I think it is very important that people make sure that Disneyland know that we want park hoppers longer than 5 days. The more people that make their feelings known the more likely they will bring back the longer hoppers.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I put this in a separate thread about my conversation with a CM on the DLR (714) ticket phone line, but am posting here in case you're interested, as it relates to some people's experiences here.

I called the tickets number 714 today to ask some questions about tickets, and she was very understanding and helpful.
Her take on adding days was that it should be done at a ticket booth, and would need the lead (i.e. supervisor) of that booth to do something in the computer. But, she noted, that some of the computer systems have been updated so that option appears to be not available anymore, including at the computers in her office. She also noted that with the new tickets/policy instated in May, there could be newer leads (not to mention ticket-booth attendants) who would not know what to do, even if the computer they have will allow them to make the extension on a ticket.

As for using WDW tickets at DLR, she said it would be perfectly fine, no problem once two criteria were met:
1) That the ticket not have expired. So, it either still has to be within its 14-day window OR be a No Expiration Date ticket.
but also
2) She said it would have to be an "active" ticket for their system to be able to process it. Which means at least one day of the ticket should have been used already at WDW.