Baby turns 3 on first day of vacation - buy ticket?

[Tiger926]

I'm pretty sure we need to buy a ticket if we arrive on the baby's birthday, but I'm not exactly sure. Before anyone accuses me of trying to rip off Disney, that is the farthest from the truth. DH, DD and myself have APs that we just bought 2 months ago for our trip, and we will be using them for next trip as we are going before expiry, so we are trying to figure out what to do for baby. We normally go for approx. 10-12 nights, so we may just get a 10 day ticket, with plus options, but not sure.

We might possibly be arriving before his birthday, but not sure at the moment. If not, we want to make sure we have the right ticket. So, can someone explain the whole age/ticket thing to me - his birthday is July 4th. Since I'm a teacher, we have to go from July 1st until the end of August (our APs expire on July 11/2010).

Thanks so much, Tiger

[maburke]

Originally Posted by Tiger926

I'm pretty sure we need to buy a ticket if we arrive on the baby's birthday, but I'm not exactly sure. Before anyone accuses me of trying to rip off Disney, that is the farthest from the truth. DH, DD and myself have APs that we just bought 2 months ago for our trip, and we will be using them for next trip as we are going before expiry, so we are trying to figure out what to do for baby.

We might possibly be arriving before his birthday, but not sure at the moment. If not, we want to make sure we have the right ticket. So, can someone explain the whole age/ticket thing to me - his birthday is July 4th. Since I'm a teacher, we have to go from July 1st until the end of August (our APs expire on July 11/2010).

Thanks so much, Tiger

My understanding is that the child will have to have a ticket from the birthday on. What you might be thinking of is that when children turn 10, they can still use a ticket that they themselves used as a child. So if my son turned 10 in the middle of the trip, I can buy a child ticket at the beginning and as long as he's started to use it, he can keep using it. Or if I have an old no-expiration ticket that was his, he can use the rest of it with no additional charge.

But I am no expert on this.

[pickles]

he would qualify for a free ticket for his bday,( that you can upgrade)

personally I wouldnt sweat it this trip, just get one next trip

[KellyNY]

If you arrive when you child is stll 2, then you do not need ticket for the rest of the trip. They count age according to arrival date.

[squirrel]

If you arrive before his birthday then he stays 2 in Disney's eyes!

[maburke]

Originally Posted by pickles

he would qualify for a free ticket for his bday,( that you can upgrade)

personally I wouldnt sweat it this trip, just get one next trip

OP is going July 2010, will the birthday thing still be going on?

[Tiger926]

Thanks for this info - we are more than likely arriving on July 1st, 2010, this is good news. We figured we would have to get him a 10 day ticket, as we didn't want to get him an AP as we would be on different renewal schedules then. This is very helpful news! I wasn't aware that they made a decision about extending the What Will You Celebrate promo?, so I don't think he'd qualify for that. He wouldn't anyway if we didn't have to buy a ticket for him as we would be arriving on July 1st - you only qualify for it if you have paid for entry, correct?

One more question - what about for food? We usually purchase the DP, and so not sure what to do about this either? You can't really buy it in the middle of a trip can you? I was going to call DVC Member Services and ask, but they don't always have the right answers on this kind of stuff.

Our daughter's birthday is in May, so we've never had to worry about a child having a birthday during a trip before!

Thanks, Tiger

[ncmickeyluvr]

If you are wanting the dining plan, he would need a ticket. A 2yr old shares from another's plate, but a 3yr old gets his own meal. I'm not sure if anything is different with DVC, but normally you have to have the dining plan for the entire length of stay and it must be added before arrival....3 day, I think. I would weigh the cost against how much your child eats....or whether you might could pay OOP for his meals. My ds would definitely need a meal at that age...that kid can put away some food...I joke about him having a worm DD barely ate enough to keep a bird alive.

[Tiger926]

Originally Posted by ncmickeyluvr

If you are wanting the dining plan, he would need a ticket. A 2yr old shares from another's plate, but a 3yr old gets his own meal. I'm not sure if anything is different with DVC, but normally you have to have the dining plan for the entire length of stay and it must be added before arrival....3 day, I think. I would weigh the cost against how much your child eats....or whether you might could pay OOP for his meals. My ds would definitely need a meal at that age...that kid can put away some food...I joke about him having a worm DD barely ate enough to keep a bird alive.

Oh, yes, I know all of this info, BTDT. But, this is the 1st time we are going when one of our babe's actually turns 3 during the trip (our DD had already turned three, 8 weeks before trip, so we were all set with her AP and dining plan), so this is where we are confused???

The problem we see is with him turning 3 - the day he turns 3, he is no longer eligible for any free meals, and because he wasn't 3 when we added the DP, we are in limbo about what Disney will do. I am sure I can get them to add the DP for him (as DVC members we do not need tickets to add the DP) as he'll be 3 several days later. If not, then we are subject to paying OOP for him, which then might sway our decision back to the TIW card.

Thanks for all info - sorry if I'm confusing anyone, as that is not intentional.

Tiger

Edited to add: DH just reminded me that we are doing one of our usual split stays, so we are all good! We will add the DP for him on the 2nd leg of our split stay as he'll already be 3, so this isn't asking anything of Disney that we aren't already eligible for!

[3"Mouse"keteers]

If he is still 2 when you check in, they disney will see him as 2 for the entire trip, this goes for dining as well as park tickets. He will be able to eat off your plate and eat free at all of the buffets and family style meals. If he needs food at a regular TS restaurant other than sharing with you, you would need to purchase a meal for him. I'm not sure about your situation since you are DVC and adding the dining plan since you said you don't have to buy tickets to add the dining plan. Normally if you want to go ahead and purchase dining plan for your 2 year old, you also have to buy park tickets for them. Not sure how that would work for you though since you said you can get the dining plan without buying park tickets.

[mom2rtk]

I was told by a dining plan CM that Disney considers them the age of the day the check in for the entire trip. I wouldn't give it another thought. Enjoy one last freebie!

[seashoreCM]

If you are not sure exactly what day you will arrive, you can hold off on buying the young'un a ticket.

Bring a certified birth certificate or certified copy of a birth certificate for him just in case you arrive on his birthday and then he can get the free birthday ticket (if the birthday promotion had been extended).

If you arrive before or after, sorry, he does not get the birthday gift card, etc.

[momof3+twins]

I had a cast member at the gate at MK tell me that I shouldn't have bought a ticket for my 4 year old. I was shocked. I mean he was 4. But, she said he would have passed. It's up to you. If it bothers you that you to do that, then get a ticket.

[Cheshire Figment]

For someone turning 3 (or 10) during a trip, for purposes of both ticketing and dining Disney considers the actual age on arrival (check-in to the Resort) as the age for the entire stay.

So if birthday is July 4, for example, and your arrival/check-in date is July 3 or earlier your child is considered 2 (or 9) for the entire trip. If the arrival is July 4 or afterwards the child is 3 (or 10) and need the proper ticketing/dining.

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We celebrated my son 3rd birthday at Disney. We arrived 2 day before he turned 3...I acutally wanted to buy a ticket for him so I can put it in his scrapbook but CM told me that we don't need to buy it b/c he was 2 when we check-in. And all the buffet he was not charged eventhough he was 3 part of our Disney trip b/c he was considered the age when we check-in. We attended the Princess and Pirate party and it was his actual 3rd birthday and they did not charge us for him. Hope this helps.