Warning about using DVC 4 day tickets

[jekjones1558]

I received conflicting advice about how to use the promotional tickets if you already have other tickets in your account--e.g. non-expiring tickets. I bought the 4 day tickets for DSis and DNiece, who both already have non-expiring tickets. I was told by someone that if I deactvate the non-expiring tickets via MDE, then park entrances would be deducted from the 4 day ticket. Then after the 4 day ticket is used up, I could reactivate the non-expiring tickets. WRONG! Deactivating a ticket on MDE simply keeps the hard ticket from being used if it is lost or stolen; it does nothing to the actual entrance entitlements in MDE. You MUST take the time to go to Guest Relations to have the tickets "stacked" so that the one you want to use is on top (prioritized). Learned this the hard way. Got it fixed but it was a long and messy process.

 

[graychef]

I had a similar experience during my last trip. We had a late cancellation after I linked tickets. I reassigned it to my account but had to see Guest Relations to stack it. I will use that for my upcoming trip in October. Takes some time but worth avoiding the headache.

 

[Pirate Granny]

Forever and ever they always seem to take my non expiring ticket...even when I have an annual pass, spending much time at guest relations getting it straighten out.

 

[PalVal]

Same experience. My family of 9 had to spend endless hours at Guess services all week. Each time guess services said it was all straightened out we found the next day it wasn't. Soooo frustrating.

 

[Pirate Granny]

I was upset cause I asked them at the gate, which ticket they were using...they would smile and say you'll have to ask the CMS with the I-pad...and I would find out then that they used the wrong ticket.

 

[dismedvc]

I was upset cause I asked them at the gate, which ticket they were using...they would smile and say you'll have to ask the CMS with the I-pad...and I would find out then that they used the wrong ticket.

This may be another reason Disney is no longer selling NE Tickets. Before MDE, guests knew the ticket that would be used would be the one they physically inserted into the machine at the park entrance. Now with MDE and linked tickets, you have to ask a CM with an I-pad to know which ticket was used.
I started another thread asking about Linking and then deactivating a NE ticket, but after what I have read in this thread I plan on setting up a second profile for myself in MDE and linking my NE tickets to that profile. I would have separate MB's for each profile, so I would always be in control of which ticket was used based on which MB I used.

 

[keishashadow]

I received conflicting advice about how to use the promotional tickets if you already have other tickets in your account--e.g. non-expiring tickets. I bought the 4 day tickets for DSis and DNiece, who both already have non-expiring tickets. I was told by someone that if I deactvate the non-expiring tickets via MDE, then park entrances would be deducted from the 4 day ticket. Then after the 4 day ticket is used up, I could reactivate the non-expiring tickets. WRONG! Deactivating a ticket on MDE simply keeps the hard ticket from being used if it is lost or stolen; it does nothing to the actual entrance entitlements in MDE. You MUST take the time to go to Guest Relations to have the tickets "stacked" so that the one you want to use is on top (prioritized). Learned this the hard way. Got it fixed but it was a long and messy process.

In October we had a set of tickets (old non-expiry PH tickets) in our MDE before the 4 day ticket promo was announced that we utilized.

When we arrived at Epcot the first day of our trip, went to inside Guest Services and was told the 'wrong' tix had a day deducted. they fixed it and said they would 'stack' them properly.

The next day when we visited MK (using a MNSSHP tix), checked our tix again and all was well.

The 3rd day we went to MGM

The 4th day we went to AK

The 5th day we went to MK. Stopped by inside Guest Services again and found out that only 1 day had been deducted from the special 4 day tickets, the rest came off the other set of tickets. Again, they said they 'fixed' them and we thought all was well.

Feeling paranoid I decided to confirm all was well and checked our MDE accounts and noticed things weren't jiving as to usage. I contacted WDW's ticket research department for assistance. Had to fax them front & back of all tickets and our drivers licenses. They called me back and said things were so messed up at that point that they would just issue a new set of re-assignable tickets to replace the original set and link them to our MDE accounts. Yea!!! but glad I remembered to check right away.

 

[Pirate Granny]

They can't put the days back on the original ticket .so I got a one day ticket, and then a two day non expiring ticket to replace the three days they took the wrong ticket...and I didn't have the four day special ticket. I had an AP which they should have been using.

 

[quirty30]

I just returned from WDW tonight. We bought the 4 park/4 day DVC tickets, and also had existing NE tickets in our MDE. I stopped at guest services before we entered AK (our first park.) They prioritized our tickets and it worked flawlessly. I even stopped at Guest Services at Downtown Disney today to have them check both tickets. Sure enough, the 4 day tickets were used up and our entitlements on the old NE tickets were in tact. I didn't trust that Disney IT would work as it should, and knew it would be harder to get it fixed if I waited til we got home. Was pleasantly surprised that it did.

 

[dismedvc]

The 5th day we went to MK. Stopped by inside Guest Services again and found out that only 1 day had been deducted from the special 4 day tickets, the rest came off the other set of tickets. Again, they said they 'fixed' them and we thought all was well.

Feeling paranoid I decided to confirm all was well and checked our MDE accounts and noticed things weren't jiving as to usage. I contacted WDW's ticket research department for assistance. Had to fax them front & back of all tickets and our drivers licenses. They called me back and said things were so messed up at that point that they would just issue a new set of re-assignable tickets to replace the original set and link them to our MDE accounts. Yea!!! but glad I remembered to check right away.

What a total hassle.
The NE tickets seem to be causing problems when they are linked to an account that also has another type of ticket, such as an AP, a special 4 day, or an expiring MYW.

Disney's official reason for discontinuing the NE ticket option was that those tickets caused so much confusion. It seems to me it is not the NE tickets themselves that are causing the confusion, but rather the way they are handled by the fairly new MDE application. Basically MDE seems to be confused on which ticket to use. Currently the only "fix" is to have guest services prioritize your tickets, and hope they do it correctly. (That seemed to work for quirty30 in post 9.)

I am disappointed that rather than spend programing dollars to improve MDE, either by letting guests prioritize their own tickets in their MDE profile, or improving the deactivate function so that actually did what it implies (see post #1), instead Disney just decided to eliminate NE tickets. Problem solved. (at least after all the existing NE tickets have been used)

However, for those of us who still have those old NE tickets, if we link those NE tickets to a profile that has, or will have, other types of tickets in it, we are at the mercy of Guest Services to properly prioritize our tickets. I assume we will have to go back to Guest services every time we add a new ticket to our profile to make sure our tickets are still prioritized the way we want. Again what a total hassle.

Here is my solution:
I plan on setting up a second profile for myself on MDE and only linking NE tickets to that profile. I would link any expiring tickets, including AP's to my original profile. Then, when I linked a future room reservation to my second profile, I would get a magic band that would only have access to my NE tickets. However, for trips where I linked my room reservation to my original profile, I would get a different magic band that would only have access to the expiring tickets linked to my original profile. That way I can have total control over which ticket gets used, and make sure my NE tickets are never used accidently.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

Can you have a second profile with the same email address?

 

[supersnoop]

Disney's official reason for discontinuing the NE ticket option was that those tickets caused so much confusion.

I don't recall Disney actually giving a specific reason for discountinuing the tickets. I would wager is has more to do with Sarbanes-Oxley's revenue recognition requirements than anything else. With no-expiration tickets, Disney got the cash up front, but couldn't claim they earned it (so, couldn't spend it) until the ticket was used. This still applies to all tickets they sell, but the NE tickets have to be broken out and recognized as each individual day is used. The accounting overhead probably cost more than the benefit of the cashflow from these tickets.

 

[abner1776]

Disney implemented a system that could not handle their own tickets. I have two different NE tickets, plus a couple of after 4pm tickets and then I added one of the 4 day/4 park tickets and I was prepared for mayhem and that's exactly what I got. I had a 7:30 train tour reservation but the guest relations did not open until 7:30 on a EMH day at MK. Afraid I would miss my train tour I went to the check in for the train tour but of course my magic band would not work...because Disney cannot figure out which ticket to use. The cast member with the iPad was equally confused and it was off to guest relations to fix the problem while the train tour waited for me. My account still shows the after 4pm tickets which were used over 2 years ago so I am not sure when I will ever get those cleared...and, for the icing on the cake, I carry around with me an e-mail from guest relations for a one day part hopper pass that I can redeem any time that they gave me 2 years ago as a comp over them screwing up my NE park hopper pass.
If there is one thing that they have done correctly it's the 10 day water park that was attached to my first NE pass...I have used 4 of the 10 days even though the original 10 park days are long gone and so far no problems using the water park passes.

 

[Pirate Granny]

I have a couple two day tickets I had to purchase with a package, but had an annual pass. I still haven't and won't link those until I plan to use them

 

[keishashadow]

Disney implemented a system that could not handle their own tickets. I have two different NE tickets, plus a couple of after 4pm tickets and then I added one of the 4 day/4 park tickets and I was prepared for mayhem and that's exactly what I got. I had a 7:30 train tour reservation but the guest relations did not open until 7:30 on a EMH day at MK. Afraid I would miss my train tour I went to the check in for the train tour but of course my magic band would not work...because Disney cannot figure out which ticket to use. The cast member with the iPad was equally confused and it was off to guest relations to fix the problem while the train tour waited for me. My account still shows the after 4pm tickets which were used over 2 years ago so I am not sure when I will ever get those cleared...and, for the icing on the cake, I carry around with me an e-mail from guest relations for a one day part hopper pass that I can redeem any time that they gave me 2 years ago as a comp over them screwing up my NE park hopper pass.
If there is one thing that they have done correctly it's the 10 day water park that was attached to my first NE pass...I have used 4 of the 10 days even though the original 10 park days are long gone and so far no problems using the water park passes.

Not savvy as to computers in general, but do know WDWs computer system has having issues for years. Lost count of how many times I was told that their various computers 'didn't speak to each other', certainly not a magical excuse imo. The WDW & DL ones still aren't linked. You'd think a company of this size could get it together, even if they have spend some big $$$. Was confused to read they laid off techies recently.

 

[dismedvc]

I don't recall Disney actually giving a specific reason for discountinuing the tickets.

I read a post, about a week ago, where someone had emailed Disney about being disappointed that non-expiring tickets were being discontinued, and the email reply they received from Disney indicated the reason those tickets were being discontinued was because they caused too much confusion. (They posted the full reply from Disney, and others posted to that thread that they had received the exact same "generic" reply.)
However I can't find that post again. If anyone knows where it is, or received the same explanation please let me know. It is driving me crazy that I can't find it.

 

[hakepb]

Not savvy as to computers in general, but do know WDWs computer system has having issues for years. Lost count of how many times I was told that their various computers 'didn't speak to each other', certainly not a magical excuse imo. The WDW & DL ones still aren't linked. You'd think a company of this size could get it together, even if they have spend some big $$$. Was confused to read they laid off techies recently.

It is frustrating, but not surprising.
IT people are usually constrained by bad project management and/or bad budgets. IT doesn't usually get its money from the CEO with the initiative of running a well-oiled machine. Instead a bunch of different operational groups try to minimize their IT budget and often don't care how well their data is fed to "department B" unless it also affects "department A's" bottom line.

You would hope a $1B MDE project would be better managed, but it wasn't an improvent of an existing state, it was designed to "transform the business" Aparantly it was decided that non-expiring tickets would not be part of the future WDW.

 

[keishashadow]

It is frustrating, but not surprising.
IT people are usually constrained by bad project management and/or bad budgets. IT doesn't usually get its money from the CEO with the initiative of running a well-oiled machine. Instead a bunch of different operational groups try to minimize their IT budget and often don't care how well their data is fed to "department B" unless it also affects "department A's" bottom line.

You would hope a $1B MDE project would be better managed, but it wasn't an improvent of an existing state, it was designed to "transform the business" Aparantly it was decided that non-expiring tickets would not be part of the future WDW.

I would never blame 'the grunts' in this, i'm sure they are doing their best. Realize the funding is doled out from upon high, probably begrudgingly by a bean-counter trying to pad his own performance bonus.

I feel for people working in guest relations who are obviously not properly trained and are doing what appears to be their level-best to make this mess work

 

[supersnoop]

I read a post, about a week ago, where someone had emailed Disney about being disappointed that non-expiring tickets were being discontinued, and the email reply they received from Disney indicated the reason those tickets were being discontinued was because they caused too much confusion. (They posted the full reply from Disney, and others posted to that thread that they had received the exact same "generic" reply.)
However I can't find that post again. If anyone knows where it is, or received the same explanation please let me know. It is driving me crazy that I can't find it.

The "confusion" reason has been used for the past few years to explain why the option was removed from the pricing boards and online sales.

 

[dismedvc]

Can you have a second profile with the same email address?

When you are logged in to your MDE account, in the family and friends section, in the upper right, you can add a guest, and you manage the account and all the plans for that guest. I just added myself again, adding the letters NE to the end of my first name. I will try to insert a screenshot below.