2021 tickets... buy now or hang tight?

[mousestruck]

We canceled our 2020 trip and are now looking ahead to 2021/2022. At this point, we're thinking about a 5 day trip in late May (before Memorial Day weekend) and then a longer trip approximately 12/30/21 - 1/7/22. I can reserve the first trip at our home resort now, but can't reserve park days unless we buy park tickets. Problem is I'm not sure what kind of tickets I want to buy.

It's possible we'll cancel the May trip if the pandemic situation is not under control, so an AP may or may not be the best option. We don't even know what a Gold AP will look like for 2021. I would really like to wait a while before investing in tickets - but that means I can't reserve my May park days (when other people are doing so right now - which kills me.) There are so many variables and unknowns. I have to believe, or at least I hope, that capacity will be considerably higher next May and that it won't be a problem reserving park time. Maybe we won't even need reservations. Or maybe we'll have a second wave of this horrible virus and the parks will close down again. If attendance is down, maybe Disney will offer a good deal on tickets or a DVC AP promotion. Any thoughts? Would you buy now or wait it out?

 

[DisneyGal24]

If you want to reserve your park days, buy now. Get base tickets and you can always upgrade later.

 

[Doug7856]

An option we often do is buy a one night pre DVC stay at a Disney hotel and purchase the tickets for the DVC portion as part of the package. For a $200 deposit you have tickets that will be paid in full sixty days out.

 

[mousestruck]

An option we often do is buy a one night pre DVC stay at a Disney hotel and purchase the tickets for the DVC portion as part of the package. For a $200 deposit you have tickets that will be paid in full sixty days out.

That is a creative solution. Never thought of that! So I could buy eight day tickets for a one night stay? Not sure what would happen though if we had to cancel that reservation - for example, if an AP deal came out and we decided to purchase APs. I guess we’d lose park reservations we made.

 

[mousestruck]

If you want to reserve your park days, buy now. Get base tickets and you can always upgrade later.

Yes, we usually do that. If we buy tickets for May and cancel that trip, we could always convert them to December tickets, right? Can you do this if you buy tickets from Undercover Tourist? If we do go in May, then I could upgrade them when we visit. Only downside to this plan is that we would miss out on a an AP deal if one is released.

 

[Doug7856]

That is a creative solution. Never thought of that! So I could buy eight day tickets for a one night stay? Not sure what would happen though if we had to cancel that reservation - for example, if an AP deal came out and we decided to purchase APs. I guess we’d lose park reservations we made.

I'm not sure how that would work, but I suspect you're correct. We've done this several times and it's worked well for us.

 

[Simba's Mom]

If I buy tickets now, but later decide to cancel the trip (due to the virus), what happens to the tickets I bought? Will I have the option to either be reimbursed or to use them at a later date? And if I do just hold onto them (Oh, wait! There's nothing physical to hold onto), how does that work since the tickets I bought are good for specific dates?

 

[Sandisw]

If I buy tickets now, but later decide to cancel the trip (due to the virus), what happens to the tickets I bought? Will I have the option to either be reimbursed or to use them at a later date? And if I do just hold onto them (Oh, wait! There's nothing physical to hold onto), how does that work since the tickets I bought are good for specific dates?

They will always retain their value and can be used toward future tickets. I do not believe they will normally refund.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would buy now. Usually Disney raises ticket prices in Aug and Feb

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't think you need to be in a hurry to book park dates for May 2021...if you see e.g. President's Week start to get booked up, or Easter, then maybe it would be time to move. But last time I checked, all of 2021 is wide open.

 

[wpeck]

They will always retain their value and can be used toward future tickets. I do not believe they will normally refund.

Thanks, had the same question.