a question about MYW tickets expiring before use?

[mouseketeer_mom]

My husband and I are have decided that our next trip to Disney will be THE BIG ONE. We want to stay 10 to 12 days in our RV at Fort Wilderness. We are pretty sure we can swing it budget wise in about a year and a half, going very early spring of 09. I'd like to start buying one 10 day hopper about every other month to eliminate that expense. (We'll need 5)

My question is this; What if we realize, as the time gets closer that we are better off to wait an extra year? I hate to think we'd have to, but we really want to make this trip a higher budget trip. Will my tickets still be usable? Will Disney honor a MYW ticket that's 2.5 years old? And what about gift cards or Disney Dollars? do they expire?

Thanks for the help!

 

[karliebug]

Once you buy your ticket it is good forever until the first use. So you can buy them now and not use them until 10 years from now if you want to.

 

[dburg30]

Disney dollars I dont think expire, but any gift card you'll want to check and see what the terms are on them..

 

[WillCAD]

You are all set, fellow Marylander!

MYW passes passes don't exire before first use. You can keep them as long as you need to keep them until you're ready for the trip. Your idea of buying them one at a time over a year is excellent; in fact, I recommend that method to everybody I know when they are preparing for a trip. The only drawback is, of course, that Disney raises prices about once a year, so you should buy your most expensive tickets first, and save the kids tickets for last. But if prices go up after you buy a ticket, you don't have to pay any more; once you buy a ticket, it's yours and it's valid no matter how much the prices change later.

Disney Dollars never expire. They are also good forever. However, since they only come in denominations of $1, $5, and $10, they can be quite bulky when used as a savings method. They are also like cash; if they are lost, stolen, or damaged, you have no recourse. They are simply gone, for ever and ever, amen.

I switched to saving for my trips with the Disney Gift Card. Disney Gift Cards never expire, have no fees, are reloadable, and can be replaced if lost or stolen (keep your original reciept!) They can be used at any Disney-owned venue at WDW, Disneyland, Disney stores, on the Disney Cruise Line, and on DisneyShopping.com.

Disney Stores all over the US have them, and you can also buy them online at the link I posted above. Unfortunately, you can only buy them in preset amounts online, and you can't reload them online; but you can reload them at the Disney Store. I put $20 on mine every payday as a way of saving for my trips, making a bi-weekly pilgrimage to the White Marsh Mall Disney Store. In fact, I just did so yesterday.

So keep going as you are, and you will be fine for a trip in 2009 or 2010.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

WillCAD, do you know if I purchase the gift card on-line from Disneyland (they seem to have choices of pictures on the front and disneyshoppingdotcom doesn't), is that card useable at Disney World too? I do not live anywhere near a Disney Store so purchasing one there isn't an option and I would like to buy them before I go so that part of the budget is taken care of. Thanks so much for your help, in advance.

 

[CleveRocks]

WillCAD, do you know if I purchase the gift card on-line from Disneyland (they seem to have choices of pictures on the front and disneyshoppingdotcom doesn't), is that card useable at Disney World too? I do not live anywhere near a Disney Store so purchasing one there isn't an option and I would like to buy them before I go so that part of the budget is taken care of. Thanks so much for your help, in advance.

They can be used at any Disney-owned venue at WDW, Disneyland, Disney stores, on the Disney Cruise Line, and on DisneyShopping.com.

 

[WillCAD]

WillCAD, do you know if I purchase the gift card on-line from Disneyland (they seem to have choices of pictures on the front and disneyshoppingdotcom doesn't), is that card useable at Disney World too? I do not live anywhere near a Disney Store so purchasing one there isn't an option and I would like to buy them before I go so that part of the budget is taken care of. Thanks so much for your help, in advance.

Yes, the Gift Cards sold on the Disneyland site are the same Disney Gift Cards sold at WDW, Disneyland, and the Disney Stores. They are all the same cards, although there are different designs available from the Disneyland web site.

 

[seashoreCM]

I do not recommend gift cards, including "Mastercard tarjetas prepagados" (sic?), except possibly to collect the pretty pictures on the backs.

There is a scam going around where gift cards get cloned (someone photographs the serial number on the back). Then the person who actually buys that gift card may find that the value is not there to make a purchase with.

At least one recent news story had Walmart giving the real purchaser a hard time when the dispute was raised about the lost value on a gift card.

Other consumer information: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/gift3.htm

 

[WillCAD]

I do not recommend gift cards, including "Mastercard tarjetas prepagados" (sic?), except possibly to collect the pretty pictures on the backs.

There is a scam going around where gift cards get cloned (someone photographs the serial number on the back). Then the person who actually buys that gift card may find that the value is not there to make a purchase with.

At least one recent news story had Walmart giving the real purchaser a hard time when the dispute was raised about the lost value on a gift card.

Other consumer information: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/gift3.htm

Yes, that happens.

No, it does not happen enough for me to stop buying and using gift cards.

People get their pockets picked, too - that doesn't stop me from carrying money in my pockets.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

Thank you for the help with the gift card question. The reason I had wanted clarification was because on the Disneyland website there was a statement along the lines of "soon these gift cards will be useable at Walt Disney World Resorts" so I wasn't sure if the website had not been updated in awhile and that they were good at WDW or it that "soon" meant still in the future. So I appreciate the response to my question. It's nice to know that whatever we ask there is always someone who is willing to give us a nice answer. And I agree, we can't stop using something just because someone out there knows how to work a scam out it. We'd all just have to find a hole to crawl in and not do anything.