Always bring your ticket even if you have a linked band!

[Hisgirl]

We purchased our tickets, linked them to the MDE account, got our bands and off we went.

However, every time I tried to enter a park, my band wouldn't work at the turnstile. My husband's band worked fine, but not mine. Luckily, I had brought my plastic ticket and used it to get in. Once in, I went to city hall and they did their magic, telling me my band was fixed.

However, it wasn't.

Every time I went to a park, I had to pull out my plastic ticket to get in. I didn't want to spend any more time dealing with city hall, especially after how long we were there the first time and it still didn't work, so using the ticket wasn't a big deal.

But I wonder about folks who link the plastic ticket and maybe leave it at home. Don't do this, you may need it!

 

[Astridia]

On our previous trips we used the MB's but were ran into problems getting them to work. So on our most recent trip we skipped the bands and used our cards, they worked great. I didn't think bands were any more convenient than the cards since we weren't messing with trying to get the mickey heads to match up. For us, the cards work great.

 

[ruthies12]

thanks for taking the time to post this. I bought our tickets from UT and they linked just fine so I thought maybe I was being too anal by keeping the tickets and planning to take them with us, now I know I'm not crazy for bringing them

 

[Hisgirl]

Exactly! I literally almost left them behind, thinking, "I don't need these now...I have my magic band and they're linked!"

 

[tinabina919]

Thanks for the heads up!

I have a silly question...I have a trip in September with 5day tickets and a trip in January with 6 day tickets. When I go in September how will they know to use the 5day and not the 6day?

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks for the heads up!

I have a silly question...I have a trip in September with 5day tickets and a trip in January with 6 day tickets. When I go in September how will they know to use the 5day and not the 6day?

You need to have them fix them before you go in the park the first time. You'll have to stop at the GS window in front of the park, or at Ticket Services at DTD and have them prioritize the tickets so the 5 day ticket is used and the 6 day ticket is not. You could maybe deactivate the 6 day ticket until after your 5 day trip but that bothers me for some reason. They can set the priority without problem.

 

[tinabina919]

You need to have them fix them before you go in the park the first time. You'll have to stop at the GS window in front of the park, or at Ticket Services at DTD and have them prioritize the tickets so the 5 day ticket is used and the 6 day ticket is not. You could maybe deactivate the 6 day ticket until after your 5 day trip but that bothers me for some reason. They can set the priority without problem.

Oh good, we were planning on spending our arrival night in DTD anyways, I'll get that done there. Thanks so much for the help!

 

[Xennia]

I always take mine. It's how I get my discount at the parks. Annual pass holders have to show the card and ID to get the discount.

 

[subtchr]

Just to reassure those who don't have their tickets for some reason, even if the MB doesn't work, since the ticket is in your MDE account, the information CAN be retrieved at GS, and either a new ticket issued or the MB issue fixed.

As in the OP's experience, it is more CONVENIENT to have the actual ticket if this occurs, because it does not involve the time for a GS visit, but it's not absoutely necessary to rectify the problem.

 

[Hisgirl]

Tina, just a thought...we did a similar trip configuration and found an annual pass was cheaper. Have you considered that?

 

[rance]

Another suggestion is to take a photo of your tickets showing the code on the back. That way it is on your phone if you forget tickets at hotel and they can look up tickets.

 

[tinabina919]

Tina, just a thought...we did a similar trip configuration and found an annual pass was cheaper. Have you considered that?

I didn't even think that, I don't know much about annual passes. They're good for a year from the date of purchase or?
Also September is a free dining package would that conflict?

 

[bumbershoot]

I didn't even think that, I don't know much about annual passes. They're good for a year from the date of purchase or?
Also September is a free dining package would that conflict?

They start from the date you first use the ticket you upgrade from.

Your first trip is the September trip? You could start that trip and upgrade the tickets to an AP and you would have a year from that first date of use. Since you have the January tickets already, you would just keep them for a trip in the future. See if your 5 and 6 day tickets cost more than an AP would, see if it would serve you better.

 

[mastermind307]

Just to reassure those who don't have their tickets for some reason, even if the MB doesn't work, since the ticket is in your MDE account, the information CAN be retrieved at GS, and either a new ticket issued or the MB issue fixed.

As in the OP's experience, it is more CONVENIENT to have the actual ticket if this occurs, because it does not involve the time for a GS visit, but it's not absoutely necessary to rectify the problem.

I was asking about this issue (not having tickets) on another thread. I linked my tickets and then misplaced the actual tickets. I'm hoping my MB will work fine when we go, but it's good to know that I can visit GS and hopefully get it all figured out since the information is in my MDW account. I will be nervous until I either find the tickets or get to Disney and my MB works.

Another suggestion is to take a photo of your tickets showing the code on the back. That way it is on your phone if you forget tickets at hotel and they can look up tickets.

Is the code on the back of the tickets, the same code you have to enter to add them to MDE account? I planned to take pictures of our tickets (I always have in the past), but just didn't get around to it, and of course now I can't find them. Would having those codes (the ones showing up in MDE account) make it easier to look up our tickets if we have problems?

 

[Hisgirl]

Tina, what we did was purchase four day tickets from undercover tourist at a discount, using the mousesavers link. We went to our trip and activated the tickets by going into the park for the first day. Then, we went to the guest services window and announced we wanted to upgrade our tickets to an annual pass. They credited us for a four day ticket and we paid the difference. And yes, they credited us for what WDW charges for a four day, not the discount price we paid. It's called bridging. It was much cheaper to buy an annual pass than to pay for tickets for two trips. And in case you're wondering, yes, you do tend to want to go an extra time or two before 365 days are up. We managed to squeeze in a fall '13, Jan '14, Feb '14, April '14 and Sept '14 trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

you do tend to want to go an extra time or two before 365 days are up. We managed to squeeze in a fall '13, Jan '14, Feb '14, April '14 and Sept '14 trip.

Since it goes through the date that you started (so, 2/15/14 through the end of 2/15/15) it's 366 days. And in 2016, it'll be 367 days b/c of Leap Day.

 

[loves to dive]

I've used MBs on 3 trips and have never had a problem with them, come to think of it, I'm not even sure I had actual physical tickets one of those times. I have an AP so I take that but just for the discount.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I've used MBs on 3 trips and have never had a problem with them, come to think of it, I'm not even sure I had actual physical tickets one of those times. I have an AP so I take that but just for the discount.

That's great you've had no problems, but I wonder how that contributes to a discussion about what to do if a guest does have problems.

Also, since we AP holders have to have the card to get our discounts, we always have a MB default (the card). That wouldn't be the case with a regular ticket holder, so it's a good tip to those who might have their plastic ticket to throw them into the park bag or pocket just in case. No one wants to spend an hour or more standing in a GS line on vacation if there's no reason to.

 

[subtchr]

Is the code on the back of the tickets, the same code you have to enter to add them to MDE account? I planned to take pictures of our tickets (I always have in the past), but just didn't get around to it, and of course now I can't find them. Would having those codes (the ones showing up in MDE account) make it easier to look up our tickets if we have problems?

Before MDE accounts, the answer would have been yes, it would be easier with the photo. WITH tickets linked in an MDE account, it makes no difference, other than MAYBE a couple extra seconds to pull up your account. You can see the tickets linked in your account, right? GS can pull up your account and see them as well. No reason to worry. As I mentioned in the other thread, think of it like airline tickets these days. When was the last time you had an actual paper ticket? It's not the ticket that matters, it's what is in the account.

 

[jcjen519]

This happened to us last fall with our son's mnsshp ticket. luckily i had the hard ticket but I won't go in without them anymore.