Annual Pass and other items

[MakKoen]

longtime lurker, trying to pay back some of the information I have gotten from all the posters. Recently stayed at Beach Club Villa's for nine days and was looking to upgrade to an annual pass (stay from June 8th through 17th). Researched on the boards about buying tickets from another vendor (in our case undercover tourist) and then upgrading to an annual pass. For the record, we bought a 5 day (upgraded to a sixth day free) park hopper.

We used the tickets as required and then went to guest services to upgrade. They have changed the rules somewhat, so that you only get the price paid for the ticket, not the new value of the ticket. So with the new DVC pricing we would have been required to spend another $158 to pay the difference between the two tickets. I spoke to the lead cast member after this was explained by the initial guest relations person, and was stated that starting June 3rd, the new policy was put into place to only grant the amount paid, not the current value of the ticket.

Another note, we had to waitlist for our first two nights at Beach Club Villa's. The waitlist did come through, but I noticed that they had removed the names of some of our children from the reservation for the waitlist reservation. I spoke to member services and was told that I could update the information at the resort. It sounded like bad advice, and I should have listened to my gut, but I listened. Well, at Beach Club you cannot add names to the reservation once you are there.

I am sure that it is not a huge deal at most resorts, but the kids were dying to go to Stormalong Bay. They had to wait two days, and they did give us tickets to Blizzard Beach because of it. I pointed out to the manager that wouldn't it just be cheaper to give me two room cards for the pool? My wife and kids looked at me as if I sprouted a second head, but I run a company and am always interested to hear front line supervision explain decisions that seem like money losers to me. They are not allowed to add people to reservations at least at beach club once the reservation is in the system.

Any specific questions, let me know.

 

[vicki_c]

Your ticket information is incorrect. Undercover Tourist tickets are still bridged once you use them once. Only non-discounted Disney tickets are no longer bridged (and this part is more complicated than it sounds, but definitely tickets from somewhere like Undercover Tourist are still bridged).

The CM you spoke with was incorrect. You can find more information on this subject on the Theme Parks board.

 

[MakKoen]

Just a clarification, we asked at guest services at Hollywood Studios, Epcot world showcase and Magic Kingdome. Same answer from all three. Not to discount what you mention above, just to show that they gave the same answer at all three.

 

[twinklebug]

There are two guest service locations at the international gateway of EPCOT. The one on the right as you approach from the resorts incorrectly determined the upgrade to DVC APs from our UT passes. After telling her I'd go elsewhere where they might be able to bridge the value correctly she suggested I go to the house on the (our) left. The CM in the other house had no problem doing the proper steps it took to upgrade 3 UT passes.

If you're still there and haven't done the upgrade yet, try that location ... if it doesn't work there then I don't know what to say.

 

[GrimGhost]

There are two guest service locations at the international gateway of EPCOT. The one on the right as you approach from the resorts incorrectly determined the upgrade to DVC APs from our UT passes. After telling her I'd go elsewhere where they might be able to bridge the value correctly she suggested I go to the house on the (our) left. The CM in the other house had no problem doing the proper steps it took to upgrade 3 UT passes.

If you're still there and haven't done the upgrade yet, try that location ... if it doesn't work there then I don't know what to say.

I'm hoping to hear others weigh in on this.

 

[gkrykewy]

There are two guest service locations at the international gateway of EPCOT. The one on the right as you approach from the resorts incorrectly determined the upgrade to DVC APs from our UT passes. After telling her I'd go elsewhere where they might be able to bridge the value correctly she suggested I go to the house on the (our) left. The CM in the other house had no problem doing the proper steps it took to upgrade 3 UT passes.

If you're still there and haven't done the upgrade yet, try that location ... if it doesn't work there then I don't know what to say.

If you have to go to one specific location across the entire resort, I imagine this is a loophole that's in the process of going away.

 

[wehavesix]

Go to Epcot guest services in future world. They know how to do it. Just last week we upgraded 5 UT tickets to APs WITH bridging. Dustin helped us the first time. One son was not with us at the time so we went back there to upgrade his later in the week. A young lady did his. I didn't catch her name.

My eldest son had a lot of trouble getting his tickets bridged. He tried first at HS and ended up walking away. Later in the week, he went to MK guest services inside the park. He stood his ground there and insisted they call management. The manager made a phone call and was told that bridging of discounted tickets is still the correct procedure. I think the confusion is that non discounted tickets bought at the gate are no longer bridged. We JUST did this last week.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

longtime lurker, trying to pay back some of the information I have gotten from all the posters. Recently stayed at Beach Club Villa's for nine days and was looking to upgrade to an annual pass (stay from June 8th through 17th). Researched on the boards about buying tickets from another vendor (in our case undercover tourist) and then upgrading to an annual pass. For the record, we bought a 5 day (upgraded to a sixth day free) park hopper.

We used the tickets as required and then went to guest services to upgrade. They have changed the rules somewhat, so that you only get the price paid for the ticket, not the new value of the ticket. So with the new DVC pricing we would have been required to spend another $158 to pay the difference between the two tickets. I spoke to the lead cast member after this was explained by the initial guest relations person, and was stated that starting June 3rd, the new policy was put into place to only grant the amount paid, not the current value of the ticket.

Another note, we had to waitlist for our first two nights at Beach Club Villa's. The waitlist did come through, but I noticed that they had removed the names of some of our children from the reservation for the waitlist reservation. I spoke to member services and was told that I could update the information at the resort. It sounded like bad advice, and I should have listened to my gut, but I listened. Well, at Beach Club you cannot add names to the reservation once you are there.

I am sure that it is not a huge deal at most resorts, but the kids were dying to go to Stormalong Bay. They had to wait two days, and they did give us tickets to Blizzard Beach because of it. I pointed out to the manager that wouldn't it just be cheaper to give me two room cards for the pool? My wife and kids looked at me as if I sprouted a second head, but I run a company and am always interested to hear front line supervision explain decisions that seem like money losers to me. They are not allowed to add people to reservations at least at beach club once the reservation is in the system.

Any specific questions, let me know.

Beach Club has the MOST incompotent cast members out there and the managers are part of the problem He could have added you.

(But for future reference just "loose" a few room keys. Then you get new ones. they don't scan the keys just see if you have them.... No, I have not done this but if they were this stupid I would do it!)


As for the "bringing to gate" I am not sure you got bad information. I do know that they can SEE what Undercover sold you the ticket for (because the ONLY time I tried this stunt it happened to me) But I have a CM friend who says it is VERY up in the air as to what they are suppose to be doing now and she's not sure that they really know. Her impression is that all bringing to gate is suppose to stop but there is some confusion and you can find CMs who are still doing it for guests and others who aren't. So you can keep trying but you may not get lucky based on what she told me (Along with some cursing because "THEY CAN'T MAKE ANYTHNING EASY" lol!)

 

[vicki_c]

I didn't have time to go find this thread earlier, but here is the latest from Cheshire Figment on the bridging process and what can/can't be bridged:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2938971

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I do work at GR at TL. The original information that was released was very confusing. In my original post in the link provided by Vicki C I was able to give what the policy. is now interpreted as, so during the first few days of your visit you were not given incorrect information.

It is unfortunate, but many for of the people involved with ticketing it is just a job and they do the minimum necessary, and do not work to really understand what is happening.

 

[DebbieB]

I would write to member satisfaction. It's ridiculous that they could not add your children.

 

[tripletsmama]

What does bridging mean?

 

[n2mm]

OP, I've never had a problem adding people to my reservation at the front desk. I just did this at the BCV in May. We had 2 rooms and after the family left both my DH and myself moved over into a studio. Since we had 2 rooms earlier, each of us were listed on different rooms. Once the family left, I checked out of my room and went to the front desk and had my name listed on the studio and got a new ID card. It was not a problem at all. I've done this many times when we have family coming in and leaving before or after us. We don't exceed the occupany which would be the only reason. MS has always told us that the same people could not be listed in 2 rooms at the same time, so often I will book 2 rooms and list myself as the lead on one and my DH as the lead on the other. That doesn't mean we actually use that room, it's just for booking. The staff must've been confused.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

OP, I think your issue may have been one of timing. Disney changed their bridging policy at the same time they increased ticket prices. From some of the other discussions I've read, they didn't do a very good job of communicating what was changed when this happened.

Initially, CMs got word that all bridging had been stopped. Guests at all ticket windows were told this for several days. From what Cheshire Figment has posted on the Theme Park boards, a clarification was later made that the bridging was only impacted for full-price tickets purchased at a park.

Tickets from third-party vendors, tickets sold as part of a package, and tickets purchased at the Disney store are supposedly all eligible to be bridged again.

Finding a CM who understood bridging used to be a hit-or-miss thing. Now that management has totally confused them all by changing policies several times in quick succession, I'm guessing it's even more difficult to find the right person. I suspect you were either at Disney shortly after the price increases when all bridging had been stopped, or just happened to find three different cast members who hadn't gotten the re-revised policy update.

Tripletsmama... bridging is something Disney does when you upgrade a ticket that has been used at least once. For most tickets, they will "bridge" the value of the ticket from what you originally paid to the current price at which they are selling that same ticket. The credit you're given toward your upgrade is then based on that higher value.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I've also had an issue in the past with adding names to a reservation at BCV after check-in. Mine wasn't as dramatic as the OP's, though. It wasn't names that had been dropped off by mistake. We were 2 in a studio and realized after checking in that we should have put my parents on the reservation (who were staying at the Marriott) so they could join us at SAB. I figured we were still within the occupancy limit of the room and hadn't purchased any dining plan, so it wasn't cheating or breaking any rules.

I called the operator and went physically down to the front desk. I even called Member Services. I was told all three times that names can't be added after check-in.

I was surprised when mentioning this in another thread at the time how many people replied back and said they'd added names without any problem. Seems like another wonderful Disney cast member roulette moment, where who you talk to makes all the difference in the answer you get.