ANSWERED : 5-Day Ticket to Flex Passport Upgrade Question

[MWGum]

If I have a 5 day ticket and I plan on upgrading to the Flex Passport, do I have to wait until the last day to upgrade, or can I upgrade on the first day to get access to AP discounts?
One concern is that the last 2 days that we will be there are reservation days for the Flex Passport. Will I have guaranteed access due to the original 5 day ticket?

 

[gottalovepluto]

If I have a 5 day ticket and I plan on upgrading to the Flex Passport, do I have to wait until the last day to upgrade, or can I upgrade on the first day to get access to AP discounts?
One concern is that the last 2 days that we will be there are reservation days for the Flex Passport. Will I have guaranteed access due to the original 5 day ticket?

No you won’t have guaranteed access. If you want guaranteed access you’ll have to upgrade on your last day. For the day of your upgrade only they should issue you a blockout pass so you would be fine upgrading on your last day. You’ll have to decide between AP discounts and guaranteed access.

 

[MWGum]

No you won’t have guaranteed access. If you want guaranteed access you’ll have to upgrade on your last day. For the day of your upgrade only they should issue you a blockout pass so you would be fine upgrading on your last day. You’ll have to decide between AP discounts and guaranteed access.

Thanks for the info!

 

[pharmama]

No you won’t have guaranteed access. If you want guaranteed access you’ll have to upgrade on your last day. For the day of your upgrade only they should issue you a blockout pass so you would be fine upgrading on your last day. You’ll have to decide between AP discounts and guaranteed access.

There are reports that they are not issuing blockout passes for the Flex Passport but rather telling people to just make an immediate reservation. But you can see the Flex calendar online so you would know before upgrading whether or not reservations are available.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

No you won’t have guaranteed access. If you want guaranteed access you’ll have to upgrade on your last day. For the day of your upgrade only they should issue you a blockout pass so you would be fine upgrading on your last day. You’ll have to decide between AP discounts and guaranteed access.

This is not correct. They will not issue you a blockout pass if you upgrade to a Flex, but they do still issue blockout passes for the other APs. Make sure you are upgrading when you are done in the parks or you are sure there are reservations available. If you upgrade through the app or a ticket booth, you will have to immediately make reservations for that day to re-enter the parks. Ticket booth CMs are unable to make reservations for you.

 

[MWGum]

Thanks for all of the additional responses! I will wait to upgrade until we are finished on our last day.

 

[gottalovepluto]

There are reports that they are not issuing blockout passes for the Flex Passport but rather telling people to just make an immediate reservation. But you can see the Flex calendar online so you would know before upgrading whether or not reservations are available.

Makes sense, but Disney will eventually have people upgrade on days when no reservations are available or reservations are blocked out and if that happens I don’t see them getting around issuing a blockout Pass. Making a Flex reservation is just the easiest answer for now.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Makes sense, but Disney will eventually have people upgrade on days when no reservations are available or reservations are blocked out and if that happens I don’t see them getting around issuing a blockout Pass. Making a Flex reservation is just the easiest answer for now.

They seem to be sticking to their guns on this one. The reservation system was completely down when I tried to re-enter the park after upgrading through the app. I spoke with several CM’s at the ticket windows and they stood firm on not letting me into the park without a reservation, even though I showed them on my phone that the reservation system was not working. I think they will probably solve this issue in the app with something that pops up and says, “Are you sure you want to upgrade now? You will not be able to re-enter the park without a reservation.”

 

[gottalovepluto]

They seem to be sticking to their guns on this one. The reservation system was completely down when I tried to re-enter the park after upgrading through the app. I spoke with several CM’s at the ticket windows and they stood firm on not letting me into the park without a reservation, even though I showed them on my phone that the reservation system was not working. I think they will probably solve this issue in the app with something that pops up and says, “Are you sure you want to upgrade now? You will not be able to re-enter the park without a reservation.”

WOW. Disney does think IT failures are cool but someday a lawyer will make them eat it. In the meantime peons like us had just better upgrade in person with assurance we can get into the park that day or wait until the end of the day like you said! What time do ticket booths close? It would suck to enjoy that last hour shopping on Main St only to come out and find the booths are closed and it’s too late to upgrade your ticket.

 

[Cookiemonster156]

They seem to be sticking to their guns on this one. The reservation system was completely down when I tried to re-enter the park after upgrading through the app. I spoke with several CM’s at the ticket windows and they stood firm on not letting me into the park without a reservation, even though I showed them on my phone that the reservation system was not working. I think they will probably solve this issue in the app with something that pops up and says, “Are you sure you want to upgrade now? You will not be able to re-enter the park without a reservation.”

You probably should have gotten a supervisor at that point. You were in the park earlier that same day, but because of a fault on their side you could not re-enter.

This will deter people from upgrading tickets to this pass because it'll be more hassle than its worth to renter the park.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

You probably should have gotten a supervisor at that point. You were in the park earlier that same day, but because of a fault on their side you could not re-enter.

This will deter people from upgrading tickets to this pass because it'll be more hassle than its worth to renter the park.

I did. They were also unwilling to help. I had briefly left my daughter and her friend in the park to check out of the hotel, and was in a state of panic when I couldn’t get back into the park. They’re old enough to be on their own for an hour or two, but certainly not an entire day. I suspect all the ticket CMs received some training in standing firm to Flex Pass holders when they want into the park without reservations. While I was upset about the situation, I was still polite to the CM’s because I know they are just following whatever policy Disney has in place. But we purchased the passes a few days after they first started selling them, so you’d think they would be lenient while working out the glitches in the system. A manager at one of the restaurants gave me a 15% discount instead of 10 when they couldn’t get my AP to work for the discount.

I had been an AP holder for years and years prior. I let our family’s passes expire last summer in anticipation of the huge SWGE crowds. I decided to take my daughter and her friend to the parks with one-day park hopper passes for my daughter’s birthday. When I saw the option to upgrade to the Flex Pass, I couldn’t resist. The pass sounded like a great fit for my family. Had I known the trouble I was going to have getting back into the park and the complete lack of empathy I received when my daughter was calling me frantically because I didn’t show up at our meeting spot and she could hear in my voice that something was wrong, I would have never upgraded our passes.