AP expiring during trip - question

[cabloom]

We have APs that will expire on the next-to-last day of our upcoming trip in May. I've ordered 10 day non-expiring tickets (from UT) to use the last day and for future trips. My FPs are all set up except for the last day because, as of this moment, MDE knows we don't have a valid ticket for that day.

My question is, once the new tickets arrive, I'm not sure what I need to do in MDE to set it up. Can I have both the AP and the new ticket activated at the same time so that I can set up my last day of FPs without messing up all the rest? If so, how will that work with the MB as far as entering the parks on our APs? I'd hate to find out that I'm using my non-expiring ticket when the AP is still valid.

We're staying on-site, if that makes a difference - although we check out that morning.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Disneymom83]

You could just renew your APs?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We have APs that will expire on the next-to-last day of our upcoming trip in May. I've ordered 10 day non-expiring tickets (from UT) to use the last day and for future trips. My FPs are all set up except for the last day because, as of this moment, MDE knows we don't have a valid ticket for that day.

My question is, once the new tickets arrive, I'm not sure what I need to do in MDE to set it up. Can I have both the AP and the new ticket activated at the same time so that I can set up my last day of FPs without messing up all the rest? If so, how will that work with the MB as far as entering the parks on our APs? I'd hate to find out that I'm using my non-expiring ticket when the AP is still valid.

We're staying on-site, if that makes a difference - although we check out that morning.

Thanks in advance!

Remember in the old days when you would simply have two separate tickets and you could control which ticket you used at the turnstile? Yes, those days are gone and I've found this to be the trickiest part of MDE.

I've had varying luck with linking multiple types of tickets on my MB - from worked great without a hitch to complete disaster and the turnstile pulled the wrong ticket.

Here's what I suggest doing. Link your UT ticket to your MDE account. Then, call Disney IT and ask them to "prioritize" your tickets. Let them know you want to use the AP first and then pull from the non-expire. Very important - remind the CM when you check in that you want your tickets "prioritized" OR go to guest services at your first park BEFORE you enter and ask them to double check that your tickets are prioritized correctly. After your first day in the parks (and maybe even after EVERY day you're in a park), check your MDE account to make sure it is pulling from your AP. If it isn't, go to guest services and have them fix it and ask for any days lost to be credited back to you. Honestly, you may even want to keep track of the names of the CM's you worked with to prioritize your tickets so you can reference the transaction if you have a problem.

I've had two sets of tickets on my MDE account twice now. First time, they were prioritized correctly and I had no problems.

Second time, I had one park hopper and 1 one-day MK ticket on my MB. I called to have the MK ticket pulled first, but it wasn't done correctly, so the hopper was pulled on my MK day and I couldn't get into EP the second day. I had to upgrade my MK ticket to a hopper and then spend 1 hour and 45 minutes with IT and then guest relations to straighten it out. IT admitted they made a mistake and didn't prioritize them correctly, they referred me to guest relations who then said I didn't link them correctly . . . I pointed out that guests currently have NO ability to prioritize their own tickets and if I could have I would have "linked them correctly". They refunded the ticket upgrade money.

So lesson learned, check, double check, triple check that the right ticket is being used. This is one major glitch in the MDE system if you ask me. Guests should have the ability to prioritize their own tickets!

 

[cabloom]

Thanks for the replies so far!

You could just renew your APs?

After getting 3 trips from our current APs, we're taking a break and won't be visiting in the next year. Hopefully by then, "testing" will be complete and things will have settled down!

About "prioritizing" our tickets - how do I reach Disney IT? Just call the main number and ask to be transferred? How do I tell in my MDE account which ticket is being pulled from?

What if we don't use our MBs to enter the park and just swipe our APs - would that work? I realize that kind of defeats the purpose of the MB, but I really don't want to waste precious time at Guest Relations if something gets screwed up. (been there, done that on our Dec trip - family went with us and somehow one of their MB wasn't reading correctly)

 

[butterfly71076]

To prioritize your tickets, you can go to Guest Relations at the park, I went to GR at MK (3/1) It took them about 2 minutes to fix my tickets (same as you AP expired during trip, did not renew) and I had no problems after that. The MB worked perfect every time I entered the park, even after my AP had expired. I also had extra tickets linked to MDE before arrival. I was able to make my FP+ selections for all day of our trip, no problem at all.
I would be a bit hesitant to call as you don't know if they have been prioritized correctly until you attempt to enter the park.

 

[HopperFan]

To prioritize your tickets, you can go to Guest Relations at the park, I went to GR at MK (3/1) It took them about 2 minutes to fix my tickets (same as you AP expired during trip, did not renew) and I had no problems after that. The MB worked perfect every time I entered the park, even after my AP had expired. I also had extra tickets linked to MDE before arrival. I was able to make my FP+ selections for all day of our trip, no problem at all. I would be a bit hesitant to call as you don't know if they have been prioritized correctly until you attempt to enter the park.

Our experience as well. GR at MK outside gate before I ever walked through the gate.

Look at it as queue and the turn style pulls from next ticket in line. You want AP in queue first then the other. I also checked MDE each night because it would be much easier to fix right after the error than after your trip. (One reason they were telling people to not link party tickets. If you went in between 4-7 it potentially pulled off a day on regular ticket because it wasn't party ticket time.)

 

[puffkin]

For just 1 day of FP+ choices, I honestly would not go through all the trouble and potential hassle of linking both tickets. I would just let the AP's expire and then link the new tickets the next morning and make my FP+ selections that day. Since its the end of your trip, I would try to do all the must do's earlier in the week just in case you can't get FP+ for those that day. But chances are you will be just fine with most things.

Knowing Disney IT, I just would be really cautious of prioritizing all this, doing all the double checking, and then the potential for a lot of time straightening out a mess for what appears to be a very small amount of gain.

Just my opinion though

 

[cabloom]

For just 1 day of FP+ choices, I honestly would not go through all the trouble and potential hassle of linking both tickets.

Normally, I'd agree with you ... but our niece and her husband are joining us for the last couple of days, and they have FP set up already. I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to match their times if we do it the day of, and we really want to maximize our time with them since it's so short. Or would we be able to "copy" their times that morning with no problem?

Where do I look in MDE to check which ticket was used for that day's admission? I looked around but nothing jumped out at me ... or is that because I only have my AP linked at the moment?