AP Upgrade Debacle

[csjordan]

We just returned from a wonderful long weekend at the World to celebrate my DS's 16th birtday. Great visit to all 4 parks, including some pixie dust when we were upgraded to a Royal Room Pool/River view from a standard, garden view room! HOWEVER...

I'll try not to make this too long, but there's a back story...

Made a room only reservation in mid-Summer 2013 for 1/2/14-1/5/14 at All Star Sports. Decided late October to add 7 day base tickets for 4 adults, knowing I was planning to upgrade to annual passes upon arrival. My DH couldn't make the trip, so the kids and I went ahead. First day at parks was at Hollywood Studios. Upon entering park, upgraded our 7 day base tickets, price bridging, at $317 per person. Bought my TIW card and off we went within 20 minutes...easy peasy!!

Fast forward to this past weekend...planned to upgrade my DH's ticket to AP for August 2014 trip. Stopped at AK Guest Services to upgrade as we were heading out to the airport Sunday afternoon. She scanned DH's magicband at said "that will be $400 and some change"...

She proceeded to tell me I had paid $250 INCLUDING TAXES for the ticket originally... I told her if she knew where to get 7 day tickets for that price to let me know!! She said that tickets were always severly discounted in packages...

Pulled up my confirmation from January and showed it to her. Had gotten 3 nights at AsSports for $114 per night. Add in 4 7-day base tickets at a little over $300 a piece and that totaled my $1664 that the confirmation showed. She said NO, that is NOT what you paid and that is what we are going to charge you to upgrade...

Needless to say, I was not going to pay $400 to upgrade when I knew good and well what the tickets cost. I had no choice but to leave without the AP!

I called ticket services at Disney yesterday and they were very apologetic, but said they cannot upgrade over the phone, only in the parks. I told her that was a problem, as we were no longer in the parks. SO, what she did is made a notation in my account what had transpired, and that, upon arrival, in August, we are to receive our upgrade, price-bridged, with the 14 day window requirement waived. Received a confirmation number for said notation.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:

Good: we can still upgrade
Bad: we have to wait until we get there
Ugly: DH cannot FP+ until we get his AP

Not to mention, there will be 12 of us on this trip...my entire family. So scared something is going to go wrong here...

What would you do?

Sorry for the long post...just very frustrating!!!

 

[cvjw]

Had to go to several different guest services locations last week to try and upgrade our 7 day base tickets to DVC AP's. First 2 CM's said that Disney's policy had changed and I would have to pay the full price to upgrade (NO price-bridging). Finally found a nice CM who would do the upgrade with the price bridge. Saved us over $300 for the upgrade.

Bottom line - Disney guest services CM's are not all trained the same. You need to move along until you find an agreeable one who will help you with a price bridge.

Knowing Disney like I do, I would be very nervous about a notation to upgrade after the 14 day window. It has been my experience that everything that can go wrong for us when dealing with Disney usually does

 

[snorkelyn]

We just returned from a wonderful long weekend at the World to celebrate my DS's 16th birtday. Great visit to all 4 parks, including some pixie dust when we were upgraded to a Royal Room Pool/River view from a standard, garden view room! HOWEVER...

I'll try not to make this too long, but there's a back story...

Made a room only reservation in mid-Summer 2013 for 1/2/14-1/5/14 at All Star Sports. Decided late October to add 7 day base tickets for 4 adults, knowing I was planning to upgrade to annual passes upon arrival. My DH couldn't make the trip, so the kids and I went ahead. First day at parks was at Hollywood Studios. Upon entering park, upgraded our 7 day base tickets, price bridging, at $317 per person. Bought my TIW card and off we went within 20 minutes...easy peasy!!

Fast forward to this past weekend...planned to upgrade my DH's ticket to AP for August 2014 trip. Stopped at AK Guest Services to upgrade as we were heading out to the airport Sunday afternoon. She scanned DH's magicband at said "that will be $400 and some change"...

She proceeded to tell me I had paid $250 INCLUDING TAXES for the ticket originally... I told her if she knew where to get 7 day tickets for that price to let me know!! She said that tickets were always severly discounted in packages...

Pulled up my confirmation from January and showed it to her. Had gotten 3 nights at AsSports for $114 per night. Add in 4 7-day base tickets at a little over $300 a piece and that totaled my $1664 that the confirmation showed. She said NO, that is NOT what you paid and that is what we are going to charge you to upgrade...

Needless to say, I was not going to pay $400 to upgrade when I knew good and well what the tickets cost. I had no choice but to leave without the AP!

I called ticket services at Disney yesterday and they were very apologetic, but said they cannot upgrade over the phone, only in the parks. I told her that was a problem, as we were no longer in the parks. SO, what she did is made a notation in my account what had transpired, and that, upon arrival, in August, we are to receive our upgrade, price-bridged, with the 14 day window requirement waived. Received a confirmation number for said notation.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:

Good: we can still upgrade
Bad: we have to wait until we get there
Ugly: DH cannot FP+ until we get his AP

Not to mention, there will be 12 of us on this trip...my entire family. So scared something is going to go wrong here...

What would you do?

Sorry for the long post...just very frustrating!!!

What would I do? EASY! You and the kids have an annual pass now! I'd drive right down there for a long weekend and get it straightened out. Right away!!

I am finding that annual passes are MUCH more expensive than they first appear. We bought ours in September (upgraded package tickets) and planned 4 more trips within the year! *ouch* Unfortunately, we live too far to drive. *double ouch*

 

[seashoreCM]

Alternate moral of the story -- Don't wait until the last minute (or last day) to upgrade.

 

[csjordan]

Had to go to several different guest services locations last week to try and upgrade our 7 day base tickets to DVC AP's. First 2 CM's said that Disney's policy had changed and I would have to pay the full price to upgrade (NO price-bridging). Finally found a nice CM who would do the upgrade with the price bridge. Saved us over $300 for the upgrade.

Bottom line - Disney guest services CM's are not all trained the same. You need to move along until you find an agreeable one who will help you with a price bridge.

Knowing Disney like I do, I would be very nervous about a notation to upgrade after the 14 day window. It has been my experience that everything that can go wrong for us when dealing with Disney usually does

I stupidly waited until the last day, and had no option but to leave, as we had to catch our flight. I'm thinking that as my 60-day window gets closer, I will call ticket services again to ensure they still have the confirmation and that it is good to go. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to suck it up and pay for another 7 day ticket for DH! I'm most concerned about the FP+ ressies. I figure IF the upgrade does work out, I can copy him into our ressies after he has his AP (HOPEFULLY)!

 

[csjordan]

What would I do? EASY! You and the kids have an annual pass now! I'd drive right down there for a long weekend and get it straightened out. Right away!!
I am finding that annual passes are MUCH more expensive than they first appear. We bought ours in September (upgraded package tickets) and planned 4 more trips within the year! *ouch* Unfortunately, we live too far to drive. *double ouch*

I like way you think! LOL!!

 

[snorkelyn]

I stupidly waited until the last day, and had no option but to leave, as we had to catch our flight. I'm thinking that as my 60-day window gets closer, I will call ticket services again to ensure they still have the confirmation and that it is good to go. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to suck it up and pay for another 7 day ticket for DH! I'm most concerned about the FP+ ressies. I figure IF the upgrade does work out, I can copy him into our ressies after he has his AP (HOPEFULLY)!

By the time you pay for another 7 day ticket, you and the kids can drive down for a weekend, stay at a value, and upgrade the ticket you have!

 

[csjordan]

Alternate moral of the story -- Don't wait until the last minute (or last day) to upgrade.

Absolutely!

 

[livndisney]

I stupidly waited until the last day, and had no option but to leave, as we had to catch our flight. I'm thinking that as my 60-day window gets closer, I will call ticket services again to ensure they still have the confirmation and that it is good to go. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to suck it up and pay for another 7 day ticket for DH! I'm most concerned about the FP+ ressies. I figure IF the upgrade does work out, I can copy him into our ressies after he has his AP (HOPEFULLY)!

In my experience-you can only copy if FP still available. If the attraction is "stand by" you can't copy.

 

[csjordan]

By the time you pay for another 7 day ticket, you and the kids can drive down for a weekend, stay at a value, and upgrade the ticket you have!

I know! It's crazy! I'm so mad at myself for not doing it earlier in the trip! Grrrrr.....

 

[csjordan]

In my experience-you can only copy if FP still available. If the attraction is "stand by" you can't copy.

This is what I'm most concerned about! If it was just the four of us, that would be one thing, but with twelve of us, I need to have EVERYTHING running smoothly before and during the trip!

 

[Robo]

I called ticket services at Disney yesterday and they were very apologetic, but said they cannot upgrade over the phone, only in the parks. I told her that was a problem, as we were no longer in the parks. SO, what she did is made a notation in my account what had transpired, and that, upon arrival, in August, we are to receive our upgrade, price-bridged, with the 14 day window requirement waived. Received a confirmation number for said notation.

Just a note on the above.

That is a very common situation, to create a file to resolve a ticket problem on the next visit.

So, you likely should not have any problems with THAT part of it, at least.

 

[Robo]

By the time you pay for another 7 day ticket, you and the kids can drive down for a weekend, stay at a value, and upgrade the ticket you have!

Except that the OP, csjordan, can just hold that 7-day ticket, new and unused, after she arrives and converts the tickets from her PREVIOUS trip (the one described in this thread) to AP.

Just use the new 7-day ticket to make the FP+ reservations, then (after the convert ion of the previous ticket to AP) had the new 7-day ticket set at a low priority on csjordan's MDE file and set the new AP to the top priority.

The AP ticket will be USED for admission at the park gates, and the FP+ reservations (made with the new 7-day tickets) will still be valid, even though
the new 7-day tickets remain in the MDE file, unused.

On a FUTURE trip, that 7-day ticket can be used and/or upgraded, or even
used as partial payment on a renewal of the AP.

No money "lost" buying that new 7-day ticket… just an "investment" made in a ticket to be held for future use in some needed way.

 

[snorkelyn]

Except that the OP, csjordan, can just hold that 7-day ticket, new and unused, after she arrives and converts the tickets from her PREVIOUS trip (the one described in this thread) to AP.

Just use the new 7-day ticket to make the FP+ reservations, then (after the convert ion of the previous ticket to AP) had the new 7-day ticket set at a low priority on csjordan's MDE file and set the new AP to the top priority.

The AP ticket will be USED for admission at the park gates, and the FP+ reservations (made with the new 7-day tickets) will still be valid, even though
the new 7-day tickets remain in the MDE file, unused.

On a FUTURE trip, that 7-day ticket can be used and/or upgraded, or even
used as partial payment on a renewal of the AP.

No money "lost" buying that new 7-day ticket… just an "investment" made in a ticket to be held for future use in some needed way.

Robo- Great advice. That all makes perfect sense. I was just looking for an excuse to go to WDW in person (and stay a couple days!) to straighten it out in advance

Although, I like the way your thinking too....if she buys another 7 day ticket-it solves her FP+ issue for the August trip, AND she will have to plan another trip down the road.

Either way is a win-win: ANOTHER TRIP TO WDW!!!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Alternate moral of the story -- Don't wait until the last minute (or last day) to upgrade.

Or...if you know you are going to get AP's anyway, just get them up front instead of having to worry about upgrade issues. I guess I don't see why people wait until they get there to do it.

 

[jimandami]

Or...if you know you are going to get AP's anyway, just get them up front instead of having to worry about upgrade issues. I guess I don't see why people wait until they get there to do it.

A lot of the time it's because it's cheaper. We saved almost $80 on my DH's AP using price bridging. Yes, it was kind of a pain because I had to visit 3 guest service locations (all at Epcot though so not terrible) for a CM to get it right, but $80 is $80! I will take it!

 

[freediverdude]

Except that the OP, csjordan, can just hold that 7-day ticket, new and unused, after she arrives and converts the tickets from her PREVIOUS trip (the one described in this thread) to AP.

Just use the new 7-day ticket to make the FP+ reservations, then (after the convert ion of the previous ticket to AP) had the new 7-day ticket set at a low priority on csjordan's MDE file and set the new AP to the top priority.

The AP ticket will be USED for admission at the park gates, and the FP+ reservations (made with the new 7-day tickets) will still be valid, even though
the new 7-day tickets remain in the MDE file, unused.

On a FUTURE trip, that 7-day ticket can be used and/or upgraded, or even
used as partial payment on a renewal of the AP.

No money "lost" buying that new 7-day ticket… just an "investment" made in a ticket to be held for future use in some needed way.

Robo, that would only work if they haven't turned on "in-park validation" in the system. Which I thought they were testing already. So I'm not sure if I would advise that, but who knows, could be worth a shot if there are fastpasses that are hard to get.

 

[Robo]

Or...if you know you are going to get AP's anyway, just get them up front instead of having to worry about upgrade issues. I guess I don't see why people wait until they get there to do it.

A lot of the time it's because it's cheaper. We saved almost $80 on my DH's AP using price bridging. Yes, it was kind of a pain because I had to visit 3 guest service locations (all at Epcot though so not terrible) for a CM to get it right, but $80 is $80! I will take it!

Yes, saving money by upgrading from discounted tickets is a very good way to save some money (sometimes quite a BIT of money) when
buying AP's.

There is really no good excuse (on Disney's part) for a guest to have to go to multiple ticket locations to get an accurate upgrade performed, but yes, that can happen if you are unlucky enough to find an ill-trained ticket CM at your first (or subsequent) ticket upgrade location.

I have never personally had to go to more than one ticket location to get a an accurate upgrade, and many DIS members have had good initial experiences as well, so it's not a guarantee that you WILL have problems.

Just know that if you DO have a CM who doesn't know procedure and won't
offer the correct upgrade price, even after being questioned, you CAN ask nicely for your tickets to be retuned to you, and then take your tickets to another ticket venue and get the right price there.

 

[csjordan]

Except that the OP, csjordan, can just hold that 7-day ticket, new and unused, after she arrives and converts the tickets from her PREVIOUS trip (the one described in this thread) to AP.

Just use the new 7-day ticket to make the FP+ reservations, then (after the convert ion of the previous ticket to AP) had the new 7-day ticket set at a low priority on csjordan's MDE file and set the new AP to the top priority.

The AP ticket will be USED for admission at the park gates, and the FP+ reservations (made with the new 7-day tickets) will still be valid, even though
the new 7-day tickets remain in the MDE file, unused.

On a FUTURE trip, that 7-day ticket can be used and/or upgraded, or even
used as partial payment on a renewal of the AP.

No money "lost" buying that new 7-day ticket… just an "investment" made in a ticket to be held for future use in some needed way.

This is brilliant! I suppose I could use the 7 day ticket to "renew" (upgrade)one of our AP's in early January? I knew the Disboards would point me in the right direction!

Thanks Robo and everyone for all of the advice! I've been totally stressed out over this! Feeling much better now!