Can old Hopper Passes be transfered?

[fausz4]

My DH and I went on our first trip in July 1996 at that time I was in for a convention. We purchased 5 day hoppers (ultimate). We did not use all the days and knew they did not expire. We think he has 1 day left and I have 2 days left.

Here's the dilemma - We are going in Sept 05 with DS3 and DS8, DM and DD. We want to buy atleast 4 day passes for our family and give my parents the other days and let them add days if they want....CAN THIS BE DONE?

I have called Disney and they won't tell me exactly how many days we have left or they can't say if it would be a problem transferring them. They stopped giving that information over the phone - due to fraud.

We know purchasing tickets in advance is cheaper - so we want to know our options early.

If you have run into this situation and have any suggestions - it would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[seashoreCM]

They can but they may not.

Oops, correction. Did you really say they were "ultimate"? If so, they expired at the end of the day you checked out of the resort. Ordinary park hopper passes and park hopper plus passes do not expire.

due to fraud.

That is, transferring.

Depending on the questions, if any, they ask when your folks try to trade up the old passes for new passes, they may or may not catch your transferring of the old passes. Using the passes as-is is less likely to draw attention to transferring except the overall cost of a 4 to 10 day vacation is somewhat more compared with trading up.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/dispass.htm

 

[fausz4]

OOPS!

I know the passes didnt expire - so I guess they were regular or plus hoppers. They allowed us to go to the water parks too.

The CM told us that all we could do is try to add to the passes when we get down there.

If we didn't upgrade them and my parents tried to use them as is - does anyone for see any problems....like they notice there are two 'Mike Fausz's in the park????? Hoping that doesnt sound dumb!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I think probably your best bet is to not try transferring, the tickets really aren't transferable and that's why they won't give info over the phone, to stop people from doing so (either giving to others, selling, etc.).

You're all going to be there- why not YOU use the tickets you have days left over and add to them for the days you need instead of your other relatives doing so?

 

[fausz4]

We were orginally going to purchase a package - so that is where the initial thought of giving them to my parents came from, but we went ahead and rented points at OKW instead - so I guess I still had this on my mind....

There really shouldnt be much $ difference to add on right??

Also, we have friends who recently moved to Florida....do you know if they can purchase tickets as Florida residents for us? I have read they receive a discount.

Thanks!

 

[Schmeck]

There are names printed on the tickets? Were they put on your room key card? Are you sure they have not expired?

I know in the past that park hopper tickets could be combined on a room key card, but most often in was the length of stay type ticket that went on a room key. Regular park hopper plus tickets didn't have your name on them.

Edited to add - no, Florida residents have to show ID to purchase/use tickets, so they can't purchase them for you.

 

[seashoreCM]

A detail, you cannot add days to an old pass and also keep the plusses (water park visits). "Adding days" is accomplished by trading up and the plusses are lost in the translation.

For some vacation schedules it is a no-win situation, a 5 to 10 day vacation is best served by a new pass to cover it all bought up front, but if you want to use up the plusses on the old pass, you can't trade it up up front. If you don't mind their taking up space in the dresser drawer you could save them for further off in the future. Actually through the mid 1990's plusses were unlimited and expired after 7 days, I'm not sure about 1996.

For old passes of 1996 vintage, trading up vs. using as-is is a tossup for a 4 or 13 day vacation.

 

[MrShiny]

Usually, your best bet with old passes is to use them as is, since on trade you only get the prorated value left. For instance, if they cost you $200 each for 5 days (just simplifying here), and you used 3 days, they would give you $80 credit towards a new pass. Those $80 might not buy you 2 park days (plus water parks, etc.) that you have left, so you are better off using them and buying new tickets for extra days.

Guest services at the parks or Downtown Disney or any of the resorts can tell you how many days you've used on the passes, but sometimes if the pass is not printed with it, they can't tell how many days are remaining.

You had Park Hopper Plus passes from your description. I believe a 5 day had 1 plus, 5 day had 2, 6 had 3 and 7 had 4. As pointed out, if you really had Ultimate Hoppers, then they expired at midnight the day you checked out.

Tickets were never transferrable between people, but previously except for annual passes and Florida passes, there was no way to tell. Now I believe all media will be going to biometric identification.

In any case, you need to be a Florida resident to get or use Florida tickets.

 

[GoldenOldie]

There are a lot of "ifs" in your situation and the only correct answer is to have them scanned at Guest Relations.

Having said that, it appears to me that you do NOT have the PHP's everyone else is talking about. You say you went in July of 1996. If you had a 5 day ticket that included water parks, you had to have had the 5 day World Hopper Passport. The PHP did not start being sold until 1999.

That was the ticket that gave you unlimited access to the water parks and PI for 7 consecutive days after first use. That means that your ability to go to these places is now long since expired. Any unused major park days remain valid.

As far as turning it in for credit goes, the last sale price I can find on them comes from Feb '96 where they were sold for $207.76. A close approximation of their trade in value would be 1/5 of the one ticket and 2/5 of the other. So you'd have roughly $41 on one and $82 on the other, slightly less if you used the Magic Kingdom Club card for a discount.

This transaction must be done at any Guest Relations location at the parks or DTD. Any new tickets these are applied to will be charged at the current gate price.

Hope that helps.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Regular park hopper plus tickets didn't have your name on them.

Ours did. We bought regular park hopper plus tickets for our trip Dec 2002 (first trip) and it had our last name on all the tickets on the back.

 

[seashoreCM]

Usually, your best bet with old passes is to use them as is, since on trade you only get the prorated value left. For instance, if they cost you $200 each for 5 days (just simplifying here), and you used 3 days, they would give you $80 credit towards a new pass. Those $80 might not buy you 2 park days (plus water parks, etc.) that you have left, so you are better off using them and buying new tickets for extra days.

Caution, buying new tickets just for extra days can be wasteful.

If you needed six days, a 6 day pass costs $209. If you buy a 4 day pass intending to use your remaining 2 day pass now, you pay $197, You save twelve dollars with your pass worth $80 in trade up value used as-is. Then, too, if you bought the 6 day pass now and held on to the old pass, using it as-is at a later time when you visit for exactly two days, you get a $127.+$37.hopping=$154. value out of it because the old pass has hopping included.

Trading up will beat the above situation provided you want hopping and non-expiration. You must put all of the attributes of the old pass on the new pass (6 day pass is now $294.). Hopefully this requirement will be dropped in the future.

 

[Schmeck]

Ours did. We bought regular park hopper plus tickets for our trip Dec 2002 (first trip) and it had our last name on all the tickets on the back.

Did you buy them at WDW or online? When you buy them (when they were for sale) at a Disney Store they are blank. We used two plusses left over from a previous trip on our last one, and we didn't have names of any sort on our cards.

 

[fausz4]

Whew! Didn't realize this would be so tough...of course the older we get the more 'fuzzy' we are on what exactly was purchased...My DH and I both remember that the tickets did not expire....we knew we wouldn't be using all the days, so I am pretty sure they still are valid.

We bought the tickets at the resort - I was there on a conference and earned a 2 day hopper and we upgraded from there.

At the time - we did not spend the whole trip at disney - only 4 days/3 nights - and we used the tickets after moving off site (which the hotel was nightmare!)

Let me explain what is on the front of the card

Picture of MM and 'WDW Resorts'
phone number

There is an arrow before the information below (to show you which way to insert the card)
Dates we were there ADULT
My full name
code starts with 079006.....
ID #9911...

The back has a magnetic strip and details
and a signature area.

I sincerely appreciate all your responses....I have learned so much since finding you! You all are terrific!

 

[Schmeck]

fausz4, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Now I understand why your name is on the ticket - they printed that on there when you bought them at the resort. That makes sense of everything else now!

 

[N&B'smom]

We have cards too just like that and they don't expire for years. We were given them since we missed a whole day due to Hurricane Jeanne. I'm assuming since we were just given these in Sept they will be able to be used. I'll have to double check though!

Shelby

 

[MrShiny]

You might have the old hoppers, that allowed water park and Pleasure Island (and back then Discovery Island!) access for unlimted visits, expiring 7 days I think after first use.

So you probably have park days left, but nothing else. But in any case, Guest Service will be able to tell you what you have and what they are worth. Note too, it is possible that they will not be honored at Animal Kingdom (just as passes bought now are not valid at any future theme parks at WDW).