Can someone help me with math--Free dining and tickets....

[trampslady]

I fully admit that math skills just aren't what they were in the third grade, and I need some help figuring out how to best maximize tickets if we decide to do the free dining offer. Details: We will be traveling to WDW for nine nights in October with our DVC points and I already have annual pass vouchers to activate. I want to activate them then because we have another October 2008 trip planned and want to maximize the use.

Then along comes free dining. I'm holding four nights at a value resort, and I know I have to buy a one day base ticket. I have two one-day base tickets at home right now because of last years free dining (we had annual passes active then, so no need for the tickets). We will spend three days at the parks, and we prefer hoppers. I can purchase annual passes at a $100 discount with our DVC benefits. So, to get the three days we need---would either have to purchase a two day hopper for $188, a 10-day hopper with no expiration (could use the other eight days in a similar fashion when annual passes aren't active) for $435 or just purchase yet another one-day base ticket and activate our current annual passes. I suppose we could purchase new annual pass vouchers when we are there in October and just put them away to avoid the increase in pricing that always happens each year.

Any advise? I know this is wordy and confusing, but I don't know how else to describe our needs.........MANY THANKS for any and all suggestions......

 

[HM]

I'd just use the one day base tickets you have....AND buy whatever else you need to cover that one trip to WDW during free dining. Leave the APs out of it.

 

[disneymom06]

What would it cost to make the one day ticket with the FD package a 2 day or 3 day park hopper? (Depends if you want to use the old one day ticket and then the new tickets together) I find that when you purchase the tickets beforehand the discount is worth it. (We added the park hopper to our package and for 4 tickets it was only about $167 with tax. We I did an upgrade like that at the resort it was 180 without tax.) Play with the numbers online or call and ask.

Also, I had a similar situation and my DH used our old one day tickets from last years FD package. The room key tickets did not work in the turnstile, the CM took the old room key ticket over to a counter and came back with a new paper ticket after the old information was looked up. I then went to guest services and they issued a new one day paper ticket for my remaining room keys as I did not want this to happen again.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Well.. here's a crazy idea..

You could use the 1 day passes... for a few days.. and then activate your AP's partway thru this trip...

So .. let's say you arrive on Oct 21 ... for the first two (or is it three?) days use those 1 day base tickets.. (no hopping on those days) and then activate your AP's on Oct 24th ... for the rest of your trip.. it basically 'stretches' the time before you activate the APs.

Then the AP's would expire on Oct 24th of 2008 instead of October 21st.

I dunno if this makes any sense.

Knox

 

[gigi1313]

here's what i would do...

i'd save all the one day passes... and then one day when you have no APs active, and you need a disney fix, and a good southwest ding comes along, i'd book a quickie weekend trip, room only in value season, and use up all those extra passes and it would almost be like a "free" trip!

but that's just me... i think of "leftover tickets" and "southwest ticketless travel credit" as insurance policies towards future trips! [but don't tell dh that there is a method to my madness!]