Child turning 3 during trip

[2Lunds]

From the Disney Mom’s Panel:

“If my child turns 3 during our trip, is he still free?”

Greeting Sherri, and welcome to planDisney!

I am thrilled to hear that you will be celebrating your little Mouseketeer’s birthday during your upcoming trip. You will also be able to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort too!

I am happy to tell you that your little Mouseketeer is considered to be a special guest of Mickey Mouse when they arrive. Guests of Disney do not age during their visit, so your little one will remain his guest during your entire trip. You do not need to purchase a ticket or make park pass reservations for children under 3. However, you must include them in your Disney Resorts Collection hotel reservation and also all dining reservations. Be sure to stop by Guest Relations and pick up a birthday celebration button for your Mouseketeer to wear during your celebration. They are free and Cast Members and other Guests will help him celebrate.

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/child-turns-during-trip-free-489700/

"A special guest of Mickey when they arrive" Arrive WHERE?

I found MULTIPLE replies to the same question on Plan Disney which directly contradicted each other. One said they don't age after check in, and another after park entry.

 

[starlite_]

"A special guest of Mickey when they arrive" Arrive WHERE?

I found MULTIPLE replies to the same question on Plan Disney which directly contradicted each other. One said they don't age after check in, and another after park entry.

I think it means the resort. So check in.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I think it means the resort. So check in.

Keep a screenshot of that website advice on your phone, if asked the child’s age say to the CM “she turned 3 on this vacation, and I’ve been told that the policy is you don’t age on a Disney trip!”, if challenged show the screenshot (which is after all from the official Disney website domain Disney.go.com), and I would be amazed if you were still asked to pay for a ticket, and if you were, I would expect a supervisor would override.

 

[Living42Day]

I think it's a situation of - if you have to ask, go ahead and buy the ticket.

 

[Epicnemesis]

Going to catch grief for this, but oh well.

It’s an honor system, so do what you feel is right. Technically I think a ticket would need to be purchased if you are really strictly adhering to the rules, but I think turning 3 on a trip is reason enough to not buy the ticket.

My rule is my child turns 3 when it’s time to renew all our passes for that year. The reason being that I don’t want to have a situation where passes/blackouts change for half the family.

If I were buying a ticket I think my rule would be “If 3 and over 40 inches, buy ticket” The majority of the park with the exception of 2 rides are open to the kid at that point. Below 40 inches and a lot of the park experience is not available.

 

[brightlined]

Please don't use PlanDisney advice as official Disney policy. It's an official site, but their advice is no different from anything someone might tell you here.

From PlanDisney's About Us page (emphasis mine):

About the Panelists​

Our panel is an enthusiastic, dedicated and diverse team with the knowledge and experience to help you plan your Disney vacation. Panelists are real Guests, not Cast Members or Disney Marketing Representatives. They provide personalized answers to your questions based on their true experience at Disney Destinations. It’s just like asking advice from a friend, neighbor, or family member. We selected each panelist for their undeniable passion for Disney vacations and their deep knowledge of a specific Disney vacation destination.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Please don't use PlanDisney advice as official Disney policy. It's an official site, but their advice is no different from anything someone might tell you here.

From PlanDisney's About Us page (emphasis mine):

About the Panelists​

Our panel is an enthusiastic, dedicated and diverse team with the knowledge and experience to help you plan your Disney vacation. Panelists are real Guests, not Cast Members or Disney Marketing Representatives. They provide personalized answers to your questions based on their true experience at Disney Destinations. It’s just like asking advice from a friend, neighbor, or family member. We selected each panelist for their undeniable passion for Disney vacations and their deep knowledge of a specific Disney vacation destination.

Nevertheless, they will obviously remove any advice from their website that contravenes their policies, and I would be amazed if they dinged an unsuspecting mom who has relied on advice posted there for hundreds of dollars.

 

[brightlined]

I like OP's solution.

But if this comes up again, I would be very suspicious of being able to pull off a loophole with a hotel package reservation. I wouldn't gamble on it personally, and something feels a little sketchy about it.

Like, imagine trying to get into the park and explaining to a CM that your now-3-year-old was 2 yesterday, and therefore should be let in for free because your hotel reservation started yesterday. That feels like a heavy ask without pulling in a manager, and, even then, it seems weird.

The fine print on hotel packages says: "To enter a park, both a valid ticket and park reservation for the same park on the same date, are required for Guests ages 3 and older." No exceptions there.

If Disney was giving out eTickets for the under-3s for the length of your stay that were simply free because they were 2 when you checked in, that'd be a pretty cool loophole. It'd just be part of the package. (And even the PlanDisney answers suggest this is only a thing for hotel packages, not for hotel + tickets separately.)

But, without that, it feels like it just means that if you get the package, the impending 3-year-old simply wouldn't get a ticket in it - but they'd still need it for the days they were actually 3.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I like OP's solution.

But if this comes up again, I would be very suspicious of being able to pull off a loophole with a hotel package reservation. I wouldn't gamble on it personally, and something feels a little sketchy about it.

Like, imagine trying to get into the park and explaining to a CM that your now-3-year-old was 2 yesterday, and therefore should be let in for free because your hotel reservation started yesterday. That feels like a heavy ask without pulling in a manager, and, even then, it seems weird.

The fine print on hotel packages says: "To enter a park, both a valid ticket and park reservation for the same park on the same date, are required for Guests ages 3 and older." No exceptions there.

If Disney was giving out eTickets for the under-3s for the length of your stay that were simply free because they were 2 when you checked in, that'd be a pretty cool loophole. It'd just be part of the package. (And even the PlanDisney answers suggest this is only a thing for hotel packages, not for hotel + tickets separately.)

But, without that, it feels like it just means that if you get the package, the impending 3-year-old simply wouldn't get a ticket in it - but they'd still need it for the days they were actually 3.

You don’t even need to get into a big conversation with the CM. Based upon the advice posted on Disney’s website, they interpret “age” as “age on the day of hotel check-in”. So you could just say “under 3” and leave it at that. Of course, anyone who wants to give a few hundred dollars extra to a multibillion dollar corporation even though there is a page on their website that tells you that you don’t need to, is free to do so.

 

[brightlined]

You don’t even need to get into a big conversation with the CM. Based upon the advice posted on Disney’s website, they interpret “age” as “age on the day of hotel check-in”. So you could just say “under 3” and leave it at that.

PlanDisney advice is not official DLR policy. DLR has nothing to do with PlanDisney.

Further - from PlanDisney's fine print in the footer:

Panelists have received/will receive a Walt Disney World® Resort, Disneyland® Resort or Disney Cruise Line® vacation for panelist and up to three family members and/or park tickets for their planDisney participation. The views expressed on plandisneypanel.com are those of the panelists, who are independent contractors. These views are not intended to reflect the opinions of Disney Destinations, its affiliates, its management, its agents or its employees and have not been reviewed or approved by Disney Destinations prior to posting.

 

[starlite_]

PlanDisney advice is not official DLR policy. DLR has nothing to do with PlanDisney.

Further - from PlanDisney's fine print in the footer:

Panelists have received/will receive a Walt Disney World® Resort, Disneyland® Resort or Disney Cruise Line® vacation for panelist and up to three family members and/or park tickets for their planDisney participation. The views expressed on plandisneypanel.com are those of the panelists, who are independent contractors. These views are not intended to reflect the opinions of Disney Destinations, its affiliates, its management, its agents or its employees and have not been reviewed or approved by Disney Destinations prior to posting.

This is weird to me. Why have those answers in an official company url if the answers are not legitimate.

 

[GoingSince1990]

PlanDisney advice is not official DLR policy. DLR has nothing to do with PlanDisney.

Further - from PlanDisney's fine print in the footer:

I suspect that when they say “views expressed” there, they are referring to statements of opinion, for example how scary is one ride compared to another, which parade is the most fun, and so on, as opposed to statements about Disney policies, which I am sure they would check every posting for prior to putting it up live on their website. For example, they are not going to put up a post where a panelist gives advice on where in the park to secretly smoke a cigarette, or which are the most fun CM-only areas to sneak into.

 

[Living42Day]

I suspect that when they say “views expressed” there, they are referring to statements of opinion, for example how scary is one ride compared to another, which parade is the most fun, and so on, as opposed to statements about Disney policies, which I am sure they would check every posting for prior to putting it up live on their website. For example, they are not going to put up a post where a panelist gives advice on where in the park to secretly smoke a cigarette, or which are the most fun CM-only areas to sneak into.

I lean towards this answer. The panelists get "paid" via a vacation for a couple hours a week of their time answering questions. I would think some of that would need to be screened prior to release to the public and it would be in their interest to make accurate statements or risk their payment being in jeopardy.

 

[brightlined]

I suspect that when they say “views expressed” there, they are referring to statements of opinion, for example how scary is one ride compared to another, which parade is the most fun, and so on, as opposed to statements about Disney policies, which I am sure they would check every posting for prior to putting it up live on their website. For example, they are not going to put up a post where a panelist gives advice on where in the park to secretly smoke a cigarette, or which are the most fun CM-only areas to sneak into.

The problem is the contradictions in answers. Usually, if the person verified the answer, they'll say so.

And, actually, the most recent answer about this topic says:

The official policy at Disneyland Resort is that Guests should book their vacation packages, purchase tickets, book hotel accommodation, purchase insurance, etc., using the age the child will be turning while traveling.

That feels more emphatic than the other answer.

Side note: I didn't notice before - the answer you posted was for WDW.

 

[brightlined]

Just to piggy-back that - it looks like even WDW may have changed this policy. The answer that was posted earlier in the thread (about WDW) was from February of 2022.

This one's from June of this year. And, again, in this case, the answer notes that they verified it:

My fellow planDisney panelists and I recently inquired with the Walt Disney World Resort about this same question. While Cast Members at Disney Parks are unlikely to inquire about age, any Guest ages three or older must have a ticket for the theme park. Age upon arrival for the vacation only applies for as long as the child remains that age. So, a child two years old would not need a theme park ticket. If a child turns three during the vacation, they should have a ticket to enter the park.

So, by all accounts, the official answer for this entire thread (for both WDW and DLR) is that a child needs a ticket to enter a park the day they turn three - the hotel reservation/package doesn't matter.

 

[BobaFettFan]

Just to piggy-back that - it looks like even WDW may have changed this policy. The answer that was posted earlier in the thread (about WDW) was from February of 2022.

This one's from June of this year. And, again, in this case, the answer notes that they verified it:


So, by all accounts, the official answer for this entire thread (for both WDW and DLR) is that a child needs a ticket to enter a park the day they turn three - the hotel reservation/package doesn't matter.

Thank you for your research.

Maybe OP could copy paste it into their first post so future disboarders can see it immediately.

 

[2Lunds]

I like OP's solution.

But if this comes up again, I would be very suspicious of being able to pull off a loophole with a hotel package reservation. I wouldn't gamble on it personally, and something feels a little sketchy about it.

Like, imagine trying to get into the park and explaining to a CM that your now-3-year-old was 2 yesterday, and therefore should be let in for free because your hotel reservation started yesterday. That feels like a heavy ask without pulling in a manager, and, even then, it seems weird.

The fine print on hotel packages says: "To enter a park, both a valid ticket and park reservation for the same park on the same date, are required for Guests ages 3 and older." No exceptions there.

If Disney was giving out eTickets for the under-3s for the length of your stay that were simply free because they were 2 when you checked in, that'd be a pretty cool loophole. It'd just be part of the package. (And even the PlanDisney answers suggest this is only a thing for hotel packages, not for hotel + tickets separately.)

But, without that, it feels like it just means that if you get the package, the impending 3-year-old simply wouldn't get a ticket in it - but they'd still need it for the days they were actually 3.

OK *this* is the most helpful answer so far - thank you for that.

Also, as far as the honour system goes, this child is so tall, I'm not sure she could pass for under three THIS year, and this trip is happening next year

Also, she's going to the BBB, and she must be three for that, so saying she's 2 definitely won't fly.

 

[Living42Day]

OK *this* is the most helpful answer so far - thank you for that.

Also, as far as the honour system goes, this child is so tall, I'm not sure she could pass for under three THIS year, and this trip is happening next year

Also, she's going to the BBB, and she must be three for that, so saying she's 2 definitely won't fly.

If there is any sort of question or hesitancy, I would just purchase the ticket. It's not worth the extra stress of having to explain yourself at the turnstiles, at BBB, at the restaurants, etc.

 

[2Lunds]

If there is any sort of question or hesitancy, I would just purchase the ticket. It's not worth the extra stress of having to explain yourself at the turnstiles, at BBB, at the restaurants, etc.

There is no question or hesitancy. We were looking for Disney's actual policy, and @brightlined provided that. The bit about her being to tall was a joke in response to the suggestions that we fudge it at the gates.

 

[Living42Day]

EDIT: Deleting my response so that brightlined's can be the singular answer to the question. See posts up above!