Disney YES Program Open to non-groups

[torinsmom]

Yeah! Great to hear!

So should I list our arrival date as the day we arrive in Orlando or the day we check into a Disney hotel? Or does it really matter? We were thinking of the premium tickets and I would like to have tickets available to use during the dates we are offsite for the convention - maybe to take the kids to a water park which my husband does not enjoy.

I'd put whatever day you get to Orlando and the day you leave for good. My tickets were good for almost a month, since we were in Orlando for 10 days. They are good for 7 days before your listed arrival date to 7 days after your listed departure date. Actually, I forgot that they screwed my dates up and had them as good from the date I REGISTERED to 7 days after our departure, so my tickets had valid 2/22/11 through 8/27/11 on them, LOL. I called, but they said they were fine. I should have changed them to 8 days and gone twice

 

[Bowen9475]

A few more questions - Is an 8 day ticket the longest you can get? I thought I had read about 10 day tickets.

I have 3 kids who will be 9, 13 and 15 at the time of the trip. In looking at the list of classes offered during the summer for this year, there appears to be a few classes that all 3 could take together. Do all ages stay together or do they get broken into smaller groups? Can I be the parent who accompanies my youngest and also be the one to sign in the older two?

Thanks for all the information

 

[jcemom]

Thanks for posting this! I was trying to find this years dates so we can plan in 2012. We have a 30% off pin that we have to book with by Jan 19th for June and we always go after we get the teacher workdays past us since one of us is a public teacher and hopefully this year coming up has some dates like this so we can gamble and book! We really enjoyed the YES program this year and hope to do it again in 2012. Thanks again because this really helps for planning!

If you need to make your resort reservation without knowing the exact dates, just make it a little longer on each end than you really want. You can call and cancel the unneeded days later on and still keep your discount. So, if you want to go for a week around mid June...make a 12 or 14 day reservation, and cancel the few days on each end that you don't need later, when you know the exact dates.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Thank you for that great advice, jcemom. Never would have thought of that!

 

[jcemom]

Thank you for that great advice, jcemom. Never would have thought of that!

You're welcome! Happy I could help!

 

[ctjsowens]

If you need to make your resort reservation without knowing the exact dates, just make it a little longer on each end than you really want. You can call and cancel the unneeded days later on and still keep your discount. So, if you want to go for a week around mid June...make a 12 or 14 day reservation, and cancel the few days on each end that you don't need later, when you know the exact dates.

Actually never thought of this and its a great idea! The YES dates should be available in the next month or two at the most so we could knock out the room reservation now and wait for YES and airfare when their dates are posted. Thanks!!!

 

[torinsmom]

A few more questions - Is an 8 day ticket the longest you can get? I thought I had read about 10 day tickets.

I have 3 kids who will be 9, 13 and 15 at the time of the trip. In looking at the list of classes offered during the summer for this year, there appears to be a few classes that all 3 could take together. Do all ages stay together or do they get broken into smaller groups? Can I be the parent who accompanies my youngest and also be the one to sign in the older two?

Thanks for all the information

For the YES program, 8 days is the most you can do. You could do the premium ticket, which includes water parks and DQ though. They have 10 day regular tickets, but just not for YES.

My son and his cousins were in a group that was 9-15 last summer and they all stayed together. The same person signed them all in. My BIL went with them and planned to stay with the younger one if they split up. 13+ don't require a parent. My son and his friend are both 17 and I am going on my merry way to collect fastpasses and ride rides while they are in their class

 

[Bowen9475]

For the YES program, 8 days is the most you can do. You could do the premium ticket, which includes water parks and DQ though. They have 10 day regular tickets, but just not for YES.

My son and his cousins were in a group that was 9-15 last summer and they all stayed together. The same person signed them all in. My BIL went with them and planned to stay with the younger one if they split up. 13+ don't require a parent. My son and his friend are both 17 and I am going on my merry way to collect fastpasses and ride rides while they are in their class

Thank you so much for all of your information Now just to see a list of classes for next summer.

 

[Aunt Stepody]

Thank you so much for all of your information Now just to see a list of classes for next summer.

Ditto!

 

[EMHDad]

One of the choices we are trying to make is the number of days.

Do we get a 7 day park hopper
Or do we get a 4 day premium

The cost difference is negligable. We would use the wp/dq passes on nonpark days.

However, we are leaning towards a 'no' on the waterpark & more. My boys are 5yo &2yo and our thinking is that we would use the waterpark and dq as something to look forward too. When they are like 10yo & 7yo, there will still be a lot new to the boys.

 

[ksantilli]

My apologies if this has been addressed already, but if you do purchase tickets and attend the YES program, does that mean that you are ineligible for discounts that apply to packages? For instance, if free dining came out, and I had purchased our tickets to the parks with YES, then I couldn't do free dining?

And if that's the case, is the best discount for me to be looking for a room discount?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Colleen27]

My apologies if this has been addressed already, but if you do purchase tickets and attend the YES program, does that mean that you are ineligible for discounts that apply to packages? For instance, if free dining came out, and I had purchased our tickets to the parks with YES, then I couldn't do free dining?

And if that's the case, is the best discount for me to be looking for a room discount?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, you're ineligible for package discounts unless you buy tickets with your package in addition to the YES tickets, so a room only discount is the simplest option.

However, depending on your family size and travel habits it might in some circumstances be worth getting the tickets to have the free dining discount and putting them aside for a future trip, since unused tickets never expire. We're doing that for our January trip - we booked the minimum 2 day base ticket for free dining, but we'll be using our YES tickets. The package tickets will be used for a future trip, either when free dining isn't offered or when we finally get around to trying Bonnet Creek for the extra space instead of packing into a Disney resort room. But that's only a good strategy if 1) you're sure you'll be going back, 2) you have a safe place to keep the tickets where they won't be lost or forgotten, and 3) you don't intend to plan future trips around free dining or other offers that require buying a package.

 

[chellewashere]

We're doing that for our January trip - we booked the minimum 2 day base ticket for free dining, but we'll be using our YES tickets. The package tickets will be used for a future trip, either when free dining isn't offered or when we finally get around to trying Bonnet Creek for the extra space instead of packing into a Disney resort room. But that's only a good strategy if 1) you're sure you'll be going back, 2) you have a safe place to keep the tickets where they won't be lost or forgotten, and 3) you don't intend to plan future trips around free dining or other offers that require buying a package.

If you only get 2 day tickets in the package is Free dining available on your whole trip? Say you are staying for 12 days will the dining be applied to all 12 days or only the 2?

 

[Colleen27]

If you only get 2 day tickets in the package is Free dining available on your whole trip? Say you are staying for 12 days will the dining be applied to all 12 days or only the 2?

The dining corresponds to your length of stay, not the tickets you buy. 2 days is just the minimum ticket purchase for a free dining package; you still get the dining for the whole trip.

 

[chellewashere]

The dining corresponds to your length of stay, not the tickets you buy. 2 days is just the minimum ticket purchase for a free dining package; you still get the dining for the whole trip.

Awesome great to know thanks!!

 

[ksantilli]

Yes, you're ineligible for package discounts unless you buy tickets with your package in addition to the YES tickets, so a room only discount is the simplest option.

However, depending on your family size and travel habits it might in some circumstances be worth getting the tickets to have the free dining discount and putting them aside for a future trip, since unused tickets never expire. We're doing that for our January trip - we booked the minimum 2 day base ticket for free dining, but we'll be using our YES tickets. The package tickets will be used for a future trip, either when free dining isn't offered or when we finally get around to trying Bonnet Creek for the extra space instead of packing into a Disney resort room. But that's only a good strategy if 1) you're sure you'll be going back, 2) you have a safe place to keep the tickets where they won't be lost or forgotten, and 3) you don't intend to plan future trips around free dining or other offers that require buying a package.

Thanks so much for the helpful info! I would never have thought to do that. Now if only they would release some free dining dates! We are a family of 5 and my oldest will be an adult next year according to Disney. Free dining is a huge savings for us!

 

[Colleen27]

Thanks so much for the helpful info! I would never have thought to do that. Now if only they would release some free dining dates! We are a family of 5 and my oldest will be an adult next year according to Disney. Free dining is a huge savings for us!

We're a family of 5 too, and the two oldest kids are Disney adults so I know what you mean. That's why we're so sure we'll use the leftover tickets - because as likely as not our 2013 trip will be offsite at Bonnet Creek, where we can have a 2 bedroom for about the same price as squeezing into one room at POR.

 

[michelle06]

I am waiting for June classes to open up. I am not sure how many days to put on our ticket. If I err on the cheap side, can I add days the way you would with a normal ticket? We are traveling with extended family and just not sure how the week is really going to go. I want to be ready to order the tickets when they post classes and not have to think about it. So, do I need to order the most days we will need or can I order less and add on a day or two later? Would I pay the YES price or regular ticket price?

Thanks!

 

[torinsmom]

I am waiting for June classes to open up. I am not sure how many days to put on our ticket. If I err on the cheap side, can I add days the way you would with a normal ticket? We are traveling with extended family and just not sure how the week is really going to go. I want to be ready to order the tickets when they post classes and not have to think about it. So, do I need to order the most days we will need or can I order less and add on a day or two later? Would I pay the YES price or regular ticket price?

Thanks!

Definitely order the MOST you may need. These tickets are not upgradable once you are at Disney. Some people have been able to send tickets back and pay the difference, but that was before they left, and I wouldn't count on that working this year.

 

[michelle06]

Definitely order the MOST you may need. These tickets are not upgradable once you are at Disney. Some people have been able to send tickets back and pay the difference, but that was before they left, and I wouldn't count on that working this year.

Thanks!