DVC discounted park tickets or AP’s...

[luvmychaos]

Is there a way to know when new special ticket deals might happen? Do they send anything to DVC members by mail or email? Or is it just the “luck of the draw”?

And what exactly is “bridging”? If I buy park tickets for $xx, then we’d just pay the difference to upgrade to AP’s? We are new DVC members(I’m sure you can see my green through the screen) and I’m trying to figure out everything! We’ve been DL AP holders for ages and still don’t know if upping to the Premier would be the most cost effective thing for us....yet (I can dream, right?)
TIA!!!

 

[Marionnette]

Is there a way to know when new special ticket deals might happen? Do they send anything to DVC members by mail or email? Or is it just the “luck of the draw”?

And what exactly is “bridging”? If I buy park tickets for $xx, then we’d just pay the difference to upgrade to AP’s? We are new DVC members(I’m sure you can see my green through the screen) and I’m trying to figure out everything! We’ve been DL AP holders for ages and still don’t know if upping to the Premier would be the most cost effective thing for us....yet (I can dream, right?)
TIA!!!

There isn't much notice ahead of time when a ticket deal is announced. Last year, it was a part of the DVC anniversary celebration. I would not expect one this year with Toy Story Land this spring and Star Wars next year.

"Bridging" is a disboards term and a lot of CMs will give you a confused look if you use the term when converting a ticket to add days or upgrade to an AP. Basically, it ignores what you paid for the ticket and applies the gate value of the ticket toward the purchase of the new ticket media. Bridging has become more complicated since Disney made the MYW tickets expiring. The first set of tickets purchased under the new rules will expire on 12/31/2018. Disney says that they will still allow guests to redeem their expired tickets toward the purchase of a valid ticket. It remains to be seen if they will continue to "bridge" tickets purchased from a third party to whatever their gate value was on the day they expired. Tickets purchased before the change are only bridged to whatever their gate value was on 2/11/17.

Only you can decide if upgrading to a Premier AP is worthwhile. IIRC, you cannot upgrade a WDW ticket to a Premier pass at DL. It must be done at a WDW ticket booth or guest services. The cost is double what a Platinum AP costs for DVC members who qualify for the discount (resale buyers post-April 23, 2016 do not qualify). A lot depends on how often you will visit each location in the course of a year.