Everything About WDW Tickets

[Cheshire Figment]

This thread is intended to discuss most aspects of Walt Disney World (WDW) ticketing. It will only deal with ticketing policies and procedures at WDW, and with connections to the Automated Ticketing System (ATS). This entire thread is read-only and can be edited or changed only by the original poster or one of the TPA&S moderators. If you feel that a part is not clear, put your question in a new thread where it will be answered; if necessary this thread will be edited to clarify the situation.

Please note that this information is public information which has been taken, and possibly paraphrased, from WDW web sites and from official training of WDW Cast Members who work with ATS.

Post and Contents
1. This Table of Contents
2. Magic Your Way (MYW) Ticket Basics Including Definitions
3. Annual Passes and Water Park Tickets
4. Tickets Available Only to Florida Residents
5. Tickets Not Available to the General Public
6. Upgrading MYW Tickets (Not to Annual Passes)
7. Upgrading Tickets to Annual Passes
8. Dealing With Tickets Issued Prior to 1 January 2005 (Pre-MYW)
9. Children and Adults
10. Special Events
11. Comprehensive MYW Ticket Example
12. Hotel Card (Key To The World (KTTW))
13. Lost Tickets
14. Finger Scans
15. Frequently Asked Ticket Questions.
15A(1). Hopping Rules
15A(2). Hopping For One Day Only During Multi-Day Stay
15B. WPF&M With No Expire
15C. No Expire Upgrades
15D. Upgrading an Unused Ticket
15E. Upgrading Special Tickets
15F. Checking on Old Tickets
15G. Renewing Annual Passes
15H. Upgrading a Completely Used Ticket
15I. Getting Park Tickets Before Package Start Date
15J. Upgrading After Departure

Following are on Page 2 of the FAQ

16. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Very Merry Christmas Party
17. 2012/2013 Armed Forces Salute Tickets
18A. Prices Effective June 1, 2013
18B. Reserved for Future Use
18C. How to Save Money on Annual Passes
19A. "Free" Tickets and Special Promotions
19B. DVC Member Premium Annual Pass Promotion
20. Ticket Purchase/Upgrade Locations and Telephones
21. Florida Resident Installment Purchases of Annual Passes
22. Ticket Price Bridging (Or Not)

This thread was last updated on June 30, 2013, and information is current and accurate as of this date.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Almost all tickets issued for admission to the WDW parks since January 2, 2005, are "Magic Your Way" (MYW) Tickets which allow the purchaser to select features for their tickets. The main concept behind MYW is the more that you purchase the lower your per-unit cost tends to be.

It is important to realize that WDW has eleven different venues which require admission, and that these fall into two categories.

The first is the four "major" theme parks: Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studio, and Magic Kingdom. Other is the "minor" parks, which consist of the Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon Water Parks, the Disney Quest Indoor Theme Park, Oak Trail Golf Course, Fantasia Gardens and Winter-Summer-Land Miniature Golf and the Wide World of Sports.

Any ticket, once used, cannot be transferred to another person. This is enforced by use of a biometric finger scan. See Post #14 for more detail. There are a few exceptions to this rule, discussed on Posts 5 and 9. All tickets purchased, regardless of location purchased, unless specifically discussed on Post 5, are subject to the Florida combined sales tax rate of 6.5%.

Note that all ticket prices shown in this thread, unless otherwise specified, do not include the 6.5% Sales Tax.

An entitlement is a technical term for what a particular ticket will allow the bearer to do.

A Base Ticket is one that will allow a particular guest access to one major theme park per day up to the maximum number of entitlements per ticket. A base ticket may have anywhere from one to ten days of admission. There are three options which may be purchased with a base ticket; each bear a relationship to the base ticket. Note that Base Ticket days cannot be used as entries to any of the minor parks.

As of June 1, 2013 there are two different one-day base tickets. One is for the Magic Kingdom only. The other can be used at Epcot, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. The one day base ticket for the MK cost $5.00 more than the other.

No MYW ticket may have more than ten major park days of entitlements, unused or used, on it.

You are allowed to re-enter the same park if you leave it on one day, but it can only be used at the one park.

If you put the ticket in the turnstile of another park the display on the Guest side of the turnstile will be "ACCESS DENIED". The top line of the display on the Greeter side will give information about the ticket, and the second line of the display will say "CROSSOVER NOT PERMITTED". The turnstile will not unlock.

Park Hopping is a $59.00 option which can be added to any base ticket, whether adult or child, whether two days or ten days. For a one-day ticket the cost is $39.00. The price is the same whether you buy it the first day or the last day of a ticket's use.

The PH option allows you to go to two, three, or even all four of the major parks per day. Just as a base ticket allows entry to one major park per day, as well as unlimited exits and re-entries to the same park without extra charge, there is no charge to your entitlements when you enter or reenter the second or subsequent major theme park on the same day.

It is important to remember that park hopping only involves the four major theme parks. Having a Park Hopping Ticket does not allow access to any of the minor parks.

Water Park Fun & More (WPF&M) is a $59.00 option which can be added to any base ticket, whether adult or child, whether one day or ten days. Purchase of this option will add entitlements to the base ticket which are entries (or same day reentries) to the minor parks.

Oak Trail Golf Course is a nine hole walking "executive" course. Tee time reservations are required. Call 407-WDW-GOLF for reservations and more information. Each person who does not have their own set of clubs may rent a set, currently $15.00 per adult Guest per round; there is no charge for children under 18 years old to borrow a set of clubs. Bag carts can be rented.

Fantasia Gardens and Winter-SummerLand Miniature Golf can also be used once per day at each location, but it must be done prior to 4:00pm. In addition to entry at WWS you can get 30 minutes daily at the PlayStation Pavilion.

If the base ticket is 1 or 2 days you receive two entries. If the base ticket is more than two days you will get a number of entries equal to the number of days of the ticket.

Each initial entry into a minor park on one day uses an entry. This is true even if you have the "hopper" option, since that option only applies to the major parks. If you attend a water park in the morning, go to Oak Trail Golf in the afternoon, and Disney Quest at night of the same day you will have used three of your WPF&M entries.

Any day in which you go only to one (or more) minor parks and do not go to any of the major theme parks will only count as entries against the WPF&M option and will not use up a day of major park visits.

Note that a base ticket can exist by itself, with the Park Hopping option only, with the WPF&M option only or with both of these options.

Purchase of both the Hopper and WPF&M Options is $84. If you already have either hopping or WPF&M it is only $25.00 to add the other.

Expiration of Tickets

All ticket entitlements, including Park Hopper and WPF&M options, will expire 14 days after first use of any part of the ticket. It does not matter if first use is a major theme park, or, if you have the WPF&M option, first use is one of the minor parks. Note this is based on the first time the ticket is used.

As long as the ticket has not been run through any turnstile it is considered unused and is valid forever.

If your first use, for example, is a Sunday, all entitlements will expire at midnight of the second Saturday following.However, Disney does allow the purchase of a No Expire option which may be added to any base ticket. The price of this option currently varies between $35.00 for a two day ticket and $325.00 for a ten day ticket. Purchase of this option affects all entitlements, including other options. Unused entitlements will never expire.

Note that the price is based on the maximum entitlements, both used and unused, on a ticket. For example, if you had a nine day ticket and used three, with six days still available, if you then purchased the No Expire option you would pay the fee based on nine days.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There are basically six types of Annual Passes (AP) available to anybody. In addition, there are four types of Annual Passes available only to Florida Residents, which will be discussed on Post #4.

As of June 3, 2012 there is no price difference between an Age 3-9 and an Age 10+ Annual Pass. However the Age 3-9 is still issued and, as any child ticket, will not require a finger scan.

Note that the Disney Resort Front Desks and Lobby Concierges cannot do anything related to any level of Annual Pass.

An AP is valid for one person and it is good for one year from date of activation. All passes purchased at any park ticket window or Guest Relations Office are active immediately. If you purchase or activate your pass, for example, on July 1 The last day of use is July 1 of the next year. See Post #7 for information about upgrading tickets to APs

A regular Annual Pass is valid for unlimited entries during regular park hours for the four major theme parks. There are no block-out dates. This is a Park Hopper pass. If you are not staying at a Disney Resort it includes free parking at the four major theme parks. Possession of an AP makes you eligible to purchase the Disney Tables in Wonderland Dining Discount Card and to get various other discounts on food, merchandise, lodging, and certain additional ticket purchases.

The Premium Annual Pass (PAP) is similar to the regular AP. The difference is where the regular AP is a Park Hopper for the four major theme parks only, the PAP is a Park Hopper which includes not only the four major theme parks, but also includes some of the minor parks. It does not include the 30 minutes per day at the WWW PlayStation pavilion, although it does include access to WWS. And it does not provide access to either Fantasia Gardens or Winter-SummerLand miniature golf, although you receive a discount by showing the PAP.

The Disney Premier Pass (DPP) is a combination of a Walt Disney World Premium Annual Pass and a Disneyland Resort Premium Annual Pass. It has a fixed cost of $1,010.82 including tax. There is no differentiation between child or adult. There is no reduced price for renewal. There is no reduced price for DVC Members, Florida Residents, or Southern California Residents. At WDW these can only be purchased at a Guest Relations Window outside of the four major theme parks or at DTD. (It cannot be purchased at the International Gateway at Epcot.) At Disneyland only at a Park Guest Relations Office or the Annual Pass Office.

AP (and PAP) vouchers (also called exchange certificates) may be purchased from Disney online, from Disney by telephone, from the Disney Store, and from some AAA Offices. Once purchased these vouchers do not expire. These vouchers must be exchanged for actual passes; this can be done at any ticket booth or Guest Relations Office.

Each person 18 or over must present a photo ID when purchasing any type of AP, or converting a voucher to an actual pass.

Discount pricing on APs is available only at some AAA Offices. DVC Members and Florida Residents have special rate tables (See Post #18-A). If the pass is renewed (including upgrades or downgrades) within 30 days on either side of expiration there is a renewal discount and the Anniversary date will not change.

As a general rule tickets for the minor parks tend to be one day, single entry, tickets. They are valid for reentry to the same park only on the same day and do not allow park hopping. Discounts are available for people who have APs or are DVC members.

At Blizzard Beach there is a special one day ticket which includes entry to BB and a round of miniature golf at Winter-Summer Land.

If a person is planning to have more than one visit to minor parks it tends to make economic sense to add WPF&M option to a base ticket rather than purchasing two tickets.

The other APs are the Water Park Hopper, the Disney Quest Annual Pass, and the Water Park Hopper Plus Disney Quest Combined Annual Pass. These do not provide the benefits such as discounts and are very limited. The only discount for the Water Park Annual Pass is renewal rates.

A Water Park AP costs less than two days of entries to the water parks. A DQ AP costs the same as two visits to DQ. And the combined WP/DQ AP costs less than three days of entries.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Only three and four day MYW tickets are discounted for Florida Residents. Proof of residency is required when purchasing tickets, and upon first use. This includes the showing of a government-issued photo ID such as a Driver's License or state-issued ID card.

The cost for a one-day base ticket is not discounted. However, the rates for the Hopper and WPF&M options are set at 50% of the non-Florida prices.

There is no two-day ticket available. However, the three day costs less than a two-day base MYW and the four day costs significantly less than a three-day base. The three and four day tickets are valid for six months from date of first use. Blockout Dates apply to these tickets. Also these tickets are valid for six months from date of first use, but according to the latest official information all of the three and four day tickets will lose their validity after December 17, 2014.

For information related to installment payments for Annual Passes go to Post #21 on Page 2.

There are four special types of Annual Passes for Florida Residents. These are in addition to the six types of annual passes which may be purchased by any Guest; See Post #3 for the descriptions.

The "Seasonal Pass". This is a park hopper which is valid about 260 days of the year. The block out dates tend to be a week on either side of Easter, a week on either side of Christmas, and most of the summer. This pass does not include free parking at the major parks.

The "Weekday Select Pass". This is a park hopper which is valid about 200 days of the year. It is valid Mondays through Fridays only. The block out dates are the same as for the Seasonal Pass. This pass does not include free parking at the major parks.

The "Epcot After 4:00 Pass" does include free parking at Epcot after 3:00pm only. It is primarily intended for local residents who would like to dine at some of the Epcot restaurants.

The "Water Park After 2:00 Hopper", since the water parks do tend to empty out starting in mid-afternoon, this is primarily intended for after school use.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

These are tickets which generally are not sold at WDW itself, or require prior purchase.

14 or 21 Day Ultimate Park Hopper. These are valid for unlimited entry for one person to all the parks, both major and minor, for either 14 or 21 days from first use. They are sold by Disney in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They can be ordered through www.disney.co.uk but will not be shipped to the United States or Canada. People have been known to contact friends, relations or travel agents who can purchase these tickets and then have them shipped to them in the US. These can be upgraded to Annual Passes, based on the current exchange rates.

5 or 7 Day Premium. These are available from the UK web site. Basically they are the same as the 5 and 7 day MYW tickets with both hopping and WPF&M. They are five or seven day hoppers; unlike the Ultimate which allow unlimited minor park entries, these will allow only five or seven minor park entries during their 14 day validity period. For upgrade purposes, these are treated as five or seven day hoppers with WPF&M.

There are "Touch of Magic" tickets which are available through some time share promoters in the Orlando area. These are two, three or four day, one park per day or hopping, plus one entry to one of the "minor" parks. At the time the voucher is purchased or received hopping may be added. Normally the time share promoter will issue a voucher for these tickets which can be redeemed at any park (including water parks or TTC) ticket booth. These tickets may not be upgraded once the voucher is issued. If hopping is desired, it must be done at the off-site purchase.

There are three types of Convention tickets. These are only available to people who are attending conventions held on WDW. Normally purchase is via a web link provided by Disney through the convention's web site for pre-purchase, or sometimes at the convention itself. Verification of Convention attendance is required.

"After 2:00" allows admission to one park per day after 2:00pm. These tickets may not be upgraded.

"After 4:00" allows admission to one park per day after 4:00pm. These tickets may not be upgraded.

"Multi-day MYW Convention Base Ticket" is about a 10% savings from the regular MYW prices and includes one WPF&M visit.

There are special reduced price tickets called "YES", which stands for Youth Educational Series. These are available for preformed groups, usually either school groups or teams participating in events at Disney's Wide World of Sports. These may be base, hopper and/or WPF&M but not No Expire. They are valid only for specific dates. They may be used both by chaperones as well as students/team members. Very often for control purposes the chaperones will hold on to the tickets to effectively prevent the students from leaving the park after entry, so these tickets do not require finger scans.

There are tickets similar to MYW tickets sold at various military bases and at Shades of Green. These not only are discounted, but Florida Sales Tax is not charged. Because of their special tax-exempt status they cannot be upgraded or modified in any way at ticket booths or Guest Relations Offices. However, they can be modified or upgraded at Shades of Green. If one of these tickets has become demagnetized they can be reissued at any WDW location.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

An upgrade is adding one or more days to any base ticket, and/or adding one or more of the three options (Hopper, WPF&M or NE) to a ticket.

Note that any upgrade requires a cash (or cash equivalent) payment and can only be done on a one to one basis. You cannot combine the value of more than one ticket. In other words, if you had a six day base ticket and a one day base, you could not add the value of both to end up with one ticket of six or more days with one or more of the options. If, however, you have three tickets and are paying to upgrade each of them, this can be done on one transaction. (See the special note below about water parks.)

Any upgrade must be done at WDW at a location with access to the Automated Ticketing System (ATS). Basically this is any park (including water park) ticket window or Guest Services location, or one of the Downtown Disney Guest Services locations. The Lobby Concierge staff at the Resorts do not have all the accesses as the Parks. It cannot be done at a Disney Store.

Any MYW ticket can be upgraded within 14 days of first use. There are no exceptions, other than those discussed in the next paragraph. This applies even if the ticket has the No Expire Option. If the first day of use is a Sunday, the last time an upgrade or modification may be done is 11:59:59pm of the second Saturday.

In addition, effective August 1, 2011, if you have used all of your entitlements on a ticket the last day of use of entitlements is also the last day that you can do any sort of upgrade. So if you had a four day ticket and your fourth day of use was a Friday, from Saturday onward you cannot do any upgrade even though it is within the 14 day period. Note this does not apply to to tickets on the KTTW or to multi-day Florida Resident Tickets; in these cases the Guest name is preprinted on the ticket and they may add days after the last entitlement is used as long as they have a photo ID that matches the name preprinted on the ticket.

Note that you can add days or WPF&M to any ticket that has all the major theme park days used, provided it meets the requirements of the previous paragraph.. However, you can not exceed ten days of total major park entitlements.

See Post #22 on Page 2 for Price Bridging, which allows you to keep a discount.

If you purchased your ticket at less than the current gate price, and your ticket has not been used, you will have to pay the difference between what Disney actually sold the ticket for and the current gate price of the ticket you are upgrading to. It is always best to use one day from the old pass prior to taking it for an upgrade; you will then have locked in the current gate price as the value of the old pass.

The No Expire option is price is based on the total number of entitlements the ticket has had. If you had an original three day ticket, added five days and then used four days you will have four days of use remaining. If you upgrade to NE you will pay the rate for eight days.

Similarly, if you had a three day NE ticket and upgraded it to five days, you would pay not only the fee for the extra two days entries but the difference between the three-day and five-day NE option.

At the water parks and Disney Quest only, if you have a one day water park or Disney Quest ticket that is unused or has been used that day you can combine that ticket with a MYW ticket to add the WPF&M option to the MYW ticket, only paying the difference between what was paid for the water park or Disney Quest ticket and the current price of the MYW option (plus tax). This will not work if the MYW ticket is already a hopper, as the cost to upgrade would be less than the price of a one day water park or DQ ticket and we do not give refunds.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

An upgrade to any level of Annual Pass follows basically the same rules as any other upgrade of MYW tickets.

Note that any upgrade requires a cash (or cash equivalent) payment and can only be done on a one to one basis. You cannot combine the value of more than one ticket. In other words, if you had a six day base ticket and a one day base, you could not add the value of both to end up with an AP, even with additional payment. If, however, you have three tickets and are paying to upgrade each of them, this can be done on one transaction.

If the Gate value of the ticket you want to upgrade from is higher than the price of the AP normally you will not be able to do an upgrade. If an exception is made, you will not receive a refund of the difference.

The only exception to this is if you have both a MYW ticket and a used water park or Disney Quest ticket, these can be combined, along with money for a Premium Annual Pass.

Any upgrade must be done at WDW at a location with access to the Automated Ticketing System (ATS). Basically this is any park (including water park) ticket window or Guest Services location, or one of the Downtown Disney Guest Services locations. The Lobby Concierge staff at the Resorts are not able to handle any AP transactions of any type.

In addition, effective August 1, 2011, if you have used all of your entitlements on a ticket the last day of use of entitlements is also the last day that you can do any sort of upgrade. So if you had a four day ticket and your fourth day of use was a Friday, from Saturday onward you cannot do any upgrade even though it is within the 14 day period. Note this does not apply to to tickets on the KTTW or to multi-day Florida Resident Tickets; in these cases the Guest name is preprinted on the ticket and they may add days after the last entitlement is used as long as they have a photo ID that matches the name preprinted on the ticket.

See Post #22 on Page 2 for Price Bridging, which allows you to keep a discount.

If you purchased your ticket at less than the current gate price, and your ticket has not been used, you will have to pay the difference between what Disney actually sold the ticket for and the current gate price of the ticket you are upgrading to. It is always best to use one day from the old pass prior to taking it for an upgrade; you will then have locked in the current gate price as the value of the old pass.

If you have been a Passholder (WSP, SP, AP or PAP) and you are renewing your Pass within the renewal window you may upgrade a MYW ticket to the Pass using the renewal rate. All other upgrade rules apply, except the expiration date will be one year from the expiration date of the old pass.

If the MYW ticket has been used, the expiration date of the non-renewal AP will be set to one year from the date of first use of the ticket being upgraded. If the ticket has not been used, the expiration date will be one year from the date of the upgrade.

When upgrading to Annual Pass, if the Guest's original ticket included Water Park Fun & More Option, and any part of that option was used, then the Guest may only upgrade to the Premium or Premier Annual Pass. If none of the WPF&M options were used then upgrading may be done to a regular AP.

A Florida Resident who is upgrading a three or four day ticket may do the upgrade any time within six months of the date of first use. The Florida Resident will also have the option of a Weekday Select Pass or Seasonal Pass, as well as an AP, PAP or DPP. Note that the six month rules does not apply if upgrading to any Annual Pass using the Monthly Payment Plan; in this instance the upgrade may only be done within 14 days of first use.

The UK 14 and 21 Day Ultimate Tickets may be upgraded to regular or Premium Annual Passes. The ATS system will give a current value in US$ which is considered the base for upgrading. Note that if any of the minor park entries have been used, the upgrade may only be to the Premium Annual Pass. If none of the minor park entries were used the ticket may be upgraded to a Regular Annual Pass

Please also see Post #19 on Page 2 about upgrading special promotional tickets.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Almost all tickets issued prior to 2005 (other than Length of Stay, Bounce Back, or Annual Passes) had no expiration. This includes both the major park entries and the minor park plus options. Exceptions include the World Hopper and Super Duper Pass; for these ticket all WPF&M entries expired seven days from first use, although the major park entries remained valid.

At the current time any prior passes are valid at all four of the major parks, even if one or more of the parks did not exist when the ticket was issued. A Park Hopper Plus, which was issued during the time that Disney Quest was open did not include Disney Quest as an entry; accordingly, the Park Hopper Plus still cannot be used for entry to Disney Quest. Additionally, the Park Hopper Plus cannot be used for either of the miniature golf courses or for the 30 minutes at the PlayStation Pavilion at WWS. But it can be used for the water parks, Oak Trail Golf and entry to WWS.

If a prior ticket, unused or partially used, was not on stock with a magnetic stripe, or the magnetic stripe was demagnetized, you can get the tickets replaced at no charge at any park (including water parks or TTC) ticket booth or Guest Relations Office. Note that this cannot be done at Resort Lobby Concierge locations as they do not have full access to the ticketing computer.

No pre-MYW ticket can be modified or upgraded in any manner.

If you have unused pre-MYW tickets you can use the original Disney selling price of one ticket as a credit to the purchase price of any current ticket with a selling price equal to or higher than the value of the old ticket. However, it probably will make more economic sense to use the ticket for entries. This will depend a lot on what the determined dollar value is.

Note that if the ticket was purchased from a discounter/broker the value given is what Disney sold the ticket for to the discounter/broker and not what you paid for it.

If you have a partially used pre-MYW ticket it cannot be upgraded, but the remaining entitlements can be used. If the ticket has become demagnetized, as long as the serial number string is readable a replacement ticket, with the same remaining entitlements, can be issued.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Disney has four age categories which are used for Resorts but three categories for park entry.

Infant is any person less than three years old.

Child is any person at least three years old but not more than nine years old.

Junior is a person at least ten years old but not more than 17. For ticketing and meal purposes a junior is considered an adult, but for Resort rooms a junior is considered a child. (Note that there is a fee at the Disney Resorts for more than two people age 18 or older in a room.)

Adult is anyone 18 years old or older.

An Infant is allowed entry into any of the parks without a ticket. In restaurants that are buffet or all you can eat (AYCE) an infant can have their own plate and beverage at no charge. In menu service restaurants, as well as counter service, if items are ordered specifically for the infant they must be paid for; if eating from parent's plate there is no charge.

A child must have a ticket for park entry. Normally a child's ticket will either state "child" or "Age 3 - 9" on it. Children's tickets do not require finger scans. In restaurants a child will pay a reduced price at buffet or AYCE, and generally will order from a special menu at menu service restaurants. Note that as of June 3, 2012, the price for any Age 3-9 AP is the same as the equivalent Age 10+, but still will not require a finger scan.

Juniors and Adults must have an adult ticket for park entry. Normally these tickets will say either "Adult" or "Age 10+" on them. Finger scans are required for all adult tickets.

Disney does not penalize children for growing older. If you have a partially used child's ticket, and the child is now 10 or older, you may exchange the child's ticket for an adult ticket with the same remaining entitlements and no charge.

If an infant turns three during a trip, or a child turns ten, they are still considered in the younger category for the length of the trip. This applies whether the family is staying on or off property. It does not apply to locals who commute (unless they are staying on property).

The child for which this is being done must be present at the ticket window when this is being done. The age difference must be reasonable! For example, if the child appears to still be a pre-teen, and the ticket is two or more years old they should be no problem. However, if the child appears to be 16 and the ticket is only a year old this will not be done.

This applies whether the ticket is MYW or pre-MYW.

However, if the ticket has never been used, the ticket may only be upgraded to a ticket with at least the same entitlements and the guest must pay the difference.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There are currently four different special events at the parks, all of which require special tickets. These fall into two categories. These are referred to as "hard ticket events" and regular MYW tickets up to and including Premium Annual Passes are not valid for these events. All of these tickets are date specific, and can only be used on the specified date.

The first category is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP), Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), and Night of Joy (Noj). These generally run from 7:00pm until Midnight on selected nights in the Magic Kingdom. Tickets become available several months in advance.

Tickets may be purchased at any location on WDW that sells tickets or via on-line, mail or telephone.

There are several tiers of pricing depending on the Party date, one is for tickets purchased the day of the event and the other is for discounted tickets available for most days. When advance sale tickets are offered, they must be purchased no later than Midnight of the day prior to the event. For some of the dates there are special deeper discounts available to people who are AP holders or DVC Members. The AP or DVC Membership Card must be shown both when the tickets are purchased and when entering the park.

The tickets for this category will allow Guests into the Park as early as 4:00pm on the day of the event. Note that people in the call centers will state that the tickets are valid from 7:00pm on; this is not correct. Special wristbands will be attached to each person to allow them to remain in the park. There may be locations within the Park set up with ticket scanners to read and record any tickets so people who had entered the park earlier with a regular ticket may receive a wristband to allow them to remain in the park.

Once 7:00 comes all people without wristbands will be asked to leave. There will be CMs at the entrance to each store, eatery and attraction to prevent anyone without a wristband from entering. There will also be checkpoints at various locations, asking people to leave the park and not allowing them further progress.

The second category is when a park (and it can be any one, not just MK) is sold for the evening/night to an outside group or promoter. In these situations WDW will provide staffing in the park so attractions can operate and retail and food outlets are open, but the promoter will handle all ticket sales and be responsible for controlling access. Again, all Guests will be cleared from the park prior to opening the gates for the special event.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

This post includes the assumption you have a ten day MYW ticket with both the Park Hopper and Water Park Fun and More (WPF&M) options.

If your ticket is fewer than ten days, insert the number of days on your ticket any time is this post you see the word "ten".

Hopefully this will make it a little clearer. In effect you have two tickets with different privileges on one card. Everything expires 14 days after first use unless you have the no-expire (NE) option. If you have the NE option all the entitlements are good until they are used up. Even if you use up all your major park days, the WPF&M entries remain valid until used. (Note you do not have to use the days consecutively.)

You have ten days of access to the four major parks (AK, DHS, EC, MK), and may visit more than one major park on a single day without any extra charges. Without the Park Hopper option you can only go to one major park per day.

You have ten entries to the minor parks (BB, DQ, OT, TL, WWS, FG, WSL). These may or may not be used on the same days as you go to the major parks. However, if you went to TL in the morning, Oak Trail in the afternoon, and Disney Quest in the evening of one day you would have used three of the ten entries. (Note that leaving and returning to the same minor park on the same day does not use an extra entry.)

If you go to minor parks only on one day and do not go to a major park you do not use up one of your major park days.

If you were to go to a Water Park in the morning and then one of the major parks for the remainder of the day you would have used one minor park entry and one day of major park entry.

Note that with the MYW ticket unless you have the hopper option you can only go to one major park per day. Unless you have the WPF&M option you cannot go to a minor park without upgrading or purchasing a separate ticket.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Every person staying at a Disney owned and operated resort on WDW is given a Key To The World (KTTW). It is a card about the size of a credit card with the persons name and dates of stay printed on the card. Note that dates on the KTTW deal only with items related to the stay and not the period of validity of tickets.

To start off with, it is the Room Key. It is also sometimes referred to as the Guest ID and must be presented for access to Extra Magic Hours.

Generally it will have two numeric strings on it. One always starting with 076" which will have ticket information in that string and the other starting with 99" which ties in to your reservation.

If you purchased any sort of room package, with room and tickets, it will have your ticket serial number encoded on the card and it will work as your ticket. If you did not purchase a package, and reserved room only, you can have your tickets (as long as they are not Annual Passes, Armed Forces Salute, or YES program) added onto your room key. This way you do not have to carry two items, and your name is on them.

If your package includes the Disney Dining Plan it will state that on the card, and indicate how many adults and how many children are registered for the dining plan.

Generally if you upgrade your pass you will see no physical change to the card. Adding extra days, hopping, WPF&M, or No Expire, or any combination will be changed in the ticketing system only and you will keep the same card. However, there is the possibility that when upgrades are done at a Park window your tickets will be removed from the KTTW and printed on separate tickets. If this happens, the KTTW will still retain the door key, charging, and Dining Plan.

If you attempt to upgrade a KTTW to any sort of Annual Pass it may mess up your reservation and dining plan, if any. If you are planning to upgrade to an AP you have two choices. One is to wait until your last day and you have checked out of the Resort and used all your Dining Credits. The other is to have someone at either the Resort Front Desk or the Lobby Concierge remove your tickets from the KTTW and put them on separate cards; you can then have these separate cards upgraded with no problem.

If you should lose a KTTW contact your Resort Front Desk as soon as possible to protect against unauthorized charges. They will issue you a new card with different numbers upon showing proper identification. If the card should become demagnetized you cannot use it for FastPasses. For Park Entry, Dining or Charging the bar code on the ticket can be scanned, or getting into your room the RFID chip is used.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There are several different methods of recovering from lost tickets. Some are fairly simple and others are complicated; all are time-consuming. In all of these methods if the original lost ticket is ever found it cannot be used, as it is voided by a replacement being issued.

Very easy are Annual Passholders or Florida Residents 3 or 4 day tickets. For this you can go to any park ticket booth or Guest Relations Office (GRO) with proper identification. The tickets are registered by name, address and birth date. It is very simple to reissue the lost ticket this way.

Also easy is a lost Key To The World on a currently active reservation. For this you would have to go to your Resort Front Desk and by showing proper identification they can reissue the KTTW with a new number. If, however, your KTTW has No Expire tickets and your reservation ended it has to be handled at GRO.

For safety always record the ticket serial numbers and keep these numbers separate from the tickets. These can be a photocopy of the ticket, a receipt which shows the serial numbers, or just a sheet of paper where the serial numbers are written. You may want to take photos of each ticket and e-mail them to a cell phone so if something happens to the tickets you will have an accessible record.

Generally there are four types of tickets. The ones issued at WDW and the Orlando Area discount vendors, the ones from The Disney Store or by mail order (these are on heavy plastic stock) and the third are the KTTW, which are the room keys issued at the Disney Resorts. On a KTTW the ticket number is about a 17 digit long number always starting with “076". There are also the RFID-enabled plastic cards.

The other two will have an alphanumeric string similar to the following: WXX:999 MM/DD/YY 99999. The first letter will always be a “W”, the next two can be any of several combinations. The numbers after the colon may be anything from 001 up to 999; on some tickets it may say CAS:999. This indicates what terminal at the location issued the ticket. The MM/DD/YY is the numeric month, date, and year when the particular ticket was printed. The last set of numbers, 99999 may be any number from one to five digits, and it identifies the sequential number of the ticket printed on that date from that particular terminal at the specified location. Some tickets may also have a field TR:9999 which works to identify the transaction but is not needed.

If you have the ticket serial number your ticket can be replaced at any park ticket window or GRO. If you purchased your tickets from a discounter, especially by mail order, they may be able to provide you with the serial numbers of the tickets.

Now the fun starts. This is where you do not have the serial number of the ticket. For the following you need to be at a Park or DTD GRO for assistance. If you did not buy them directly from WDW and you do not have the serial numbers we may not be able to assist you. (Note that buying at WDW does include tickets issued from will-call or by use of an exchange certificate or voucher.)

If you have a group of tickets that were all purchased as part of the same or consecutive transactions and you are missing one or more tickets, and you still have one or more tickets from this group available, we can research the tickets and can usually determine the missing tickets.

If your ticket was on a KTTW we can contact your Resort Front Desk and determine the ticket number. If the ticket is valid for that park we can give you a one day ticket to allow access to the park and FastPass machines. We will make an entry in the system to show your ticket as being used. You will have the option of canceling that KTTW and getting it replaced at the Front Desk (if you are sure it is lost) or leaving it active if you think it was only left in your room.

If it was not on a KTTW and we can determine the ticket, we will cancel the old ticket and issue a “continuation” ticket with a different number but the same entitlements, use history, and finger-scan tie in. If the old ticket is found it will be invalid.

If you have the receipt or transaction number we can research the transaction and replace the missing tickets, with the same effects as stated in the previous paragraph.,

If you have the Credit Card which was used for the purchase we can scan the card and it will pull up all ticket transactions which used that card. Once we have the transaction we can examine the tickets and reissue them as necessary.

If you received the tickets from The Disney Store, a discounter, or a Military Recreation Office (other than at Shades of Green); in other words anywhere off the Walt Disney World Resort Property, and you do not have something which gives the ticket numbers we probably will not be able to assist you.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The finger scans are used to tie a person to a particular ticket. This will work to prevent people switching or selling tickets. It also eliminates the need for hand stamps for reentry to a park or hopping between parks.

First of all, Child (Age 3-9) and certain other tickets, such as the YES Program, do not take scans and will unlock the turnstile if they are valid for the park. Note that although, as of June 3, 2012, a child AP costs the same as an adult AP the finger scan is still not required.

The first time a ticket is used it will read the fingerprint and select an area about 1/4 inch by 1/8 inch and analyze that area.

It will then apply a mathematical algorithm to that reading, convert it to a 3-digit numeric string, and store that string of numbers tied to the serial number of the ticket in the Automated Ticketing System (ATS) computer.

On subsequent entries ATS will look for that particular string on the ticket. If it finds it, the turnstile will unlock and a green light will come on.

If ATS cannot find that string, a message will show up of "identification fails". At that point the greeter will have several options; one of these is to tell ATS to replace the numeric string tied to the ticket with a new once based on the most recent scan.

If MYW tickets were purchased at WDW directly from ATS in one transaction they may be linked together, in which case the people can switch the tickets, but don’t count on this working.

And there are times when the lines are very long and management may decide to turn off the scanners for a while, in which case as long as the ticket is valid for that park it will be accepted without a scan.

If a person does not want to have their finger scanned, as an alternative they may present a photo ID where the name matches the name printed on the ticket. If it is an Annual Pass or a Florida Resident 3 or 4 day Ticket the name will automatically be printed on the ticket. If the name is not preprinted on the ticket, the ticket owner should print their name (in ink) legibly in the space provided on the ticket.

Note that this is not a full fingerprint record, and the partial print still has about a one in a thousand chance of being duplicated.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions about tickets and expanded answers for them.

A(1). I have a base ticket for eight days, although I will only be spending six days in the Parks. The day I have for Animal Kingdom I also have a dinner reservation at Epcot. May I use one of my “extra” days for evening admission to Epcot?

A base ticket is one major (theme) park per day. You are allowed to re-enter the same park if you leave it on one day, but it can only be used at the one park.

Note that the ticket may state on it either "Not Valid For Park Hopping" or "One Theme Park Per Day". That should be a hint.

If you put the ticket in the turnstile of another park the display on the Guest side of the turnstile will be "ACCESS DENIED". The top line of the display on the Greeter side will give information about the ticket, and the second line of the display will say "CROSSOVER NOT PERMITTED". The turnstile will not unlock.

This is because Disney charges $10.00 per day over four days on an adult ticket, but charges $59.00 to allow hopping. ($39.00 on a one-day ticket.) It does not make economic sense for Disney to allow this.

If you actually have multiple tickets (more than one physical ticket per person) as opposed to multiple day tickets, you can use these tickets for multiple entries. But it makes absolutely no economic sense as a separate ticket costs a lot more than adding hopping to a ticket.

A(2). I Want To Hop For Only One Day On A Multi-Day Stay

Hopping is an "all or nothing" situation on a MYW ticket. It is not possible to add only one day of hopping to a two-through ten day ticket. If you are visiting for only two or three days it is less expensive to make two separate ticket purchases rather than a two-or three day hopper. See the following example:

One Day Hopper $129 + One Day Base $90 = $219. Two Day Hopper = $243.
One Day Hopper $129 + Two Day Base $ 184 = $313. Three Day Hopper = $321.
One Day Hopper $129 + Three Day Base $262 = $391. Four Day Hopper = $338
One Day Hopper $129 + Four Day Base $279 = $408. Five Day Hopper = $348.

And so on.

B. I am buying a ten day hopper with WPF&M and No Expire. What happens to the WPF&M entries when I use up all my major (theme) park days?

In effect you have two tickets with different privileges on one card. Since you have the NE option all the entitlements are good until they are used up. Even if you use up all your major park days, the WPF&M entries remain valid until used. (Note you do not have to use the days consecutively.)

Note this example is for a ten day ticket. If your ticket is for less than ten days, where you see the word "ten" replace it with the number of days on your ticket.

You have ten days of access to the four major parks (AK, DHS, EC, MK), and may visit more than one major park on a single day without any extra charges. Without the Park Hopper option you can only go to one major park per day.

You have ten entries to the minor parks (BB, DQ, FG, OT, TL, WSL, WWS). These may or may not be used on the same days as you go to the major parks. However, if you went to TL in the morning, Oak Trail Golf in the afternoon, and Disney Quest in the evening of one day you would have used three of the ten entries. (Note that leaving and returning to the same minor park on the same day does not use an extra entry.)

C. I have a No Expire ticket I originally used for my last trip, but it is not a park hopper. Since I have a few days left on it, can I add the Park Hopper option this trip.

No, you cannot. No MYW ticket may be modified or upgraded in any way more then 14 days after first use. This means no adding of days, hopper option, WPF&M option or upgrade to Annual Pass.

If ticket was issued before January 2, 2005 (Pre-Magic Your Way) and any entries have been used it cannot be upgraded. This applies even if the first use of the ticket has been on the current trip.

The only exception to this rule is the Florida Resident 3 and 4 day tickets. These may be upgraded within six months of the date of first use.

D. I have a completely unused ticket that I want to upgrade. Is there anything special I should know.

There are three possible answers to this question.

If this is a ticket for which you have paid the full Current Gate Price (CGP) there is no problem. You may upgrade it either before it has been used or after first use. If it was sold as part of a package and is on your KTTW it is considered to have been sold at a discount (as WDW Ticket Operations "sells" the tickets to WDTC at a wholesale price).

If this is a ticket which was sold by Disney for less than the CGP, Disney will only allow you credit for the amount they sold the ticket for. If it was bought directly from WDW before a price increase it is only worth what you paid for it.

If it was bought from outside of WDW, such as a discounter, AAA, a travel agent, or even The Disney Store the amount credited will be what the seller paid WDW for it, not the amount you were charged.

However, if the ticket was used at least once, then the CGP is locked into the ticket as its value. The ticket seller (in a booth or GRO) will first issue an “intermediate” ticket at the current gate price and charge the difference between the initial selling price and the CGP to an internal account. These intermediate tickets will then be upgraded to add days and/or options to your target, and you will only be charged the difference between the CGP of the intermediate ticket and he new ticket.

If your unused ticket was pre-MYW your best bet is to just use the ticket. You will not get any high value for it when unused and once it is used it cannot be upgraded.

See Post #22 for detailed information related to Price Bridging (or not).

E. I have a special ticket I would like to upgrade. Can this be done?

The only upgrades that can be done are to regular or Florida Resident MYW tickets, or Annual Passes to a higher level of Annual Pass.

Special Tickets include Touch of Magic, YES (Youth Educational Series) Program, used or unused Special Event Tickets (MNNSHP, MVMCP, NoJ) after the date of the event, any ticket that includes the word “comp”, “complimentary”, "SPORT", or "YOUTH" on it, or has a "not valid before" or a "not valid after" date on it and any tickets that are not sold at the Park Gates cannot be upgraded or modified in any way. The last group also includes most convention tickets. See Post #5 for more information.

If you have a special Convention ticket which includes one WPF&M visit, you may upgrade it only to add days (to a maximum of eight days on the ticket). If you do add days, and have not used the single water park entry, you will lose this entitlement. If you have used the water park entry, you can only upgrade to a Premium Annual Pass. You cannot add other options and you cannot make the ticket No Expire.

F. How can I Check on What Remains on Old Tickets?

Any Ticket Window or Guest Services Location can read your old tickets and tell what the remaining entitlements are. Also, if the ticket has become demagnetized they can issue replacements. The Resort Lobby Concierges may not be able to read all tickets.

See Post #13 in this thread for how to determine the serial number of the ticket(s)

There used to be a special phone number which you could all. It appears to be no longer available. If you are able to contact the Ticketing Office, the only information they will be able to give you is if the ticket is valid or not, they cannot tell you what remains.

G. What are the rules for Renewal Annual Passes (and what About Renewal Vouchers)?

To renew any sort of Annual Pass it must be done within 30 days of either side of the expiration date. Note that upgrading or downgrading of any annual product may be done at the special renewal rate.

Normally this is done at any park (including water park or TTC) ticket booth or any Guest Relations Office (including DTD). It cannot be done at a Resort.

If you renew prior to the expiration date, the new pass will not be valid until the expiration date of the old pass. If you renew after the expiration date the effective date will be backdated. If you do an upgrade at renewal time, and the renewal/upgrade is prior to the expiration date of the old Pass, the new Pass will not be effective until the old one expires. In any event, using the renewal rate will have the new pass expire on the same date the next year. (See Post #19 for the expired special 15 month promotion.)

If you have a MYW ticket you may upgrade that ticket to a WSP, SP, AP or PAP at the renewal rate just as any other upgrade as long as you are within the renewal window. The rules for expiration date stay the same as any other renewal.

Note that, by definition, an Renewal of a Pass can only be done at a WDW Ticket Window or Guest Relations Office.

If you are not at WDW you get a voucher at the renewal rate sent to you. However, this can be a multi-edged sword.

If you renew within one year after the expiration date of your current pass it will be just the same as if you renewed at WDW with the expiration date one year from the date of the old pass. If you will be activating the voucher more than a month or two away you might find that it would have been better to pay the full price and have the anniversary date changed.

While a voucher for purchase of an AP is valid forever and may be exchanged without penalty after several years the rules for a renewal are different.

As stated above, with a renewal voucher used within a year from expiration it will not change the expiration date. However, if it is used more than a year from the expiration date the value will only be what you paid for the voucher toward the current gate price of a new AP. so you will have to pay more on redemption.

H. Upgrading a Completely Used Ticket

In some circumstances you may want to upgrade a completely used ticket. Normally this will have to be done when you have used all your major park entries and suddenly decide that you need more days, such as your home airport is closed for a blizzard or you still want to use more than one WPF&M entry.

This is not a problem if your ticket is either on a KTTW or a Florida Resident multi-day ticket. These tickets have your name preprinted on them and you will have to show a photo ID that this is your ticket. Without this proof it will require approval of a Guest Services Manager as an exception to policy.

Take your ticket to any ticket location as long as it is within 14 days of first use, and the total number of days on the ticket is less than ten. They will follow the same procedures to add extra days and/or WPF&M, add extra days and also the NE options, or upgrade to an Annual Pass. The same rules apply as for any other upgrade (as shown in Posts #6 and #7).

Note that a fully used Florida Resident three or four day may be upgraded at any time within six months of first use.

I. Picking up Package Tickets Prior To Start Of Package

In cases where Walt Disney World Resort Guests would like to begin using their Package Tickets prior to the day of check-in (up to three days in advance), the Guests will be directed to visit any Theme Park or DTD Guest Relations location and request Early Ticket Pick-Up. (Note this cannot be done at a water park.)

It is only valid for people with packages at a Walt Disney World owned and operated Resort. You can be staying off-property at the time you pick up the tickets. Note that if you have a package which includes Dining, although you can pick up your tickets early you cannot get access to the Dining until you have actually checked in to your Resort.

Note that since August 2011 the Call Centers have been telling Guests this cannot be done. However it is still a valid procedure and can be done with no problem at Park Guest Relations Windows.

There is a possibility that if your package and the stay prior to the package are at the same Resort that you will be able to get the tickets at the Resort and not have to go to a Park Guest Relations Office.

And the tickets issued will be valid for the entire stay; they will not receive valid tickets when they actually check-in to their resort. There is a strong possibility that the tickets you have received prior to check-in cannot be added to your KTTW on or after check-in.

I would suggest you copy down the following information if you are planning to upgrade promotional tickets. If the person in the window is hesitant to upgrade these promotional tickets, ask them go go into The Hub >> WDW >> Work >> Ticketing >> Processes & Business Rules >> Early Ticket Pickup For Resort Packages where they will see the procedure.


J. Upgrading Tickets After Departure

Effective August 1, 2011, policy has changed and no ticket may be upgraded based on telephone or e-mail. Upgrades (such as adding No Expire and possibly days) may only be done at a ticket or Guest Relations location on WDW.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Here are links to the 2013 After-Hours Party Tickets

Please See This Post http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3105119 For Official Detailed Information for MNSSHP!

Please See This Post http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3105124 For Official Detailed Information for MVMCP!

1. For days with MNSSHP or MVMCP you can get in starting at 4:00pm with a Party ticket and you will receive a wristband showing you are authorized to attend the Party. Note that people at the Disney Reservations Center are required to tell you that you cannot enter MK on your Party ticket prior to 7:00. This information is not correct. And we don't know why they require this misinformation.

2. If you are already in MK, after 4:00 there will be several locations within MK where your ticket will be processed and you will be given a wristband.

3. If you do not have a Party ticket at 7:00 the Magic Kingdom is officially closed to you and you must leave the Park.

4. Without a wristband you cannot enter the line for any show or ride and you cannot enter any food service location or any store. You will not be allowed to make any purchases from any kiosk or wagon. You might be allowed to use the restrooms.

5. If you are already in a merchandise shop at 7:00 you will be permitted to make a purchase, but you will not be able to purchase any party-themed merchandise. If you are in a quick service location you will be allowed to make a purchase.

6. If you are at a Table Service location without an ADR you will not be seated, or if your ADR is for 7:00 or later you will not be seated. Note that even if you had a CC guarantee you will not be seated and you will forfeit the guarantee as you do not, at that time, have valid park admission.

7. There will be CM "blockades" at various points within the park looking for wristbands. For the first half hour or so you will not be permitted deeper into the Park and you will be asked to leave. If it is past 7:30 and you are caught in a blockade or sweep you will, at that time, be escorted to the front of the Park and out the Gate.

8. If you are line up for a parade and do not have a wristband you will be escorted out of the park.

9. And if you do not cooperate with the CMs Security will be called.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Walt Disney World has a special program effective October 1, 2012 and running through September 28, 2013 for members of the United States armed services, their dependents and guests. This post discusses the program and is broken into three major sections: Eligibility, Entitlements, and Procedures for participating.

Eligibility and Definitions

A service member has a current active duty, including active reserve, or retired ID card from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corp, or Navy. This includes disabled veterans whose ID Card indicates DAVPRM.

Under this year's rules, a foreign partner/coalition partner stationed at a US base is eligible. They must have a permanent US Military ID (CAC card) to be allowed to purchase tickets.

A dependent is the spouse or other relative of a service member who has an ID card (DD Form 1173) which shows the service member as the sponsor.

A guest is any person not a dependent accompanying the service member.

Not eligible on their own are persons who would normally have access to military bases and/or Shades of Green (SoG) such as DoD Civilians, NAF, USPHS and veterans who are not retirees. This list may include others. People who fall into this category may, however, be dependents or guests.

Tickets and Entitlements

A service member may purchase up to six 4-Day Disneys Armed Forces Salute Ticket during the promotion. At the time of purchase the service member must choose between three possibilities. There is no Base ticket available. Each ticket is either a four-day Park Hopper or it is a four day non-hopper with four Water Parks and Fun entries. Either of these tickets is $156. A ticket with both hopping and WPF&M is available for $184. These may be used by dependents or guests. The name of each dependent and/or guest will be recorded in ATS, tied to the service members name, and will be printed on the ticket. The price is the same no matter the age of the user. As normal, people under age 3 do not require tickets.

Salute tickets may be used back-to-back, such as two people wanting to use tickets for eight days.

If both members of a married couple are active or retired military they each qualify, on their own, for this program.

All Tickets will expire Midnight, Saturday, September 28, 2013, even if all entries have not been used. After the tickets are initially issued, it is $28 (plus tax) to add WPF&M to a Hopper or to add Hopping to a ticket with WPF&M. The normal 14 day rules concerning expiration and upgrade do not apply. However, no additional days may be added and the ticket may not have the No Expire option added.

The Tickets may be upgraded to Annual Passes, Premium APs, Disney Premier Pass, Florida Resident Seasonal Passes, or Florida Resident Weekday Select Passes (with proper Florida ID). The normal 14 day upgrade period does not apply. However, there will not be price bridging; this means that the value of the ticket will be what was paid for it ($156 or $184) and not the current gate price of an equivalent MYW ticket. If the ticket is upgraded to an annual product the expiration date will be one year from the date of first use of the Ticket. If any of the WPF&M entries have been used, the only allowable upgrade is to the Premium Annual Pass.

As an exception, if the immediate family has more than five dependents, additional Tickets may be purchased, but not to exceed the number of dependents. If the immediate family has more than five dependents tickets may not be purchased for guests.

If the service member is not available the spouse or unremarried widow may purchase and/or activate up to five Tickets for family and guests (including the spouse) so without the service member present a maximum of five tickets may be purchased. The special large family rule above applies. This purchase will not prevent the service member from receiving their ticket at a later date, but this will make the service member ineligible to purchase any additional tickets. Note that the Dependent ID Card (DD Form 1173) must show a relationship of either "Spouse" or "Unremarried Widow" to be able to activate the tickets. No other relationship can purchase tickets or have previously purchased tickets activated.

The tickets are blocked out and cannot be used be used for entry to the Magic Kingdom on July 4, 2013.

Procedures and Purchasing

There are three sources available. Two of these sources are Shades of Green or many (but not all) MWR/ITT offices. These are not live tickets but must be activated. The advantage to purchasing these is that sales tax is not collected on the Tickets.

The third source is Walt Disney World Park Ticket Offices (including TTC) and Guest Relations Offices (including DTD). Sales tax will be collected on any sales of Tickets or upgrades. Note that these cannot be purchased at any Resort Lobby Concierge or online.

Certain information from the service members ID will be entered into ATS (Name, Birth Date, base where assigned and e-mail address) and the names of all Ticket holders will also be entered and tied to the service member. If the tickets were prepurchased (MWR/ITT or SoG) the person will get the same card back. If these are new tickets, the tickets will be printed by ATS.

For each person the name, date of birth, address and telephone number will be entered into the system. The ticketholder's name will be printed on any tickets sold/printed at a window.

Once activated the tickets may be used at any turnstile. Finger scans will be used. In the event a ticket becomes demagnetized they can be reissued just as any other ticket.

If you have unused one-day non-promotional MYW tickets and wish to have them applied to the purchase of Tickets, this may be done provided the value of the unused tickets is equal to or less than the value of the tickets being purchased or upgraded. (Also 2-day MYW tickets for the combination ticket.)

Please be aware that there are some self-imposed restrictions at some military locations and information sites. The information posted above are Disney's rules. And since tickets have to be activated at WDW by Disney Cast Members, these rules do apply.

For example, at some military locations they will only sell tickets once; rather than buying three tickets once time and three later. Also some military locations will sell six tickets to a spouse, but at WDW six tickets will be activated only if the service member is physically present.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Here are the prices for tickets available to the General Public and Florida Residents effective June 3, 2012

The following prices are not on the chart above. Prices are shown as Adult/Child before Sales Tax:

Blizzard Beach and one round at Winter-Summer Land miniature golf - $ 59.50 / $ 51.50
Water Park Annual Pass Renewal $ 89 / $73
Water Parks and Disney Quest Annual Pass Renewal - $ 117 / $ 90

18-B Reserved for Future Use

18-C Saving money on Upgrades to Annual Passes

It is possible to save a fair amount of money when buying Annual Passes if you have purchased your tickets in advance from an authorized ticket reseller. Generally these tickets are sold at a discount from the Current Gate Price (CGP) of the ticket.

(Please note carefully that the pricing chart in 18-A above does not include the 6.5% sales tax added to all tickets. Some resellers include the tax in their posted price; others add the tax at checkout.)

Step one - Look at the price for the ticket you want to end up with.
Step two - Look for the ticket from the reseller with the best discount from Gate.
Step three - Look at the chart and determine which ticket comes closest to the price of the ticket from Step One, but is not higher that that ticket.
Step four - Buy the ticket from the reseller which has the greatest discount from CGP but does not have a CGP value greater than the ticket you are ending up with.

When you get to the Parks, use the ticket you have purchased to enter any Park. This will change the value of the ticket to the CGP, no matter what was paid for it. Then take the ticket to either a Guest Relations Office or any ticket window (this includes the water parks, TTC or DTD) and do the upgrade.

After being quoted a price, and before making payment, be sure that the cost for the upgrade is within a few cents of what you were expecting to pay (which allows for rounding). If it is not in close agreement, as the CM to recheck their calculations and, if necessary ask "Has the price been bridged?" Sometimes a CM may forget to take the intermediate step to bring the used ticket price up to CGP.

See the discussion about Price Bridging (Or Not) in Post #22.

 

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There are two types of "free" tickets which are handled differently. There are "promotional" tickets and "complimentary" tickets.

Promotional Tickets

Often people will see promotions from both Disney and authorized resellers with an offer of "Buy X days tickets and get Y additional days free". This is promotional hype. If, for example, it says buy four days and get three days free, all it means is you are getting a seven day ticket at a reduced price.

Similarly, the 2009 "Free on Your Birthday" promotion and the 2010 "Give a Day" are promotional tickets. And when Disney has had a "Kids Stay and Play Free" These tickets have the full value of a purchased ticket they can be upgraded as any ticket for which full price was paid.

I would suggest you copy down the following information if you are planning to upgrade promotional tickets. If the person in the window is hesitant to upgrade these promotional tickets, ask them go go into The Hub >> WDW >> Work >> Ticketing >> Processes & Business Rules >> Upgrades >> Upgrade Guide to WDW Tickets and go down about ten items.

Complimentary Tickets

These tickets will normally say on them one of the following: Complimentary, Compassion, Comp, or CP.

They are given to people to make up for a problem and are considered Guest Recovery. These are the tickets that are given to Wish children and their families. In 2010 during the cutoff of trans-Atlantic flights due to the volcano they were given to stranded tourists.

These are also donated to non-profit organizations to auction of sell for their fund raising purposes.

These tickets tend to be one day for either one park or with hopping, but they can be at any level. These tickets, once issued, cannot be upgraded or modified in any way.

Recent Promotions

At the current time there is one special ticket promotions in effect. That is the DVC Member PAP for $399; see the section at the bottom of this post. Some recent, but ended, promotions were:

Give A Day, Get a Disney Day. Program ran January 1 - December 15, 2010

Free On Your Birthday - Valid Only During 2009

Florida Resident purchase Annual Pass good for 15 months ended December 31, 2009.

Any Annual Passholder receive a renewal pass valid for 15 month instead of 12 ended August 31, 2010.

Florida Resident Four Day Pass for $119 ended May 26, 2011.

Florida Resident special three or four day pricing ended May 24, 2012.

Florida Resident special three or four day pricing from January 2013 though June 8, 2013.

Any future Promotions related to tickets will be posted when information is released.

Disney Vacation Club Member Promotional Premium Annual Pass

During the period October 1 through December 31, 2012, DVC Members could purchase Premium Annual Passes for $399.00 (plus tax). This is a flat price for children or adults, new or renewal.

These could be purchased as either live tickets or as vouchers (or will-call or exchange certificates). If they are purchased as vouchers they must be converted to live tickets no later than December 31, 2013.

 

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Ticket Windows and Guest Relations Offices

There are Ticket Windows outside of all four theme parks, both water parks, Disney Quest and Wide World of Sports. The ticket windows for MK are at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC). There are Guest Relations Offices (GRO) at all locations where there are ticket windows including inside the four theme parks, at the MK gate (in addition to the one at the TTC), the Epcot International Gateway, and in Downtown Disney.

Every ticket window and GRO can sell any ticket available to the General Public, as well as Florida Residents and DVC Members. Every ticket window and GRO can also upgrade any ticket which can be upgraded, activate any Exchange Card/Voucher, and issue tickets from a reservation or voucher or replace a lost or demagnetized ticket. These capabilities include all tickets up to and including the WDW Premium AP. The only exception to this is the Disney Premier Pass (good at both WDW and DLR) which may only be purchased or upgraded to at a Park outside GRO window or at DTD (Note Epcot at Front Gate only).

In addition to tickets, the GRO will handle Lost & Found, Guest Recovery, and some very complex problems related to lost tickets that cannot be easily resolved. The GRO at the Theme Parks and DTD can also make dining reservations and handle problems related to Resort Reservations.

Resort Lobby Concierge

At each Disney Resort the Lobby Concierge can handle some problems related to tickets. If the ticket is on your room key (KTTW) they may do upgrades or remove the ticket onto a separate card. If your ticket is on a separate card they can transfer it to your KTTW provided there is no ticket on the KTTW. The LC cannot do anything related to any variety of annual pass, YES program tickets, or Armed Forces Salute Tickets. Also they may not be able to deal with No Expire tickets or paper tickets that were issued during a prior visit.

Other Ticket Purchase Locations

There are three other ways to purchase tickets, which will fall into the general categories of Safe, Problematical and To Be Avoided.

Safe would include The Disney Store, AAA Offices, Online (or by phone) directly from Disney, the Earport at Orlando International Airport, locations at Official Florida Welcome Centers or at Florida Turnpike Rest Stops, and a number of "Authorized Resellers".

I will not attempt to list this last group, but many of them are discussed in this and other forums. They will have the Official Disney Ticket logo on their web site and/or their physical location.

Depending on the location and type of ticket purchased from these locations you will receive either be a "live" ticket which can go directly into the turnstiles or a Voucher/Exchange Certificate which has to be activated or exchanged at any WDW ticket booth or GRO.

Problematical basically is time share locations. They may require you to attend a presentation and promise either free or reduced price tickets, or will do direct sales. It would be extremely rare for them to provide you with live tickets, usually you will receive a voucher which must be exchanged for tickets at a ticket window or GRO. If the ticket, or the voucher, says on it "Touch of Magic" the resultant ticket cannot be upgraded or modified in any way.

To Be Avoided is any private seller unless you know them personally, anybody on eBay, anybody on Craigslist (or similar) and anyone in a storefront or kiosk in either the US-192 or International Drive areas. There is no way you can tell by looking at any ticket what is actually available on the ticket. Many of these locations may be trying to sell expired or fully used tickets. The date shown on a ticket is only the physical date that particular ticket was printed. It could be a replaced demagnetized ticket or one that had days added. Although there is a printed date on the ticket, it can be a date when the ticket was reprinted for some reason and not the original date.

If you have a problem with the turnstile finger scan and cannot provide information to satisfactorily show the ticket is yours it could be cancelled and you would have to buy a new ticket on the spot to get into the parks.

Telephone Advice

Whenever you call Disney, unless you have been told by a person that the specific number is actually a direct line, you will get a Call Center.

The Disney Reservations Center (DRC) has locations in Orlando, Tampa, Houston, Utah and North Carolina. Some of the people at these call centers may have never been to WDW. They will identify themselves as Walt Disney Travel Company or Central Reservations Office (407-W-DISNEY) or Dining (407-WDW-DINE) The Annual Passholder line (407-WDW-PASS) or Tour Reservations (407-WDW-PLAY) or any of several other numbers.

The Main Switchboard (MS) is the main number (407-824-2222). It is also the Resort phone number on the back side of your Resort Reservations form. They are the ones that you get if you press "0" from any telephone on property. If you try to get your Resort Front Desk from a room. They also answer all calls to The Walt Disney Company Corporate Offices in Burbank. If you ask, they will identify themselves as "Guest Services". MS can connect you to any telephone on property, as well as transfer you over to DRC if needed.

Everyone at both DRC and MS have access to a very large computer information system called The Hub. Answers to almost all questions can be found there if you dig deep enough.

The people at MS do not deal with tickets at all. The people at DRC can sell tickets either as part of a package or separately. The people at DRC do not handle any ticket problems or upgrades. If you have any questions about upgrades, replacements, expiration or anything else about tickets you cannot rely on any information from DRC or MS. They have been known to require their agents to give specific information related to early Package Ticket pick-up and hours of special parties, which is not correct. So even though the agents know this information is not correct, if they tell this to the Guest and their call is monitored they could be fired.

Other than actually going to a ticket window or Guest Relations Office your best source of answers to ticket questions is actually DisBoards. If some answers your question incorrectly there will probably be at least a half dozen people jumping in to correct the error or misunderstanding.