Florida Passholders-BEWARE of "extras" on your ticket

[StacyPop]

Well-just got back from a great trip! Now I am furious! Why? I purchased a 3 day play pass with a water park option for my daughter-because it was $22.50 to add it for the 3 days, rather than $40 for the day-she was only going one day. Anyway-told the CM that I would be upgrading to a seasonal-even went so far as to make sure the ticket was plastic so it would make it through the weekend, etc. I just called to find out the price difference and was told that because of the water park option I would have to buy a premium pass -a difference of $300!!!!
I am so mad I could spit. The "ticket specialist" wasnt even sure, she had to go ask someone else. I have sent a ranting email to ticket communications-but I know WDW reads these boards so I am hoping they see my post.
I seriously feel swindled.
I am not trying to be cheap-but I go 4-5 times a year, and certainly spend a LOT of money there other than the 4 annual passes I buy every year.

 

[lovethattink]

I'm confused. If you have an AP, why didn't you get dd an AP then use the AP discount for the one day water park admission?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Ticket sales placards are well marked.
2) Most Disney-related websites clearly state this.
3) You must upgrade to Premium if you have water parks.

 

[StacyPop]

I normally buy a 3 day Fl resident ticket and then upgrade to seasonal. I needed the water park for one day. The CM told me it was cheaper to add the option for the whole 3 days than to buy a one day ticket.
I did not look at the placard-I did not buy on the website. I relied on the CM to inform me of the best option for me. I just feel like I was not fully informed.

 

[anewvance]

Now I have a question. We plan on buying the 3 day play passes for our upcoming trip and will pay the difference to upgrade to a seasonal pass in a few months. We wanted to add hopping to our tickets. Am I going to run into the same problem? Adding an extra like hopping is going to prevent me from upgrading to seasonal passes down the line? Sheesh, I hope not.

 

[PhotobearSam]

Wow, they don't make it easy to understand do they?

Is there a place I can see all the options for Fl passes?

I wonder why they can't drop the water park day?

 

[StacyPop]

I have an email into ticket services, so I will follow up. I know that the park hopping does not deter you from upgrading to seasonal-I have done it every year for 10 years. The water park is what seems to be the problem.
No-they dont make it easy to understand. Guess I need to spend more time reading the fine print-rather than depending on the CM's advice next time.
If you go on Disney's website-they do not tell you that there either-I checked yesterday.
I wonder why they cant drop the water park day too-I would gladly buy the ticket separately, it would still save me a bunch of money.

 

[XOoOoVEEoOoOX]

Now I have a question. We plan on buying the 3 day play passes for our upcoming trip and will pay the difference to upgrade to a seasonal pass in a few months. We wanted to add hopping to our tickets. Am I going to run into the same problem? Adding an extra like hopping is going to prevent me from upgrading to seasonal passes down the line? Sheesh, I hope not.

In this case I woulndt think so because the Seasonal Passes DO allow for parkhopping, where as the water park feature is only available on the Premium Annual Pass.

 

[G8RFAN]

Interesting read. We sent my MIL with my DS to WDW during the blackout period last month, so we specifically asked about buying the 3 day play pass for my MIL, adding a day at BB and then converting it to a seasonal pass sometime afterwards since she would have an unused day. We were assured we could do this. My understanding was that we added a one day water park to the 3 day pass and not a "hopper option" but I will check on this. We have not upgraded her to the seasonal pass yet, but if we are required to upgrade to PAP, we would not do it as the chance for her to go again would be 50/50. If this is true, I would hope that management would approve to just drop off the water park option and just do a simple upgrade to a seasonal pass.

 

[pezpam]

It's semi-easy.... When you upgrade, the new ticket has to have all of the features of the old ticket. You can add features, but not drop them.

Now, if you told the original CM that you wanted the water park option on the three-day ticket, but you wanted to upgrade it to a seasonal pass without the water park option, they should have informed you that you couldn't do that. If you simply told them you'd be upgrading to a seasonal pass, they had no reason to know you didn't want the premium pass.

Now, one way to get out of the situation would be to keep the 3-day pass with options and use it at a time when the seasonal pass is blacked out, then get a separate seasonal pass when you need it.

mousesavers.com has a great page that explains about trading in and upgrading tickets. It saved my butt once and is a great thing to read prior to purchasing your tickets.

 

[MommyPoppins]

It's semi-easy.... When you upgrade, the new ticket has to have all of the features of the old ticket. You can add features, but not drop them.

Now, if you told the original CM that you wanted the water park option on the three-day ticket, but you wanted to upgrade it to a seasonal pass without the water park option, they should have informed you that you couldn't do that. If you simply told them you'd be upgrading to a seasonal pass, they had no reason to know you didn't want the premium pass.

Now, one way to get out of the situation would be to keep the 3-day pass with options and use it at a time when the seasonal pass is blacked out, then get a separate seasonal pass when you need it.

mousesavers.com has a great page that explains about trading in and upgrading tickets. It saved my butt once and is a great thing to read prior to purchasing your tickets.

There is no such thing as the seasonal pass with a water park option. The seasonal pass is just that. A seasonal pass to the 4 parks. That's it. That's why it's SO cheap. Because of the blackout dates and lack of extras.

 

[tinkersmama]

Why not just buy a seasonal pass after you use the 3 day pass instead of upgrading?

 

[G8RFAN]

Why not just buy a seasonal pass after you use the 3 day pass instead of upgrading?

Well, so to not have to spend the $120 difference between the upgrade and the standalone price of $223. Sure you get the benefit of a current start date, but if your return trips are timed within 12 months of the initial visit, why spend the $120 if WDW can rationalize this?

 

[pezpam]

There is no such thing as the seasonal pass with a water park option. The seasonal pass is just that. A seasonal pass to the 4 parks. That's it. That's why it's SO cheap. Because of the blackout dates and lack of extras.

Ah, well then first, I misunderstood and second, that explains it. While the rules seem tricky when we get into all sorts of details, it still boils down to what I said before. When you upgrade, the new ticket has to include all of the options the first one did.

That said, if you told the CM you were upgrading specifically to a season pass, then you should have been informed that wasn't possible.

Is there maybe a friend who would buy the 3-day from you? Unless you can return the ticket, that's the only thing I can think of offhand. Sorry.

 

[jeast]

Since the OP just got back, I think he already used the 3 day and found out when he got home that he couldn't upgrade to a regular season pass.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I agree that the tickets can be a little confusing with all the options, but what I don't understand is why, if the op wanted a seasonal pass in the first place, why didn't she just buy it that way? Why make two changes?

To the other poster who asked about upgrading, there is one other thing, most passes require you to upgrade within 14 days of first use. I'm not sure about the FL 3 day pass though.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Im confused. When you had a ticket and do an upgrade to a an AP type tickets the date is still the first date that the ticket was used and they only credit you what you paid for the ticket. Why not just get the AP to start with?

The CM told you the right thing with the ticket that you had. Did you tell her you wanted to do the upgrade too?

 

[StacyPop]

I dont buy the pass to begin with because I was only there for 3 days. My DD went to the water park one day, so I added that option for just that. I am not going back till December. I have done it this way every year. The only difference is the water park option-which is why I didnt know about it. I usually buy the 3 day FL res pass for $100 for her, then when I go back next, I pay the difference (about $80) to upgrade to a seasonal for the rest of the year's trips. That way I break down the ticket price into 2 payments.
The CM recommended I add the option, because it was $22.50 and she could go each of the 3 days if she wanted, versus the one day WP ticket of $40. She knew I was going to upgrade, and never told me that it would prevent me from doing so.
If I had known that, I would have bought the 3 day pass, and also a one day WP ticket. It would STILL have saved me a ton of money.
I am going to be out an extra $100, having to start all over, if they will not let me upgrade.

PS-the FL res ticket gives you 6 months to upgrade-so I can wait till my next trip to have to pay the difference.

 

[rlovew]

Interesting read. We sent my MIL with my DS to WDW during the blackout period last month, so we specifically asked about buying the 3 day play pass for my MIL, adding a day at BB and then converting it to a seasonal pass sometime afterwards since she would have an unused day. We were assured we could do this. My understanding was that we added a one day water park to the 3 day pass and not a "hopper option" but I will check on this. We have not upgraded her to the seasonal pass yet, but if we are required to upgrade to PAP, we would not do it as the chance for her to go again would be 50/50. If this is true, I would hope that management would approve to just drop off the water park option and just do a simple upgrade to a seasonal pass.

Since this ticket wasa used during the blackout period it cannot be upgrade to a Seasonal Pass only a regular Annual pass, if you added a water park to it then it has to become a premium annual pass. These rules have been in place for years now.

 

[TiggerAllie]

Oh ticket experts-- a question for you!
If you have a premium annual pass, can you "renew" it to a regular annual pass, or does it need to remain a PAP to get the renewal discount? Based on our needs this year, we got PAPs, but we will decide next summer if it is worth the discount to renew. Of course, I don't know what costs more, a new AP or a PAP renewal, or what the discounted renewal rates will be next summer.
TIA!