Guest services at International Gateway EPCOT?

[Camp Rd. Lady]

Need to change (undercover tourist) tickets to hopper passes. Told to go to park guest services before entering parks and pay the increased price. We are staying at Dolphin w/o a car. Does the International Gateway entrance have a guest service that can do this? Can they change them at the Dolphin when we check in? Thank you!

 

[Robo]

Need to change (undercover tourist) tickets to hopper passes. Told to go to park guest services before entering parks and pay the increased price. We are staying at Dolphin w/o a car. Does the International Gateway entrance have a guest service that can do this? Can they change them at the Dolphin when we check in? Thank you!

You want to do that upgrade AFTER you have used the ticket to go into a theme park at least one time.

But, yes, the IG at Epcot can do the deed.

(I don't think the Dolphin's concierge can upgrade tickets.)

Again, use your ticket first, then upgrade it.
(You can do the upgrade inside the park or outside the park after you've exited, or on the way into the next park.)

 

[LaurenT]

The reason Robo is saying to enter a park first is that if you do it before the ticket is used, they will charge you the difference between what you paid and what you're upgrading to. If you use it first and then upgrade, you will be charged only for the upgrade ... Your current ticket will be valued at whatever Disney is charging for it at the time, no what you paid UT for it.

 

[winthropf]

I agree on the use the ticket first. In fact, if you don't use it, you may only get credit for what UT paid Disney for the ticket, not what you paid. In this case, it would cost you more than a full price for the hopper ticket. Know what the cost should be after using the ticket, and if the CM wants to charge you more, make sure you point out that the ticket price should be "bridged" to the current gate price. If the CM says they can't do that, either ask for a supervisor or go to a different GS location or ticket window.

 

[Robo]

I agree on the use the ticket first. In fact, if you don't use it, you may only get credit for what UT paid Disney for the ticket, not what you paid. In this case, it would cost you more than a full price for the hopper ticket. Know what the cost should be after using the ticket, and if the CM wants to charge you more, make sure you point out that the ticket price should be "bridged" to the current gate price. If the CM says they can't do that, either ask for a supervisor or go to a different GS location or ticket window.

Agreed.
And, if you'll post exactly what UT ticket that you will have, we can tell you, to the penny, what the upgrade should cost.

 

[MPLsDad]

I had UT tickets (6 day PH plus Waterparks) and I had a heck of a time upgrading them to APs, even after I had used them to get into EPCOT and upgrade inside the park. The castmembers at Guest Services initially would only give me credit for what UT had paid for the tickets. Only after my repeated insistence would they give me a Disney gift card with the difference of the value. I would not recommend doing this to save money - the Castmember told me they were doing this as a courtesy and weren't obligated to do so.

 

[Robo]

I had UT tickets (6 day PH plus Waterparks) and I had a heck of a time upgrading them to APs, even after I had used them to get into EPCOT and upgrade inside the park. The castmembers at Guest Services initially would only give me credit for what UT had paid for the tickets. Only after my repeated insistence would they give me a Disney gift card with the difference of the value. I would not recommend doing this to save money - the Castmember told me they were doing this as a courtesy and weren't obligated to do so.

Sorry you encountered untrained and uncooperative CMs.

And, the line about doing X as "a courtesy, one-time-only, blah-blah-blah" is an old line used by CMs who know nothing about procedures they are supposed to know.

 

[Camp Rd. Lady]

Thanks for all your replies. I bought UT 5 day (one park per day) instead of hopper for 2 adults for $643.90 total. Disney is showing 2 adult (park hopper) tickets for total of $807.28 including taxes. I'm thinking it will cost me $163.38 to change. Am I correct? I still don't quite understand using tickets before changing or go to guest services first. I hope they don't give me a hard time because I don't deal with confrontation well. I'm a wimp!

 

[Robo]

Thanks for all your replies. I bought UT 5 day (one park per day) instead of hopper for 2 adults for $643.90 total. Disney is showing 2 adult (park hopper) tickets for total of $807.28 including taxes. I'm thinking it will cost me $163.38 to change. Am I correct? I still don't quite understand using tickets before changing or go to guest services first. I hope they don't give me a hard time because I don't deal with confrontation well. I'm a wimp!

Disney price for TWO 5-day base tickets is $670.96 (including tax.)
Disney price for TWO 5-day HOPPER tickets is $807.28 (including tax.)

After using your tickets to enter a theme park at least one time BEFORE upgrading,
you will owe the difference price from the above numbers, or $136.32 to upgrade both tickets (including tax.)

It does not matter in this situation how much you paid for your UT tickets.
Disney has no way of knowing what you paid for your UT tickets.
Disney only knows how much UT paid Disney for the tickets.
And, if you don't USE your UT tickets at least one time to enter a theme park
before you upgrade, Disney may attempt
to charge you the difference from the wholesale cost.
NOT GOOD.
Because if that happens, you'd be paying more for your tickets than if you had bought them from Disney originally.

Ask the CM at the ticket booth or Guest Relations how much the cost will be to upgrade when you first show her/him your tickets.
If the cost is more than $136.32, just thank the CM, say that you've changed your mind, and take your tickets back. No confrontation needed.
Then, go to another ticket booth or Guest Relations at some point before you want to park-hop.

 

[MPLsDad]

Sorry you encountered untrained and uncooperative CMs.

And, the line about doing X as "a courtesy, one-time-only, blah-blah-blah" is an old line used by CMs who know nothing about procedures they are supposed to know.

Thanks Robo - I followed you advice from other posts and it didn't turn out for me. Hoping it works out for the OP!

 

[Robo]

Thanks Robo - I followed you advice from other posts and it didn't turn out for me. Hoping it works out for the OP!

What do you mean by "didn't turn out?"

You didn't get your upgrade?

 

[MPLsDad]

Sorry to be misleading - I should have said that it didn't turn out the way I expected it to. I did get the upgrade, but not until after I laid out the cash and received a Disney Gift Card for the difference and I spent 2 hours (yes, 2 hours) of my park day working all this out at Guest Services inside the park. You give great advice all the time so I don't mean to infer that upgrading from UT doesn't work - it just may cause some inconvenience.

 

[Robo]

Sorry to be misleading - I should have said that it didn't turn out the way I expected it to. I did get the upgrade, but not until after I laid out the cash and received a Disney Gift Card for the difference and I spent 2 hours (yes, 2 hours) of my park day working all this out at Guest Services inside the park. You give great advice all the time so I don't mean to infer that upgrading from UT doesn't work - it just may cause some inconvenience.

Thanks for clarifying your experience.
It's a shame that you happened to encounter poorly-trained and uncooperative CMs.

I figure that those untrained CMs think they are "helping" Disney to "save money" by making up their own "CM rules" about ticket upgrades.

What's important to remember is that DISNEY is the designer of the practice of making tickets (used to first enter a theme park) "worth" the price of a current new ticket... for the purposes of the upgrade transaction.

The third party authorized ticket resellers (like Undercover Tourist) are a valuable ally in marketing WDW tickets. Disney's interests are served by making the tickets sold by those resellers as valuable to guests as the ones sold at the WDW gates.

 

[maccagerl]

I was there in Feb with a 4 day PH from UT. On my last day there, I upgraded to an AP. The CM at guest relations knew exactly what to do, bridged the tickets, and charged me the exact amount I expected. I guess it's luck of the draw whether you get a knowledgeable CM or not.
Like Robo said, if they don't tell you the right amount, just take your ticket and try another CM.
Good luck!