Help! Trying to get last-minute tickets on sold out day

[Blizzyblizz]

My friend is going to Orlando with a group that are all doing Hollywood Studios on April 13th and Magic Kingdom on April 14th. Unfortunately he blew it and forgot to get tickets or park reservations for his family. Now those dates are sold out.

How can he still get those tickets/reservations now, on late notice? Willing to spend time stalking the website and/or pay extra to make it happen.

One thought is to just buy the tickets now and then stalk the site until reservations pop up. Unfortunately, though, because 4/11-4/13 are sold out, it won't even let him buy tickets covering those dates

--Do they ever make more tickets available for a date after it shows as unavailable? I know they do for reservations, but I'm not sure about actually buying tickets.
--Is there any way to buy a general ticket that isn't limited to certain dates?
--Any other thoughts on how we can make this happen?

Thank you!

 

[starry_solo]

Stay on site. There is a different bucket for those staying at a Disney resort.

 

[Miffy]

Stay on site. There is a different bucket for those staying at a Disney resort.

Right now--I just checked--even for staying onsite, the 13th is sold out and the 14th has only Epcot available.

OP--I have no advice for your friend, but perhaps another poster will.

 

[Ursula J]

There are a couple of twitter bots that monitor this--@wdwstats is one, I think. I don't know anyone who's used it, I just see them pop up sometimes

 

[SteveMouse]

it is not in Disney’s interest to sell tickets for a date for which no availability remains.

It is possible, though I would deem unlikely, that Disney would add availability to those dates. In addition to pure crowding, Disney had to have staff, and that may be a barrier.

The best bet is likely stalking.

 

[Blizzyblizz]

Thanks for all the replies! Having stalked the site for a little while now, I can confirm that tickets for sale on a given date can/do reappear after they were previously unavailable. Earlier today, both 4/3 (tomorrow) and 4/4 (day after tomorrow) were unavailable, but as of right now they're available for purchase.

His plan is to stalk the site, buy tickets for those individual days once available, and then once tickets are in hand stalk it again to make park reservations.

 

[CKCruising]

it is not in Disney’s interest to sell tickets for a date for which no availability remains.

It is possible, though I would deem unlikely, that Disney would add availability to those dates. In addition to pure crowding, Disney had to have staff, and that may be a barrier.

The best bet is likely stalking.

It is odd that I can't buy a ticket containing a sold out date. I can't buy a 4 day ticket that includes a sold out date even though I can use it for 7 days from the start date. If I am going for a week and the middle day is sold out, I can't get a 4 day ticket. As long as there is 4 days in the 7 day period, I should be able to purchase the ticket.

 

[maltdizzy]

Stay on site. There is a different bucket for those staying at a Disney resort.

Not really, despite separate calendars, the hotel guest and day ticket availability has always been exactly the same. All ticket holders appear to draw from the same bucket. The difference is guests with packages are guaranteed tickets (and at least one park), whereas day tickets are not always available to purchase.

 

[lanejudy]

The difference is guests with packages are guaranteed tickets (and at least one park)

Not quite. A package obviously includes tickets. But without a park reservation nobody is guaranteed entry to any park on any given day.

 

[maltdizzy]

Not quite. A package obviously includes tickets. But without a park reservation nobody is guaranteed entry to any park on any given day.

Ticketed Disney hotel guests are guaranteed admission to one park, not of their choosing. The concierge will book. They may have changed that, but it was part of the original language for Park Passes.

 

[lanejudy]

Ticketed Disney hotel guests are guaranteed admission to one park, not of their choosing. The concierge will book. They may have changed that, but it was part of the original language for Park Passes.

It used to be a guarantee that a WDW resort guest could enter a park each day though maybe not the park of choice; this wasn't just for those with a package booking, it was anyone staying onsite. However this is no longer true. SInce the re-opening they started requiring theme park reservations and no longer guarantee park entry. While possibly someone could get pixie dust and have concierge find a reservation, I certainly would not count on it. This is the message that pops up when you book a package:

Check Park Reservation Availability Before Purchasing​

All Guests, including Disney Resort hotel Guests, must have both a valid ticket or Annual pass and a theme park reservation to enter one of the parks.Theme park reservations can be made via the Disney Park Pass system after your ticket or Annual pass purchase is complete. Please check reservation availability before purchasing. Availability of park reservations is limited, not guaranteed and subject to change.​

 

[klementine99]

Did your friend happen to find a ticket and/or reservation? I've been stalking the calendar to get a spot at Epcot for the 20th, but can't seem to find any new openings for any of the days. I thought Epcot would be easy to score after being sold out, but I'm almost positive no one has cancelled their reservation. My whole family already has one, so I'm really scared that I won't be able to get into the park :/ Last resort is begging to guest relations

 

[Blizzyblizz]

Did your friend happen to find a ticket and/or reservation? I've been stalking the calendar to get a spot at Epcot for the 20th, but can't seem to find any new openings for any of the days. I thought Epcot would be easy to score after being sold out, but I'm almost positive no one has cancelled their reservation. My whole family already has one, so I'm really scared that I won't be able to get into the park :/ Last resort is begging to guest relations

Nothing yet. I'm helping them search....have seen one or two parks briefly add availability on certain days (typically same day or next day), but that's about it. Nothing at all yet that I've seen for the dates I'm looking for.

 

[Upatnoon]

My friend is going to Orlando with a group that are all doing Hollywood Studios on April 13th and Magic Kingdom on April 14th. Unfortunately he blew it and forgot to get tickets or park reservations for his family. Now those dates are sold out.

How can he still get those tickets/reservations now, on late notice? Willing to spend time stalking the website and/or pay extra to make it happen.

One thought is to just buy the tickets now and then stalk the site until reservations pop up. Unfortunately, though, because 4/11-4/13 are sold out, it won't even let him buy tickets covering those dates

--Do they ever make more tickets available for a date after it shows as unavailable? I know they do for reservations, but I'm not sure about actually buying tickets.
--Is there any way to buy a general ticket that isn't limited to certain dates?
--Any other thoughts on how we can make this happen?

Thank you!

Get what you can get, buy a park hopper, and they hop to one of the sold-out parks in the afternoon.

 

[klementine99]

Nothing yet. I'm helping them search....have seen one or two parks briefly add availability on certain days (typically same day or next day), but that's about it. Nothing at all yet that I've seen for the dates I'm looking for.

Thanks for the update - Hopefully you and your friend find something! I will also be stalking the site - Don't know why the weekdays are so packed and weekends of april are for the most part free..

 

[theFoof]

The only other "trick" I can think of to at least get a ticket would be if your friend is eligible to buy the promotional military tickets that are good until Christmas break.

Unsure of how many members are in their travel party but it will likely be extremely tough to get reservations for those specific parks on those days for everyone unless Disney opens up more availability.

Not very helpful for their Disney trip but if they're set on coming down Universal doesn't require park reservations.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Nothing yet. I'm helping them search....have seen one or two parks briefly add availability on certain days (typically same day or next day), but that's about it. Nothing at all yet that I've seen for the dates I'm looking for.

And to make it even harder, even if you did see the date you want come available you have to purchase AND then get to the point to reserve a park very quickly, before the parks then book up again. It's entirely possible, if only a small number of spots were to open, they could disappear during the ticket purchase process. It's just an awful system all the way around.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

It is odd that I can't buy a ticket containing a sold out date. I can't buy a 4 day ticket that includes a sold out date even though I can use it for 7 days from the start date. If I am going for a week and the middle day is sold out, I can't get a 4 day ticket. As long as there is 4 days in the 7 day period, I should be able to purchase the ticket.

You'd think but they don't work it that way. If any day in the entire 7 day period is sold out they won't sell you the ticket even if the one you are buying is for less than 7 days. Not even sure you can get GS to override this but you could at least ask, if you are willing to wait on the phone in order to do so. They'd let you buy a bunch of single day tickets but that would be really dumb unless you are buying 4 or less. At least I think it's 4 or less. Used to be 5 or more that started to have a significant savings. Fewer days was lesser savings. Haven't checked on that breaking point in a while.