HELP! Using old park passes vs. trading them in

[amarberry]

Hi there,

My mom, DD and I MIGHT be taking a short trip to Disney in May. I have a couple of old park passes that I was thinking about using, but I'm not sure how it works. Help please!

I have one day left on a pass from 2002 when DH and I stayed at POR. It's a ticket/room key combo so it has my name on it and I know that there is only one day left.

The other passes are a little trickier. My mother was/is a travel agent, so on our Nov. 2004 trip, she was able to get significantly discounted tickets for herself and slightly discounted tickets for DH and I. These passes don't have our names on them, just characters. I have no idea which ticket was mine or which ticket was my husbands. I also don't remember how many days we have left on the passes.

So here are my questions:

1. Is there anyway to call Disney and find out how many days are remaining on the passes?

2. Did they have the biometric scan thing back in 2004? Does it matter which ticket was mine and which one was DH's? Would it be completely unethical of me to use both passes if there was no biometric scan? I'm thinking it's probably unethical and that I'm a very bad Disboarder by even asking this question.

3. If I have say 3 days of unused park passes and I'm planning to be in the park for 5 days, what's the best strategy? Do I cash in the 3 days towards a 5 day, or do I use the 3 days and buy a two day pass (I'd need to get a hopper added on). What determines the "cash value" of old passes?

Thank you, thank you, thank you for any help!!!!

 

[Robo]

Question 1 is easy.

You cannot call for this info. They will not give it out.
You must actually present the ticket(s) to Guest services a WDW resort, park, or DTD.

If you have a valid ticket(s) with a remining day(s) of use in it.
It can be used for admission.
If it has no name on it, it can be used by anyone in your party.

If it has a magnetic stripe, it can be used directly at the gate.
If it does NOT have a magnetic stripe (or it has become demagnetized) you can trade it for a "new" admission ticket(s) at Guest Relations outside a theme-park or at DTD.

It is virtually always a better deal to actually USE a somewhat older ticket AS a ticket (don't trade it in as PART of a new MULTI-DAY pass.)
Because it is worth more as a "full-day's admission" pass.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

I consider old tickets "gold". Use them and enjoy, they will tell you at guest services exactly what is left on the tickets. I try to write on the back of the ticket what is left on our tickets after every visit (sometimes every night). It

The only reason that I can think of not to use the tickets is that I use the "well we have some old tickets to use up" as an excuse to plan yet another trip to WDW

 

[amarberry]

It is virtually always a better deal to actually USE a somewhat older ticket AS a ticket (don't trade it in as PART of a new MULTI-DAY pass.)
Because it is worth more as a "full-day's admission" pass.

Even with the MYW tickets being so expensive for a one or two day pass? If I need a one or two day park hopper, it's going to cost me approximately $110 or $175. A 5 day park hopper would be about $250. I don't know how they value the old tickets, but if I was to get $40 per day when I cashed them in to use towards a new ticket, wouldn't it then cost me about $90 ($160 for the old tickets) if I needed to add one more day and $130 ($120 for the old tickets) if I needed to get two more days?

 

[Robo]

Even with the MYW tickets being so expensive for a one or two day pass? If I need a one or two day park hopper, it's going to cost me approximately $110 or $175. A 5 day park hopper would be about $250. I don't know how they value the old tickets, but if I was to get $40 per day when I cashed them in to use towards a new ticket, wouldn't it then cost me about $90 ($160 for the old tickets) if I needed to add one more day and $130 ($120 for the old tickets) if I needed to get two more days?

Now you've got it.

If you will NEVER be going to WDW again (to actually USE the old tickets at THAT point), then you can "trade them in" and get the (relatively) "tiny amount" they'll be worth as the "added days" on a new multi-day pass.

Like you said, a one or two-day MYW ticket costs a LOT of money.
The "old" ticket you bought for $40 or so, back then, is NOW worth the cost of a single admission ($$$) but ONLY if you USE it and not trade it in.
A trade-in will only get you the lesser amount. YOU must decide.

 

[wdwguide]

Even with the MYW tickets being so expensive for a one or two day pass? If I need a one or two day park hopper, it's going to cost me approximately $110 or $175. A 5 day park hopper would be about $250. I don't know how they value the old tickets, but if I was to get $40 per day when I cashed them in to use towards a new ticket, wouldn't it then cost me about $90 ($160 for the old tickets) if I needed to add one more day and $130 ($120 for the old tickets) if I needed to get two more days?

If you are NEVER going to Disney again, trading them in will likely be your best option (but you'll have to do the math yourself). If you are going again in the future, using your old ticket and then getting something like a non-expiring ten-day park hopper would probably be the best long-term investment.

Also, if you are going to go with buying an extra two-day ticket, do you *really* need to park hop every single day you are there?