I'm struggling with the new system

[sukhakuli]

I'm trying to book a trip for Sept/Oct, but with the My Disney Experience and Fastpass + thing, I'm having some major struggles. I'm working with a TA (bless her heart), and every time I try to get the tickets and resorts figured out, there's some block, that of course can only be got around by spending a LOT more money. This isn't our first trip, but this is the first time I'm about to bag the whole thing and not go at all.

The discounts, resort rates, and tickets were easy to understand before. This time around, everything is linked somehow with FP+ and MDE, and, in return, will cost us almost double to get the same trip we had in 2011. The final straw was when my TA told me that if I buy the Stars and Stripes tickets I can't use FP+, unless I'm a SoG guest, then they send them out early and I can book it 30 days before. Or I can spend 500 more and buy the equivalent Disney tickets for 30 extra FP+ booking days.

Am I missing something here? It's like the only viable option is to stay off property. Or spend almost twice as much as I spent a few years ago for a couple of perks that don't seem like they are worth the extra money. It feels like I'm getting much less, but spending much more. I get that prices go up, but 75%?

 

[subtchr]

Sorry for your frustrations.

I'm not sure what you mean about everything being "linked" with FP+ & MDE.

The Stars and Stripes tickets are available to guests at Shades of Green or any WDW onsite resort. I think what you are saying is that if you are staying at SOG they will send them to you in advance, but if you are staying at another Disney resort, you have to wait until you arrive, is that correct? I haven't used Stars and Stripes tickets for many years, so I'm not sure about that. One thing I do know is that even if you are staying at another onsite resort and use those tickets, it is not that you cannot use FP+ -- every park guest can use FP+ -- the issue is that you can't book your FP+ in advance.

But there are other ticket options that I don't believe should cost you $500 more. You don't say how many people in your party or how many days you are staying, or whether you want park hoppers or water parks. I assume since you are talking about SOG, you are a military family? Is there a reason you are not considering the Military Salute tickets?

There are also discount tickets available at bases in advance. It's not a huge discount, but it's better than buying directly from Disney, and you can link them ahead of time to your MDE to make FP+ reservations. Check your local ITT office.

Yes, prices have gone up, but we can't really compare things for you without more information. Best of luck as you try to work through the options!

 

[Robo]

Confusing?

Yes.

 

[msmama]

Also, discounts for that time frame haven't been announced yet so you'd pretty much only be looking at rack rate rooms and tickets.

 

[prudence64]

You you aren't going at a peak time so I would just book the vacation you want to afford without regard to fp. Fp is not associated with costs, so it sounds like your TA is just saying that you can't book fp at 60 days with whatever package you first wanted. Booking at 30 shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Julylady]

Sorry OP, I can't figure out what your issues are either. Yes, prices have gone up, but that iiis notconnected to MDE or FP plus. Maybe you are trying to book earlier at rack rate when before you booked at a discount? Are you traveling with more people, or are your kids now considered Disney adults?

 

[mom2rtk]

I think maybe the OP is wanting the best shot at FP times. And to do that, you need tickets linked in advance and to be staying at an onsite resort. In the past, she had equal access even though she's using the discounted military tickets. Now that may not be the case if she can't get her hands on them early. So she might have to upgrade to an onsite resort and purchase non-discounted tickets if she wants the best shot at FP times. That all costs more money.

 

[Tinkermommabell]

You have to buy your tickets outside of your TA as far as I'm aware, and that's what our family is doing in order to take advantage of the disney military salute tickets. They are 177 a piece for 4 days with park hopper. More info can be found here and they can connect to MDE and FP http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Disney-Armed-Forces-Salute.html.

Hope that helps!

 

[Saimaeve]

We used Armed Forces Salute tickets last year, we bought them at ITT and I linked them to my My Disney Experience app by scanning. (It did take a couple scans to work)
I was able to book FP+ like normal.

It may very well be more expensive than it was 4 years ago. Prices change.

 

[sukhakuli]

I think maybe the OP is wanting the best shot at FP times. And to do that, you need tickets linked in advance and to be staying at an onsite resort. In the past, she had equal access even though she's using the discounted military tickets. Now that may not be the case if she can't get her hands on them early. So she might have to upgrade to an onsite resort of non-discounted tickets if she wants the best shot at FP times. That all costs more money.

Yes, that's correct.

But it's also not just the tickets. It's been a lot of little things adding up, and then the tickets were kind of the last straw.

We're a military family and we're going in Sept/Oct. We're a family of 6, 4 Disney adults and 1 child, one under 3. We have 14 days, and I want to keep the trip under 10k, all in.

The plan was to do what we did last time. Maybe I don't remember how I did this, but we did a split stay between a moderate and a deluxe, with free dining for the same number of days. We were one less kid then, but my dad came with us, and it was the holiday season. The trip was about 5-7k. I priced out a similar trip with my travel agent and it was going to be well upwards of 10k. The first catch, is that we would need 2 sets of 5 day tickets. For a base ticket with no options it was 3200! So, there goes my split stay and free dining. And pretty much everything I wanted in the vacation blew up in my face. So I started looking at room only reservations and tickets. We can do a military discount on the rooms, and not get a package and then I'm free to get the tickets wherever I want, right? Well... The tickets through MWR (military) are essentially just tax free. Pretty much the exact same price. Or, I can get the tickets through SoG doing their "Stars and Stripes" thing. The tickets cost the same as the base tickets, but we get the park hoppers and water park essentially for free. Might as well do that. So I'm on the road booking this whole thing (after a resort change because of resort issues), and my TA tells me we can only use the S&S tickets for advance FP+ booking if we stay at SoG. Already I am not seeing how FP+ is doing us any favors. It just seems to be costing us more money, or forcing us off property so we can use it.

Like I said, last straw and all.

I am completely lost on what to do for this trip. I'm tired of trying to plan it, my TA is probably sick to death of me (but she's really nice), and my husband is sick of it and won't give me any advice. I've never been so annoyed at planning a trip before.

 

[rwdavis2]

Why do you need 2 sets of 5 day tickets? Is there a day limit on the type of tickets you are considering? Have you priced 10 day tickets?

 

[DLM1980]

Why do you need 2 sets of 5 day tickets? Is there a day limit on the type of tickets you are considering? Have you priced 10 day tickets?

I'm thinking they are trying to do a split stay with free dining which for free dining don't you need a package for each stay?