Important questions about ticket upgrades

[princesslily]

Huge question about tickets! I have read the ticket thread and understand what it says, I am just looking for anyone with personal experience. I have called the disney reservations twice and each time they said it was possible, however the ticket thread says it is not.
I purchased 7 day tickets last year and got sick while there. Disney upgrades them to non-expiring. I want to put on the park hopper option and upgrade to a 10 day. Is that possible? I also have 1 day on my reservation and was told I could use that to combine and help pay for the difference. Has anyone done this! Please let me know.

 

[vicki_c]

Ticket upgrades can only be done within 14 days of first use. It does not matter if they are non-expiring tickets or not.

By one day on your reservation - I assume you mean you have one day tickets with your package? Yes, that ticket can be upgraded to another type of ticket. But it's a 1 for 1 thing - you can't take 4 1 day tickets and upgrade them to 1 other type of ticket.

 

[doconeill]

Unfortunately, the CMs who answer phones don't always know what is and isn't possible.

You can always ASK when you are there, but they won't be able to do anything at the resort most likely - I'd ask at Guest Relations. The answer is likely to be "no", but who knows where pixie dust may be spread...

But keep in mind - if the ticket has had No Expire added, even if you added days, you need to pay the additional cost of the No Expire option on the additional days - which isn't cheap. It would cost an additional $103+tax to add the three days, plus $52 for Park Hopper. It is still cheaper than a 3-day ticket though.

Assuming Disney added No Expire for you at no cost, I would be less concerned about the standard advice of avoiding using two separate tickets in one trip. It would still cost a bit more, but you've already paid for the 1-day ticket base ticket - adding 2 more days is $140+tax.

Still, the ideal situation is to save the No Expire ticket for a future shorter trip, and get the right-sized ticket for this trip.

 

[chartle]

If you never used the 7 day ticket then yes you can upgrade it, but since all unused tickets are good forever there would have been no reason to add the NE option.

If you did use some days, most likely scenario, the PP's are right you can't upgrade the ticket after 14 days and you can't use two tickets (except for a unique water park upgrade) to upgrade to a new ticket.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

When you call Walt Disney World, unless you really know a direct number, you will get one of two offices.

The Disney Reservations Center (DRC) includes Walt Disney Travel Company (WDTC), Central Reservations Office (CRO), Disney Dining, and some other lesser known information lines. To the best of my knowledge the DRC locations are in the International Drive area, Tampa, Houston, Salt Lake City and somewhere in North Carolina. There may be more. Some of the people working at the DRC call centers may never have been to either WDW or DL (or both).

The Main Switchboard (407-824-2222) is also where all calls to Disney Resorts go if you are dialing the phone number on the back of your reservations form. Also that is where calls go if you dial the Operator from your room, and possibly even calls to the Front Desk. The Main Switchboard people will, if asked, also identify themselves as Guest Services. They can put you through to any number on WDW.

At both DRC and MS they have access to a computer which has lots of Guest Information and it is very well organized. Actually, all CMs who have access to a terminal, or who even can access the "Cast Portal" from off-site, have access to this Guest Services information. I will often open an extra window when I am responding to people and go into the Portal for the latest official information.

The people at DRC and MS do not deal with upgrades, partially used tickets, or problems related to tickets. They do not know all the rules. The people at DRC can sell unused tickets; the people at MS don't deal with tickets at all.

The people who work in the ticket booths at the Parks or in Guest Relations at the Parks (and this includes TTC, the Water Parks, and GRO in DTD) deal with ticket upgrades and unusual problems on a daily basis. I would not say that someone you talked to on the phone lied to you, but just they were attempting to answer a question when they really did not have an answer.

 

[cindyfan]

I think I'd go with what a previous post said.....
save this non-expire for a shorter trip. buy a 10 day expire PH for this trip.

in the long run, I think that would be the most cost-effective.

have fun.

 

[princesslily]

That's awful! I have to buy a whole new ticket to add a park hopper!

 

[BrettS]

That's awful! I have to buy a whole new ticket to add a park hopper!

Well, I'm not quite sure it's awful, but it is a good example of the lack of flexibility with non expiration tickets and how they require a lot of advanced planning to be able to use well.

If you let us know how many days you are staying on this trip and how many days are left on your non expiration tickets we might be able to come up with a good plan for using them.

HTH,
Brett

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There is often some flexibility, but this can depend a lot on both the person in the booth and the direct supervisor as well as the attitude of the requestor.

A couple of weeks ago I had a family come with four 10 day NE passes that were about a year or so old. Three of the four passes had WPF&M on them. As an exception I was able to add the WPF&M option to the 4th pass. I was not able to do any price bridging, so it cost the person about $72 instead of the normal $55.

So you never know what sort of Pixie Dust may happen. If you make a polite request the worst that can happen is you will be told no.

 

[princesslily]

I have 7 day base passes. Last year I used 2 days, I had to shorten the trip because of a family emergency! Before I left I stop in downtown disney and added non expire. They never told me I only had 14 days to make changes. I would have added when I was there.

 

[a1tinkfans]

OP: I guess it does not hurt to ask, but appears you may be out of luck getting what you want.

Last year we used our tickets and then I added days at the resort, unknowingly the cm actually added More days then I wanted (each, on three separate tix) Then when we decided to added the hopper 1/2 way thru (which one should not do )and they reviewed the tix I was surprised to learn that we had Xtra days we'd never be able to use and I paid for that (I think there was a misunderstanding between total days wanted and adding to the already used days) I am quite sure it was my error in telling her amount. Anyhoo, The CM was so very kind and helpful and seemed to know the CM that apparently misunderstood me OR just made a mistake (which seemed to be what she was thinking) and as a result we were asked if we wanted refund (cc) back for Xtra days (I think it was 2-3) days we could not use with that 14 day period OR did we want to get non expire added gratis to our tix. I honestly had no idea which was a better "deal" and knowing that we do return trips and the money was already spent "per se" , I just did the non expire and we're using those tix this next trip (well, maybe, we're getting that 1 day with our pkg and the GAP, so we may save them again )
anyhow, we found that the CM was so helpful and once again, it reminds me of WHY I love to vacation at Disney, generally speaking, they really try and provide customers with a good experience. As far as if I made out okay or not, I still do not know, and frankly, do not even care at this point, all I do know is that we have like 3 park days each and like 4-5 water parks left on these tix and I intend to actually stop at DTD (just learned that info this week here on dis) to see/confirm EXactly what we have left and THEN I am using perm marker to mark the tix! I actually saved everything they gave me last time, so hopefully no issues and not expecting any.
Good Luck!

 

[BrettS]

I have 7 day base passes. Last year I used 2 days, I had to shorten the trip because of a family emergency! Before I left I stop in downtown disney and added non expire. They never told me I only had 14 days to make changes. I would have added when I was there.

How many days are you gonna be here for this trip?

 

[ougrad86]

Trying to figure out if I am reading this right - I am planning to buy 10-day PH NE tickets. If I use 5 of the days, can I add 5 more days at the slightly less expensive price (compared to a new ticket) so I can still have a 10-day PH NE when we leave for future park trips? Be a big outlay at first, but will pay off for future trips.

 

[doconeill]

Trying to figure out if I am reading this right - I am planning to buy 10-day PH NE tickets. If I use 5 of the days, can I add 5 more days at the slightly less expensive price (compared to a new ticket) so I can still have a 10-day PH NE when we leave for future park trips? Be a big outlay at first, but will pay off for future trips.

No, no MYW ticket can have more than 10 total days, used or unused, on it.

 

[vicki_c]

Trying to figure out if I am reading this right - I am planning to buy 10-day PH NE tickets. If I use 5 of the days, can I add 5 more days at the slightly less expensive price (compared to a new ticket) so I can still have a 10-day PH NE when we leave for future park trips? Be a big outlay at first, but will pay off for future trips.

Tickets can never have more than 10 days. So your 10 day PH cannot have any more days added to it.

 

[princesslily]

Sorry BRETTS! We will be there for 7 nights. I have a 7 day non exp. pass with 5 days left. I also have 1 day ticket base on my room reservation.
I guess I will try to call and see if someone can help me! I do not see the policy on my tickets. If not I do not have an additional $1000 to buy more tickets! I need 3 adults and 1 child. No I am not angry just disappointed, my kids have been looking foward to this grand gathering since we had to leave early last year! It was just a huge misunderstandment!

 

[cindyfan]

Sorry BRETTS! We will be there for 7 nights. I have a 7 day non exp. pass with 5 days left. I also have 1 day ticket base on my room reservation.
I guess I will try to call and see if someone can help me! I do not see the policy on my tickets. If not I do not have an additional $1000 to buy more tickets! I need 3 adults and 1 child. No I am not angry just disappointed, my kids have been looking foward to this grand gathering since we had to leave early last year! It was just a huge misunderstandment!

Well.... you still have 5 days! and the 1 day ticket.... is that just for one person? or do all of you have one day with the resort reservation?

anyway..... if you cant' upgrade that ticket to a 9 or 10 day.... I'd just plan some other activities for the other 2 days.

OMG.... there are so many other things to do...

The kids won't be disappointed.... just let them know that you plan a day at the pool, or Downtown Disney, or rent bikes.... lots of things!!

 

[princesslily]

All of my kids have the same passes. I know they will be disappointed to have their grandparents and other cousins in the parks and them in the pool! I wish I had not made this mistake cause I hate to disappoint my kids!

 

[twinnybelles]

I also have read the sticky thread and have questions I can't seem to figure out...Please bear with me... I am hoping to win a raffle where I work ( would seemingly be good odds ) for 4 - 4day PH NE tix ( i assume all adults ) . Now, needless to say I am trying to plan a trip around this win, should I be lucky. My questions are as follows:
1 - Either prior to use or after 1st day use can I add additional days to this for my trip ( up to 10 ? ) or Hypothetically, say I use 3 days then on day 4 ( 1 day remaining , can I add 9 days at that point ? )
2 - Is there a way to convert 2 of these adult tix to children's, or will /can they just use the adult tix. Or, is it more cost effective to just buy them new tix for this trip?
3 - If the NE and PH fee are already paid, I won't have to incur this cost again correct?
4 - For a trip at a later date, if I start out with say 2 days remaining on these tix, can I add extra days at the time of the next trip ( say to 10 ) and theoretically keep the PH /NE option going on from year to year?

So, with all that being contemplated, wish me luck...the raffle is not drawn until June 12, just seemed like a cheap way to get WDW tix, It may be the only way I get there this year..... Thanks in advance for all the Dis knowledge !

 

[doconeill]

Don't get down on yourself that you made a mistake...how could you have known? The CM did a favor so you wouldn't lose 5 days off your existing ticket - had you actually asked to modify the ticket back then when they did that, they may have taken a step back and asked you to pay for the change.

No mistake was really made. You just happen to have some no expire tickets with 5 days left on them.

You can't do what you were thinking of with this ticket, but you have several options in front of you, including not using them and just going with new ticket for this trip.