Labor Day advice / No expiration tickets?

[ohmaestro]

My family (me, wife, & children 8, 5, 2) is planning on going to WDW around Labor Day for 5 nights. I am considering 10-day no expiration tickets w/ park hopper & water park options to use on future visits. If we do this, I was planning on spending a day or two doing Disney stuff w/o feeling the pressure of going to the parks every day (downtown disney, chef mickey's, chip n dale sing-a-long, enjoy the hotel, mini-golf, etc.). The other option is 3 day tickets w/ water park & more option.

Besides being much more expensive in the short-term, has anyone had any experience with no expiration tickets? How do they work w/ the magic bands? Would I need to get adult ticket for my 8 year old, considering he may not use all 10 days until he is 12-13? Is Undercover Tourist a good source to buy tickets?

Also, we are waiting on booking anything because Disney hasn't offered a deal yet around that time. Is it a good idea to wait?

How does Labor Day crowds compare to the Summer months? I've only been there during summer and Easter.

If we do the dining plan, is our 2-year old covered?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[ohmaestro]

bump

 

[bumbershoot]

Besides being much more expensive in the short-term, has anyone had any experience with no expiration tickets? How do they work w/ the magic bands? Would I need to get adult ticket for my 8 year old, considering he may not use all 10 days until he is 12-13? Is Undercover Tourist a good source to buy tickets?

Unless things have changed drastically, when your child ages out of the child ticket they will upgrade it at no extra cost. Assuming he has used it at least once, of course.

I think they work fine with the MBs, though I don't remember any posts either positive or negative specifically about that combo.

If your trips are and will be around 3 park days in length with the occasional trip to a waterpark/disney quest/etc, non-exp tickets work beautifully. If you're going for 5 park days each time, you almost might as well just buy the tickets for each trip because you're not going to be saving much if at all. But if it's truly 3 days here, 2 days there, waterpark visit this time, etc, then it works.

Remember that you get 10 DAYS of admission to the major parks, but 10 *admissions* to the others. So you could go to MK and then go to Disney Quest, and that would be one major park day and one admission of the "and more" part of the ticket. Or if you to Typhoon Lagoon and Disney Quest same day, that's TWO admissions from that "part" of your ticket.

And if you have hopping, that only covers the major parks. Have hopping, hit all 4 major parks in one day, that's one day of admission used. End it with Disney Quest and you've taken an "and more" admission off the ticket as well.

Also, we are waiting on booking anything because Disney hasn't offered a deal yet around that time. Is it a good idea to wait?

You're going during a holiday. They might not offer ANY deals, and you might end up with everything booked. If you're going, book. If something is offered later, change the booking.

...
If we do the dining plan, is our 2-year old covered?

No. S/he won't have a ticket and won't have food covered. S/he can eat off your plates, even at the buffets, but if you're ordering anything specifically for him/her expect to pay for it. (sometimes pixie dust happens but don't expect it)

Thanks in advance for any help!

If you're doing the dining plan, that means you have a package. That should be fine on this first visit (assuming you can call to buy the non-exp ticket with the package OR upgrade to that ticket during your visit), but on subsequent visits with the non-expire ticket you won't be eligible for a package b/c you'll have to buy a ticket to make it a package.

 

[Amanda999]

I linked to my MDE account my no-expiration tickets (with hop and fun visits) before my Feb. 2014 trip to MDE. I had 5 park admissions and 9 'fun' visits remaining before linking them. They were bought from Undercover Tourist about 3 years ago.

I had no problems, and much prefer not carrying around the actual ticket (I do keep a picture of the ticket on my phone, just in case).

But, I would have liked to know the following:
1. MDE will show you the 'major' park admission days you have left. It doesn't tell you at all about your 'fun' visits remaining (you can call and ask). I just keep track the old way (I wrote it on the paper ticket).

2. If you have another ticket in your account (e.g., 2 day expiring ticket from an old free dining package) YOU MUST PRIORITIZE the tickets! (You do this in MDE apparently; I simply deactivated all tickets and MBs except the one I will use next trip.) I spend alot of time researching all things Disney for my trips - been many times - and I had no clue about this. So, when I entered MK on day 1 (Feb. 2014), it dinged me a day on the non-hopper, expiring 2 day ticket (that I was saving for another, longer trip - to add days to then use); then, I hopped to HS. You guessed it: it dinged me a day on my non-expiring (which was a hopper) ticket! I called, and they said I have to email ticketing with my license, ticket numbers, etc... and haven't done that yet. Assuming they will reinstate my non-hopper, but a hassle I'd like others to avoid).

FWIW, the price on no-expire option is so high now, unless you plan to make trips using only 1 or 2 park days, its hard to make the math work. 3 years ago when I bought no-exp tickets the extra cost was far lower.

 

[Wendybird55]

rom my experience Labor Day week is a great time to go...VERY low crowds. We went that time of year when our son was not yet school age. Yes it's hot, but with lower crowds the heat is more bearable. Most of the rides were walk on and we were able to so some of DS favorites 2 times in a row with now wait.

As far as meal plan. At 2, since your child doesn't requite a park ticket for admission you can't get DP for him/her. But don't worry, they are always welcome to share your food with you. We found doing family-style or buffet meals the best value as you can get your 2 year old their own plate for food because you're not ordering a specific entrée from a menu. Plus all the character meals tend to be buffet or family style anyway and the little ones seem to lie that.

As far a ticket option...if you know specifically when you want to return to Disney and it's within a year of your first trip you may want to consider an annual pass (this is of course is if your 2 trips will equal 10 or more park days within a year). I believe an annual pass is not much more than a 10-day non-expiration ticket, but it includes so many more perks and discounts.

Do you know that you and your child enjoy water parks? We did water park once with son and he wasn't too thrilled - he had more fun at the resort pool. For a child so young there are areas in the water park they can enjoy, but none of the big stuff of course. We just found that it wasn't worth the money or hassle. With a little one it was better to go back to the resort and relax at the pool then head out again later on. But every family is different and you should choose which is best for you.

 

[Satchmo128]

We went the week surrounding Labor Day weekend in 2010 and it was LOVELY. The temps are still HOT (think high-90s with LOTS of humidity), but if you are used to going in the summer that shouldn't be a problem for you. The crowds were very low (lowest we have ever seen on any of our trips), so totally manageable. Have fun! It is a great time to visit The World!

 

[Wendybird55]

Oh, and as far as special offers for that time. First of all that time of year is one of the lowest priced seasons to begin with. Many times free dining plan is offered during that time (with no room discount and you must purchase at least a 2-day park ticket so if you're planning on purchasing your 10-day ticket through another agent like UT, you won't be eligible for free dining - not sure how it works if you have AP - you can only buy AP through Disney - but AP offers other dining discounts).

Anyway, if you make your reservation before any special offer and one presents itself, you can always call and see if you can change / update your reservation to include the offer.

We're going in Sept. as well (later in month). Since we have AP I just need room so we booked POP. However, offers for that time of year are not yet available and I am keeping my eye out, because if an offer comes up (hopefully room discounts for WL) I can change my reservation for the offer. But at least I know I have a room at a rate I'm fine with especially since I already got my airfare.