Need advice on Family and Friends rate/Dining Plan

[hayleyhbs]

We are planning a 5 night/6 day trip in July to see my niece perform at Disney with her church choir. The choir director offered us Family and friends rate for the ticket 114.90 for 3 days!
Question- has anyone used the tix before? Can we upgrade them to a 4 day pass- without the whole choir having to upgrade (which isn't happening).

We were looking forward to getting a dining plan. But then we found out we have to buy a ticket thru Disney to get the Dining plan- anyone know any loopholes? If we do the dining plan - we have to pay 84.14 w tax for a 1 day ticket- then add on price of the dining plan- seems like it may be cheaper to just buy meals with cash?

All advice appreciated!!!!

 

[vicki_c]

I'm not 100% sure, but usually heavily discounted tix (convention, youth group, sporting event) are not upgradeable at all. Check the ticket sticky on the theme parks board.

Unfortunately, if you can't upgrade you would have to buy another 3 day ticket which would cost $233 per adult, $199 for a child. A 6 day ticket only costs $246 and $210.

It's actually a better deal to just buy your own 6 day ticket if you need 6 days.

If you were only going for 3 days, then the offer would be good for you.

edited - I realize now you said you only want a 4 day ticket, but unfortunately, it doesn't change the numbers much. A 4 day ticket runs $239/205. A one day ticket costs $84/72. Using the choir tickets and buying another one day ticket separately saves a little bit of money but not an overwhelming amount. But then you could add the DDP if you wanted.

Definitely check though to see if the original tix are upgradeable, but I'm guessing not.

 

[Southerndisney]

Since you are going in July you might want to consider spending a day at a water park. It would be less than a one day ticket to a park and a relief from the July heat.

 

[BrettS]

We are planning a 5 night/6 day trip in July to see my niece perform at Disney with her church choir. The choir director offered us Family and friends rate for the ticket 114.90 for 3 days!
Question- has anyone used the tix before? Can we upgrade them to a 4 day pass- without the whole choir having to upgrade (which isn't happening).

Like Vicki said, that is a special ticket and will not be upgradable. I know that in some cases each person going with a group and get their own ticket type and length and in some cases the whole group needs to get the same ticket. I'm not sure what would apply here, but it might be worth asking the choir director if they can see if you can get a 4 day ticket while everyone else gets their 3 day ticket.

We were looking forward to getting a dining plan. But then we found out we have to buy a ticket thru Disney to get the Dining plan- anyone know any loopholes? If we do the dining plan - we have to pay 84.14 w tax for a 1 day ticket- then add on price of the dining plan- seems like it may be cheaper to just buy meals with cash?

Unfortuantely, in order to get the dining plan you do need to purchase a package that includes park tickets. However, note that unused park tickets never expire, so even though you do need to pay the $84.14 now for that one day ticket you can save it and use it on a trip at some point in the future. That ticket will be upgradable, so you'll get your $84.14 back toward whatever ticket you upgrade to when you use it.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Unfortuantely, in order to get the dining plan you do need to purchase a package that includes park tickets. However, note that unused park tickets never expire, so even though you do need to pay the $84.14 now for that one day ticket you can save it and use it on a trip at some point in the future. That ticket will be upgradable, so you'll get your $84.14 back toward whatever ticket you upgrade to when you use it.

Am I understanding correctly, if hayleyhbs or anyone buys a one day ticket and does not use it, they can later use the cost of that ticket towards the cost of a multi-day pass?

 

[pamjb]

Am I understanding correctly, if hayleyhbs or anyone buys a one day ticket and does not use it, they can later use the cost of that ticket towards the cost of a multi-day pass?

That is correct. I have done it twice, the most recent time in Nov 2009. I still have a one-day pass from 2007 to use for credit.

 

[BrettS]

Am I understanding correctly, if hayleyhbs or anyone buys a one day ticket and does not use it, they can later use the cost of that ticket towards the cost of a multi-day pass?

That is correct. Unused Disney tickets never expire and tickets can be upgraded within 14 days of their first use, so any tickets that are bought now can be saved indefinitely and upgraded to whatever you need on a later trip.

Also note that there's nothing magical about a one day ticket for this... any ticket of any length with any options will never expire (until used) and can still be upgraded for a later trip, but typically people will only get a one day ticket if they know they won't be using it immediately because it's the cheapest option so they'll have less money sitting in Disney tickets.

 

[hayleyhbs]

Thanks everyone for the advice! Y'all should get a PhD in Disney planning! Until then - just know my other niece will get to experience some extra Disney magic because of y'all advice. she's already excited about seeing the castle again! She's 10- and hasn't been to Disney in 3 years!

 

[mickeytattoo95]

I took a group of 100 adults there for a conference in 2004 at the CSR so things may be a little bit different now. Once they paid for their room and conference meals I was able to offer them a short list of discounted tickets. It was up to them what ones they wanted to buy. For example, there were cheaper versions of the park hoppers that you could buy from 3-7 days. Also, there was a fantastic ticket called the after 2pm ticket. Because our group met in the conference rooms every morning from 9-12, none of us wanted to waste the money on expensive tickets we couldn't use properly.

Check with the coordinator of your group and see if there are other ticket options. I think you may be able to extend that 3-day pass (if you do it through the group coordinator) for up to 7days. I bet he/she gave everybody one affordable option thinking it would work best for most people. You won't be able to upgrade that ticket at the parks, only through your group.

Good Luck!!!