Never Buy 4-Day Park Hoppers

[erikthewise]

Why not? Because you should buy 5-day hoppers instead, whether you intend to use them or not.

Advance purchase adult 4-day PH costs $202, $215.35 after tax. Advance purchase adult 5-day PH costs $230, $244.95 after tax. So the 5-day hopper costs an extra $29.60. Nowhere else will you get this good a deal on one day's admission!

But what if you don't use it?

If you never go back to WDW, you lose out. But in that case you wouldn't be here, would you?

According to http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/ticket.htm, you can get reimbursed for it the next time you buy tickets:
"You can apply the prorated dollar value of the old ticket towards the current purchase price of a new ticket. Guest Relations will apply to your current purchase of tickets a credit equal to the ratio of days remaining over days originally bought times the *cost* of the original ticket."

Assuming reimbursement is based on the pretax cost, for a 5-day hopper, $230/5 = $46, so you should be reimbursed $46 per unused day if you trade them in to buy a new ticket. So for $29.60, you have purchased a days admission that's worth $46 even if you don't use it!

If I am wrong about anything here, please say so!

 

[Brian Noble]

If you really want to use this strategy, you should look at the "per-day" cost rather than the "incremental" cost---just divide the total cost by the number of days. Even if you completely ignore the plusses, this makes the 7-day PHP the cheapest "per-day" option. And, depending on your post-tax investment rate of return and the rate at which admission goes up, you probably come out slightly ahead by buying admission in advance, no matter how far in the future you actually use it. In effect, you are getting a post-tax return equivalent to the rate of increase on admission by doing so!

Again, this all assumes you aren't planning that once-in-a-lifetime trip. But, even if you think you'll only go once, trust me---you'll be back.

 

[seashoreCM]

Originally posted by erikthewise
According to http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/ticket.htm, you can get reimbursed for it the next time you buy tickets:
"You can apply the prorated dollar value of the old ticket towards the current purchase price of a new ticket. Guest Relations will apply to your current purchase of tickets a credit equal to the ratio of days remaining over days originally bought times the *cost* of the original ticket."

It is usually better not to apply the prorated dollar value of an older ticket towards a new ticket but rather use up the old ticket as-is (free even exchange if the old ticket won't fit the turnstile or if the child owner present at the time of exchange is grown up).

Suppose when you next visit WDW the 5 day hopper costs $300. Then your old $230. 5 day hopper with one day left is worth just $46. towards the average $60. per day cost of the new hopper. Meanwhile using up the old hopper as-is first, you get an entire $60.00 day for what's left on the old hopper.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[erikthewise]

Originally posted by seashoreCM
It is usually better not to apply the prorated dollar value of an older ticket towards a new ticket but rather use up the old ticket as-is (free even exchange if the old ticket won't fit the turnstile or if the child owner present at the time of exchange is grown up).

Suppose when you next visit WDW the 5 day hopper costs $300. Then your old $230. 5 day hopper with one day left is worth just $46. towards the average $60. per day cost of the new hopper. Meanwhile using up the old hopper as-is first, you get an entire $60.00 day for what's left on the old hopper.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

This is generally good advice but there are at least two situations in which it doesn't work well. One is when you buy annual passes. If you are going to buy annual passes, it is nonsense to use up old tickets on the first day or two! Much better to apply the old tickets to the cost of your annual pass.

Another situation is when your old passes have different numbers of days remaining or you don't have old passes for everyone in your party. Then one might reasonably say the nuisance and confusion of juggling old and new passes and/or buying passes of different lengths for different people is NOT worth the small amount of money saved. Much simpler to cash old tickets in and buy new tickets of the same denomination for everyone.

Since ticket prices tend to increase about 5% a year, it will take about 5 years for $46 cost to rise to $60.

 

[paigevz]

9 year old this year.............then the left over days when we go next, bought at the child price, he can use for admission despite the fact that next time he will be an "adult" (over 9)?

 

[erikthewise]

Originally posted by paigevz
9 year old this year.............then the left over days when we go next, bought at the child price, he can use for admission despite the fact that next time he will be an "adult" (over 9)?

This issue is specifically addressed at the web link in my original post. It says that yes, a child's ticket can still be used after the child turns 10.

 

[stink]

Sorry posted twice

 

[stink]

This may be the wrong place to ask this, but I found in my collection of Disney stuff an old park hopper from Disney that I believe had one or two park days left. From my 1999 trip.

Can it still be used ? Can I find out how many days are left on it ?

 

[lark]

Originally posted by stink
This may be the wrong place to ask this, but I found in my safety fire box an old park hopper from Disney that I believe had one or two park days left. Possibly from

Can it still be used ? Can I find out how many days are left on it ?

Absolutely you can still use it. People have reported using passes from 20 years ago. There was a rule under which old passes were sold that they could only be used at parks that existed at the time the pass was sold. So if this pass predates MGM or AK, theoretically WDW could keep you from using it at those parks. As I understand it, AK enforced this rule during the first year or so it was open, but no longer does. So the passes should be good at all 4 parks.

Guest services at any of park entrances will tell you the days remaning. Guest services at the hotels can tell you too and usually will. I think those are the only ways to find out. (There actually is one other way, but it's complicated. Disneyland California will give you the value of WDW passes toward DL tickets, so if you were in the vacinity of DL, you could find out how much value is on the tickets and figure out the number of days that corresponds to if you know roughly when the pass was purchased.)

 

[lark]

Actually, let me modify that, DL apparently will give you one day admission for one day on an unused WDW hopper -- so it's day for day, not value for value. Still, the point is that DL can tell you the number of days left on a WDW pass.

 

[jl3614]

I believe that if you only visit WDW every 5 to 10 years ( like the average American, unlike most people on these boards), that you are much better off buying PH or PHP tickets to match the exact number of days you plan on using them. I know from a purely financial standpoint the 6 or 7 day pass is a better deal on a per day basis, but if you are an infrequent visitor you need to factor in the cost/hassle of keeping track of the tickets, and the possibility that you may loose them. I know we have some days left on the tickets from our April trip, but darned if I know where those tickets are.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'll ALWAYS buy the 4 day park hoppers, because as a FL resident I get a GREAT deal that cannot be beat: 4 days at $119+ tax! That's all I need and it's the perfect price!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I like the 365 day hopper.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
I like the 365 day hopper.

 

[mrp4352]

Erikthewise-

When you apply a partially used park hopper to an annual pass, your renewal date is the first day you used the park hopper - not the day you upgraded to an AP. I lost 2 months on my AP this time around because of that little-known rule.

Hmm, I wonder how they handle it if the first day you used the park hopper is over a year ago?

Michelle

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

Originally posted by erikthewise
Why not? Because you should buy 5-day hoppers instead, whether you intend to use them or not.

Advance purchase adult 4-day PH costs $202, $215.35 after tax. Advance purchase adult 5-day PH costs $230, $244.95 after tax. So the 5-day hopper costs an extra $29.60. Nowhere else will you get this good a deal on one day's admission!

But what if you don't use it?

If you never go back to WDW, you lose out. But in that case you wouldn't be here, would you?

According to http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/ticket.htm, you can get reimbursed for it the next time you buy tickets:
"You can apply the prorated dollar value of the old ticket towards the current purchase price of a new ticket. Guest Relations will apply to your current purchase of tickets a credit equal to the ratio of days remaining over days originally bought times the *cost* of the original ticket."

Assuming reimbursement is based on the pretax cost, for a 5-day hopper, $230/5 = $46, so you should be reimbursed $46 per unused day if you trade them in to buy a new ticket. So for $29.60, you have purchased a days admission that's worth $46 even if you don't use it!

If I am wrong about anything here, please say so!

Yep, you are missing the key word - "pro-rated". They take the price you paid for the ticket and divide it by five, not the retail price of the ticket.

If you read that AllEars article, you will find it is usually more financially feasable to use that day on your next trip, because you would only get $29 credit for it instead of a full day at the parks.

In your suggestion, buying extra would be defeating the purpose. If such a thing were possible, you'd see people buying up the cheap tickets online all the time and then getting AP's and other upgrades by scamming Disney.

Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way.

N.E.D.