New Ticket Upgrade Policy?

[SUSIEQ]

My not so lovely experience a couple of years ago is why I will do whatever I need to to avoid price bridging. Every CM seems to have their own idea in their head of how things should be done. Its a big frustrating mess. The fact that you can ask 5 different CM's about any Disney policy and get 5 different answers is a serious issue.

Yea, and you really have to experience it to believe just how bad it can be!

 

[michelle06]

I bought tickets from UTC on June 3, 2013. If my research is right, the price increase was June 2, 2013. So, my tickets *should* bridge to the current prices, correct? I guess I can bring documentation showing when I actually purchased the tickets.

 

[JanaDee]

I bought non RFID tickets from UCT last July.

 

[VickieMouse]

I bought tickets from UTC on June 3, 2013. If my research is right, the price increase was June 2, 2013. So, my tickets *should* bridge to the current prices, correct? I guess I can bring documentation showing when I actually purchased the tickets.

I bought mine on June 4, 2013 from UT as well. It was after Disney's price increase but when UT was still selling them at their old prices (before their prices increased as well). So I am assuming they would bridge to the prices effective June 4th (which was after the large increase on no expiration tickets). And I will also be bringing documentation to show when they were purchased.

As a side note, they are not the RFID tickets - just paper tickets.

Depending on how they price them, I think my upgrade (adding days) could vary by a few hundred dollars....

 

[Missyrose]

Thanks, but the gate price the ticket was bought by UT or the gate price the ticket was bought by the individual? Does Disney even know the latter?

I think you're a touch confused. Gate price is gate price -- the price someone would pay for that ticket at a Disney ticket window. It has nothing to do with how much you paid or how much the reseller paid Disney.

The prior policy had Disney CMs bridging tickets to current gate price after first use.

The NEW policy is that Disney will bridge the ticket to whatever the gate price was when the ticket was purchased. So if you bought a ticket from UT in 2011, you'd be credited for what the gate price for that ticket in 2011.

Hope this helps clarify a bit.

 

[Marionnette]

I think you're a touch confused. Gate price is gate price -- the price someone would pay for that ticket at a Disney ticket window. It has nothing to do with how much you paid or how much the reseller paid Disney.

The prior policy had Disney CMs bridging tickets to current gate price after first use.

The NEW policy is that Disney will bridge the ticket to whatever the gate price was when the ticket was purchased. So if you bought a ticket from UT in 2011, you'd be credited for what the gate price for that ticket in 2011.

Hope this helps clarify a bit.

But the question remains:

If someone purchased a ticket from a 3rd party AFTER a ticket price increase but the seller had old stock that they were selling at pre-increase prices, does the buyer get the gate price from pre-increase or post-increase applied to their upgrade?

 

[Jack15129]

So does anyone know how much it would cost to add 2 days to a 5 day park hopper we bought in 2012 from UT? The dumb thing is... we have 7 day park hoppers also but were only planning on 5 days until our adult daughter decided to join us for a few days. We leave next week and already have our 5 day tickets linked with fp+ or this wouldn't be a problem, we'd just take the 7 day ticket! Oh this is giving me a headache. We have been to Disney 14 times since 1988. I love Disney and I love to plan but all these changes lately, I do not love! It should not be so hard.

 

[jimandami]

I bought tickets from UTC on June 3, 2013. If my research is right, the price increase was June 2, 2013. So, my tickets *should* bridge to the current prices, correct? I guess I can bring documentation showing when I actually purchased the tickets.

I'm thinking not the current gate price because tickets just went up again last week, right?

 

[digiMom]

So does anyone know how much it would cost to add 2 days to a 5 day park hopper we bought in 2012 from UT? The dumb thing is... we have 7 day park hoppers also but were only planning on 5 days until our adult daughter decided to join us for a few days. We leave next week and already have our 5 day tickets linked with fp+ or this wouldn't be a problem, we'd just take the 7 day ticket! Oh this is giving me a headache. We have been to Disney 14 times since 1988. I love Disney and I love to plan but all these changes lately, I do not love! It should not be so hard.

Exactly. It's vacation. When are you going? On another thread someone was just able to bridge based on the current gate cost only after their first use.

 

[Jack15129]

We will have our first day in the parks on Sat. March 15th. We have done the price-bridging in the past and do know you have to enter the park first. The hard part is...the unknown. Maybe we can or maybe we can't. I wish we could just unlink from home our 5 day and switch to our 7 day.

 

[damo]

It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next little while. There have been a few reports this week of tickets being successfully bridged that were purchased from UT.

 

[Robo]

I believe that we are still waiting to hear the "official" word on the subject.

Why?

1- Because no body reporting has sited FROM WHOM at Disney they have received their info.

2- Because what we HAVE heard is nearly impossible to enforce accurately in the ticket booth.

 

[rt2dz]

What MouseSavers is saying, and UT is saying (which contradicts the email they sent their customers), is that you get the current gate price at the time your ticket was sold. Actually, UT is saying and MouseSavers is hoping for, is when you bought the ticket, BUT Disney has no clue when YOU bought the ticket, only when your reseller bought the ticket.

IF you bought your ticket June 4, 2013, you will have stock no newer than the previous price increase, say May 2013 or September 2012 (same gate price). HOWEVER, depending on the reseller, your stock could date back to 2010 (or earlier) if you but from a reseller who moves product slowly--only a handful move quickly. Even if you bought from UT, who does move stock quickly, perhaps you got something that someone returned with their 'liberal' return policy. It could still be from 2010. And then, of course, there is the possibility that that person also got a restock, so maybe the ticket is gate priced at 2008. Long shot? Definitely. Possibility? Unfortunately, yes.

Disney only knows when THEY sold the tickets. They could change that going forward, but all of us that already have tickets, are SOL. I know I would have made some different decisions since I'm sitting on various tickets from trip changes 6 weeks ago when we were there.

I've had a few upgrading nightmares, but by knowing my facts, being sweet and polite, and very insistent/determined, I've always landed right. But I have no way to know my facts in advance now. And, Disney isn't always so flexible and nice. It might not be you, but the rotten day the CM has had to that point. And the way Disney has been cutting training the last 10-15 years, CMs simply don't know. The people who trained them don't know.

Safest bet from this point forward, even if you *think* you have everything nailed down, don't buy from a reseller. You might get more screwed in the long run. Plans do change unexpectedly. And, I for one, think that is what Disney wants.

 

[cgerdon02]

The answer is easy for us. If it's too difficult (or costly) to add on park days, then we will head to the beach and spend our money there rather than in the parks. I can't understand why Disney wouldn't want to secure your time and money for extra days. Why make it harder?

 

[DavidNYC]

But the legit resellers we are talking about don't raise prices when disney does. They sell out their stock at old prices. So you get the gate price from when the reseller bought the ticket. All the complainers are trying to figure out how to beat the new rule and get a double discount. You get the reseller discount once - period. Buy from UT after price change while they have old stock you get the prior price but old bridge. Buy after UT raises, you get new gate price but pay difference to UT. Basically , you still save buying from reseller but you can no longer insulate yourself from price hikes by buying early if you plan on changing your ticket.

 

[disfanforlife]

I will report my results. I plan to upgrade my two daughters tickets to the DVC PAP during our trip 3/16-21. We bought the 5 day tickets from UT June 2013. I did upgrade two tickets bought at the same time for my husband and myself when we were- at Disney in November. So I know what I paid for that upgrade. If I find what they want me to pay is way more than I think is right I just won't do it. We are only going to the parks for five days but are going back again in December that's why I wanted to upgrade the girls, but if it's too much I may just be better off to use up other tickets for that trip. I also plan to pick up orbitz tickets that I ordered when I am there. It is all a little confusing, but I am not going to overthink of get upset. If I had known about all of this in advance I too, would unlink their tickets and just buy the PAPs outright.

 

[skylizard]

The answer is easy for us. If it's too difficult (or costly) to add on park days, then we will head to the beach and spend our money there rather than in the parks. I can't understand why Disney wouldn't want to secure your time and money for extra days. Why make it harder?

That's what I don't get. Wouldn't they want you back in the parks spending more money on food and merchandise? Otherwise people are going to spend their money outside of the parks doing other stuff.

 

[digiMom]

But the legit resellers we are talking about don't raise prices when disney does. They sell out their stock at old prices. So you get the gate price from when the reseller bought the ticket. All the complainers are trying to figure out how to beat the new rule and get a double discount. You get the reseller discount once - period. Buy from UT after price change while they have old stock you get the prior price but old bridge. Buy after UT raises, you get new gate price but pay difference to UT. Basically , you still save buying from reseller but you can no longer insulate yourself from price hikes by buying early if you plan on changing your ticket.

Yes, but if you don't upgrade the ticket, you do get the double discount. So as far as I can see, if there's still old stock you are currently better getting the ticket that you want right off the bat rather than the one with the biggest discount. I just happened to buy my tickets the day before the price increase, so I wasn't really try to beat anything. And I'm guessing there's a lot of other people that feel the same way. I don't really have a huge problem with paying the difference; I still get some discount. It's just stressful not knowing for sure what they're going to do until you get there because you try to budget your time and money. Plus it's supposed to be your vacation. If I wanted stress I'd just go to work.

 

[DavidNYC]

I believe that we are still waiting to hear the "official" word on the subject. Why? 1- Because no body reporting has sited FROM WHOM at Disney they have received their info. 2- Because what we HAVE heard is nearly impossible to enforce accurately in the ticket booth.

I disagree with 2. I think this is easy to enforce in the booth with the computers and basically serves to make it so that the only resellers worth dealing with are those that sell tickets based on the price THEY paid to disney. Like UT who sell out of old stock before raising. I presume - but would like to confirm - that UT returns any remaining old tickets to WDW before raising their price.

Computer automatically gives credit for gate price at time they sold ticket to reseller. As long as reseller sold to you based on that price, you don't get screwed. Only thing you can't do is buy to save yourself the increase if you want to upgrade. But you won't end up worse as long as the reseller has good practices. I'd still buy from one i trust as long as they tell me the ticket was sold to them at the new price. Which I'm sure UT could and will guarantee you.

Only way you get unfairly hurt is if you were to buy a pre-increase ticket at post-increase price. I'll be shocked if UT doesn't end up guaranteeing this won't happen.

 

[DavidNYC]

Yes, but if you don't upgrade the ticket, you do get the double discount. So as far as I can see, if there's still old stock you are currently better getting the ticket that you want right off the bat rather than the one with the biggest discount. I just happened to buy my tickets the day before the price increase, so I wasn't really try to beat anything. And I'm guessing there's a lot of other people that feel the same way. I don't really have a huge problem with paying the difference; I still get some discount. It's just stressful not knowing for sure what they're going to do until you get there because you try to budget your time and money. Plus it's supposed to be your vacation. If I wanted stress I'd just go to work.

Agree - that's why i think the posts about not buying from resellers is ridiculous. You still could get the double discount. And always get at least the reseller discount. Disney just eliminated the ability to double up and avoid their increase.

As for the stress - prepare to pay the amount disney raised the price and be pleasantly surprised if you get something lower !