New Ticket Upgrade Policy?

[MamaBear58]

My problem isn't that Disney changed their policy. I get that. All Terms and Conditions state that they are subject to change.

Here are my problems:

1) ALL Ears posted that upgrades wouldn't be allowed at all. They based it on rumor, posted as fact, and turned out to be 100% false. They have since changed what they originally posted, but I, for one, have lost respect for them. And that has nothing to do with Disney.

2) Undercover Tourist did a decent job of trying to figure this out. BUT, they sent out one email with incorrect information. Not really a big deal because they did follow up shortly with a correction email. They are people. HOWEVER, their correction email wasn't correct and contradicts what is being posted here. They haven't fixed that yet. I find that to be a bit sleazy in business practices. But that has nothing to do with Disney.

3) THIS does have to do with Disney. Depending on the ticket I have, I could lose money. As someone pointed out earlier, it is possible to lose money by doing upgrades. It depends on how old your ticket is, it depends on how old your resellers stock was when they sold it to you (There are many, many resellers out there beyond UT), and it depends on what you are sitting on v. what you need.

It also might mean needing to just not use that ticket so when you thought you had tickets covered for your trip, you suddenly find that you need to buy different tickets. Quite frankly, the way Disney is going, we are no longer taking annual trips. Comparing Disney today to Disney 10-15 years ago, you get less for your money (even at the same price). Disney is cutting everything from CM training (so no magical experiences like you used to get--super friendly--), extra entertainment, attractions (seriously, Epcot is becoming a ghost of what it was), and more. But that is something only us old-timers with frequent visits would notice. But hey, that's life. Disney is a business. It just used to be more than "a business" (and that's what made it great).

It's hard to know what to do without clear information. And you have to link your dang tickets in advance because of the crappy FP system now.

I am sorry but I don't see how anyone loses money here, except in the sense that they chose to part with funds to upgrade the original ticket. It may be more funds than originally calculated, but it is a choice, in order to get a different product than the one originally bought. At any point the original ticket can be used. If the purchaser is entitled to a refund but for less than he paid, then he lost money. And he lost possible interest on his funds by having them tied up in a ticket. But the new policy does not result in a loss.

 

[bookwormde]

Anyone want to guess how long it will take to get a consistent clear answer from Disney, one more day, a week, a month, never?

 

[Missyrose]

Anyone want to guess how long it will take to get a consistent clear answer from Disney, one more day, a week, a month, never?

I'm going to go with never.

 

[JanaDee]

Anyone want to guess how long it will take to get a consistent clear answer from Disney, one more day, a week, a month, never?

I doubt we ever will get a clear, consistent answer.

 

[seashoreCM]

How many times has Disney been written to for a clear consistent answer?

While Disney can set any policy they wish to, they may not act capriciously.

If Disney bridged the ticket upgrade for Guest #1, refused to bridge for Guest #2 and bridged for Guests #3 and #4 then Disney owes Guest #2 a refund to reflect bridging upon written request.

Disney could, say have bridged or given out ticket info over the phone for a year or so, then stopped bridging or stopped giving out ticket info over the phone for a year or so, then resume bridging or giving out ticket info over the phone, and this would not be capricious.

 

[cjnix29]

Ok, not sure if this has been asked, but am I correct to assume that I will NOT need an actual ticket to upgrade if these have been added to my magic band? Or should I get the ticket? Hoping my Orbitz ones can be upgraded, I'll roll the dice. If I have to pay an extra $5 for the ticket increase, that's fine, but hoping we'll at least get the current gate price for the ticket I have! We'll see what happens in June!

 

[Robo]

am I correct to assume that I will NOT need an actual ticket to upgrade if these have been added to my magic band?

Correct.

 

[Princess_Belle]

Has anyone with tickets purchased through Orbitz tried upgrading and price bridging since we became aware of the "new policy/change"?

We are going to arrive on 3/16 an I had planned on upgrading that day.

 

[HaleyB]

I am going to hope for the best and plan for the worst. I am upgrading 5 tickets on Monday.

If this had gone the other way and 3rd party tickets could not be upgraded and the websites that sell us those 3rd party tickets or sends us to sites that sell them had not warned us, that would be cause for a loss of trust in those sites. I'd be much more concerned if someone who stood to profit from the sale did not disclose a possible problem.

Getting it wrong, that just makes them human. Don't forget that these websites are very helpful, and offer a ton of free information.

 

[stargazertechie]

But have we ever had issues with guests being told they couldn't upgrade AT ALL at all four parks? Forget about the bridging, we're having people being told that they can't upgrade at all. If that has been the case before, then I won't worry so much, but if this is something new, then something new is going on.

Not all 4, but had issues trying to upgrade at 3 of the 4, including both Ticketing outside MK and inside at guest relations at MK.

The only park I didn't try to update my tickets of doom at was at Epcot.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

Not all 4, but had issues trying to upgrade at 3 of the 4, including both Ticketing outside MK and inside at guest relations at MK.

The only park I didn't try to update my tickets of doom at was at Epcot.

You had issues? But ultimately, were you able to upgrade?

 

[cigar95]

You had issues? But ultimately, were you able to upgrade?

Stargazer's now-legendary story happened a couple years ago, unrelated to the current mess. But yes, it ended up resolved, apart from a huge loss of vacation time.

 

[bumbershoot]

Cheshire Figment said that tickets purchased directly from Disney will not be price bridged. This policy has been in effect for several years.

Don, no, that's not true. It hasn't been *several* years. It's been a year, maybe.

[Cheshire's post about the gate-purchased tickets was only from June of 2013, which I would guess is when it went into effect.]

And you didn't say that in your first post that I read. You said that it has been policy that tickets bought from Disney (meaning at the gate) will be bridged to current-at-the-time-of-purchase pricing.

Of course, that's the same as saying "no bridging", but you didn't say that.


Tickets bought as part of a Disney package and from resellers are bridged to current gate price if the CM is doing it right, and that's been policy for ages.

Tickets bought from Disney gates for the last year, maybe a tad more, haven't been bridgeable. I don't know where you're getting the several years part from.

I hate "arguing" with you because your menu pages have been helpful (though it took nearly a year to get the correct menu up for French Market at Disneyland and of course it's not your fault that the Tea Room keeps changing their policies), but your take on this simply isn't correct.

 

[SUSIEQ]

Don, no, that's not true. It hasn't been *several* years. It's been a year, maybe.

[Cheshire's post about the gate-purchased tickets was only from June of 2013, which I would guess is when it went into effect.]

And you didn't say that in your first post that I read. You said that it has been policy that tickets bought from Disney (meaning at the gate) will be bridged to current-at-the-time-of-purchase pricing.

Of course, that's the same as saying "no bridging", but you didn't say that.


Tickets bought as part of a Disney package and from resellers are bridged to current gate price if the CM is doing it right, and that's been policy for ages.

Tickets bought from Disney gates for the last year, maybe a tad more, haven't been bridgeable. I don't know where you're getting the several years part from.

I hate "arguing" with you because your menu pages have been helpful (though it took nearly a year to get the correct menu up for French Market at Disneyland and of course it's not your fault that the Tea Room keeps changing their policies), but your take on this simply isn't correct.

You are correct. Disney stopped price bridging tickets bought directly from them starting June, 2012, when ticket prices increased. It has not been going on for several years.(I couldn't remember if it was 2012 or 2013.)

 

[conniehar90]

Sorry - I don't have time to read all 41 pages - will I be able to add one day to our 5 day MYW tickets that I purchased from UCT? I thought I read earlier in this thread that a guest wasn't able to add park hoppers.

Thanks!

 

[SUSIEQ]

Sorry - I don't have time to read all 41 pages - will I be able to add one day to our 5 day MYW tickets that I purchased from UCT? I thought I read earlier in this thread that a guest wasn't able to add park hoppers.

Thanks!

You never know. It's kinda like playing CM roulette!
But, you SHOULD be able to.

 

[POOHsie]

You never know. It's kinda like playing CM roulette!
But, you SHOULD be able to.

Agree, you SHOULD be able to upgrade your UCT tickets. We don't know the circumstances about the tickets in a previous post that were declined from being upgraded. This thread also contains posts from guests who had their UCT tickets upgraded recently who had no issues. And there are other threads where posters said they had no upgrading problems. My conclusion is that, at this time, Disney will upgrade third party tickets, same as usual. If they didn't upgrade third party MYW tickets, they would put third party sellers out of business. And there's no hint of THAT on the horizon.

Remember one important thing: You must use your ticket first to enter a WDW park, before doing any ticket upgrade. That is the only way your UCT will be qualified for price-bridging.

 

[dmunsil]

Don, no, that's not true. It hasn't been *several* years. It's been a year, maybe.

You're right. I had thought the change happened just at or after the price increase in 2011, but I just went back and found Cheshire's first post talking about it, and it was from June 2012. That would be just over a year and a half, which is not actually "several years," so I stand corrected.

You are right in that the "all about tickets" sticky wasn't updated until just after the price increase in 2013, which was just 8 months ago. So the policy was in place for a year before it was documented in the sticky. I can only guess that most people who are interested in bridging here on the DIS are buying their tickets from a discounter, so the fact that full price tickets were not bridged was not super important to put in the FAQ.

Here's Cheshire's announcement of the policy change, from 6/7/2012, referencing a 6/4/2012 change to the policy:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=45118452#post45118452

You can also find multiple posts in the intervening months where he says the same thing, that direct-purchased tickets are not eligible for bridging.

I hate "arguing" with you because your menu pages have been helpful (though it took nearly a year to get the correct menu up for French Market at Disneyland and of course it's not your fault that the Tea Room keeps changing their policies), but your take on this simply isn't correct.

I wouldn't want to take credit for other people's work - we're not the site with menus. You may be thinking of AllEars?

Thanks for the correction. I really appreciate it. I've gone in and fixed or appended a correction to my previous posts.
--
Don

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Don, no, that's not true. It hasn't been *several* years. It's been a year, maybe.

I was going to mention the same thing. Non-bridging on Disney direct tickets was stopped either with the previous price hike or the one just before it.

Sorry - I don't have time to read all 41 pages - will I be able to add one day to our 5 day MYW tickets that I purchased from UCT? I thought I read earlier in this thread that a guest wasn't able to add park hoppers.

Thanks!

Yes, you should be able to. The questions remains what the charge will be.

I still think this is crazy if Disney is changing it. They are choosing to use authorized ticket brokers as a way to discount their tickets. And by doing so they don't know what price the consumer is paying which I imagine is why they always did the so termed price bridging before since it really makes no difference to them. Disney has already received the money for the ticket and at the price they negotiated. If they now are going to require the guest to pay the difference if they wish to upgrade because they want to stay longer, or visit a second park in the same day it really makes no difference to them to charge differently than they do for another person who purchased the same ticket just a day or two earlier. The marginal cost is identical for both guests.

They also have wanted to do everything possible to encourage visitors to stay with the Disney parks so maybe that is what is really changing? They are getting to be rather taxed out on their capacity and willing to have customers go elsewhere? Or perhaps Disney or maybe just the ticket computer system has always just complicated the process for ticketing and along the way someone is over complicating what they perceive as the loss or gain for Disney.

If they are not doing the price bridging they are in essence placing an expiration on some tickets - those that people want to change. But if you don't want to change then there's no expiration. It's about as nonsensical as it can be.

 

[digiMom]

Well, I crunched my numbers and decided I didn't want to worry about this any more. I contacted UT and made arrangements. It's a little freaky because they need you to place your new order before you send the old ones back, so for a while I'll have both on my credit card. But they're great to work with and there's no fee if you're exchanging. So you just have to cover your shipping to get the old ones back to them. The only way I'm losing money is if I would have gotten traditional bridging, and that's less than $40. It pays to work it out and make your own decision.

I wish all of you that don't have this as an option good luck and hope some pixie dust comes your way. I still haven't heard back on my email inquiry to Disney (big surprise), but I will come back and post it for you if I get something that is helpful.