Premier Pass

[goofyfordisney]

The ticket experts on the WDW board have said that you can't combine a DL AP and a WDW hopper to get a Premier. As I understand it, you would need to either upgrade the DL AP or upgrade the WDW hoppers.

One other thought - you might want to run the numbers with the Premier, and without the 6-day hopper/free dining. Free dining requires guests to pay rack rate for the resorts, and for many WDW AP holders, the room only discount saves way more $$ than free dining. Since you are more than 45 days before your trip, it's worth considering whether it makes more sense for you to keep free dining or to convert to a room-only reservation with a discount and buy a Premier when you get to WDW. (This assumes that the room only discounts come out sometime soon!)

I know the math is different for everyone, so this might not make any sense for you. In our experience (family of 5) AP room only discounts and Tables in Wonderland is a much better deal than free dining.

hmmm...I am traveling w/my mom & sister...they are on a different reservation number (in a different room) than me. So, I could do what you are suggesting...if I see that there is a good room only rate or AP rate for my dates in December.

I'm subscribed to the Dec. code watch thread, just in case! Thx!

 

[Califgirl]

The WDW tickets *may* be able to be used to upgrade if they are not yet used.
But, if you're not planning a trip to DLR before going to WDW, why bother to upgrade the DLR AP at all? (Your early renewal discount will be swallowed into the price of the ticket, and you'll lose the 2 1/2 months of no Disney trips. Either way you'll be paying the same price for the Premier Passport.)

 

[karmutt]

AP site weirdness...

I just logged onto the WDW Passholder site for the first time and on my Welcome page it said my pass will expire on May 24, 2011. This alarmed me a tad because I bought it on July 31. The DLR AP site has the correct expiration date.

I had a problem finding the correct numbers to put on the WDW site. The DLR site uses the number under the barcode. Easy peasy. But the WDW site needs a date and some other numbers from the top of the pass. There's a pictorial showing the numbers you're supposed to use, but the highlighted ones didn't (appear to) work for me, so I kept trying variations until something did. It was the middle 4 numbers of the Tr: # ##### that finally allowed me access.

The thing is... when I went to my "edit passholder info" page, it showed me having 2 passes, one identified with the 4 middle numbers and the May expiration date, and one with the last 5 numbers and the correct expiration date. I deleted the incorrect pass and now I'm seeing the correct date on my passholder page.

So it looks like there's a bit of an odd quirk in the system. Where'd the May 24th date come from and why did it grant me access? Weird.

Just wanted to have it out there in case someone else runs into the same situation.

 

[cccdisney]

So I just spoke with someone at Disneyland Ticketing. She said that they could NOT upgrade my kids 10 day WDW Park Hoppers to Premier AP's at DLR. That is what I suspected.
However, she did suggest another alternative that should work: Buy them Deluxe AP's for our upcoming trip to DLR next week. When I get to WDW in November they would have both DLR Deluxe AP's and the 10 day WDW Hoppers. I could take those sets of tickets to the WDW AP center and use them to "upgrade" to a Premier.
I need to re-read this thread but does anyone know if this has been done? Can they take TWO tickets and combine them to one Premier?

 

[SuzanneSLO]

So I just spoke with someone at Disneyland Ticketing. She said that they could NOT upgrade my kids 10 day WDW Park Hoppers to Premier AP's at DLR. That is what I suspected.
However, she did suggest another alternative that should work: Buy them Deluxe AP's for our upcoming trip to DLR next week. When I get to WDW in November they would have both DLR Deluxe AP's and the 10 day WDW Hoppers. I could take those sets of tickets to the WDW AP center and use them to "upgrade" to a Premier.
I need to re-read this thread but does anyone know if this has been done? Can they take TWO tickets and combine them to one Premier?

I recently e-mailed WDW Ticket Inquiries to ask this question regarding a 7 DAY MYW ticket as a DL APholder and here is the response I received:

"Upon your arrival visit any ticket sales location at the Walt Disney World Resort, prior to using your 7 Day Magic Your Way tickets, and our Cast Members will be happy to assist you with upgrading your tickets.

Once your 7 Day Magic Your Way tickets have been used, you may choose whether to upgrade to the Disney Premier Passport from your Disneyland Pass or Magic You Way Tickets. Only one form of ticket may be upgraded to a new ticket. Multiple tickets may not be combined."

Other than the truly weird suggestion that you could buy a Premier Passport in addition to an existing DL AP, the response appears to correctly state WDW policy with respect to other ticket upgrades.

If you have never used your MYW tickets, at WDW you can add the value of those tickets to a DL AP to upgrade to Premier. The value will be the amount you paid Disney if you bought them direct, but if you bought them from a ticket broker, it will be the amount the ticket broker paid Disney, which will be less than you paid OOP. It will not be the current gate value of the ticket, so no benefit to you from buying before the price increase.

If you use the WYW tickets, according to this e-mail, you get the current gate value of your MYW or the value of your current DL AP, not the sum of both. With a gate price of 10-Day Magic Your Way Ticket w/Park Hopper & Water Park Fun & More 10+ equal to $394.05, you actually get more upgrade credit for a used MYW ticket than you would for a DL DAP purchased for $329.

Of course, your best bet may be to save the MYW tickets for another visit after the Premier pass expires. Holding on to appreciating WDW tickets may be one of the best ways to guarantee at least a 3% annual return in this market! -- Suzanne

 

[cccdisney]

I recently e-mailed WDW Ticket Inquiries to ask this question regarding a 7 DAY MYW ticket as a DL APholder and here is the response I received:

"Upon your arrival visit any ticket sales location at the Walt Disney World Resort, prior to using your 7 Day Magic Your Way tickets, and our Cast Members will be happy to assist you with upgrading your tickets.

Once your 7 Day Magic Your Way tickets have been used, you may choose whether to upgrade to the Disney Premier Passport from your Disneyland Pass or Magic You Way Tickets. Only one form of ticket may be upgraded to a new ticket. Multiple tickets may not be combined."

Other than the truly weird suggestion that you could buy a Premier Passport in addition to an existing DL AP, the response appears to correctly state WDW policy with respect to other ticket upgrades.

If you have never used your MYW tickets, at WDW you can add the value of those tickets to a DL AP to upgrade to Premier. The value will be the amount you paid Disney if you bought them direct, but if you bought them from a ticket broker, it will be the amount the ticket broker paid Disney, which will be less than you paid OOP. It will not be the current gate value of the ticket, so no benefit to you from buying before the price increase.

If you use the WYW tickets, according to this e-mail, you get the current gate value of your MYW or the value of your current DL AP, not the sum of both. With a gate price of 10-Day Magic Your Way Ticket w/Park Hopper & Water Park Fun & More 10+ equal to $394.05, you actually get more upgrade credit for a used MYW ticket than you would for a DL DAP purchased for $329.

Of course, your best bet may be to save the MYW tickets for another visit after the Premier pass expires. Holding on to appreciating WDW tickets may be one of the best ways to guarantee at least a 3% annual return in this market! -- Suzanne

Thank you for all that info! I just read your post on the WDW Theme Park forum. It sounds like the DLR CM I spoke with this afternoon didn't know what she was talking about. Imagine that!

Not sure what we will do. I didn't purchase the Water Park option on the tickets, just the 10 day park hoppers from UT. They were $296.95 each (this was last week before the price increase). So upgrading those would be another $400+ each. Although if I understand it correctly, if they use the 10 day tickets first and then upgrade, we get the current gate value of the ticket?

We are going to DLR a week from tomorrow for just 2 days. Then we will probably not go back until early next year. So I'm not sure upgrading to a DLR AP makes good sense either since we wouldn't be visitng DLR for at least 4 to 5 months.

Uggh! I just hate to pay the outrageous prices of a 2 day park hopper. Oh well. I guess that is what I get for trying to get my tickets before the price increase.

 

[FoodLover]

".... Only one form of ticket may be upgraded to a new ticket. Multiple tickets may not be combined."

If you have never used your MYW tickets, at WDW you can add the value of those tickets to a DL AP to upgrade to Premier.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your comment, this directly contradicts the email you quoted (and what I've been told by Cheshire Figment, who works in ticketing at WDW). You can never combine two tickets toward another ticket, including the Premier Passport.

Disneyland Ticketing CAN apply any unused WDW ticket toward a Premier Passport (but not in combination with another ticket). Never go by what the people on the phone have to say, especially at Disneyland. They have NO clue.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[cccdisney]

Disneyland Ticketing CAN apply any unused WDW ticket toward a Premier Passport (but not in combination with another ticket). Never go by what the people on the phone have to say, especially at Disneyland. They have NO clue.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

OK - so if I show up at DLR next weekend with a never used 10 day WDW park hoppers I CAN upgrade that to a Premier?? Do I do that at the AP Center?

Thank you Mary for your input! Love Mousesavers.com!

 

[karmutt]

There's something on the Disney Blog from when the pass first came out that says "Yes, you can apply the value of the 8-Day MYW ticket toward the purchase of a Premier Passport. The upgrade has to be done at WDW (DLR can not apply a credit for WDW MYW tickets)." Is this not the case anymore?

UT is Undercover Tourist, right? I just bought a Universal ticket from them and noticed they have a return policy. From their site:

"We offer one refund policy that is simple and fair for all attraction tickets.
Please contact us.

* A fee of 5% of the total order amount will be charged to cover the delivery, handling and the processing fees associated with accepting your credit card and fulfilling the order.
* The tickets must be unused and unsigned.
* Expired tickets, or any ticket not currently sold on this site, are non-refundable."

 

[FoodLover]

There's something on the Disney Blog from when the pass first came out that says "Yes, you can apply the value of the 8-Day MYW ticket toward the purchase of a Premier Passport. The upgrade has to be done at WDW (DLR can not apply a credit for WDW MYW tickets)." Is this not the case anymore?

It is my understanding that they should be able to upgrade any unexpired WDW or DL ticket to a Premier Passport, at either park. I think when the passport was first introduced, Disneyland Ticketing was completely flummoxed by the whole thing and had no idea how to handle upgrades from WDW tickets, but I thought they had gotten past that.

HOWEVER, I have not done this myself, so it's possible DL Ticketing is still struggling with this!

The frustrating thing is, you'll never get an accurate answer on the phone. Emailing DL about it might get you a more reliable response.

Personally I think it's ridiculous that they've been offering the Premier Passport for months and still don't know what they're doing. It's also ridiculous that they won't let you apply a ticket from each park toward a pass that is good at both parks. That's Disney for you.

Mary

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Unless I'm misunderstanding your comment, this directly contradicts the email you quoted (and what I've been told by Cheshire Figment, who works in ticketing at WDW). You can never combine two tickets toward another ticket, including the Premier Passport.

Disneyland Ticketing CAN apply any unused WDW ticket toward a Premier Passport (but not in combination with another ticket). Never go by what the people on the phone have to say, especially at Disneyland. They have NO clue.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

I think the difference is between a ticket that has never been used and one that has been used. The e-mail from WDW Ticketing said an totally unused MYW ticket could be combined a DL AP to upgrade. This is consistent with my understanding that a never used ticket should be treated. mroe or less like cash. The bad news is the cash value is usually just what Disney received when it sold the ticket, not what the guest paid for it, musch less the current gate price.

The "cannot combine two tickets" language was in reference to a used MYW ticket and a DL AP. This is consistent with long standing policy.

I do think this policy makes no sense when it comes to the Premier Pass good for both CA and FL. For example, I am a DL AP holder and go to WDW. After a day or two at the parks, I decide I love WDW and would like to come again soon. I think about upgrading to a Premier Pass, but since I get no value for the probably hundreds of dollars I paid for my MYW ticket, I'll probably forgo the Premier Pass and the other trip to WDW that would have come with it.

-- Suzanne

 

[FoodLover]

The "cannot combine two tickets" language was in reference to a used MYW ticket and a DL AP.

I don't believe so. Cheshire Figment was quite clear that it applies to ANY two tickets. They will not credit you for more than one ticket toward a higher priced ticket/AP, period. Doesn't matter if the tickets in question are used or unused. Ask him! He hangs out on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies board, mostly.

Mary

 

[cccdisney]

UT is Undercover Tourist, right? I just bought a Universal ticket from them and noticed they have a return policy. From their site:

"We offer one refund policy that is simple and fair for all attraction tickets.
Please contact us.

* A fee of 5% of the total order amount will be charged to cover the delivery, handling and the processing fees associated with accepting your credit card and fulfilling the order.
* The tickets must be unused and unsigned.
* Expired tickets, or any ticket not currently sold on this site, are non-refundable."

This is a possibility. Although I hate to lose that 5%.

It is my understanding that they should be able to upgrade any unexpired WDW or DL ticket to a Premier Passport, at either park. I think when the passport was first introduced, Disneyland Ticketing was completely flummoxed by the whole thing and had no idea how to handle upgrades from WDW tickets, but I thought they had gotten past that.

HOWEVER, I have not done this myself, so it's possible DL Ticketing is still struggling with this!

The frustrating thing is, you'll never get an accurate answer on the phone. Emailing DL about it might get you a more reliable response.

Personally I think it's ridiculous that they've been offering the Premier Passport for months and still don't know what they're doing. It's also ridiculous that they won't let you apply a ticket from each park toward a pass that is good at both parks. That's Disney for you.

Mary

I think you are correct. I emailed them once and got a vague answer that did not answer my question. I just email them AGAIN and asked them very specifically "can you upgrade an unused WDW park hopper to a Premier AP at the DLR?"
When I get a response (which hopefully actually answers the question this time!) I'll post it on this thread.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I don't believe so. Cheshire Figment was quite clear that it applies to ANY two tickets. They will not credit you for more than one ticket toward a higher priced ticket/AP, period. Doesn't matter if the tickets in question are used or unused. Ask him! He hangs out on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies board, mostly.

Mary

I have no personal knowledge of this as we have not tried to upgrade our DL AP to a Premier at either DL or WDW. However, it does seem clear that Disney IS making a distinction between unused tickets and partially used tickets when it comes to upgrades to Premier.

As background, my original question to WDW Ticketing Inquiries was as follows: “My husband and I each purchased a Premium Annual Pass at Disneyland in June. We are also planning a trip to Walt Disney World in October and have purchased a 7 Day Magic Your Way pass. We may decide to upgrade to a Premier Annual Pass. Can we do this at Walt Disney World after we have already used our pass there? What credit would we be given towards the upgrade?”

The answer I received last week from WDW Ticketing Inquiries: “Hello Suzanne,
Thank you for contacting Walt Disney World Ticketing. Your original ticket order has already been processed. Upon your arrival visit any ticket sales location at the Walt Disney World Resort, prior to using your 7 Day Magic Your Way tickets, and our Cast Members will be happy to assist you with upgrading your tickets.
Once your 7 Day Magic Your Way tickets have been used, you may choose whether to upgrade to the Disney Premier Passport from your Disneyland Pass or Magic You Way Tickets. Only one form of ticket may be upgraded to a new ticket. Multiple tickets may not be combined.”

* * *
This is actually consistent with the information posted in March on the Disney Parks blog by Thomas Smith, Social Media Director, Disney Parks

In Comment # 63, Guest said: “I currently have a Disneyland Premium pass which expire 12/26/10. I’m going to WDW in June. If I upgrade to a Premier Pass then, will I only need to pay $271 ($700 cost of premium – $429 cost of my DL premium passport)? And, will the expiration date for my new annual pass be June 2011?
I also have a DL premium ticket voucher which I haven’t redeemed yet. Can I take that to WDW as well and trade that in and get a Premier Pass for the same upgrade price – $271?”
Response from Thomas Smith on March 11th, 2010 at 1:12 pm: “Chuck, you’ll pay $271 plus applicable tax. Expiration date will be 12/26/10 – with the same expiration date on the original pass. And WDW does not accept DLR vouchers. Also, you can apply the voucher value toward a Premier Passport at DLR Box Office and pay the difference.”

* * *
In Comment #80, Guest said: “I am currently a Disneyland Premium Annual Passholder. I have a WDW 1-Day Park Ticket that I did not use during my vacation at WDW last month. Can I go to Disneyland and upgrade my DLR Premium Annual Pass to the Premiere Pass AND use the value of my WDW 1-Day ticket to be applied to the upgrade? Then I’d just be paying the leftover difference?…. So it’d be $700 – $439 (DLR Premium Annual Pass) – $79.00 (WDW 1-Day Park Ticket) = $182 (the amount leftover that I will have to pay out).
Can it be done? Thank you for your reply.”

Thomas Smith on March 11th, 2010 at 4:36 pm : “OK…you can upgrade to the Premier Passport at DLR. However, you can not apply the value of the 1-day MYW ticket from WDW to the price of the Premier Passport. If you do the upgrade while at WDW, then the WDW 1-Day MYW ticket can be applied toward the price of the Premier Passport.

* * *
In Comment # 86, Guest asked: “We have a Premium Disneyland passport (expires on 07-16-10) and have a trip planned for April to Walt Disney World with Magic Your Way tickets including the Water Parks. We would like to take advantage of the Premiere passport for both parks as we are hoping to go back to Florida again in September. Would both the MYW tickets and our Disneyland passport apply to the Premiere passport when we go back to Florida in April? Sure hope so…thanks”

Thomas Smith on March 12th, 2010 at 2:23 pm: “Hi Margo…Yes, you can apply the value of your WDW MYW tickets toward the upgrade to the Premier Passport. The price to upgrade to the Premier Passport would be $700 less the retail price of your Disneyland passports and the value of the MYW ticket. This upgrade must be done at WDW as DLR does not accept MYW tickets for the upgrade.”

Sorry this is so long, but I thought I should post the publicly available information, as well as my entire e-mail question and answer as we are trying to plan with very little information.

 

[FoodLover]

You know, I've said all I have to say on the subject. Try it and see what happens.