Prioritizing Tickets

[Cindylieu]

We leave in 5 days for a 12 day trip. Our group of 5 people will each be using a single-day Magic Kingdom ticket (non-hopper) and THEN a 5-day military salute park-hopper ticket. It is important that we prioritize the single-day ticket for the first day, as we are not planning any hopping on that first day.

I called the Disney-guys months ago and they transferred me to someone who could prioritize tickets. He did so and assured me that it would remain so....however, I have had experiences with the MDE app/website that lets me know that things DON'T always "stick".

When I look at the tickets in MDE, the single-day tickets do show first. How to I KNOW FOR SURE that the single-day tickets will be the ones used on that first day when we scan in? Is there any way to be CERTAIN, or do I still need to show up at Guest Relations prior to entry to MK on that first day?

 

[DWillowBay]

I wouldn't go by MDE. But...whatever park you visit first, stop by the Guest Services window OUTSIDE the park and ask them for the prioritization that you need. I have done this several times and it works out great. They're used to that request, so no new ground there. Have a great trip!

 

[AngiTN]

There is no way for you to see or know by looking at MDE. You will have to check at GS before entering the park

 

[Cindylieu]

okie doke. bummed that the MDE doesn't show the prioritized ticket or allow you to prioritize online, but I can make a quick stop at the desk. THANKS!

 

[AngiTN]

You have one option to do it yourself. A work around.
Create a dummy guest in MDE. Store any tickets you don't want to be used in the dummy guest and move them to the proper person when you need to use them

 

[Cindylieu]

Hmmm...Don't think I will do that one. I am just tech-clumsy enough to totally screw everything up. But thanks anyway!!

 

[lynnzrae]

So we are in the same boat but our 1-day ticket is a non-MK ticket and will be going in September. We plan to use our 1-day ticket the first day of our trip. Although both the 1-day and the 5-day military tickets are linked to our accounts, to make sure that the right ticket gets used on the right day I will of course check with guest services when I exchange the military voucher for the ticket and add the military-discounted memory maker but, I will also likely use the physical 1-day ticket as opposed to my magic band. I hope this will ensure that the 1-day ticket is used the first day. Will you report back after your trip to let us know how it worked out?

 

[Robo]

I will also likely use the physical 1-day ticket as opposed to my magic band. I hope this will ensure that the 1-day ticket is used the first day.

Don't trust that, either.
(Although it would "probably" be safe, tickets and MBs are interchangeable.)

Do the "fake guest" workaround as AngiTN suggested earlier.

Create a new "fake person" (just a a made-up name) in your MyDisneyExperience account and,
after you arrive at WDW before going into a park, transfer all of the tickets that you want to "save"
under that "fake name." Your tickets will remain unused until such time as you transfer them back to
your real names when you are ready to use those other tickets.

 

[Cindylieu]

Will you report back after your trip to let us know how it worked out?

I will do that.

 

[lynnzrae]

Don't trust that, either.
(Although it would "probably" be safe, tickets and MBs are interchangeable.)

Do the "fake guest" workaround as AngiTN suggested earlier.

Create a new "fake person" (just a a made-up name) in your MyDisneyExperience account and,
after you arrive at WDW before going into a park, transfer all of the package tickets that you want to "save"
under that "fake name." Your tickets will remain unused until such time as you transfer them back to
your real names when you are ready to use those package tickets.

Out of curiosity, how could using the actual physical ticket not be trustworthy? How could that still pull the wrong ticket for use?

 

[lynnzrae]

I will do that.

Thank you very much. Also, out of curiosity, did you have issues making your FP+ reservations with the two different tickets? There was another person a few weeks ago that did. I called the internet service desk and the said everything is linked appropriately and that I should be fine but to be sure I should do at least one day of MK FP+ first before any other parks. I didn't understand why that helps but it is worth a shot. If you have any other tips I will gladly take them.

 

[Cindylieu]

We plan to be in MK well in advance of rope-drop. We will go to Guest Relations and have them prioritize the tickets, then I would guess that we could look at the MDE and see which tickets are currently in use? That would confirm the correct ticket scan. Then if there is a problem, we would have time to go BACK to guest relations and have them correct the problem?

(I bet I am making WAY too much of this, but I just want to park-hop later in the trip....)

 

[Cindylieu]

Thank you very much. Also, out of curiosity, did you have issues making your FP+ reservations with the two different tickets? There was another person a few weeks ago that did. I called the internet service desk and the said everything is linked appropriately and that I should be fine but to be sure I should do at least one day of MK FP+ first before any other parks. I didn't understand why that helps but it is worth a shot. If you have any other tips I will gladly take them.

There was a hiccup. Because we had a single-day ticket plus the 5-day tickets, the system filled up all of my FP reservations (MK, MK, AK, AK, and EPCOT) on the 5 day hopper ticket first. Then when I was trying to make the HS FPs, it was telling me that none were available. I realized that it was only seeing that the MK 1-day ticket was available. I quickly cancelled one day's worth of MK FPs (the easy-to-get ones) and refilled that space with the HS FPs. Then I rebooked the MK FPs and they went through onto the 1 day ticket without a hitch.

 

[lynnzrae]

There was a hiccup. Because we had a single-day ticket plus the 5-day tickets, the system filled up all of my FP reservations (MK, MK, AK, AK, and EPCOT) on the 5 day hopper ticket first. Then when I was trying to make the HS FPs, it was telling me that none were available. I realized that it was only seeing that the MK 1-day ticket was available. I quickly cancelled one day's worth of MK FPs (the easy-to-get ones) and refilled that space with the HS FPs. Then I rebooked the MK FPs and they went through onto the 1 day ticket without a hitch.

So maybe I should do the opposite, and make sure the last day I book is a non-MK day since my 1-day ticket is a non-MK ticket. And maybe I should not do what the help desk suggested and start out with a non-MK day and end with a non-MK day to make sure that the one-day ticket is used either first or last?

Very helpful thank you.

 

[Robo]

Out of curiosity, how could using the actual physical ticket not be trustworthy? How could that still pull the wrong ticket for use?

Once a ticket is connected to your MDX, it becomes part of your MDX ticket files.
Regardless of what medium is used at a park gate, that unit (physical ticket or MagicBand) is then "interchangeable" with any other
media connected to your MDX file.
Just another RFID-encoded "key."

OTOH, if you do not order a ticket through your MDX account and do not connect that ticket
to your MDX account (so advance FPs cannot be booked) that ticket will not access your MDX account.

 

[Shellyred8]

You have one option to do it yourself. A work around.
Create a dummy guest in MDE. Store any tickets you don't want to be used in the dummy guest and move them to the proper person when you need to use them

Could/would this mess up any fast passes that they have in place already?

 

[yesdnil]

We did this recently, and you'll need to go to a ticketing window specifically, not guest relations or a front desk or concierge or any other location. The ticketing (or will call) windows will have each person scan their magic band, see which tickets are linked, then activate whichever ticket you ask them to do.

This is also the only way to get your military tickets activated. For those, you must have the military ID present. In the past, they were flexible on the 6 tickets per ID card per year policy, but now they actually track this and will tell you how many tickets can be activated with each card.

On our trip, we had 6 adults and 12 tickets total (2 military ID cards in our party). Went on day one to activate the 5 day tickets first, and it took less than 10 minutes. They know what they're doing if you're at the right place.

 

[yesdnil]

Since you're specifically going to MK, they have a will call window that's separate from the ticketing window, and has a shorter line. Ironically, the ticketing window has signage that reads "will call" and "ticketing" but the will call window is actually separate. Both are located between bag check and the turnstiles. Any CM can direct you to the right line. This will call window is where you want to go.

 

[kagmypts]

Out of curiosity, how could using the actual physical ticket not be trustworthy? How could that still pull the wrong ticket for use?

The ticket is not actually a ticket. It is merely a link to your MDE account. All ticketing priorities are determined by MDE. We learned this the hard way... even after our tickets were prioritized by GR. Disney mostly fixed the problem, but it took a lot of valuable vacation time.

 

[Mome Rath]

FYI, If you have normal tickets (non military), then the concierge at a Disney hotel can indeed prioritize your tickets for you. I've done it several times with various tickets at various hotels and it has always worked. I would still double check after entry not matter where I got them prioritized.