Questions about Family/Friend Free tickets

[jloofutah]

I hope that someone on here can help me out. My daughter has been accepted to the College Program Fall Advantage 2012 and arriving May 16th. Based off of info on the site (that they recieve their FREE main gate passes 2 weeks after start date) our family has booked a trip June 2nd-8th. Just little over 2 weeks. Now we realize we may not get to spend alot of time with her given her training and such but were hoping to use the FREE tickets. Now recently on FB someone said it was more like 4 weeks till they are given their maingate passes. Does anyone know when they actually receive them? It is possible to change our reservations if necessary (DVC Members) but prefer not to. Too much restuarant planning and possbility of not getting the reservations we want to do.

 

[Iris]

I think it varies but my daughter got her maingate about 4 weeks later, however, she never updated her address on the HUB and her maingate was sent back home. Her roommates all got theirs right around the 3 to 4 week mark.

Remember that she must be with you when she uses the maingate pass and she must let your party members (up to three) in at the same time. She cannot let two in and then later in the day let the third person in, they must be together and you must be with her. Once she lets in you, you will receive a one-day park hopper pass each to use that day.

 

[figmentfan6]

This may have changed, but when I was on my program you could go pick up your Maingate in person somewhere in Celebration. If you're concerned have her ask someone when she gets there.

Also, bear in mind that her "free tickets" aren't endless. She'll get 6 days (again, unless this has changed but I doubt it has increased) and be able to let three people in per day. So if she was going to have friends visit her/you guys are coming to visit a second time, this could pose a problem. She also has to be present when you enter the park, so you guys will need to plan getting into the park around her schedule. She may be working very late shifts, so she might be completely drained at 9 am when you guys want to enter the park. If she's working in the park you want to go to, she really can't come let you in when she's on a break because of costume cross overs.

As a side note, as a daughter who did the CP and coming from a Disney family like you guys. I would have been unhappy if my family was visiting and I was working all day. Especially if they were using my free entrances. Even more so if they were making dining reservations that weren't around my schedule. It would be really unpleasant to know that my family was using my tickets and eating around the world while I was stuck at work. If I can make a recommendation, make a ressie for every meal. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. She'll get her work schedule before you arrive. Whatever meal she is free for, bring her to. She'll appreciate the free food (rather than cooking for herself) and the extra time with family.

Is she staying with you at the resort? If not, she'll have to use the CP buses to go everywhere to let you in. That is an absolute nightmare for any CP because those buses are not super and getting to where ever she needs to work would be over an hour detour. This may seem inconvenient, but try and enter whatever park is easiest for her everyday. Then just hop over to your actual park for the day.

I know this is a looooooooong rant. Just remember that if you're using her tickets, the only ones she'll get on her entire program, you should plan your schedule around her. I'm sure you will though!!

 

[ArielinWonderland]

Hi! I am a current Disneyland college program participant (and we get 16 uses of the main gate pass! )

It took me about 2, maybe 3 weeks, to receive my main gate pass, but some of my roommates had theirs sent home around this time, so it took extra time to arrive here. One of the problems with getting them, I think, is that when you apply, you obviously use your home address, but at Traditions ALL of us had to update our address, since we are all currently living in Anaheim. So I guess some people's address change, like mine, went through more quickly so I received mine at the CP housing here, but some of my roommates' parents had to mail theirs here, thus the reason it took longer to arrive.

Unfortunately, there is no way to correct this problem before arrival since you won't know your exact address/ apartment number in advance. I would advise you to be prepared to have to purchase tickets (she will still get a discount on tickets using her cast ID) or reschedule your trip, in case she hasn't received it by then.

 

[Mercedes10]

How many tickets do you get?

 

[figmentfan6]

How many tickets do you get?

During my CP in Fall '10, I was given 6 days for a max of 3 people and myself each day.

 

[Que_Sarah_Sarah]

On a semi-related note, a CP can purchase discounted tickets for the family if the maingate isn't an option.

 

[edk35]

Does anyone know how much of a discount the cast members get if they purchase park tickets for family members?? Thanks

 

[taigirl87]

Does anyone know how much of a discount the cast members get if they purchase park tickets for family members?? Thanks

I beleive it's 10% I had to get extra since I had more than 3 people in my family to get into the parks.

 

[PinballFamily]

Hi, OP - sorry - not the news you want to hear, but in our experience (our kid did the CP last year), the *free* Maingate tickets take four weeks. (And there are multiple restrictions on them as other posters have very accurately described.) She'll be there again this year and we were hoping to visit her at WDW just over three weeks in, but she cautioned us to change this, as she does not expect the tickets to be available by then.

Good luck!