Refresh my memory please

[Anal Annie]

So we're going down for spring break then again in August and want to buy AP's then the TIW card. (It sounds like the price on the TIW card is less for AP holders than just DVC members.) Anyway, I know there's some "trick" that people do where they like buy reg. park tix from Undercover Tourist then they upgrade them to the DVC AP's later. Can somebody explain this to me again? I forget how this saves money but it does, I remember reading it before. But which ticket is the best one to buy (7 days MYW, 8 days Hopper or which one is it)? I know there's a specific one that works out to be the best value for upgrading and I can't remember which one it is. You buy these tickets then use them to get into the park the first time, right? Then after you use it you go somewhere in the park to pay the difference for the upgrade?! (Guest services?)

NEXT memory lapse that I'm having is about the car rental places onsite. When we go in Aug. we're staying at BWV and want to take a couple of days to go over to Universal so we'll need a car. Isn't there a place at like the Swan and / or Dolphin to rent a car? We could walk over there to rent it, right? I couldn't remember if it's Enterprise or National or Alamo or which agency it is and I wanted to check out the rates.

THANKS everyone!!

 

[Mousewerks]

So we're going down for spring break then again in August and want to buy AP's then the TIW card. (It sounds like the price on the TIW card is less for AP holders than just DVC members.) Anyway, I know there's some "trick" that people do where they like buy reg. park tix from Undercover Tourist then they upgrade them to the DVC AP's later. Can somebody explain this to me again? I forget how this saves money but it does, I remember reading it before. But which ticket is the best one to buy (7 days MYW, 8 days Hopper or which one is it)? I know there's a specific one that works out to be the best value for upgrading and I can't remember which one it is. You buy these tickets then use them to get into the park the first time, right? Then after you use it you go somewhere in the park to pay the difference for the upgrade?! (Guest services?)

You have the basics down. The idea is to get a discounted ticket at a place like Undercover Tourist and then use it once before upgrading it to the AP. UT quotes all their prices with tax and shipping included but they also tell you what the discount is off the gate price. That difference is what you end up saving on your AP. The reason you must use it once is that that "activates" the ticket so that when you go to Guest Services, they'll use the original gate price of the ticket as the value of the ticket. To get the absolute best price from UT, you need to sign up for the Mousesavers newsletter. That newsletter has a special link to Undercover Tourist which saves a bit more than the normal UT prices.

NEXT memory lapse that I'm having is about the car rental places onsite. When we go in Aug. we're staying at BWV and want to take a couple of days to go over to Universal so we'll need a car. Isn't there a place at like the Swan and / or Dolphin to rent a car? We could walk over there to rent it, right? I couldn't remember if it's Enterprise or National or Alamo or which agency it is and I wanted to check out the rates.

THANKS everyone!!

Google maps claims the rental company is Alamo.

 

[marie1981]

Rental car is Alamo, for sure. I rented several times there.

On Alamo website, you just have to choose Dolphin as pickup and drop place.

It is just a 3 minutes walk from BW !

 

[RweTHEREyet]

So, if I want to ultimately end up with a DVC Annual Pass, I could purchase a ticket from UCT with a discount, use it the first day, and then go to Guest Services to upgrade for the difference. Do I have that right?

It appears that the ticket giving the biggest discount is a Park Hopper with no expiration, and a savings of $31. That means I would get an additional $31off the cost of my DVC AP?

I guess it would work the same way if I decided to go with the Premiere Annual Pass for both WDW and DL, another $31 savings off that.

I wonder if anyone has ever had trouble upgrade a UCT ticket at Guest Services.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

So, if I want to ultimately end up with a DVC Annual Pass, I could purchase a ticket from UCT with a discount, use it the first day, and then go to Guest Services to upgrade for the difference. Do I have that right?

It appears that the ticket giving the biggest discount is a Park Hopper with no expiration, and a savings of $31. That means I would get an additional $31off the cost of my DVC AP?

I guess it would work the same way if I decided to go with the Premiere Annual Pass for both WDW and DL, another $31 savings off that.

I wonder if anyone has ever had trouble upgrade a UCT ticket at Guest Services.

The gate value of the MYW ticket also needs to be less than the DVC AP. Disney won't refund any difference if the ticket you're trading in costs more than the AP you want to "upgrade" to. I believe the ticket you want is a 6-day hopper, for $29 savings.

Check out this thread.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Thanks, Dave, another quick question. We haven't decided for sure, but may be going with the Premiere AP for both WDW and DL, so would the biggest discount with UCT work in that situation?

 

[Mousewerks]

I wonder if anyone has ever had trouble upgrade a UCT ticket at Guest Services.

No, just the opposite for me. I had my UT ticket, went through the gate at Epcot, spent the day enjoying myself and headed to Guest Services just outside the park on our way out. The CM says "This is an unused ticket". I was a little taken aback since I'd spent the whole day in Epcot how I could have gotten in without a day coming off the ticket. However, since I was upgrading to an AP, he kindly activated the card and then gave me the full gate price as value. So, the ticket CMs are more than helpful.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Wow, what magic that would be for someone to not have a day taken off.

I wonder if they are able to identify the ticket as having come from UCT?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

OK. I gotta ask. Why wouldn't one use the UT ticket for the entire length of stay and then upgrade it at the end? If they're not discounting for the first day of use, the assumption would be they wouldn't discount for 5-6 days' use either.

That being the case, wouldn't that essentially give you 370+ days out of your AP? Why does everybody do it immediately?

 

[Mousewerks]

OK. I gotta ask. Why wouldn't one use the UT ticket for the entire length of stay and then upgrade it at the end? If they're not discounting for the first day of use, the assumption would be they wouldn't discount for 5-6 days' use either.

That being the case, wouldn't that essentially give you 370+ days out of your AP? Why does everybody do it immediately?

We did it to get the TiW card for discounts on food that trip. Most reasons are like that sort of things.. For the discounts..

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Good point. I didn't think about the discounts.

 

[DebbieB]

OK. I gotta ask. Why wouldn't one use the UT ticket for the entire length of stay and then upgrade it at the end? If they're not discounting for the first day of use, the assumption would be they wouldn't discount for 5-6 days' use either.

That being the case, wouldn't that essentially give you 370+ days out of your AP? Why does everybody do it immediately?

Nice idea, but it doesn't work. They backdate the AP to the first date of use of the MYW. So if you first use your MYW on 2/1/12 and then upgrade on 2/5/12, your AP will expire 2/1/13. That's why they don't deduct days already used, it's like you had an AP the whole time.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Nice idea, but it doesn't work. They backdate the AP to the first date of use of the MYW. So if you first use your MYW on 2/1/12 and then upgrade on 2/5/12, your AP will expire 2/1/13. That's why they don't deduct days already used, it's like you had an AP the whole time.

That's right! I forgot that. Thanks for reminding us.

 

[Sammie]

So, if I want to ultimately end up with a DVC Annual Pass, I could purchase a ticket from UCT with a discount, use it the first day, and then go to Guest Services to upgrade for the difference. Do I have that right?

It appears that the ticket giving the biggest discount is a Park Hopper with no expiration, and a savings of $31. That means I would get an additional $31off the cost of my DVC AP?

I guess it would work the same way if I decided to go with the Premiere Annual Pass for both WDW and DL, another $31 savings off that.

I wonder if anyone has ever had trouble upgrade a UCT ticket at Guest Services.

Yes someone has, and it was discussed on the Theme Park forum. There probably have been others we are not aware of.

 

[Sammie]

Wow, what magic that would be for someone to not have a day taken off.

I wonder if they are able to identify the ticket as having come from UCT?

Yes they are.

 

[Sandisw]

So we're going down for spring break then again in August and want to buy AP's then the TIW card. (It sounds like the price on the TIW card is less for AP holders than just DVC members.) Anyway, I know there's some "trick" that people do where they like buy reg. park tix from Undercover Tourist then they upgrade them to the DVC AP's later. Can somebody explain this to me again? I forget how this saves money but it does, I remember reading it before. But which ticket is the best one to buy (7 days MYW, 8 days Hopper or which one is it)? I know there's a specific one that works out to be the best value for upgrading and I can't remember which one it is. You buy these tickets then use them to get into the park the first time, right? Then after you use it you go somewhere in the park to pay the difference for the upgrade?! (Guest services?)

NEXT memory lapse that I'm having is about the car rental places onsite. When we go in Aug. we're staying at BWV and want to take a couple of days to go over to Universal so we'll need a car. Isn't there a place at like the Swan and / or Dolphin to rent a car? We could walk over there to rent it, right? I couldn't remember if it's Enterprise or National or Alamo or which agency it is and I wanted to check out the rates.

THANKS everyone!!

When I rented at the Dolphin a few years ago, it was both Alamo and National so either one works.

It makes it very easy to do!!

 

[Anal Annie]

No, just the opposite for me. I had my UT ticket, went through the gate at Epcot, spent the day enjoying myself and headed to Guest Services just outside the park on our way out. The CM says "This is an unused ticket". I was a little taken aback since I'd spent the whole day in Epcot how I could have gotten in without a day coming off the ticket. However, since I was upgrading to an AP, he kindly activated the card and then gave me the full gate price as value. So, the ticket CMs are more than helpful.

Yes someone has, and it was discussed on the Theme Park forum. There probably have been others we are not aware of.

Yes they are.

Hummm...since there are mixed answers here do you know if there are there some current threads about problems doing this? I don't remember anybody reporting problems with this plan over here on the DVC boards.

 

[Anal Annie]

When I rented at the Dolphin a few years ago, it was both Alamo and National so either one works.

It makes it very easy to do!!

Rental car is Alamo, for sure. I rented several times there.

On Alamo website, you just have to choose Dolphin as pickup and drop place.

It is just a 3 minutes walk from BW !

Thanks...I wanted to price it out thru Costco & wasn't sure who to pick.

 

[Mousewerks]

Hummm...since there are mixed answers here do you know if there are there some current threads about problems doing this? I don't remember anybody reporting problems with this plan over here on the DVC boards.

Ignore Sammie . Seriously though, you need to find Cheshire Figment's sticky on WDW tickets. He's a WDW ticket CM and has the skinny on all 'tricks of the trade'.

 

[Snurk71]

The gate value of the MYW ticket also needs to be less than the DVC AP. Disney won't refund any difference if the ticket you're trading in costs more than the AP you want to "upgrade" to. I believe the ticket you want is a 6-day hopper, for $29 savings.

Check out this thread.

I purchased a hopper that was like $2 value over the DVC AP and though I didn't get a refund, the CM applied the $2 (x3 tickets for a total of $6) against my TIW purchase. So my TIW only cost me $69 instead of $75.

Annie, just remember the phrase "bring the hopper to gate price" in case you run into any trouble (we didn't - the CM knew exactly what to do).