Splitting 10 day/hopping/no expire tickets for 3 trips

[PaulaSue]

Is there something I am missing? It seems like a good deal.

We have only gone to FL/ DW 2 times with the kids and want to do more. We only have stayed onsite but are thinking of branching out and trying Universal/HP and Seaworld, etc...

If I still stay onsite can we get the dinning plan (free if they still have it this fall) with the hotel room if we dont buy tickets with the package?

With the girls getting older and I am ready to do more trip wise but hate that the price per day is so high for lesser days.

 

[Marionnette]

Is there something I am missing? It seems like a good deal.

We have only gone to FL/ DW 2 times with the kids and want to do more. We only have stayed onsite but are thinking of branching out and trying Universal/HP and Seaworld, etc...

If I still stay onsite can we get the dinning plan (free if they still have it this fall) with the hotel room if we dont buy tickets with the package?

With the girls getting older and I am ready to do more trip wise but hate that the price per day is so high for lesser days.

You need to buy tickets in order for your stay to be considered a package and to get the free dining. At one time you only needed to buy one day tickets for everyone in the room. I believe that has been changed to a minimum of two days with the most recent offers. You will be better off just getting the package with free dining and length of stay tickets rather than buying ten day nonexpiring tickets plus the required two day passes.

 

[seashoreCM]

Splitting 10 day no expire ticket for 3 trips can give excellent results.

If you have to buy tickets to go with dining, you would save those tickets completely unused for the future, possibly to upgrade into more 10 day no expire tickets.

The only time you get into trouble is if you need to use (or accidentally use) two ticket cards on the same vacation.

 

[MrsMork]

DH and I bought 10 day never expire hopper passes 4 years ago. Started using them 3 years ago and still have another trip with 3 days. I think using tickets at 2007 prices in 2011 is a good deal. We are DVC so we don't get the free dining anyway. We also added one day in there with the give a day/get a day last year and the free birthday (for him) year before last. I used a really old ticket we had from when the package ticket did not expire on his free birthday. We live out west, so one trip per year is about all we can manage and we have been enough times that 3 days in the parks per trip works for us.

 

[NotUrsula]

To get the best value of all out of them, add waterparks, too. We're still using the waterpark value off tickets that we bought 10 years ago.

 

[clanmcculloch]

For the dining plan, here's the requirement. If/when free dining is offered again then most likely the minimum ticket requirement will be 2 day tickets as it was this past year. If there's no free dining and you want to purchase a dining plan then you have to (1) buy at least 1 day tickets (2) rent DVC points for your stay (3) have an adult Annual Passholder in your room.

The 10 day non-expiring ticket can be a great deal if you'll need exactly that number of days over those trips and the trips will be spread out beyond one year. I do agree that if you buy it then it's worthwhile adding the WP&M option.

 

[njsweetP]

Back in the summer of 2007 I bought 10 day park hopper, water parks and more, no expiry tickets for our 2008 trip. The tickets were split between trips in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. We also had the give a day ticket for our 2010 trip so that helped. After this trip all the tickets will be used.

 

[okeydokey]

To get the best value of all out of them, add waterparks, too. We're still using the waterpark value off tickets that we bought 10 years ago.

Yes, some friends did this a few years ago and they added 6 water park days for like $50 a ticket.

 

[tinker&belle]

If you have the tickets leftover on the next trip can you pay for the dining plan? (Like if you have a pin code for the room.)

 

[Marionnette]

If you have the tickets leftover on the next trip can you pay for the dining plan? (Like if you have a pin code for the room.)

No. Which is why buying the 10 day no expiration tickets is not always a great idea.

The only way to get the dining plan without having to buy tickets is:
1. You are staying at a dvc property on points.
2. You have an ap and made an ap room plus dining reservation

 

[akcire]

To get the best value of all out of them, add waterparks, too. We're still using the waterpark value off tickets that we bought 10 years ago.

OP--This is great advise. We have been using 10 days non-expiration tickets for our past few visits (originally purchased in 2005). I am kicking myself for not getting the water park option at the time. We have gone a couple of times to the water parks, and more than covered the cost, if we had added that feature at our original point of sale.

 

[fakereadhed]

Non-expiring tickets can change the way you tour. When I buy a 7 day ticket I don't want to waste it by not going to the parks. With NE tickets you can hang out at the pool or DTD and not feel guilty- you are just adding a day to your next trip!

The DDP is not such a great deal anymore. If you want to pre-pay, put the cost of the DDP on a gift card. You may be surprised how it comes out, especially if you don't have to buy a one day ticket for everyone in your party.

 

[Snoozan]

Another one here who buys the 10 day park hopper non-expiry tickets. We use them over 3 trips and just buy more before we run out so we carry the new tickets with us also, in case we decide to spend more days in the parks. I do agree with a PP that we don't feel the need to spend every day in a park so we have time to check out resorts, go to DTD, even drive over to Celebration, if we feel like it.

 

[torinsmom]

You could do free dining for this first trip. Just add the 10 day non expire tickets when you book your package. On future trips, you would need to do the 2 day tickets to get free dining(or dining at all). Of course, you could book your other trips with a different discount and just pay OOP for dining, and NOT have to book a package.

We bought 10 day non expire tickets with water parks and more in 2006 and used 4 days that first year, 3 days in 2007 and 3 days in 2008. Worked out well for us. We actually used our last plus last summer at DQ. If you do shorter trips, this is the way to go. You will definitely save some money.

 

[brymolmom]

We always get new 10 day hopping, non-expire WPM tickets. I am with you - all about the price per day. When we are going on longer trips and a good deal (with package) is offered - like free dining - we go for usually 8 nights and since we have to buy 2 days of tix anyway - I usually just buy the full trip's worth. It ends up at about $35 per day for a 7 day non-hopping which is a reasonable price per day. When we are going without a package or for a shorter trip - I always use our non-expires for trips 3 days or fewer - when the price per day would be $74 for a 3 day non-hopping.

When you factor in our WPM days - our tickets were $25 per day (about) for our non-expires back when we bought them a couple years ago. Probably has gone up a bit but still way more reasonable than paying for a 3 or 4 day ticket.

So I use them when the price per day is way too much to warrant paying it.

I like having the flexibility of not buying a package IF there isn't a good enough deal going on. We just went for a quick holiday trip to see the decorations and do MVMCP. Found an awesome offsite deal and just used 2 days of our non-expires (plus purchased MVMCP tickets for use on a 3rd day). I would never do a trip like this paying $74 per day per ticket.

Definitely agree with adding WPM to the tickets to get the most value - it is MINIMAL especially looking at the cost per day and can really extend the life of your no-expires.

 

[MrsMork]

To get the best value of all out of them, add waterparks, too. We're still using the waterpark value off tickets that we bought 10 years ago.

And Quest and golf. DH and I spent a day at Quest last fall and he played a 9hole round of golf. We still have not used the WPs on ours, but will always have them to use another time.

 

[Kat77]

Non-expiring tickets can change the way you tour. When I buy a 7 day ticket I don't want to waste it by not going to the parks. With NE tickets you can hang out at the pool or DTD and not feel guilty- you are just adding a day to your next trip!

The DDP is not such a great deal anymore. If you want to pre-pay, put the cost of the DDP on a gift card. You may be surprised how it comes out, especially if you don't have to buy a one day ticket for everyone in your party.

This is us too. We actually get 4-5 trips out of 10 day non exp. WP&M passes. We do DTD and explore resorts on off days. There is a lot to do outside of the parks and this allows us to do it without feeling like we're wasting precious park time.

 

[vettechick99]

So far we have gotten 3 trips out of our 10day NE WP+ PHP. Sure it was a fortune at first, but now all we have to worry about is our hotel and eating. We still have 4 or 5 water days and 2 park days left. So we should, in total, get 4 trips out of those passes!

 

[Marionnette]

Looking at disney's website. They do a breakdown of cost per day for each ticket type.

A 10 day ticket costs $26.20 (plus tax) per day for an adult. Adding no expiration tacks on an additional $21.30 (plus tax) per day. Total is $47.50 per day for no expiration 10 day pass.

The cost for a 5 day adult pass is $47.40 per day before taxes. So if you are buying base passes and are doing 5 days or more then its cheaper per day to do the multiple tickets rather than a 10 day no expiration pass.

But if you want hopping or the waterpark option then you will save a little bit by getting the 10 day pass since it costs the same amount to add those options to any ticket. Much cheaper to add it only once to a 10 day pass than to add it multiple times to many tickets.

But the big catch is that having a ticket in your pocket makes it harder to take advantage of those great deals like free dining. If you do jump on one of those package deals then your non expiring multiday ticket either sits in a drawer while you use the ticket from your package or you end up with a drawer full of unused 1 and 2 day passes.

Im at the point right now where I am sitting on four 1 day passes from a free dining package, two unused non expiring 10 day hoppers and several non expiring passes with waterpark and more entitlements still on them and one or two park days. I need to schedule a trip with a really good room only rate!

 

[Kat&Dom]

Is there something I am missing? It seems like a good deal.

We have only gone to FL/ DW 2 times with the kids and want to do more. We only have stayed onsite but are thinking of branching out and trying Universal/HP and Seaworld, etc...

If I still stay onsite can we get the dinning plan (free if they still have it this fall) with the hotel room if we dont buy tickets with the package?

With the girls getting older and I am ready to do more trip wise but hate that the price per day is so high for lesser days.

If you are thinking of branching outside of Disney parks, the 10 day NE with WP option is a great deal. This year, I upgraded my son's free Disney ticket through airmiles to 10 day PH, WP, NE and we used 5 PH days in April. We did a second trip in November and used 1 PH day, did MVMCP, and 2 days at SeaWorld. I still have 4 PH days on his ticket and 10 WP days to use for our next few trips. In April, I still had my Annual Pass so I didn't need tickets for me then in November, I bought a 10 day PH, WP, NE for me through Undercover Tourist - I think it was $589. I used 1 PH day on it so have 9 PH days and 10 WP visits for the future.

When we come to Orlando, we stay off-site in a condo and do SeaWorld, Disney and Universal. This trip, I had tickets for Universal but my son decided he would rather a second SeaWorld day so I have our Universal tickets for our next trip too. We have Annual Passes to SeaWorld and love to go there. I love knowing that I have the NE Disney tickets with the WP option - I figure that they will last us a long time.