TA ticket question

[tiggger1]

My daughter's dance team is going to Disney to perform this summer. A bunch of us are also going on a Disney cruise right after. The studio has a travel agent and most people have booked directly through them.We used them for the cruise because we wanted to be with the rest of the team. Hubby decided that he didnt want to book through the TA for the actual Disney part because the TA doesnt take cc and it was check only. He likes to have the insurance through the cc and also to get a ton cc points. ( we could use cc for the cruise)

we just booked a room through Disney today at the same hotel as the rest of the team for cheaper than the TA price.

Here lies the problem.. for dd to get the workshops with the team, we either to buy at least dd's park tickets directly though the TA or pay a "fee" which is around $130

Is it better for us to buy all our the tickets through the TA ( who still hasn't given me a ticket price and Im not sure if they are youth tickets prices or what) or just book tickets through Disney and pay the extra fee....

and if I do decide go through the TA for the tickets, can I add those to my reservations so I can book fastpasses? my biggest concern is that we wont get the tickets in time and I will loose my fastpass window!

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I guess I don't understand why you have to buy your child's park ticket through the travel agent. Are you sure about that? I would inquire with Disney.

 

[Marionnette]

My daughter's dance team is going to Disney to perform this summer. A bunch of us are also going on a Disney cruise right after. The studio has a travel agent and most people have booked directly through them.We used them for the cruise because we wanted to be with the rest of the team. Hubby decided that he didnt want to book through the TA for the actual Disney part because the TA doesnt take cc and it was check only. He likes to have the insurance through the cc and also to get a ton cc points. ( we could use cc for the cruise)

we just booked a room through Disney today at the same hotel as the rest of the team for cheaper than the TA price.

Here lies the problem.. for dd to get the workshops with the team, we either to buy at least dd's park tickets directly though the TA or pay a "fee" which is around $130

Is it better for us to buy all our the tickets through the TA ( who still hasn't given me a ticket price and Im not sure if they are youth tickets prices or what) or just book tickets through Disney and pay the extra fee....

and if I do decide go through the TA for the tickets, can I add those to my reservations so I can book fastpasses? my biggest concern is that we wont get the tickets in time and I will loose my fastpass window!

Without knowing what the TA will charge for the tickets, there is no way to know whether their price will be better than you can get elsewhere. But since there's no way that you're going to save $130 off of your daughter's ticket, it makes sense to get her ticket from the TA rather than pay the fee.

The problem will arise when you want to make FP+ reservations. You can only make them for people who have tickets attached to their names in your MDE account. Until the TA gives your daughter's ticket to you, you will not be able to make FP+ reservations for her.

You need to get more info from the TA before you can make an informed decision. How much are the tickets? When will they be distributed to the students? Can they be purchased with a credit card or must they also be paid for with a check? etc.

 

[Shmily1]

If the TA gives you the confirmation number, you can use that to attach her ticket and get her FPs. It would need to be the WDW confirmation number though and not just an internal one. Another option would be to make all the rest of your FPs then when you get hers, add her to the FPs.

 

[seashoreCM]

Are you willing to buy extra tickets for DD for ultimate use on a future trip?

Attach those on her My Disney Experience account and make the Fastpass reservations.

When you get there, attach the team program tickets to the MDE account and prioritize the team tickets to be used first.

It is common for teams, cheerleaders, etc. groups to require that participants buy some or all of the items such as tickets or even rooms through the team travel agency.

 

[powellrj]

I know when my kids have gone on WDW trips with groups, they had to do things with the group on the groups time line so there was no way you could book fast-passes ahead of time because many times they didn't know the times they were busy.

 

[tiggger1]

I guess I don't understand why you have to buy your child's park ticket through the travel agent. Are you sure about that? I would inquire with Disney.

I am guessing this is how the TA makes their money but Im not sure. I know the same thing happened the last time they went ( different TA) because a friend has annual passes and had to pay an addition $130 per kid to be included. I might just order the tickets from disney and then order hers through the TA and use them the next time we go?

 

[jenseib]

The most troubling thing to me is the TA not taking a credit card? Did she say why?

 

[Allison]

The tickets through the TA are probably group tickets that will have an expiration date.

 

[Marionnette]

The tickets through the TA are probably group tickets that will have an expiration date.

If the OP has the team ticket prioritized in MDE, it will get used first (presumably during the group visit) and it should not be a problem.

However, she will end up with one, unused ticket in her MDE account. That ticket can be reassigned to anyone in her MDE account as long as her daughter does not have her own MDE account.

The question becomes: Does the OP feel that being able to schedule FP+ for her daughter is worth tying money up in the form of a second ticket? And even that question becomes moot if the TA can provide the daughter's ticket info to the OP in order for her to be able to add it to MDE.

 

[tiggger1]

The most troubling thing to me is the TA not taking a credit card? Did she say why?

I have no idea. she took it for the cruise deposit but said she couldnt take it for the Disney part of the vacation. she also said she could take it for the tickets but there would be a 3% fee...She is part of small travel agency and she is the only one from my state. the rest of them are from all over the country. I am going to see if I can just get a 1 day park ticket for my daughter and save it for another visit?

 

[Marionnette]

I have no idea. she took it for the cruise deposit but said she couldnt take it for the Disney part of the vacation. she also said she could take it for the tickets but there would be a 3% fee...She is part of small travel agency and she is the only one from my state. the rest of them are from all over the country. I am going to see if I can just get a 1 day park ticket for my daughter and save it for another visit?

A 1-day park ticket from the TA? That might not be a possibility if she is getting a block of Youth tickets for parks and workshops for the kids. Has she gotten back to you about the price of the tickets?

 

[Shmily1]

It sounds to me like she has already paid for some tickets and is trying to recoup her money. She doesn't want cards because she isn't getting them through the Disney TA site since she has already purchased them. She's charging the fee because that's what she would be charged to convert the charge to cash for herself. If she was purchasing them from Youth Groups, they would take a card.

 

[tiggger1]

A 1-day park ticket from the TA? That might not be a possibility if she is getting a block of Youth tickets for parks and workshops for the kids. Has she gotten back to you about the price of the tickets?

yes the price of the ticket is the standard 5 day hopper pass from Disney. I am going to double check with her because it is not the same price that the others got..which was the youth ticket prices..

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I am not a TA but organized the trip with Disney when my DD's music department went in 2013. The requirement that every performer must buy a ticket through Disney was a requirement of Disney. I had families with APs who didn't want to pay the full price, and I talked to the Group Sales person specifically about this. Chaperones did not have to buy a ticket, but all performers did. This could be the same situation with the dance workshops. Tickets were significantly cheaper through Disney (non-performers could also get this price), and they were dated only for the dates that the kids would be performing.

Interestingly enough, I also organized my son's baseball team's tournament through Disney that same year, and the rules were different. The team was required to stay onsite, required at least a base ticket, but we had quite a few options, and there was a per player price that included the tickets, a private party for all players and families, and a 7 day WWoS pass that was separate from the "and more" on the tickets. However, this was for a week long tournament.

We were at the very end of the old fast pass system, as the fast pass plus was being tested while we were there, so opinions on that. However, for the music trip, the tickets were all sent to me after we paid, and we had them in hand before trip. For the baseball trip, everyone got them when they checked in, but they were not connected to room keys.