Ticket Confusion

[charvel67]

Not sure if this is the right place for this thread. We are DVC members. Our next trip is in 27 days and we have been trying to figure out a ticket strategy. We don't have AP's and are reluctant to buy them right now because it may be 18 months before we return. We thought of buying a 6 day pass with Park Hopper and no expiration because we thought with no expiration we could use it for 5 days, not use the 6th so when we return in the future we could upgrade possibly to an AP. We are really confused as to how this works and not sure if it would be beneficial for us. We think that when we return to WDW in 18 mos that we would be better positioned to resume a schedule of at least one visit per year. Is the only discount on tickets for DVC members on AP's? We need some help understanding how things work in laymans terms.

 

[Daddio]

You won't be able to upgrade because an upgrade would be for 1 year from the first day you used your regular park ticket.

David

 

[toniosmom]

I bought an 8-day no exp park hopper and used them on two trips. We still have one day left on them. It was helpful that I retained the original receipt, so they were able to add the remaining days onto my room key. However, they said that if I had the room key from the last trip, they could have used that to verify the remaining days as well.

The best bang for your buck is to get a 10-day no exp ticket. Good luck!

 

[vicki_c]

You won't be able to upgrade because an upgrade would be for 1 year from the first day you used your regular park ticket.

David

and because you can't upgrade any partially used ticket more than 14 days from first use -- so this exclusion actually would happen first.

And other than APs, there are no other DVC ticket discounts for the main parks.

 

[charvel67]

If you purchase an AP are there discounts for stays not using my points? If so can you get a room discount and free dining when offered?

 

[erionm]

If you purchase an AP are there discounts for stays not using my points? If so can you get a room discount and free dining when offered?

They do occasionally offer room discounts to passholders. If you take advantage of one of those passholder discounts you would not be entitled to free dining if that was offered. When free dining is offerred, it's only on non-discounted room rates.

 

[pyrxtc]

I would buy a 10 pass with WP&M No expiration. Then you can use it for a few trips and you also get 10 WP&M times.

 

[Mommb]

If you purchase an AP are there discounts for stays not using my points? If so can you get a room discount and free dining when offered?

As a previous poster said, there are often discounts available to Annual Passholders, but those cannot be combined with the Free Dining packages. Because Free Dining packages charge the full-price room rate, staying at the AP rate and paying for dining may actually end up costing less. Also, Free Dining packages require the purchase of 2- or 3-day park passes.

If you are sure you will be back in about 18 months and the total length of both trips will be 10 days or less, getting a non-expiring ticket may make sense. Personally, I'd be inclined to buy only what I needed for the upcoming trip and think about getting an AP using the DVC discount on the next trip, because that gives additional flexibility in the length of the next trip, but if you do short trips that may not be a concern for you.

 

[RLRDA]

The best bang for your buck is to get a 10-day no exp ticket.

We only go once a year and we use this option. We can get 3+ trips out of a 10 day non-exp. with fun passes added on. I say "3+" because the fun passes (DQ, water parks) probably last us 5 or more trips.