ticket decisions when going on a US free dining package

disneyholic family

disney on my mind....
Joined
Jan 31, 2002
so this is what i'm trying to work out...

we have a US free dining package for this august (august 2018 - it was a bounceback offer that we booked last year).

so for a US free dining package you are required to buy a minimum 2 day MYW park hopper ticket for each person in the package..

so now comes the number crunching...

we will be there for 14 days, so MYW tickets are stupid - they work out to be something like $1000 or more for the 14 days (you have to buy a 10 day ticket and a 4 day ticket - very expensive)..

so option 1- buying two MYW tickets to cover the 14 days is a non-starter..

option 2 - buy a UK 14 day ultimate ticket and just throw away the required 2 day MYW ticket that comes with the package......the UK ticket includes memory maker for free..

option 3 - upgrade the required 2 day MYW park hopper ticket to a platinum annual pass (which includes photopass download which i assume is the same as memory maker)

so let's check the numbers..

the 2 day MYW park hopper costs: $291.81 (including tax)
10 day MYW parkhopperplus: $601.73 (including tax)
4 day MYW parkhopperplus: $532.50 (including tax)

the UK 14 day ultimate ticket (at today's exchange rate): $517.21

the platinum AP costs: $1,010.69 (including tax)

ok...

so adding up..

option 1 - buying a 10 day and 4 day MYW = $601.73 + $532.50 = $1,134.23 (clearly the stupid option)

option 2 - buying a UK 14 day ultimate ticket and throwing away the required 2 day MYW = $517.21 + $291.81 = $809.02

option 3 - upgrade the 2 day required MYW ticket to a platinum AP = $1,010.69

so it seems option 2 is the option of choice: it's $201.67 cheaper than the AP option...

the only difference being, the AP does come with discounts. So if i thought i could manage more than $400 in discounts (since we're talking about two tickets - so twice the difference of 201) then it might be worthwhile to upgrade to the AP.

did i do the above correctly?

any other reasons i should consider option 3 over option 2?


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one more problem....and a very important problem it is:

if i only have a 2 day MYW ticket, that means i'm not going to be able to book my FP+ at 60 days except for those 2 days of the MYW ticket.

i won't have purchased the AP or the UK ticket as yet.

and if i buy the UK ticket, how is the package/MDE going to know that i have 14 ticketed days rather than 2?

i'm betting the system won't and it will be an insurmountable glitch...

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If the answer is to buy the 14-day tickets, make sure to buy and link them prior to your FP day, then you will be able to make all your FP at the 60-day point.

Don't throw away the 2-day ticket, keep it for a future trip
 
If the answer is to buy the 14-day tickets, make sure to buy and link them prior to your FP day, then you will be able to make all your FP at the 60-day point.

Don't throw away the 2-day ticket, keep it for a future trip

can you keep that 2 day ticket?

but more importantly, even if my package is this US package - that is, the package that's on my MDE account.....i can push an unrelated UK ticket onto it?
even though the 2 day ticket is part of that package bundle?

i did the same thing a few years back and when i called the special tech number to ask, they said DON'T DO IT....they were really worried the whole thing would blow up..
but at the time, there was no such thing as FP+ so it didn't make a difference if i linked it or not..
so i didn't....
but now, the only way to get those FPs at 60 days is if there's an attached ticket for the entire period..


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by the way, this is actually for DD and DSIL.....i have the same package, but i won't be able to go this summer (i'll still be in treatment then - or just post surgery)...so no trip for me..
but i'm trying to figure this out for DD...
 
You can link any amount of tickets to a person on MDE, I currently have 4 linked to me. In terms of usage, they would need to go to Guest Services to ensure the 14-day ticket is prioritised so it gets used first. The fact that it's a package is neither here nor there, I don't believe. The ticket will be linked to an individual and, as long as it doesn't get used, will remain valid.
 
thanks!!!

so now i'll just have to hope that we won't have a problem buying the UK ticket..

as someone noted already, they've labeled it differently this year "UK and Ireland exclusive"...
when i went through a dummy package - if i buy the entire package (as we did for our UK package last year), there was no problem where i'm from..

but when i tried to only buy the ticket, without the package, it got sticky...
so i'll have to call disneyUK and see what happens...
this entire thread might be irrelevant if they won't let me buy the 14 day ticket since i'm not in the UK and i'm on a US package rather than a UK package...

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So if i thought i could manage more than $400 in discounts (since we're talking about two tickets - so twice the difference of 201) then it might be worthwhile to upgrade to the AP.

your average discount will be 15% off (average between the 10 and the 20% discounts depending on what you purchase; but more likely around the 11 or12% martk) and you won't be getting discounts on restaurants (you're on DDP ?) and discount can't be applied to tips

so in order to save $400 you would need to spend $2650 in eligible merchandise, and out of pocket restaurants. And that's just your break even point.

I don't think I could spend that much at disney's in 2 weeks on merchandise only. We're talking about probably $3000+ to start making any savings (which will be negated by the purchase of extra luggage allowance to bring all of that back home, lol)


Don't worry about the UK and Ireland residents bit.
worst case scenario, Disney don't let you buy them ... get them from another vendor, such as Attraction Tickets Direct, Floridatix, or any reputable company that sells them.
And the UK and Ireland Exclusive has been on the UK/IE website for as long as I can recall (even before the IE site even existed and there was only the UK site)
 
your average discount will be 15% off (average between the 10 and the 20% discounts depending on what you purchase; but more likely around the 11 or12% martk) and you won't be getting discounts on restaurants (you're on DDP ?) and discount can't be applied to tips

so in order to save $400 you would need to spend $2650 in eligible merchandise, and out of pocket restaurants. And that's just your break even point.

I don't think I could spend that much at disney's in 2 weeks on merchandise only. We're talking about probably $3000+ to start making any savings (which will be negated by the purchase of extra luggage allowance to bring all of that back home, lol)


Don't worry about the UK and Ireland residents bit.
worst case scenario, Disney don't let you buy them ... get them from another vendor, such as Attraction Tickets Direct, Floridatix, or any reputable company that sells them.
And the UK and Ireland Exclusive has been on the UK/IE website for as long as I can recall (even before the IE site even existed and there was only the UK site)

i figured that they'd have to buy a huge amount to get the $400 in discounts....
the only possible reason to buy the AP is if they actually thought there was a chance they might be coming back a second time..
otherwise that $200 per ticket difference is the clincher..

the only problem i now see is that they have to buy the UK tickets before 60 days....which is before full payment day...
they'll have to be fully committed to the trip by that time....not sure if they will be or not..

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disney changed their policy in october 2017...
so i can no longer buy the UK packages or tickets...
another nail in the disney coffin for us..

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OK, so here's the thing. You can actually upgrade the 10-day ticket to a 14-day ticket through Guest Services; not sure if it's at the hotel or at the actual park. I learned about it from Robo's Ticketing Thread (on the US portion of the site). The problem is that you can only do it on site, while at WDW.

So, if you can't get the UK tickets anymore, get the 10-day ticket now, so you can at least book FPs for 10-days (upgrade the 2-day to a 10-day in your package and then you'll have some time to pay it off before the 60-day deadline comes around). Then, when on site, upgrade the 10-day to a 14-day ticket.
 
OK, so here's the thing. You can actually upgrade the 10-day ticket to a 14-day ticket through Guest Services; not sure if it's at the hotel or at the actual park. I learned about it from Robo's Ticketing Thread (on the US portion of the site). The problem is that you can only do it on site, while at WDW.

So, if you can't get the UK tickets anymore, get the 10-day ticket now, so you can at least book FPs for 10-days (upgrade the 2-day to a 10-day in your package and then you'll have some time to pay it off before the 60-day deadline comes around). Then, when on site, upgrade the 10-day to a 14-day ticket.


are you sure?
i've been told this in the past, but was not able to do it despite having tried..

and in fact, when i spoke with disney UK on the phone just now (you're actually talking to disney US CMs who are assigned to answering the calls that come in from the UK)
anyway, i asked her this and she said the maximum US ticket is 10 days....
and when i said "so my only option is the AP", she said yes..
so i still wonder whether it's true you can add 4 days to the 10 day...
it's a very risky bet (which has not panned out for me in the past)..
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Beth what about if you use a UK travel agent or a good reseller of the UK 14 day ultimate ticket like Attraction Tickets direct or even Virgin holidays ?

the official contracted sellers are not able to go against disney policy - they are contractually required to follow disney rules.
if i go to a third party agent, they will add on a handling fee. Then it's a question of number crunching to see whether there is still a significant enough difference between the AP and the 14 day ticket
 
are you sure?
i've been told this in the past, but was not able to do it despite having tried..

and in fact, when i spoke with disney UK on the phone just now (you're actually talking to disney US CMs who are assigned to answering the calls that come in from the UK)
anyway, i asked her this and she said the maximum US ticket is 10 days....
and when i said "so my only option is the AP", she said yes..
so i still wonder whether it's true you can add 4 days to the 10 day...
it's a very risky bet (which has not panned out for me in the past)..

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When I get on a computer, I will find the link to Robos Ticketing Thread. But the max you can purchase directly from Disney without being on property is 10 days
 
When I get on a computer, I will find the link to Robos Ticketing Thread.

i'm in robo's thread, but he himself has never done this..
he refers to other people being able to add a day or two...
but there is a difference between adding a day or two, and adding 4 days..
and in any case, he says people have claimed it, but there is no evidence that it has actually occurred
and i know i have tried in the past without success.....
and it is risky to try and then fail when you get to the park..

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One more thought: Are you actually there 14 full days (i.e. not just 14 nights)? One option we have done before that might work if saving money is important to you might be to get the 10 day ticket with the plus option and schedule your days so that you have a couple of "free" days on which you use plus options (waterpark/minigolf), visit resorts, stay at the pool, go to Disney Springs etc. Obviously, this will not work for everyone as you will only have 10 days in the park BUT we like to have some down-time occasionally so it is a minor inconvenience (and saves you buying two tickets).
 

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