Ticket Questions - Ages 3-9 No Expiration

[Joel110]

Just doing some research and had a couple of questions. When purchasing tickets. Does the age factor apply based on the child's age on date of first use? or date of purchase? For example, if the child is turning age 10 in November, but isn't using the ticket for the first time until next June, could you purchase the ticket now at the ages 3-9 rate?

Separate question. Let's say the child is 9, you purchase the 10-day "No expiration" option. Use it a couple of days now. Then in a couple years, the child is 11, is there any charge to use the remaining 8 days because the child is now above the age of 10?

Just curious if it might make sense stacking up prior to reaching adult age.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Our dd will be 9 during this trip and we will be getting the non expiration tickets. As far as I know, she will be able to use the remaining days when she is 10 (hoping to go again a yr. later) . There is no charge.
My answer to your other question is that you would have to buy an adult ticket if your child is 10 when you go. It doesn't matter when you purchase the ticket, it is how old they are when they first use it.

 

[russtwinsmom]

We actually called Disney on this one. They said that if you reused the ticket when the child is older, you would take the tickets to the ticket counter at the entrance and you would be charged the difference between the two tickets at that time.

 

[SnowWhite]

We just purchased the 10 day no expiration ticket for our DD8 because she will initially activate it this month. Whenever we return she will probably be considered an "adult" in Disneys eyes but we will be able to exchange her ticket for an adult ticket at no extra charge. I think of it as a good investment!! Unfortunately if you are not going till she is 10 you will have to purchase the adult ticket because she will be 10 when she first activates it.

 

[justhat]

We actually called Disney on this one. They said that if you reused the ticket when the child is older, you would take the tickets to the ticket counter at the entrance and you would be charged the difference between the two tickets at that time.

This is incorrect. They don't charge you anything to upgrade your ticket from child to adult if the child is 10 or above. We just did this on October 1st with our niece. She was 8 when we took her to WDW in May 2004 and when we took her back for MNSSHP a couple of weeks ago she was 10. We still had 2 days left on her old child hopper ticket and we took it to guest services, told them she's 10 now and they have her a new ticket that said adult and that was that. No charges at all. Also, I spoke with a CM about it before we left as I wanted to change the ticket without her there (I left earlier with her and my daughter on 9/30 to go to MNSSHP but my husband was coming in alone, later that evening so he was going to exchange the ticket since he couldn't go to MNSSHP and that way we wouldn't waste time in the morning) and she said that wasn't a problem either. Just tell them that your child is now over 9 and they give you the new ticket. As it turned out, he got in too late to change the ticket so we all just got up earlier and did it the next morning with her there.

If the 1st use isn't till after they turn 10 though then you have to get an adult ticket. I know it's not really the same, but think of it this way. My daughter is 1yo now, but I can't buy tickets for myself in advance and book a trip for 2010 when she'll be 6 and take her into the parks free since she was under ticket age when I booked the trip/bought my tickets.

 

[tjmw2727]

The age is based on date of first use not date of purchase. So in the OP case you would need an adult ticket for the child who will be 10 on the trip.

As for upgrading my experience there is no cost if the child has used the ticket as a <9 and is now 10 or older. My experience was similar to Justthat, except they would not do it without the child present so the CM could verify the dates made sense.

I actually did this twice, first time with a friend and her sons ticket. We tried to do it the day prior to her son/dh's arrival and they wouldn't do it. We waited until the next day, with her son and it was quick and easy.

We did this again just last week with my dd who is now 10 and the CM was a bit more "strict". Maybe because of the implimentation of MYW and the ticket tag. She talked with my dd quite a bit, was pleasant and friendly but definately wanted to make sure it was her ticket we were upgrading. She then had my dd sign the new adult ticket on the spot. Even with the increased level of scrutiny it was less than 5 minutes and we had the ticket upgraded at no additional cost with the same number of days and plus options.

TJ