Ticket strategy help? Bridging questions....

[suebeelin]

Sorry if this is a simple answer but the whole bridging a ticket thing has me completely confused.

We are at DW in January. My mom is coming with us, and we are getting APs but my mom is not.

She may or may not need to park hop. She may or may not need to go 5 days (and 4 days might suffice).

If she were to get a 4 or 5 day non hopper, and upgrade to a hopper on day 3, is there a price advantage to bridging?

Alternatively, if she were to buy a 4 day but on the 4th day decide she wants an extra day, what would she pay?

Where do you go to bridge a ticket? Do the discounted sites (Undercover tourist) help with the pricing on bridging?

I also read that Amex is offering a $30 discount at UT good through dec 31st. We are hoping to use this discount.

One more question (for my in laws)-- if you had a non expiry hopper where some, but not all, of your tickets were used-- could you upgrade to an AP (let's say gold level, for example). If so, what is the process and how much credit would you get?

Any help is much appreciated!!

 

[bumbershoot]

if you had a non expiry hopper where some, but not all, of your tickets were used-- could you upgrade to an AP (let's say gold level, for example).

Only if it were inside of 14 days of first use of the non-expiring ticket.


Bridging means that you take the ticket you bought for $5, that is now a ticket that costs $7 at the gate, and it magically turns that ticket into the ticket worth $7. Then you go from that $7 to the $20 it costs for the ticket/AP you're upgrading to. Obviously those prices are just silly.

And it ONLY works with tickets bought from places like UCT, or when you get tickets from a *package* from WDW. Bridging does NOT work with tickets bought online or on the phone as a standalone purchase.

For your tickets, hopping will cost the same no matter what date she adds it. There's no daily hopping fee for a multiday ticket, it's just a flat fee in your situation.

 

[purple figment]

Sorry if this is a simple answer but the whole bridging a ticket thing has me completely confused.

Bridging means buying your tickets from an authorized re-seller who charges a little less than if you were to buy your tickets at a ticket booth in DW or on the Disney website and then using the tickets at least once to enter a park. Once you've done that when you upgrade the tickets (e.g. adding more days, adding hopper, adding water parks and more, or upgrading to an AP) your tickets are now worth that day's ticket price which would be more than what you paid. For example, Undercover is selling a 4 day ticket for approx $322 inc tax. The same ticket at the DW ticket booth or Disney website would cost approx $325 inc tax. Once you use the ticket to enter a park Disney will credit you with their price of $325 when you upgrade.

We are at DW in January. My mom is coming with us, and we are getting APs but my mom is not.

She may or may not need to park hop. She may or may not need to go 5 days (and 4 days might suffice).

If she were to get a 4 or 5 day non hopper, and upgrade to a hopper on day 3, is there a price advantage to bridging?

Hopping is a flat $64 + 6.5% tax for a total of $68.16 on a 4 or 5 day ticket.

Alternatively, if she were to buy a 4 day but on the 4th day decide she wants an extra day, what would she pay?

$10 + 6.5% tax for a total of $10.65

Where do you go to bridge a ticket? Do the discounted sites (Undercover tourist) help with the pricing on bridging?

You can upgrade tickets at any ticket booth. Not sure what you mean by discount sites "helping." You will need to do the math so that you will know how much you paid for each ticket, what the price for the same ticket is at the DW ticket booth on the day you do the upgrade and how much you will pay for the upgrade.

I also read that Amex is offering a $30 discount at UT good through dec 31st. We are hoping to use this discount.

One more question (for my in laws)-- if you had a non expiry hopper where some, but not all, of your tickets (do you mean days?) were used-- could you upgrade to an AP (let's say gold level, for example). If so, what is the process and how much credit would you get?

Upgrades can only be made within 14 days of the first time the tickets are used. If these are leftover days on tickets used on a previous trip they cannot be upgraded.

If your in laws have brand new tickets that have never been used at all it's hard to say at this time. Since Disney stopped selling no expiry tickets there has only been one person who posted that she was able to upgrade (add hopping). I haven't seen any posts on whether someone was able to upgrade a brand new no expire ticket to an AP.

 

[Robo]

You will need to do the math so that you will know how much you paid for each ticket, what the price for the same ticket is at the DW ticket booth on the day you do the upgrade and how much you will pay for the upgrade.

Agree with everything you stated, except... it is irrelevant to know what the guest originally paid for a discounted ticket
for the purposes of upgrading. That price simply doesn't figure into the process.

 

[suebeelin]

Bridging means buying your tickets from an authorized re-seller who charges a little less than if you were to buy your tickets at a ticket booth in DW or on the Disney website and then using the tickets at least once to enter a park. Once you've done that when you upgrade the tickets (e.g. adding more days, adding hopper, adding water parks and more, or upgrading to an AP) your tickets are now worth that day's ticket price which would be more than what you paid. For example, Undercover is selling a 4 day ticket for approx $322 inc tax. The same ticket at the DW ticket booth or Disney website would cost approx $325 inc tax. Once you use the ticket to enter a park Disney will credit you with their price of $325 when you upgrade.


Hopping is a flat $64 + 6.5% tax for a total of $68.16 on a 4 or 5 day ticket.



$10 + 6.5% tax for a total of $10.65


You can upgrade tickets at any ticket booth. Not sure what you mean by discount sites "helping." You will need to do the math so that you will know how much you paid for each ticket, what the price for the same ticket is at the DW ticket booth on the day you do the upgrade and how much you will pay for the upgrade.


Upgrades can only be made within 14 days of the first time the tickets are used. If these are leftover days on tickets used on a previous trip they cannot be upgraded.

If your in laws have brand new tickets that have never been used at all it's hard to say at this time. Since Disney stopped selling no expiry tickets there has only been one person who posted that she was able to upgrade (add hopping). I haven't seen any posts on whether someone was able to upgrade a brand new no expire ticket to an AP.

So... Hypothetically, could my mom purchase a 4 day ticket but then "upgrade" three extra days ($33 for 3 days), do she has a 5th day, as well as 2 "extras" that she can use to hop to another park in the evening (after a difft park in the daytime) and it only cost $21 extra for the "hop" (vs $64)?

In other words, can she just buy "extra days" to use so that she goes to two parks a day, but only pay $10 for that day?

 

[jtowntoflorida]

So... Hypothetically, could my mom purchase a 4 day ticket but then "upgrade" three extra days ($33 for 3 days), do she has a 5th day, as well as 2 "extras" that she can use to hop to another park in the evening (after a difft park in the daytime) and it only cost $21 extra for the "hop" (vs $64)?

In other words, can she just buy "extra days" to use so that she goes to two parks a day, but only pay $10 for that day?

No. They only allow you to use one daily admission per person per day. If they allowed what you're suggesting, it would totally negate the pricing on park hopping.

The only way to use separate daily admissions to park hop would be by buying totally separate tickets for that person to used which would be more expensive than the park hopper option.

 

[BeerMe]

Only if it were inside of 14 days of first use of the non-expiring ticket.


Bridging means that you take the ticket you bought for $5

Where does one get these mythical $5 tickets?

 

[seashoreCM]

"Bridging" is supposed to take place "automatically" wherever you upgrade a ticket but in reality it is a "manual" step subject to errors and omissions.

All you are supposed to know is that when you upgrade current standard tickets after some usage (not trading in unused tickets), and where an exception to this is not published, the price to achieve the upgrade should not depend on when or from whom the ticket was purchased.

Where does one get these mythical $5 tickets?

Alas, five dollar tickets that can be bridged are indeed mythical.

However as far as I know, five dollar tickets do exist; they were one day tickets sold ca 1971. A completely unused one (which is in the form of a booklet) i.e. which also still has its front page may be exchanged at no extra charge for a one day ticket good at any of the 4 theme parks today. Now, this one day ticket may not be upgraded let alone bridged. For another Disney day you would have to purchase another ticket (or exchange another of those five dollar ones).

 

[Robo]

In other words, can she just buy "extra days" to use so that she goes to two parks a day, but only pay $10 for that day?

No.
Not possible to use two "days" from one ticket on a single day.