Ticket Upgrade Costs

[dcmbshafe]

Last year, we bought 2 adult and 2 child 7-day PHP passes just before the MYW program was initiated. We didn't end up using them at all because we purchased a different type of media prior to our trip.

We know that these passes will never expire and that WDW will continue to honor them, however, we were trying to determine whether it makes sense to upgrade to MYW passes. The primary motivations are getting an extra "plus" (5 on the MYW vs. 4 on the PHP) and also being able to use DQ.

The key question is how much it will cost to make the change. We would want to change to MYW Premium passes with the no expiration option. We believe the wildcard in the calculation will be how much credit WDW gives us as we purchased the PHPs through Discount Orlando and we've read mixed reviews on whether we will be credited the amount we paid or the amount DO paid.

Based on the table at Mousesavers, it looks like the advance purchase price for an adult 7-day Premium MYW pass with no expiration is around $344. We believe we paid around $300 for the adult 7-day PHPs (will have to check our records), so presumably we should be able to do the upgrade on this pass for around $44 if we are credited the full amount we paid. However, we're not sure we can get the advance purchase price since we won't be able to make the exchange until we get to guest services at the beginning of our next trip (looks like this would add roughly $10-15?).

Anyway, wondering if anyone out there could comment on this and help put some numbers together for us..TIA!

 

[seashoreCM]

Usually the credit for (pre-2005) park hoppers when traded up is based on the wholesale price which is less if you bought the hopper from a discount dealer. There has been (still is?) a special deal where you get the gate price as of date of printing when you are trading towards a MYW ticket.

I suggest you have a trade up number in mind first and when you get to Disney, ask what the real trade up number is before doing the trade up, and step out of line to think about it.

A few guests have gotten a (what I call a) pixie dust special (extended to random guests), consisting of free conversion of a hopper plus pass to include Disney Quest. Worth asking nicely for, far away from any conversation about trade ups.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/dispass.htm

 

[GoldenOldie]

Disney changed their system completely with MYW. They now use gate prices to figure credit on upgrading MYW tickets, not what you paid for it. That allows you to keep any discounts that got when purchasing the ticket.

But sadly, older tickets do not fall under this new system. You should be credited at the wholesale price of the old PHP's when you upgrade as that was the policy at the time of your purchase. Just as the admissions and options on the PHP didn't change (i.e. you cannot go to DQ with an old PHP plus option), the method of valuing them didn't change either.

You cannot do any kind of ticket upgrade of any kind (upgrade or dollar value) and get advance pricing on the new ticket. All transactions are done in person at WDW and all prices used are gate prices.

 

[dcmbshafe]

Thanks for the information, it is very helpful. I suppose we will determine in advance how much we're willing to pay to upgrade and then see how much it actually ends up being. We will definitely also keep the DQ option in the back of our minds in case we happen to be fortunate enough to be offered the pixie dust special