Ticket/Upgrade Question

[LisaT91403]

I have a 2 part question for you ticket experts out there:

1. I have a really old 1-day ticket that has a $90 value. I know that I can use it to offset the cost of a new ticket, as I did it many years ago with another ticket just like this one. However, that was back in before times, when you didn't need reservations. I sent an email do Disney, and they said the only way to use that old ticket is to turn it in at the booth...so that would require a trip to DLR *just* to turn it in (because we wouldn't be able to make reservations for that day). Has anyone else had this dilemma, and do you know of any way to use the value of the old ticket without actually going to a ticket booth in person?

2. I am looking to visit on 10/22 and possibly 10/23. If I go to the website to purchase tickets and make reservations, both of those days are available for both parks. However, I want to buy Magic Keys...and I'm afraid to do so without first knowing if those dates are available. Is there a way to check the Magic Key reservation availability *before* buying the passes?

3. If my dates are *not* available for Magic Key reservations, any suggestions as to what might work? Do I buy 2-day tickets, and then upgrade to MK after I use the 2nd day of the ticket? I was thinking I could buy 2 day tickets, make my reservations, use tickets on both days...then go to the ticket booth on the 2nd day to upgrade to MK (and use that $90 ticket towards the upgrade as well...would kill 2 birds with one stone?) But I'm not sure if I am missing anything here that would spoil my plan. I don't think I would lose any money by doing this because the full price of my 2 day tickets would be applied to the MK price, wouldn't it?

Thanks!

 

[mel2014]

The blockout calendar also shows current availability -- dates with a slash are blocked out, dates with the "no" sign are already fully-booked. 10/23 is a blockout date on all but the Dream Key. So you wanted anything lower than the Dream Key, you would have to get regular tickets and upgrade on 10/23 at the end of your park day.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/
My understanding is that you can only apply one ticket toward an upgrade, so you wouldn't be able to apply the unused 1-day ticket toward the Magic Key. While it would take an extra trip to Disneyland, assuming you're local, I would suggest going to the booth in person, applying the value of the one-day ticket to a two-day hopper, making reservations for 10/22 and 10/23, and then upgrading to a Magic Key in the app when you're in your final park of the day on 10/23. So far it looks like both 10/22 and 10/23 are wide open for parkhopper availability: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/availability-calendar/

If you're not local, there's not really a way to use that one-day ticket toward the Magic Key this year (you could always apply it while you're there to a new one-day ticket and keep that one-day ticket in your account to use next year, after your Magic Key expires).

 

[Jedi Luke]

Hi,

I'm not a disney expert however I am in a similar situation in that I have an unused pre-covid ticket that will expire before I am able to visit the park next year. I called customer support and asked them what I should do regarding reservations and they told me that once reservations become available for the dates that I want I should call them and they would manually make a reservation for me. Then when I get to the parks they would help me with refunding and purchasing a new ticket. I haven't done it yet since I have to wait til next year when my reservation dates become available so don't shoot the messenger if this information is incorrect. Hope this helps and saves you an hour on hold waiting to speak to customer support.

Sorry I can't answer any questions regarding Magic Key reservations.

 

[LisaT91403]

Hi,

I'm not a disney expert however I am in a similar situation in that I have an unused pre-covid ticket that will expire before I am able to visit the park next year. I called customer support and asked them what I should do regarding reservations and they told me that once reservations become available for the dates that I want I should call them and they would manually make a reservation for me. Then when I get to the parks they would help me with refunding and purchasing a new ticket. I haven't done it yet since I have to wait til next year when my reservation dates become available so don't shoot the messenger if this information is incorrect. Hope this helps and saves you an hour on hold waiting to speak to customer support.

Sorry I can't answer any questions regarding Magic Key reservations.

Hmm, that's interesting. I know that when I tried getting help with reservations several months ago, the CMs told me that they had no access to the reservation system and all reservations had to be made online. But it's entirely possible/likely that they have changed the system since then, as it was a while ago. Thanks for the tip!