Ticket Upgrade Questions...

[gigi1313]

we have plans to go back to wdw in sept/oct... we need four days of park tickets total (our other days we'll be visiting relatives, fishing, MNSSHP) and we do not need hoppers...

we have reserved our package w/one day base tickets for everyone, my nieces will be joining us and have annual passes, so their ticket needs are covered and they can keep their one day base tix to apply to their next AP...

the four of us in my family will all have one day base tickets...

dd11 and dh each have a day left from a previous trip...
we have four hurricane hoppers left from frances in '04...
so the way i figure it, dd and dh are covered for four park days (each 1 base, 1 leftover, 2 hurricanes)

ds9 and i both need 3 more days of tickets and i'm trying to decide the most economical way to do it...

i will likely upgrade to add three day base to my one day, making it a four day no-hop ticket... but does it make sense to go for the extra $ and make it a 10 day no expiry 'cause it's likely we'll be back! and exactly how much extra will it be?

i've been looking at mousesavers and it appears that a 10day base is $210, plus $135 for no-expiry... do i then subtract the amount of the one day (assuming it's the gate price of $63) that i've already paid for my package to get the add'l $ required? ($210+135-63=$282) or will it be a different amount? if i upgrade to only a 4 day expiry would it be 195-63=132? which means i get an add'l 6 days for future use for only $150, which seems like a good deal...

also, given that ds is 9yo, does it make sense to go for the extra $ to upgrade him all the way to a child 10 day no-expiry 'cause next time he visits he will be an "adult" so this should save some future money? and how much would his upgraded ticket be (use the same math as above? take cost of 10 day no-expiry and subtract out cost of one day base which is already paid w/package to figure out the differential? $306-$52=$254)

i've never upgraded a ticket before, so i am not sure exactly how it works... also, i realize that tax needs to be added to all those numbers...

thanks in advance to all who have made it this far and understand my question, 'cause i am not sure i do! LOL!

 

[seashoreCM]

As a rough rule, buy non-expiration only when the remains of the ticket will fully cover some future vacation of at least 3 days (not necesarily your next). It's a close call although you usually come out ahead when the remains of one ticket won't cover your second vacation but the remains of two tickets will cover your third vacation.

No problem buying the young'un a 10 day child ticket provided he starts using it while still 9. Then he can use the remains any time later in his life (if you got non-expiration). If he is much bigger than 10 on his next trip he can exchange what remains for equivalent adult admission at no charge regardless of when or where you bought it. (Even CM's recommend that children just over 9 use the remains as-is)

If you are going to park hop on exactly one day, there is no problem using a hurricane hopper or old hopper for that one day and using a brand new non-hopping ticket for the rest of the days.

If you decide to get expiring hopping tickets and will be there more than 3 days, get the tickets to cover the whole vacation and don't use the old tickets.

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

 

[gigi1313]

thank you seashore for reading thru and helping me out... so 3 days is typically the breakeven point?

also, do you (or anyone) know how an upgrade is worked? since i have already paid for one day base in my package, when i go to upgrade, will it be the price of the length of ticket that i want minus the cost of the one day base?

i.e. four day base ticket is $195, and a one day base is $63, so assuming my assumption above is correct (LOL) would the upgrade from a one day paid-in-package base to a four day base be $132?

 

[rlovew]

They will apply what you paid to the ticket. Your nieces tickets could be used by someone else in the group if you ask for a paper one day ticket instead of the one coded into their room key. (Cover 3 days for the rest of you, unless they are paying for their one day tickets but you cannot upgrade more than 1 ticket towards another- you can't take their tickets and yours as 3 days towards a 10 day non-expiration ticket.)

 

[gigi1313]

can i simply use their tickets (since i am paying their way)?