Ticket upgrade to annual pass

[JJZMgailey]

I've never heard that you could use an unused ticket toward an AP renewal! Is that a new thing or am I just living under a rock over here?

 

[2forMe]

It can still be upgraded - it just can't be bridged.

So if I buy the discounted tickets from disney.ca and want to upgrade to AP they are only "worth" the discounted price I paid and not the gate price?

 

[Atilley]

I just want to make sure I have this right. I have 5 day park hoppers with my package and would like to add a day. So I can take my magic band to GR and I should only have to pay the difference between the current 5 and 6 day pass?

 

[seashoreCM]

Bridging is a manual step performed behind the scenes (by the CM on his computer station with the screen facing away from you) and it is easy for the CM to make a mistake and omit the bridging when he is supposed to apply it (or apply it when he is supposed to omit it).

B. If you upgrade a package ticket at a Guest Relations or ticket booth AFTER you arrive, it is no longer a package ticket.

You mean that if I booked a package (including, say, 8 day, tickets) and then the ticket price increased and then I arrive at WDW and near the end of my vacation I want to add a ninth day then there is no bridging and I have to pay much more than the usual twelve dollars per day?

 

[Robo]

You mean that if I booked a package (including, say, 8 day, tickets) and then the ticket price increased and then I arrive at WDW and near the end of my vacation I want to add a ninth day then there is no bridging and I have to pay much more than the proverbial twelve dollars per day?

No. That is not the case.
What IS the case is that once that original Resort Package ticket has been upgraded to any other ticket (let's say from 8 days to 9 days,) if you decide to upgrade for a SECOND time... if for some reason there has been a price increase in the interim...
THAT ticket is not eligible to be price-bridged a second time.

 

[Atilley]

You mean that if I booked a package (including, say, 8 day, tickets) and then the ticket price increased and then I arrive at WDW and near the end of my vacation I want to add a ninth day then there is no bridging and I have to pay much more than the usual twelve dollars per day?

I read it as after you bridge it it would no longer be a package ticket. It makes since that way you couldn't bridge the ticket a second time. All though i wouldn't imagine that happens often.

 

[Robo]

I read it as after you bridge it it would no longer be a package ticket. It makes since that way you couldn't bridge the ticket a second time. All though i wouldn't imagine that happens often.

Correct.

This situation has happened recently where a shorter (required) Resort Package ticket was first upgraded to a 10-day ticket (and the ticket WAS price-bridged at that time) but the ticket was still never used at all. (The guest was actually using a current AP during that same trip.)
But, then, on the NEXT trip, the guest wanted to use that previously-upgraded 10 day ticket to help pay for a new AP.
There had been a ticket price increase during the interim time.
The guest wanted that 10-day ticket to be price-bridged (a second time) before it was upgraded to an AP.
Since that 10-day ticket had already been price-bridged once, it was no longer considered to be the original Resort Package ticket, and was not eligible to be price-bridged at the time of the AP upgrade.

(Incidentally, in the above case, the guest WAS given one-time-only "pixie dust" and was allowed the second price-bridging by a WDW manager.)

 

[Sydney's mom]

I think I finally understand how it works, except for the using the ticket first. Is that no longer needed because the computer systems show the price? So now it's OK to go to Disney Springs and upgrade prior to entering a park first?

 

[Robo]

I think I finally understand how it works, except for the using the ticket first.
1. Is that no longer needed because the computer systems show the price?
2. So now it's OK to go to Disney Springs and upgrade prior to entering a park first?

1. Simply ignore what you've heard about needing to use the ticket before upgrading.
It doesn't HURT to use it a bit before upgrading, but it is not necessary.
If the ticket CM performs the correct procedure, the ticket will be price-bridged either way.

2. Yes.
(It was always OK to do so, if the ticket CM performed the correct price-bridging procedure.)

 

[supersnoop]

I think I finally understand how it works, except for the using the ticket first. Is that no longer needed because the computer systems show the price? So now it's OK to go to Disney Springs and upgrade prior to entering a park first?

We're told that using the ticket first was never a requirement. It's still good practice to alleviate confusion in light of the above post where someone tried to "bridge" a ticket twice. It you don't plan to use the ticket, you might as well save it until you do plan to use it.

 

[supersnoop]

So if I buy the discounted tickets from disney.ca and want to upgrade to AP they are only "worth" the discounted price I paid and not the gate price?

Correct.

"Upgrading" a ticket is really just an exchange. When Disney knows how much you paid for the ticket, that's all the credit you'll receive towards the new ticket. Bridging occurs because Disney doesn't always know what you paid.

 

[keishashadow]

Oven ever heard that you could use an unused ticket toward an AP renewal! Is that a new thing or am I just living under a rock over here?

Is it a nice rock? Lol jk.

Price bridging to an upgraded tix still humming along.

Many purchase tix from sources @ a substantial discount specifically for this reason.

Surprised WDW hasn't closed this loophole. As opposed to it being a pixie-dust laden accommodation, it's probable their computer system cannot ascertain the $$$ paid for tix, just the validity.

It's great to be able to combine this practice at the gate with various AP discounts out there (FL res, DVC, etc.), well other than the long lines you may encounter @ GS to actually process the transaction dependent on the time of year/day.

 

[AngiTN]

Oven ever heard that you could use an unused ticket toward an AP renewal! Is that a new thing or am I just living under a rock over here?

Hopefully that rock you've been living under hasn't been too heavy

No, it's not new. But it's not well publicized either. So it's not a surprise to not know about it. We bought discounted tickets to use towards our AP renewal. Went off without an issue.

 

[Robo]

Surprised WDW hasn't closed this loophole.

It's not a loophole.

Disney intentionally DESIGNED this procedure so as not to devalue their authorized ticket resellers' tickets.

The thing to remember is that Disney has ALREADY "LOST" any amount of money they
will "lose" on these discounted tickets (including upgrades) at the point that they sold the
original tickets TO THE RESELLER at wholesale prices.

Disney is not "losing" any more money by allowing discounted tickets to be upgraded
by guests.

Again, Disney does not "lose money" on discounted tickets by allowing guests to:
A. Use them at the gates.
B. Upgrade them at a ticket booth or Guest Relations.

 

[JJZMgailey]

Is it a nice rock? Lol jk.

Price bridging to an upgraded tix still humming along.

Many purchase tix from sources @ a substantial discount specifically for this reason.

Surprised WDW hasn't closed this loophole. As opposed to it being a pixie-dust laden accommodation, it's probable their computer system cannot ascertain the $$$ paid for tix, just the validity.

It's great to be able to combine this practice at the gate with various AP discounts out there (FL res, DVC, etc.), well other than the long lines you may encounter @ GS to actually process the transaction dependent on the time of year/day.

Hopefully that rock you've been living under hasn't been too heavy

No, it's not new. But it's not well publicized either. So it's not a surprise to not know about it. We bought discounted tickets to use towards our AP renewal. Went off without an issue.

Well...wait. I know you can take an unused ticket and upgrade that ticket to a new AP.

But, what I didn't know is that I could take an unused ticket and use it toward the cost of renewing my AP - thus paying the renewal price instead of the new AP price. That's the detail I've never heard before. In fact, years ago, I had a park ticket that I wasn't going to use when we first moved down here to FL and I wanted to use the value of it toward renewing my AP but was told they couldn't do that. Hmm.....

 

[Robo]

Well...wait. I know you can take an unused ticket and upgrade that ticket to a new AP.

But, what I didn't know is that I could take an unused ticket and use it toward the cost of renewing my AP - thus paying the renewal price instead of the new AP price. That's the detail I've never heard before. In fact, years ago, I had a park ticket that I wasn't going to use when we first moved down here to FL and I wanted to use the value of it toward renewing my AP but was told they couldn't do that. Hmm.....

After answering these questions for over a decade on these boards, there is little surprise in that you encountered a CM told you "no."

As was said, guests have, for years, been able to apply the value of new, unused tickets (including from discounters, previous resort stays, current resort stays, and straight-purchased tickets) to renewals of existing APs.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I've had a manager tell me we can't apply the value of unused tickets to AP renewals (which we can). So, front-line CMs not knowing about it isn't a shock at all.

 

[keishashadow]

I've had a manager tell me we can't apply the value of unused tickets to AP renewals (which we can). So, front-line CMs not knowing about it isn't a shock at all.

As with all things @ Disney...YMMV

If you don't like the answer you get the first time, ask it again of another CM whether if calling or in person. Training issues crop up there just as they would anywhere else.

 

[bumbershoot]

I've never heard that you could use an unused ticket toward an AP renewal! Is that a new thing or am I just living under a rock over here?

It wasn't new when the epic thread happened. Our first trip was dec 2010 and the thread started either late that month or early January 2011. The tizzy was caused by poor training and the combo of renewing and bruising. UCT got involved, there was retraining, etc. was a big deal.

We're told that using the ticket first was never a requirement.

Fwiw there didn't seem to be overlap between cheshire_figment's time at WDW and our current ticketing cm's start of employment there. With the trust we gave Cheshire, it's easy for me to assume that there was a change between Mike leaving WDW and when our current cm started working in ticketing. That way info from both of them can be respected.

Not to mention I don't remember a time that bridging happened when people tried to upgrade before they used a ticket. I remember absolute denials being reported then.

 

[Sunstar]

This may have already been answered, but I just read this thread and didn't see it. Say free dining comes around next fall. DH and I decide we want to get APs because we're going to stay longer than 10 days. Can we purchase the minimum required ticket for the free dining promo, and then use those at GS do this whole thing to get APs?