Tickets and Annual Pass Questions - Please add your ticket questions to this thread

[Robo]

I bought Platinum APs for me and my daughter and we used them Jul '16, Dec '16, and Jun '17. Great value!

A. We have a Dec '17 trip booked and plan to return in Jun '17. In Dec we have our first split-stay packages booked:
POP with 2-day non-hoppers (no dining)
CSR with 6-day hoppers (dining)

I checked AllEars website and it looks like the cost including tax for the 2- and 6-day passes are:
2-day non-hoppers = $211.94 x 2 = $423.88; 6-day hoppers = $495.23 x 2 = $990.46 for a grand total of $1414.34.

The price with tax for the Platinum Pass is $829.64 x 2 = $1659.28.

If my math is correct, I should definitely upgrade to the Platinum APs.

My questions:
1: Is my math correct?
2: Should I do this over the phone before our trip? If so, who do I call?
3: If I do it on property, where? (Guest Services on Main Street was a disaster the first time I bought APs)
4: Does it matter when I do the upgrade?

A. You must mean Jun '18.
1. Problem is, you cannot combine the price of two or more tickets in a single upgrade.
2. I'd call and (try to) cancel your 2-day tickets for the first stay. However, if you DO that, you
won't be able to make advance FP+ reservations for those first two days.
(If you don't cancel these tickets, you can SAVE them for use, or upgrade, or to help pay
for an AP renewal, in the future.)
3. You can go to any Guest Relations at WDW, activate your "Free Dining" tickets two days early, and upgrade to AP at that time.
4. The earlier you upgrade, the sooner you can take advantage of the AP "perks."

 

[Shoshana]

A. You must mean Jun '18.
1. Problem is, you cannot combine the price of two or more tickets in a single upgrade.
2. I'd call and (try to) cancel your 2-day tickets for the first stay. However, if you DO that, you
won't be able to make advance FP+ reservations for those first two days.
(If you don't cancel these tickets, you can SAVE them for use, or upgrade, or to help pay
for an AP renewal, in the future.)
3. You can go to any Guest Relations at WDW, activate your "Free Dining" tickets two days early, and upgrade to AP at that time.
4. The earlier you upgrade, the sooner you can take advantage of the AP "perks."

Yes, Jun '18
If I cancel these 2 reservations, I can apply the two deposits to new reservations, right?
If I rebook a split stay from Dec 17 - Dec 23 and buy 8 day tickets, then book a room only from Dec 23 to 26, will that solve the upgrading to an AP problem?
Is the dining plan associated with the tickets or with the room?
Thanks for your help, Robo!

 

[siskaren]

Yes, Jun '18
If I cancel these 2 reservations, I can apply the two deposits to new reservations, right?
If I rebook a split stay from Dec 17 - Dec 23 and buy 8 day tickets, then book a room only from Dec 23 to 26, will that solve the upgrading to an AP problem?
Is the dining plan associated with the tickets or with the room?
Thanks for your help, Robo!

Robo said to cancel the tickets for the first stay, not to cancel the two reservations. The dining plan is connected to the room, at least in the sense that how many nights you're staying is how many nights you have the dining plan for.

 

[Robo]

If I cancel these 2 reservations, I can apply the two deposits to new reservations, right?
If I rebook a split stay from Dec 17 - Dec 23 and buy 8 day tickets, then book a room only from Dec 23 to 26, will that solve the upgrading to an AP problem?
Is the dining plan associated with the tickets or with the room?

If you cancel the Dining Plan tickets, you will lose your Dining Plan.
If you wait to upgrade the dining plan tickets to AP until you arrive, you won't lose the Dining Plan.
You must have tickets and a room to get most Dining Plans.

You have completely lost me on the new split stay scenario.
Suffice it to say that whatever tickets that you buy, you can upgrade them to AP.
But, only one ticket per AP upgrade.

I never book a Dining Plan, so I'm useless in that regard.

 

[Shoshana]

If you cancel the Dining Plan tickets, you will lose your Dining Plan.
If you wait to upgrade the dining plan tickets to AP until you arrive, you won't lose the Dining Plan.
You must have tickets and a room to get most Dining Plans.

You have completely lost me on the new split stay scenario.
Suffice it to say that whatever tickets that you buy, you can upgrade them to AP.
But, only one ticket per AP upgrade.

I never book a Dining Plan, so I'm useless in that regard.

I changed the split stay reservations entirely. Instead, I booked room only at POFQ with a passholder discount and will purchase the AP online before our 60 day FP date. The increase in price will be $692 but I'll have park tickets for all 9 days (instead of 8), dining plan for all 9 days (instead of 6) and the added benefit on an AP & the AP discounts! I'm happy with this outcome!

 

[Robo]

I changed the split stay reservations entirely. Instead, I booked room only at POFQ with a passholder discount and will purchase the AP online before our 60 day FP date. The increase in price will be $692 but I'll have park tickets for all 9 days (instead of 8), dining plan for all 9 days (instead of 6) and the added benefit on an AP & the AP discounts! I'm happy with this outcome!

Sounds good.

 

[pangyal]

Thank you again for this incredibly helpful thread!

I am wondering whether anyone knows if CMs are able to shorten the length of time on an AP. Specifically, if we have APs that got the bonus month, can we ask to have that month taken away and go back to our original expiry dates? I know it sounds crazy, but we want to buy DVC AP vouchers for the PP deal that need to be activated by December 31, 2018, and our bonus month now takes us to mid-January. If anyone knows whether it's a strong possibility that they can readjust our expiry dates to the originals, that would save me long-distance charges in calling them to ask!

ETA- for our renewals this year, we are already set to renew using UT tickets and upgrading them to renewals, which we have done before with no issues, so it's the following year I'm concerned with

 

[NicoleLarson]

So I'm here to report that we were able to take our 3 day hopper tickets that came with our FD package and upgrade them to renewal APs. Now this was in no way, shape or form easy. If it wasn't for all of the helpful folks on here, we probably would have just thrown in the towel but I persisted and I knew exactly what my total should have been. I first tried at MK and was met with a CM that had no clue what I was talking about so I ask for a manager and they start to tell me that at the beginning of this year they started to do tiers and my ticket since it was with "resorts" could NOT be bridged. So I said I don't want to do this now and left. Today we set off for EP IG. At first the CM tells me the same thing as the MK CM BUT she saidwas willing to listen to what I had to say unlike the one the day before. I knew what my renewal should be and what my tickets should have been worth. In the end I would be paying ~$500. So her first number of $925 (ish) I knew was way wrong. So she fiddles and fiddles, calls another CM over, they're looking at everything and she finally says $157, it didn't hit me at first that this was all that she was charging me, I thought it was for one of my kids tickets. (number was off by a couple of bucks but didn't care at that point) So I wait for her to ask for more money and she says ok that's it. Wait, what?! I have NO clue how on earth they arrived at that number. By this point we had missed 1 FP and were about to miss another, plus it was 5 million degrees and I had been dealing with this for 2 days, I decided not to question it. So although it worked out in the end, it was not easy and I had to be pretty persistent. If you find yourself in a similar situation, listen to advice everyone gives on here, bring some patience and have all of your ducks in a row. Know exactly what your ticket is worth and what the difference "should" be....THANK YOU to everyone that helped me! I am utterly grateful for all of the amazing advice I was given.

 

[Robo]

So I'm here to report that we were able to take our 3 day hopper tickets that came with our FD package and upgrade them to renewal APs. Now this was in no way, shape or form easy. If it wasn't for all of the helpful folks on here, we probably would have just thrown in the towel but I persisted and I knew exactly what my total should have been. I first tried at MK and was met with a CM that had no clue what I was talking about so I ask for a manager and they start to tell me that at the beginning of this year they started to do tiers and my ticket since it was with "resorts" could NOT be bridged. So I said I don't want to do this now and left. Today we set off for EP IG. At first the CM tells me the same thing as the MK CM BUT she saidwas willing to listen to what I had to say unlike the one the day before. I knew what my renewal should be and what my tickets should have been worth. In the end I would be paying ~$500. So her first number of $925 (ish) I knew was way wrong. So she fiddles and fiddles, calls another CM over, they're looking at everything and she finally says $157, it didn't hit me at first that this was all that she was charging me, I thought it was for one of my kids tickets. (number was off by a couple of bucks but didn't care at that point) So I wait for her to ask for more money and she says ok that's it. Wait, what?! I have NO clue how on earth they arrived at that number. By this point we had missed 1 FP and were about to miss another, plus it was 5 million degrees and I had been dealing with this for 2 days, I decided not to question it. So although it worked out in the end, it was not easy and I had to be pretty persistent. If you find yourself in a similar situation, listen to advice everyone gives on here, bring some patience and have all of your ducks in a row. Know exactly what your ticket is worth and what the difference "should" be....THANK YOU to everyone that helped me! I am utterly grateful for all of the amazing advice I was given.

Excellent outcome!
Sorry that it took so much persistence.

 

[mousestruck]

I am upgrading my UT park hoppers to DVC APs when we visit in November. Will the expiration date of the AP reflect the first day that the park hopper was activated or the day we upgrade? I'm guessing the former, but want to be sure.

 

[Robo]

I am upgrading my UT park hoppers to DVC APs when we visit in November. Will the expiration date of the AP reflect the first day that the park hopper was activated or the day we upgrade? I'm guessing the former, but want to be sure.

If you USE a ticket before upgrading to AP, the AP will have an anniversary (start/end) date that is the
same as the date that the original ticket was first used.

AP anniversary dates must be input manually by the CM doing the upgrade.
Adding an incorrect date is one of the more common errors made by CMs doing APs.
Double-check that the CM has added the correct anniversary date to your AP before you leave the booth after upgrading.

 

[mousestruck]

If you USE a ticket before upgrading to AP, the AP will have an anniversary (start/end) date that is the
same as the date that the original ticket was first used.

AP anniversary dates must be input manually by the CM doing the upgrade.
Adding an incorrect date is one of the more common errors made by CMs doing APs.
Double-check that the CM has added the correct anniversary date to your AP before you leave the booth after upgrading.

Thank you. That's what I thought. If I understand correctly, I must use the ticket first to bridge the cost of the ticket, so really no benefit to waiting until the end of the trip to upgrade. Just thought I'd verify the rules since we're visiting the same week next year.

 

[Robo]

Thank you. That's what I thought.
1. If I understand correctly, I must use the ticket first to bridge the cost of the ticket,
2. so really no benefit to waiting until the end of the trip to upgrade.
3. Just thought I'd verify the rules since we're visiting the same week next year.

1. No. That is not the case.
While you CAN wait until after you use the ticket at least one time before you upgrade,
it has no effect on the cost of upgrading.
2. No reason to wait to upgrade, regardless.
3. The "rules of upgrading" are listed in my "Upgrading Tickets" section (Post #5) of the Sticky thread in which we are posting.
Click HERE.

 

[brookie714]

In November of 2015, my friend and I used a day each off of our non expiring tickets we had. In November of 2016 we returned and used one day park hoppers that she had won in an auction. Fast forward to my upcoming trip. In my MDE account I noticed that my non expiring tickets tickets were gone, as well as the 'comp' tickets we had used. I know for certain that after the 2016 trip MDE still showed the non expiring tickets (I believe it had said 4 day park hopper, which they were). I called Disney and they said that even though I had actually used the physical comp tickets,because they were attached to MDE,they prioritized the non expiring over the comp tickets and that the comp tickets worked just like a magic band would have since I had used them for fast passes. Since I had an upcoming trip to make things easier to fix the issue, the cm issued me one day park hopper comp tickets. At the time it was a quick easy fix and gave us what I needed. Unfortunately now I am having to cancel my trip because of the impending hurricane. Trying to get through to Disney right now is nearly impossible. If I am unable to get through to fix this before they expire, am I able to do so at a later date because they will be able to see what transpired in my account?

 

[gskywalker]

I read through all the info and can't seem to find the answer. As an example if I buy a 2 day PH pass and it is part of a stay at Pop, can I upgrade the pass to say an 8 day regular non PH park pass? The dollar amount would definitely be higher for the 8 day pass, so can that be considered an upgrade of the passes?

 

[Robo]

I read through all the info and can't seem to find the answer. As an example

1. if I buy a 2 day PH pass and it is part of a stay at Pop, can I upgrade the pass to say an 8 day regular non PH park pass?
2. The dollar amount would definitely be higher for the 8 day pass, so can that be considered an upgrade of the passes?

1. Yes. As long as you do not use the hopper feature before upgrading.
2. Yes, the original ticket should cost LESS than the ticket to which you are upgrading.
So it will be considered an "upgrade."

 

[Robo]

In November of 2015, my friend and I used a day each off of our non expiring tickets we had. In November of 2016 we returned and used one day park hoppers that she had won in an auction. Fast forward to my upcoming trip. In my MDE account I noticed that my non expiring tickets tickets were gone, as well as the 'comp' tickets we had used. I know for certain that after the 2016 trip MDE still showed the non expiring tickets (I believe it had said 4 day park hopper, which they were). I called Disney and they said that even though I had actually used the physical comp tickets,because they were attached to MDE,they prioritized the non expiring over the comp tickets and that the comp tickets worked just like a magic band would have since I had used them for fast passes. Since I had an upcoming trip to make things easier to fix the issue, the cm issued me one day park hopper comp tickets. At the time it was a quick easy fix and gave us what I needed. Unfortunately now I am having to cancel my trip because of the impending hurricane. Trying to get through to Disney right now is nearly impossible. If I am unable to get through to fix this before they expire, am I able to do so at a later date because they will be able to see what transpired in my account?

Whenever you finally get there, they should be able to "see" your missing tickets, and resolve the issue.

 

[mousestruck]

1. No. That is not the case.
While you CAN wait until after you use the ticket at least one time before you upgrade,
it has no effect on the cost of upgrading.
2. No reason to wait to upgrade, regardless.
3. The "rules of upgrading" are listed in my "Upgrading Tickets" section (Post #5) of the Sticky thread in which we are posting.
Click HERE.

Thank you!

 

[gskywalker]

1. Yes. As long as you do not use the hopper feature before upgrading.
2. Yes, the original ticket should cost LESS than the ticket to which you are upgrading.
So it will be considered an "upgrade."

So in all the years I have gone to Disney for Free dining I don't get why no one mentioned this solution to trying to avoid the waterparks and/or park hopper that they now require for free dining? Not complaining, just surprised. Also don't want to break the rules of the disboards by circumventing disney rules if that is the case.

 

[Robo]

So in all the years I have gone to Disney for Free dining I don't get why no one mentioned this solution to trying to avoid the waterparks and/or park hopper that they now require for free dining? Not complaining, just surprised. Also don't want to break the rules of the disboards by circumventing disney rules if that is the case.

It's not breaking any Disney rule to discuss ticket upgrading.
(The minimum ticket required for "Free Dining" and other special resort packages is just that... a "minimum.")

Upgrading (which basically "requires" spending MORE money for the upgraded ticket) would mean that
the guest would then be buying MORE than the minimum ticket.