TIW-Is this How I do it?

[Maistre Gracey]

But what does that save you if you're upgrading to an AP? Isn't that just the savings for the 6 day pass over buying it at the gate? If you upgrade to an AP isn't the DVC price still going to be $419 per adult? You'd still have to pay the difference, right?? Sorry, I don't follow what it saves to buy the hoppers from UT first.

I'm no expert.. Heck, I've never used this technique. That said, the way I understood it was you will get credit for the gate price of your ticket toward your AP, and since you bought it for $24 less than gate price....

I could be wrong though..
MG

 

[ophkw]

Does anyone know how long guest services is open at the International Gateway? We need to purchase our TIW card on our arrival and we won't be getting in until late.

 

[Anal Annie]

I'm no expert.. Heck, I've never used this technique. That said, the way I understood it was you will get credit for the gate price of your ticket toward your AP, and since you bought it for $24 less than gate price....

I could be wrong though..
MG

OOOOH...I see. They don't know you got it at a discount so you get full face value as the credit. Gotcha. I'm just a 'lil bit slow sometimes!

I still don't know yet if we'll be able to go more than 1 time next year or not so I don't know if we'll buy AP's. Our hope was to go to Aulani & DL next summer which would nix any other trips to FL - but the flights are crazy high. Our first park day in 2012 will be March 30th and Easter in 2013 is March 31st but so I won't know for awhile yet (school calendar won't be out until next spring) when our DS's spring break will be for 2013 (the week before or the week after Easter) so I have no clue if we'll plan another spring break trip or not. If it's the week before again then AP's will work for 2 trips. If it's the week AFTER Easter they won't.

 

[Snurk71]

Does anyone know how long guest services is open at the International Gateway? We need to purchase our TIW card on our arrival and we won't be getting in until late.

I don't know what time they close (I've heard until the last guest leaves the park), but we had a similar situation. We got in late and wanted to get our APs and TIW that night instead of the next morning. Epcot was having EMH that night and we thought the ticket windows stayed open until EMH ended. Nope - the ticket window was closed about 11:00. So we explained our situation (we hadn't even checked into our hotel yet) and security/gate CM let us into Epcot to go to Guest Services to buy the tickets. They said we could do it because we couldn't do ride anything in Epcot without our KTTK cards anyway.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

OOOOH...I see. They don't know you got it at a discount so you get full face value as the credit. Gotcha. I'm just a 'lil bit slow sometimes!

They can actually see how much they sold the ticket for, but their policy is that if the ticket has been used, they'll upgrade it based on the full value they're selling the same ticket for on that day. That's why it's important to enter a park at least once before doing the upgrade.

If the ticket's never been used, you'll actually lose some money on upgrading an Undercover Tourist ticket. UT is selling it to you at a $24 discount. But they're making a small profit, too. That means that disney probably sold it to them for a few dollars less than what you paid for it. If you upgrade the ticket without having first used it, you'll only get credit for the amount UT paid to Disney.

As Cheshire Figment (a Disney cast member who works in ticketing at one of the parks) says above, not every cast member has been trained to the same extent. Even though it's Disney's policy to do so, it's possible to get someone who doesn't know how to bring the ticket to full gate value before upgrading it. That's why it's important to know beforehand how much it should cost you for the upgrade. Don't just trust that they'll do it right. If in doubt, ask for your tickets back and walk away.

 

[Greysword]

And of the 12 possible DVC Member AP types, only one is exactly a $100 difference. The price difference ranges between $35 and $125.

Are the 12 different DVC ticket types mentioned in the "Everything About WDW Tickets" link in your signature? If not, where is the best place to find this information?

Thanks!

 

[erionm]

Are the 12 different DVC ticket types mentioned in the "Everything About WDW Tickets" link in your signature? If not, where is the best place to find this information?

Thanks!

If you look at the ticket price scans in post 18 of that thread, they will be there. Looking at them, it actually shows 16 different DVC ticket types.