Unhappy experience upgrading with 4/3

[MKCP5]

Well, I see it as a way to work the system that just doesn't work anymore. Don't misunderstand. I would have done it too and felt that it was okay as I had a 9 day pass in hand. I work the coupon system, the CVS system, anything I can to save some $$, as long as I am not doing something against policy. It just looks like they have realized this is happening alot and have decided it's not okay. Sorry it didn't work out for you. Have a great trip anyways

 

[eliza61]

Yeah and I am sure not that many people have done this they are closing the loop hole. I see no issue with it but I am not surprised at all. Disney doesnt reallt give anything away for free.[/QUOTE]

Alice,
I think you are exactly right. There are a few quirks here

• Information boards are great except what usually happens, is a few posters get lucky, we read it then of course every one wants the same luck. This is especially true here. Every one always post about the fabulous room upgrades or millions of towel animals they get. Unfortunately when it doesn't continuously happen folks will get mad.
  
• Next, CM's are all not always on the same page. You can call 5 times and get at least 3 different answers to a question.
  
• Lastly, Disney reserves the right to always change the rules whenever they feel like it. Can we say DDP. It was a great deal when it initially launched. Now not so much.

You're last line says it best. Disney doesn't give any thing "free". Once word gets out

 

[winnapooh]

It's not quite the same thing, but a couple of weeks ago, we wanted to add a day to my nephews ticket (go from 7 to 8 day). We bought the ticket from a discount broker. When I went to add the day, the price initially came up as the price difference between the discounted 7 day ticket and the non-discounted 8 day ticket. I didn't say anything, as I was prepared to have to pay the difference (we added a day to the trip last minute). However, the CM was very confused, and after a few minutes, issued me a new ticket, but only charged me the $2 or so it was to upgrade from 7 to 8 days.

The obviously Can tell that the ticket was discounted to begin with, or the price difference wouldn't have come up as such. I'm guessing they are trying to close the loophole, but not all CM are on the same page.

 

[MEK]

I haven't read this whole post, but I upgraded a 5 ticket that had the free park hopping and water parks added. This was in Jan 2008. I upgraded to an regular AP and I was only given credit for the price I paid on the ticket. I did use the ticket for entrance before I upgraded, but it didn't matter. I was hoping to get full value of the ticket, but I did not. So to the OP - you are not alone. Same thing happened to me and this was over 1 year ago.

I think if you book a package they know what you paid for your ticket and that is the price you get. If you got the same discounted ticket from an outside vendor, my assumption is you would be more likely to get full value for that ticket since Disney has no record of what you paid.

Now let me go back and read the rest of this interesting discussion to make sure I didn't say something stupid!

 

[vicki_c]

Actually, that's not true - Disney can see what you paid for your ticket from the authorized ticket vendors like Undercover Tourist (or I should say what Disney sold the ticket for - that's what matters).

 

[MEK]

Actually, that's not true - Disney can see what you paid for your ticket from the authorized ticket vendors like Undercover Tourist (or I should say what Disney sold the ticket for - that's what matters).

See. I just went back and read the rest of the thread and figured that out.

Anyway, I was credited for a 5 day base ticket. I activated the ticket first and did not use any of the water park options (as I believe that would have made me ineligible for a regular AP).

 

[dawgsgirl]

Any more news on this???

 

[gatorchinsky]

That is really too bad. I was under the same impression after reading numerous posts about upgrading. I normally do not do packages, but I thought the savings of the AP was too good to pass up. Now it seems like it is just too good to be true. Our trip isn't until August, so I could still cancel and just do room only, but we do have to get APs no matter what.

 

[Joan1]

I don't see why you would think that they would give you credit for the 9 day park ticket when you only paid for 6 days. I would have thought that they would only apply what you actually paid for the ticket to the annual pass price.

To be honest I never even would have thought that they would have looked it as a 9 day if I were upgrading.

 

[vicki_c]

I don't see why you would think that they would give you credit for the 9 day park ticket when you only paid for 6 days. I would have thought that they would only apply what you actually paid for the ticket to the annual pass price.

To be honest I never even would have thought that they would have looked it as a 9 day if I were upgrading.

As stated above (I think by me, but I'm getting different threads mixed up) - this has been Disney policy for a long time - they bridge the price of a discounted ticket to the current gate price before performing an upgrade. The OP's experience is actually the anomaly at this point - others are still reporting that they had no problems.

 

[doconeill]

That is really too bad. I was under the same impression after reading numerous posts about upgrading. I normally do not do packages, but I thought the savings of the AP was too good to pass up. Now it seems like it is just too good to be true. Our trip isn't until August, so I could still cancel and just do room only, but we do have to get APs no matter what.

If you are getting APs anyways, and you don't have other avenues to somehow get a discount, you really aren't being hurt - the AP will cost you X dollars anyways. By getting the MYW tickets in a package, you are simply paying for a portion of your AP now, and the balance later.

IF they give you credit for the free days, GREAT! You've just saved a good chunk of change.

I don't see why you would think that they would give you credit for the 9 day park ticket when you only paid for 6 days. I would have thought that they would only apply what you actually paid for the ticket to the annual pass price.

To be honest I never even would have thought that they would have looked it as a 9 day if I were upgrading.

Disney has traditionally given full gate price credit for a MYW ticket when upgrading to a greater ticket if that ticket was used once. In fact it was a simple way to save a few dollars because you could get a ticket from a discounter, use it then upgrade it.

The 4/3 deal did put a question mark on it because it was free days, not dollars off, but CMs have said that the ticket is a X-day ticket regardless of how many days were actually paid for. And guests have gotten that credit on an upgrade. When not factoring in NE, again its only a $9 difference so it isn't a big deal. But with NE the price bridging was more than $100 in some cases.

We still don't know what the real deal is. Disney is not known for having CMs with a consistent application of policy.

 

[WEDWDW]

I don't see why you would think that they would give you credit for the 9 day park ticket when you only paid for 6 days. I would have thought that they would only apply what you actually paid for the ticket to the annual pass price.

To be honest I never even would have thought that they would have looked it as a 9 day if I were upgrading.

When you buy a 9 day ticket at the 6 day ticket price,you have,AT THAT POINT,been GIVEN the discount by Disney.When they only allow you to upgrade using the 6 day price,they are,in essence,TAKING BACK the discount they have ALREADY GIVEN YOU,which to a lot of people doesn't seem fair.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

Wow, this is a huge deal.

If the OP went to 3 different Guest Relations and talked to a Guest Relations lead, I think it is more than an anomaly. Yikes!

Part of the attraction of the buy 4 get 3 free was the bonus days on the tickets esp if you bought non-expiring and upgraded to APs.

I don't think it is cheating in the least, the promotion is buy 4 days get 3 free, and it should be that way period.

Think of it this way, if you booked 4/3 and while you were on your vacation you wanted to add a day to your stay and you were told that you had to pay for the 3 nights you got for free to stay another night. Sounds pretty ridiculous right? What is the difference when you are talking about a ticket?

Hopefully a CM with shed some further light on this situation.

 

[MelanieC]

I think the difference between a 6 day and a 9 day MYW ticket is really only a few dollars. It's probably not a huge amount of money anyway. When I was there last week - I was hoping to upgrade my ticket I got through my daughter's group for her cheer competition by using it one day and just paying the gate price difference - which for a 3-5 day pass was only about $14 dollars or something. It was $70 through the group. Luckily Robo answered my post because I found out that those youth group tix don't work with upgrading - I wouldn't have been able to upgrade the extra day I wanted if I would have used it (THANK GOD FOR ROBO)!

 

[dawgsgirl]

I think the difference between a 6 day and a 9 day MYW ticket is really only a few dollars. It's probably not a huge amount of money anyway. When I was there last week - I was hoping to upgrade my ticket I got through my daughter's group for her cheer competition by using it one day and just paying the gate price difference - which for a 3-5 day pass was only about $14 dollars or something. It was $70 through the group. Luckily Robo answered my post because I found out that those youth group tix don't work with upgrading - I wouldn't have been able to upgrade the extra day I wanted if I would have used it (THANK GOD FOR ROBO)!

If you add the non-expiring option, it is a huge deal!

 

[liftn]

Think of it this way, if you booked 4/3 and while you were on your vacation you wanted to add a day to your stay and you were told that you had to pay for the 3 nights you got for free to stay another night. Sounds pretty ridiculous right? What is the difference when you are talking about a ticket?

Now that you put it that way, I agree with Disney. You see they have deals for whatever reason, sell tickets, fill rooms or whatever. When they off a deal there are restrictions, like someone said the booked 6 nights with the 4/3 deal and then tried to add another night on. They were told that they could not add the extra night on even though it was "paid for", because there were no rooms for the additional night at the 4/3 rate. They would have to pay in full for the additional night, but they were not gauranteed the same room for that additional night. If they wanted to be garanteed the same room, they would have to pay full price for the whole trip.

 

[dawgsgirl]

Anybody know anything else about this?? If this is true, I am majorly bummed! I am within my 45 day period and don't know if I am stuck with tickets I don't want! HELP!!!!

 

[princssdisnygina]

I can understand all the frustration but I guess I do not understand trying get something for next to nothing. No company, not even Disney will let you take advantage of something free they are offering. I cant see that they would let you use a free 3 days towards the purchase of another ticket. That is $235 a ticket. That is a lot of money and if everyone did that, that is a lot of money Disney is losing out on, on top of their losses already. Makes no sense to me.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

Now that you put it that way, I agree with Disney. You see they have deals for whatever reason, sell tickets, fill rooms or whatever. When they off a deal there are restrictions, like someone said the booked 6 nights with the 4/3 deal and then tried to add another night on. They were told that they could not add the extra night on even though it was "paid for", because there were no rooms for the additional night at the 4/3 rate. They would have to pay in full for the additional night, but they were not gauranteed the same room for that additional night. If they wanted to be garanteed the same room, they would have to pay full price for the whole trip.

In this example, you are altering an existing package, that you haven't used. It makes sense, that Disney would work it that way. You can always book a separate night, it might not be what you want, but you have the option to do so without them taking back your free nights.

I don't get why it is a crime to try and save some money, isn't that why it's called a "deal"? I don't think there is anything wrong with using a deal to it's fullest advantage. As far as Disney not wanting to "lose" a couple hundred dollars, my 4/3 deal is at the CR and my 3 nights are $490 a piece but I give up my discount, so the savings for me decrease. To get the deal you have to buy themepark tickets, I have an AP, so I don't need the tickets, but have to buy them, so I'm going to try to use the tickets I'm being forced to buy to the fullest advantage, and should be able to do so.

So absolutely, I'd like to trade in my 7 day non-expiring MYW ticket (I paid for a 4 day non-expiring MYW ticket) and would like to get credit for the 7 day ticket toward my annual pass.

4 day non-expiring ticket= 286.49
7 day non-expiring ticket= 359.97
savings of $73.48 per ticket

So for my family of 3 the savings would be $220.44.

Why do I want to do this? Because it saves me a lot of money and until now Disney has allowed it.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that Disney has every right to only give me credit for what I paid. If I return an item I bought on sale, I'm only going to get credit for what I paid.

My point is (if Disney does not bridge the tickets) that while I will save some money with the deal, it is not as much as I hoped.

I really hope that the OP's incident was an isolated one. If it is now Disney's policy to not bridge the tickets I'd like to know, so that I won't have to go through what the OP experienced.

The reason why I'd like to get something for nothing is because, in the past that is how it has worked. I'm not a rule breaker I'm not even a rule bender, Disney has been bridging tickets for years, no problem what so ever. That is just how it has been done. If they are not doing it anymore I'd like to know.

 

[doconeill]

Anybody know anything else about this?? If this is true, I am majorly bummed! I am within my 45 day period and don't know if I am stuck with tickets I don't want! HELP!!!!

Call and ask anyways if you want to change. Some people have reported being able to make changes after the deadline.

If you are upgrading to passes anyways, note that you are technically not losing out - you are just not getting a discount. The passes would cost just as much as if you bought them outright.

If you were only planning on upgrading to a pass because of the savings that at least in this case didn't happen, then you'd probably be safer downgrading back to what you needed in the first place if possible.

I can understand all the frustration but I guess I do not understand trying get something for next to nothing. No company, not even Disney will let you take advantage of something free they are offering. I cant see that they would let you use a free 3 days towards the purchase of another ticket. That is $235 a ticket. That is a lot of money and if everyone did that, that is a lot of money Disney is losing out on, on top of their losses already. Makes no sense to me.

The difference is not $235 a ticket, because an addition 3 days on any ticket after 4 days is only $3+tax a day. But when NE is factored in it can be as much as a little over $100.

Again, and I've said this several times, the assumption was based on previous Disney policy/procedure/guidelines/whatever you want to call it, reports from others who have done exactly this, and Cast Member statements. This was the first confirmed report I have seen that said otherwise.

I really wish we could get Cheshire Figment's comments on this...