Upgrading ticket from child to adult- question

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Hi,
I was curious if anyone knows the answer to this question (probably- that's why I'm asking ya! LOL).

Do you have to have a day used on the child's ticket in order to upgrade it the next time you use it if they are now over the child age?

I'm asking because on our last trip Nov/Dec of 2003 we had first purchased 7 day park hoppers for each of us (online in advance) BUT then we decided to just get AP's once we got there because we were able to extend our trip to 12 days and wanted to get the AP rate (yes, I know that only took one AP) but also unlimited days for all of us at the parks, water parks, DQ, and Pleasure Island. It would have been more expensive to pay for DQ annual passes plus everything else extra (going to parks and water park in the same day/etc.) -so we just bought the APs because we knew the park hoppers would be used in the future anyway.

We really thought we'd be using the tickets (the park hopper pluses we'd purchased) in Feb 2005 when we also had a cruise planned but do to schedule changes at school we had to cancel that cruise and rebooked it for June 2006. Obviously by that time my oldest is going to be much older than the original age when we bought them(8yrs). So I guess I would have been asking this question sooner to June 2006 but now we're planning a trip (just to WDW, our first cruise will still be May/June 2006) for this June and I'm curious how that's going to work on her ticket...her park hopper plus never used but now she's not the child age anymore. All of us still have our park hoppers matching our ages (myself and 3 kids are going on this trip- the rest of the kids are still way on the "child" age) but her ticket is a child ticket and she'll be over 9 by that time ofcourse.

So will they upgrade this without a problem or do I need to bring her birth certificate to show at the time we bought the tickets, then bought AP's instead, she was actually the child age when we bought that park hopper thinking we'd use it? Any ideas on how this is going to work?

 

[DMRick]

You would have had to have used one day while the child was a child, in order to get the adult upgrade. You can still upgrade it, but they will charge you the difference between child and adult.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Uh, for real? Dang, if I'd known that I'd have had her use one day on it instead of using her AP that day. What a rip. The difference between that park hopper plus child ticket to now an adult ticket (with all the same things on it- park hopper plusses, no expiration, etc.) is so not worth paying! UGHHHHHHHHHH

 

[seashoreCM]

Another child (grandson, niece, etc.) can have it and use it as-is. Prior to first use, the ticket is transferable and does not belong to any particular person.

For those families whose child just turned ten, the child can likely still use the pass.

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

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Well, that would be fine except the other kids already have child passes too. So I guess since the exchange/upgrade rate to change it to adult pass (for oldest child on next trip in June) wouldn't be a good idea- that it will just have to be used for one of the other children on some other trip. And it means I have to budget for an adult ticket for all the days/plusses for my oldest on THIS trip.

Thanks for all the info, I appreciate it. I should have had her use one day on it on the last trip even though she had an AP- it would have turned out better for us. LOL

 

[seashoreCM]

Another child can use one of the days of the "spare" child pass on the next trip and then that pass is put away in the room safe. That child now owns the "spare" pass and may well have a day left over on "his own" pass later.

On a future trip that child may well end up needing to exchange both passes for adult passes, this is best not done in quick succession. One person can end up exchanging more than one child pass in his lifetime "because the family may have left the passes at home and had to buy new ones at the ticket booth" but the impression must not be given to Disney that one person "stocked up on child passes" and used a day on each expecting to do many no cost adult exchanges in the future.

This way comes out ahead compared with having someone with an annual pass burn off a day on a hopper pass.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I get what you're saying- but I still say I wish when we changed our minds to APs that we should have had her use one day on her pass in case she was over 9yrs old the next time we went to use those already purchased child tickets. Because then I wouldn't have to be buying her an adult ticket for each day of our trip NOW. I'm not all about saving up for years ahead. LOL It's going to be a LONG time before my other two are over 9yrs old and we're on another WDW trip after that... so I wish I could use the tickets now rather than holding on to them.

Disney would have to be understanding about upgrading more than one child ticket to adult if you had more than one child that had "grown up" since your last visit- right? I assume you meant like upgrading more than one ticket per child to adult?

 

[my3princes]

Sorry about your situation. I hope you find a reasonable solution. Perhaps you could call CRO and ask a CM about your delima.

 

[eeyore0062]

Actually, no.... unless at least one day is used, it is not a ripoff. Disney upgrades childrens partially used tickets as a courtesy to the guest. How is it to be determined that someone bought a child's ticket from just anywhere and wants it upgraded for free just to save money for themselves. That is the purpose for the rule. Not trying to flame or start anything here, but letting you know why the rules are put in place.
Had you decided to take that unused AP and upgraded it to a child's AP at that time, you could get complete credit for what you paid and pay the difference at that time. Now, you can still upgrade that unused ticket to an adult ticket, but also will have to pay the difference, like any other upgrade with an unused pass. You will still get the full value of the ticket you bought for the time that you bought it toward the new ticket. If you decide to change ticket configurations, remember, except for the child to adult aspect, you will still have to have at least 7 days, the PH feature and the non expiring feature.

Also, if all of your children are with you and the castmember can see that there is a child who is now over 10 for each of the tickets, they will upgrade them complimentary, if at least one day is used.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

first off- I never said "ripoff". I said what a "rip" -meaning I ripped myself off because we changed our minds after purchasing the 7 day park hopper plus tickets and got APs and didn't have her use one day on hers so it could be upgraded later.
How is it to be determined that we didn't just buy a ticket anywhere and want it upgraded? Well how about we bought it directly thru Disney online and picked up those tickets at the resort? LOL Cause that's what we did. But we went to DQ first and park hoppers back then didn't include that. Kids liked it- decided since we were staying longer than first anticipated (when purchasing 7 day tickets online on their website before going) that we'd just save those and buy APs for that trip. We didn't buy them on PURPOSE to upgrade at a later date.. just turned out that way. Now an extra ticket left over because she's going to be over 9 by our next trip (because all of us still have our 7 day park hoppers- so another child doesn't need her child ticket to use). I said "rip" because we made the mistake of not using the ticket once by her so that it could be upgraded on her next trip just like anyone else that purchases a ticket HONESTLY while the child is underage then need to use the rest of it once they are older on the next trip.

Had you decided to take that unused AP and upgraded it to a child's AP at that time, you could get complete credit for what you paid and pay the difference at that time.

I'm going to assume you meant to say if I'd takien that unused child's park hopper pass and could have upgraded it to her child's AP at the time. but that wouldn't have made sense-- if I'd known it couldn't have been used in the future by her I would have had her just use it for one day so I could have it upgraded free later on- plus if I had done the upgrade to AP for her then what- the next trip we all have tickets except her since she used it for exchanging to AP? LOL

I'm going to have to look to see what the difference is between child to adult with all the things on it. Now with all the extra charges for park hopper, pluses, plus non-expiration that might be quite a bit of difference there. And I do think you have to upgrade it to an adult ticket with everything on it exactly how the child's one is now, right?

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Eeyore, do you know if they charge the difference between a child's ticket NOW to an adult ticket NOW? Or do they charge the difference from the price you paid for that child's ticket to the price an adult ticket is NOW?

 

[GRUMPYMOMOF3]

How old is your daughter.Disney does not check kids ages unless she looks like an adult.They only scan adults fingers to make sure adults are not using kids tickets.My friend went last week with her 10 year old and bought a kid ticket for her and nothing was said.Not saying this is right but if you already have the ticket use it if you can.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

She was 9 at our last trip (Thanksgiving 2003) and I'll be honest and say that when we decided to go with the APs, we had in mind that we'd all have our 7 day park hoppers to use again in the future AND thinking she'd be able to use hers even though she'd be over 9 on our next trip. If that's wrong.. I'm sorry. But WDW still got their money's worth out of us because we didn't use our AP like many would- like many trips that year. We only used it for the remaining 11 days of our trip (and didn't go to the parks every day either LOL).

She'd be just turned 11 by the time we go on our trip in June. If we'd gone when we planned to at the beginning of Feb 2005 for our cruise (that we had to reschedule to June 2006 due to school schedule changes) she would have been 10. So she'll be 11 by June 2005... probably doesn't look 11 (she's in 5th grade now and looks younger than everyone else it seems- wow most kids sure bloom early nowadays don't they? LOL but that's another subject all together), but I'd rather not take the chance that someone would ask her age and try to have her lie or something like that.

If they charge (on the upgrade) from what a child's ticket, park hopper, with pluses and non-expiration is NOW to an adult's-- on a 7 day it's only a difference of $37 from what I can see on disney website- so that's not a big issue at ALL.
If that's how they do it. If they charge from what we paid back then to now adult ticket park hopper, with plusses, and non-expiration... it may be more of a difference?

 

[SnackyStacky]

Eeyore, do you know if they charge the difference between a child's ticket NOW to an adult ticket NOW? Or do they charge the difference from the price you paid for that child's ticket to the price an adult ticket is NOW?

The credit you receive is based on what you paid. If you paid $150, you get $150.

That credit is then applied toward current admission prices.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Well I have no idea how much I paid... it's been way too long for me to have any records of that, the ticket ofcourse doesn't show the price paid, and the prices are not there anymore (I mean the 2003 prices don't show on the website anymore ofcourse). So I assume they would somehow know what the prices were for the ticket back in 2003?

And if that is truly the case- we'd be LOSING money... doing that instead of just saving the ticket to use for another one of our children in the future.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Well I have no idea how much I paid... since the prices are not there anymore. so I assume they would somehow know what the prices were for the ticket back in 2003?

Yes. They will scan your ticket, and the value (meaning what you paid for the ticket) is encoded in the mag stripe.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to find that out until you get to central florida.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Well I have no idea how much I paid... it's been way too long for me to have any records of that, the ticket ofcourse doesn't show the price paid, and the prices are not there anymore (I mean the 2003 prices don't show on the website anymore ofcourse). So I assume they would somehow know what the prices were for the ticket back in 2003?

And if that is truly the case- we'd be LOSING money... doing that instead of just saving the ticket to use for another one of our children in the future.

I did a little research and pulled up a cost of $281.18 for a 7 day child park hopper plus at the gate. You said you bought them in advance. I'm still looking for that.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Wow, thank you for doing that. I have no idea where I'd look for that info. LOL

 

[SnackyStacky]

Found it. Your advance purchase price was probably in the neighborhood of $260. I came up with $263.05, so give or take a couple bucks, that should be about the credit you'll receive.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Okay so that's about a $63 difference to upgrade to adult ticket (with all same options added) now.
Thanks for looking that up for me, you rock!

I had another question in my mind before I went to check the difference in price and now I can't remember! Getting senile I tell ya. LOL I'll probably remember later and I'll ask it then.