Value/best use of GAD for tickets

[klam_chowder]

I'm thinking of buying 10-day WPF&M no expiry tickets for 2 adults for $994 total cost.

Am I better off buying these tickets and using the GAD certificates for an extra day of entry or applying the GAD certificates to the 10-day tix? (Not interested in the FP or other options )

If I applied the GAD to the 10-day tix, is there a way to know how much the 10-day tix would cost me total?

We don't "need" the extra day and will only be using 3 days on this trip, hence the No Expiry option. Thx for any insight - I was trying to break it down and got confuzzled!

cheers,

 

[BrettS]

The GAD ticket will be worth the value of a 1 day ticket... $79 per adult ($84.14 including tax). Applying it to your 10 day NE ticket would definitely be your best option.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I think using it stand alone to enter may be best deal. At your price you are looking at $49.70 a day for each day of the 10. The GAD ticket is worth $79. You could use it for day one, then a few days of your non expiring ticket and save those extra days for later at a price of under $50 a day.

Seems you must be getting a deal on the tickets somewhere other than Disney, so to use the GAD toward your 10 day ticket you would lose that savings. Thru disney with tax they would run: $1073.56 minus the two $79 credits would only be $916. If you are only paying $994 total with taxes then thats only getting the value of 2 GADS tickets at $78, a rip off IMO. I would use for FP before I did that.

Is there a reason you aren't considering the FP cards or are you planning another trip later on that will need the exact # of left over days? The cards are great, something you can't buy and it was totally worth it for us to use them to ride TSM 3 times when the line was 1 1/2-2 hours long and Star Tours 3 times with the line half hour or more. Thats 6 hours of waiting for us saved by one GAD FP card, 6 hours of my time at Disney is well worth over the GAD value for a ticket.

 

[klam_chowder]

BrettS & PIRATEGIRL007 - thx a mint for your detailed replies I these boards cuz there's so many ways to look at the same thing and my pea brain could never figure it out

I'd read the "value of a 1 day ticket" would be deducted from the 10-day pass but for some reason couldn't really figure out what the $ amount would be with taxes, etc. Knowing I could deduct $84 from the 10-day tix is a very motivating factor, esp since DH is squawking at the cost right now & I'm trying to convince him a 10-day no expiry is the way to go, rather than just buying 3-day tix (and I need those 10-day tix to be burning a hole in our pockets so we get to come back

FP are an awesome option, but it just doesn't work for us this time. Due to the timing of our trip, we'd have to use the GAD on our first day in the park to avoid the blackout period. And, given the rest of our trip's plans we're spending that day in AK. There aren't enough FP attractions to make it worthwhile and we usually only spend half a day in AK. This will be our first time spending the entire day there so we will have lots of time, take it easy. We've experienced pretty well everthing there already but will take time to see some new things like the Conservation Station. I didn't include this detail in the OP as it just seemed to muddle things

I'd never consider the cost/day cost of the GAD ticket - a very good and unique point -but looks like the best value for me is to save the money and apply them to the park tix. Thx again for your help in sorting thru this!

cheers,

 

[BrettS]

Hmm... I think that pirate girl might be right I hadn't considered getting the 10 day NE tickets at a discount. You can get them through Undercover Tourist with the Mousesavers discount for $497.95 each including tax. Getting the ticket through Disney would be $536.76 each minus the $84.14 for your GAD voucher would be $452.62 each. Saving only $45.33 off of the mousesavers price.

The UT NE ticket would be $49.78 per day, so you would save a little more by using the GAD voucher as a one day ticket.

 

[BrettS]

I'm trying to convince him a 10-day no expiry is the way to go, rather than just buying 3-day tix (and I need those 10-day tix to be burning a hole in our pockets so we get to come back

As a rule the 10 day NE tickets are the best value if you take shorter trips (5 days or less). If you take longer trips (6 days or more) then you will save money by purchasing expiring tickets for the length of your trip.

In your case, you'll be paying $49.78 per day for a 10 day NE ticket. If you get an expiring 3 day ticket for this trip you'd pay $288.62 (including tax and the water park option), which works out to $96.20 per day... it's a bit of an investment, but if you think you'll be back for shorter trips in the future then you will definitely save money with the 10 day NE option.

FP are an awesome option, but it just doesn't work for us this time. Due to the timing of our trip, we'd have to use the GAD on our first day in the park to avoid the blackout period.

Other people have posted that you can redeem your GAD vouchers for fast passes on the blackout days... you just can't redeem them for tickets on those days. So you could still consider the FP option if you wanted to.

esp since DH is squawking at the cost right now

As I said above, the option with the least amount of money out of your pocket is to upgrade the GAD tickets to your 10 day NE for $452.62 each. You could use the GAD voucher to enter the parks and get an extra day (11 days instead of 10 days), but you'd pay more out of pocket... $497.95 per ticket from Undercover Tourist. Maybe a good compromise would be to upgrade the GAD vouchers to the 10 day NE tickets. You would only wind up with 10 days, but you would still be saving more than $90 between both tickets.

 

[klam_chowder]

Hmm... I think that pirate girl might be right I hadn't considered getting the 10 day NE tickets at a discount. You can get them through Undercover Tourist with the Mousesavers discount for $497.95 each including tax. Getting the ticket through Disney would be $536.76 each minus the $84.14 for your GAD voucher would be $452.62 each. Saving only $45.33 off of the mousesavers price.

The UT NE ticket would be $49.78 per day, so you would save a little more by using the GAD voucher as a one day ticket.

Yikes, just when I thought I had it figured out Thx for walking me thru the math I was using UT pricing too but didn't know if I could post that info (they're offering an extra $1.99 discount now which is why our numbers are off by $2)

As a rule the 10 day NE tickets are the best value if you take shorter trips (5 days or less). If you take longer trips (6 days or more) then you will save money by purchasing expiring tickets for the length of your trip.

Ahha! This is something I'd never heard - I always like to know the breakeven point

In your case, you'll be paying $49.78 per day for a 10 day NE ticket. If you get an expiring 3 day ticket for this trip you'd pay $288.62 (including tax and the water park option), which works out to $96.20 per day... it's a bit of an investment, but if you think you'll be back for shorter trips in the future then you will definitely save money with the 10 day NE option.

Other people have posted that you can redeem your GAD vouchers for fast passes on the blackout days... you just can't redeem them for tickets on those days. So you could still consider the FP option if you wanted to.

Hmmm, but it would have to be for the same park right? We only have 4 park days this trip - going to MVMCP for one of them - and so only going to AK once this trip but that's good info for others who come by this thread.

As I said above, the option with the least amount of money out of your pocket is to upgrade the GAD tickets to your 10 day NE for $452.62 each. You could use the GAD voucher to enter the parks and get an extra day (11 days instead of 10 days), but you'd pay more out of pocket... $497.95 per ticket from Undercover Tourist. Maybe a good compromise would be to upgrade the GAD vouchers to the 10 day NE tickets. You would only wind up with 10 days, but you would still be saving more than $90 between both tickets.

I think that's the compromise we'll do. I get to have extra days in the parks in the future & DH gets to save some $ now.

Thx a mint for helping walk me thru the options on this - much appreciated, BrettS!

cheers,

 

[doconeill]

Hi klam! Ready for some football?

I missed this thread yesterday, happened to see it.

I generally caution people to be very careful about NE tickets. You need to plan around them. You need to make sure you don't need to buy another ticket to complete a trip - otherwise the instant you pay for a new ticket, even a single day, you've already spent more money than if you bought separate expiring tickets to begin with, although if you can fit three or more trips into that 10 days, the pain is less and it may even make sense - but that's a tough thing to do unless you are local.

So it comes down less to what you are doing this trip, but more about what you are doing the next, and possibly the one after that.

But if you want to go that route, I think upgrading the GAD ticket to the 10-day NE is your best value.

Is this a post-PCC visit?

 

[klam_chowder]

Hi klam! Ready for some football?

I generally caution people to be very careful about NE tickets. You need to plan around them. You need to make sure you don't need to buy another ticket to complete a trip - otherwise the instant you pay for a new ticket, even a single day, you've already spent more money than if you bought separate expiring tickets to begin with, although if you can fit three or more trips into that 10 days, the pain is less and it may even make sense - but that's a tough thing to do unless you are local.

So it comes down less to what you are doing this trip, but more about what you are doing the next, and possibly the one after that.

But if you want to go that route, I think upgrading the GAD ticket to the 10-day NE is your best value.

Is this a post-PCC visit?

Hi Commish! I'm ready for the draft but am keeping my #1 pick a secret

Okay, given the responses I've been fortunate to receive, I know I am missing something here but not sure what I've heard "other guys" (ding!) say that the NE ticket is a bad deal too. But for some reason I think it's the next best thing to a Dole Whip.

In my mind, the more days I buy the cheaper every day is. Therefore buying NE 10 days is cheaper than buying say, 3, 3, and 4 days. Hmmm...let me go price that out - brb

For convenience I am just using the WDW site's pricing, including tax:
- 3 day WPF&M: $289
- 3 day WPF&M: $289
- 4 day WPF&M: $295
- total: $873

Compared to $537 for 10 day WPF&M NE ticket.

Here's my math:
- every day is cheaper so for $453 (includes GAD bonus) I get 10 visits to the parks PLUS 10 visits to the waterparks/DQ

- we like DQ and spend about 3 hours there per trip while we visit DTD. However, I would never pay $44 for a one day admission

- we went to a water park for the first time a couple of trips ago - I thought we'd spend a morning there and then head out but DH loved it and actually wants to stay there pretty much all day

- so actually for $453 I get 20 day's worth of activities - it only costs me $23/day

Doesn't this make the NE option the best value even if I had to buy another ticket some time in the future for the same trip?

It's a pre- and post-PCC visit
- pre-cruise Saturday at AK (and last day the GAD is valid)
- post-cruise Thursday MVMCP (hard ticket)
- Friday: Ecpot
- Saturday: DHS

So I will only use 3 tickets on this trip. After that I really don't know when our next trip will be as we have plans to other destinations that will take up all our vacation days for 2011 and 2012.

I'm guessing if the Dis does a Dream cruise, we'll come back for that, again with just a few days pre & post cruise.

Any thoughts to help me figure out what I'm missing?

Oh and a freebie question, if you don't mind...the WPF&M passes are non-expiry too, right? Or do I have to use the last one within 14 days of my last park entry ticket?

cheers,

 

[doconeill]

You've done your homework.

Yes, in this particular example it DOES work out, if you keep to that plan. The three tickets are significantly more expensive because you are paying the $55 on each ticket for the WPFM options, where you pay it once on the 10-day ticket. Assuming you'd use at least 2 WPFM visits each time, then this could work. Not everyone uses all those pluses though, so if on a particular trip you didn't use them, you'd save a little money.

The NE DOES apply to WPFM pluses - so there is the advantage in that too. You'll have literally forever to use those up.

Random question - can you fit the pre- and post-PCC stays within 14 days? Could a single ticket cover both? That might alter the math a bit. But if you can make use of the NE WPFM options, it still may be a better deal in your case.

 

[BrettS]

Okay, given the responses I've been fortunate to receive, I know I am missing something here but not sure what I've heard "other guys" (ding!) say that the NE ticket is a bad deal too. But for some reason I think it's the next best thing to a Dole Whip.

The trick is that NE tickets are very inflexible. Because you can't upgrade or modify a ticket after 14 days from it's first use then you'll be locked into whatever you have after your first trip. For example, if you wind up with 4 days left on your NE ticket, but then find out that you're going to be going for 6 days it'll be much more expensive to purchase a two day ticket to supplement the 4 days you have left than it would have been just to get expiring tickets all along. As long as you're aware of this inflexibility and can plan your trips out well in advance to make sure that you can use all of the days on your NE ticket then it can definitely be a good thing.

Along the same lines, you need to make sure you get the hopper option on the ticket on your first trip if you think you might need it for future trips, since you won't be able to add it on those future trips.

In my mind, the more days I buy the cheaper every day is. Therefore buying NE 10 days is cheaper than buying say, 3, 3, and 4 days.

Yes, that's definitely true for shorter trips. However, if you look at the per day prices it's cheaper to get expiring tickets for trips of 6 days or more and it's cheaper to get NE tickets for trips of 5 days or less. If you usually take shorter trips (of 5 days or less) then your cheapest option will just be to get a 10 day NE ticket and use it up, and when you're done get another one and use it up. If you typically take trips of 6 days or more then it's cheaper to get expiring tickets on each trip.

Of course, there are other factors that figure in here... whether you can afford to put out the ~$500 or so for a 10 day NE ticket initially or what if you take some longer and some shorter trips or whatever, but there are definitely instances where the NE tickets are the best deal, and it sounds like it's a good option for you.

- so actually for $453 I get 20 day's worth of activities - it only costs me $23/day

Doesn't this make the NE option the best value

It's definitely the best value for a shorter trip. But if you were taking a longer trip you could get an expiring 6 day ticket with the water parks option for only $217.26 (also including the GAD voucher) . That's 12 days worth of activities for only $18 per day. Of course, that's assuming you're on a trip of at least 12 days so you can use all the options.

even if I had to buy another ticket some time in the future for the same trip?

If you had to buy another 10 day NE ticket and then just continued to use it for future trips then that would work well. If you had to buy a short expiring ticket then you'd lose all or most of your savings.

Oh and a freebie question, if you don't mind...the WPF&M passes are non-expiry too, right? Or do I have to use the last one within 14 days of my last park entry ticket?

As long as you get the NE option on your tickets then the WPF&M entries will also never expire.

 

[klam_chowder]

Brian & BrettS - thx a mint for taking the time to explain and walk me thru this - much appreciated! It really helps me understand the pros/cons of the NE...and I'm sure I'll be referring to this info again and again

cheers,

 

[seashoreCM]

Doesn't this make the NE option the best value even if I had to buy another ticket some time in the future for the same trip? 3:

If two NE tickets cover four vacations, you are safe.
If three NE tickets cover six vacations, you are safe.
Regardless of how the tickets or dates were split among the various vacations.

But if three NE tickets cover only 5 vacations, then you are on thin ice.

To better appreciate the cost of non-expiration, do not figure the cost per day. Instead your ticket budget for vacation #1 is the cost of an expiring ticket that would just cover. Your ticket budget for vacation #2 includes the rest of what the NE ticket cost you (typically about $225. plus three dollars per remaining day for a 10 day NE.)

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/dispass.htm