Walt Disney World Date Based Ticket System FAQ • Read First Page

[hiroMYhero]

Hello. I just wanted to give an update on my situation I asked about a few months ago and I’ve seen asked on here other times.

My kids and I have APs and had a free dining package in August. We didn’t use the 4 day park hoppers and were told they would retain their value for future tickets. After our trip, the tickets expired and disappeared from MDE as expected. I called Disney just to ensure they were still somewhere on their system. The phone CM assured me they were but I couldn’t do anything with them over the phone, only in person at Guest Relations.

I made a solo trip this past week and visited Epcot GR to use these expired tickets towards tickets for our booked May trip. The CM scanned my band and said I didn’t have any tickets just an AP. I explained my situation again and what the phone CM said. She said they had no way of seeing my guest profile, only what tickets were on my magicband and gave me a number to call. I told her I already called the number and they said I had to do it at GR in person. She suggested going to my resort for help. I knew this was bad information so I moved on and went to the MK GR next. The CM there was much more helpful and was able to pull up the expired tickets and their exact values, which was over $1500. It took about 25 minutes at her window but all I have is a file opened with the value in it. She said they were granting me a one time exception to use the expired ticket value but not until I arrive in May can I actually purchase the tickets. I told her that that means I can’t make any FP so she added 3 FP for 3 days of our 7 day trip that they will help us get upon arrival. This stresses me out because my past experiences with GR are extremely hit or miss and I hate the thought of arriving in May with no tickets or FP.

I just wanted to give a heads up since I thought this would be a relatively simple and accepted process. But she made it sound like they are doing it for me as an exception. As AP holders we always did this in the past with MYW tickets from free dining packages, using them later to upgrade. I’m still not sure why I couldn’t just buy my May tickets at the GR window? Anyway, YMMV.

Thanks for reporting! @Robo will also be interested in this valuable info!!

 

[Disneylover99]

I agree! We had just always saved our FD tickets in the past and applied them to our APs, but after this experience with the new date based tickets, never again for us! This is the first year since Free Dining started that we don’t have a FD bounceback booked. It’s just way too much time, effort, and trouble now.

Thanks for the report. I cancelled my fd this summer because I had an AP and I didn’t want to deal with the uncertainty of expired tickets.

 

[CosmicGirl]

Would it be possible to apply the value of the ticket towards an AP voucher during your first trip, so before the ticket expires? That might be easier.

ETA: or perhaps you could upgrade the FD ticket to a flexible ticket during your first trip and then upgrade that later?

 

[vinotinto]

Would it be possible to apply the value of the ticket towards an AP voucher during your first trip, so before the ticket expires? That might be easier.

Yes, that's very easy to do. The issue is once the date-based ticket expires.

 

[jenga1030]

Would it be possible to apply the value of the ticket towards an AP voucher during your first trip, so before the ticket expires? That might be easier.

ETA: or perhaps you could upgrade the FD ticket to a flexible ticket during your first trip and then upgrade that later?

I’m sure that would have been much easier. Unfortunately we didn’t know our exact return date at that time and are not sure if we are buying APs again this year. So in our situation we were trying to use the expired 4 day ph towards another 4 day ph with a May 17 start date. I don’t think you’d have any trouble changing the tickets before they expire though.

 

[ksromack]

I hope this is the correct place to ask this question.
Dh and I have let our APs expire because we are returning with a free dining package in December. Our FD package is for 4 nights but we knew we were going to add on 2 nights for a DVC stay. I added on 2 more park hopper days to reflect our additional stay at CCV so now our PH tickets are for 6 days instead of the original 4. MDE shows 6 day hoppers for all of us in our party and I successfully made FPs for all 6 days of our trip. I just noticed, though, that it shows an expiration date that would have been the case for our original 4 day hoppers, not the 6 day hoppers. So now it looks like our tickets will expire before we plan on using them (specifically the last day of our trip). Is this just an MDE mistake? I don't want to arrive at the park on the saturday of our trip only to find out our tickets expired the day before. Any advice?

 

[lanejudy]

I just noticed, though, that it shows an expiration date that would have been the case for our original 4 day hoppers, not the 6 day hoppers.

It's because MDE sees your package length and assumes you will check-out and leave at the end. It doesn't have logic built in. I assume your 4-day hoppers corresponded to the resort reservation length? Current tickets are valid for the longer of 1) on-site resort reservation length, or 2) the valid-use-window for the number of days on the ticket. So a 6-day ticket is good for 6 entries within a 9-day window. You'll have 9 days from the first check-in date.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[ksromack]

It's because MDE sees your package length and assumes you will check-out and leave at the end. It doesn't have logic built in. I assume your 4-day hoppers corresponded to the resort reservation length? Current tickets are valid for the longer of 1) on-site resort reservation length, or 2) the valid-use-window for the number of days on the ticket. So a 6-day ticket is good for 6 entries within a 9-day window. You'll have 9 days from the first check-in date.

Enjoy your vacation!

Yes, they coincide with the dates of our first 4 night stay. Thank you! I was pretty sure we were ok but wanted to make sure!

 

[mscann311]

Do you know if expired unused tickets from Disney authorized resellers also retain their value to apply to new wdw tickets or does this only apply to tickets purchased directly from Disney?

 

[rteetz]

Do you know if expired unused tickets from Disney authorized resellers also retain their value to apply to new wdw tickets or does this only apply to tickets purchased directly from Disney?

The tickets are the same because they come directly from Disney.

 

[mscann311]

The tickets are the same because they come directly from Disney.

Thank you. Also would I be able to make the change myself if I linked the UT tix to MDE (ie change my June tix to Sept tix and then paying any necessary price increase if dates in Sept cost more than value of my June tix) or would I have to physically make this change at Guest Services in Sept?

 

[rteetz]

Thank you. Also would I be able to make the change myself if I linked the UT tix to MDE (ie change my June tix to Sept tix and then paying any necessary price increase if dates in Sept cost more than value of my June tix) or would I have to physically make this change at Guest Services in Sept?

I’m actually not sure if you can do that directly on the app. You should be able to do it over the phone though before you get there in September.

 

[lanejudy]

Thank you. Also would I be able to make the change myself if I linked the UT tix to MDE (ie change my June tix to Sept tix and then paying any necessary price increase if dates in Sept cost more than value of my June tix) or would I have to physically make this change at Guest Services in Sept?

If the ticket hasn't expired (planned for June 2020), you should be able to make the modification in MDE. As with most anything MDE-related, YMMV and it could require a call. But if the ticket has already expired (leftover from June 2019), I believe you may need to call because it typically isn't visible to you in MDE (only visible to WDW).

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[ClapYourHands]

Hello. I just wanted to give an update on my situation I asked about a few months ago and I’ve seen asked on here other times.

My kids and I have APs and had a free dining package in August. We didn’t use the 4 day park hoppers and were told they would retain their value for future tickets. After our trip, the tickets expired and disappeared from MDE as expected. I called Disney just to ensure they were still somewhere on their system. The phone CM assured me they were but I couldn’t do anything with them over the phone, only in person at Guest Relations.

I made a solo trip this past week and visited Epcot GR to use these expired tickets towards tickets for our booked May trip. The CM scanned my band and said I didn’t have any tickets just an AP. I explained my situation again and what the phone CM said. She said they had no way of seeing my guest profile, only what tickets were on my magicband and gave me a number to call. I told her I already called the number and they said I had to do it at GR in person. She suggested going to my resort for help. I knew this was bad information so I moved on and went to the MK GR next. The CM there was much more helpful and was able to pull up the expired tickets and their exact values, which was over $1500. It took about 25 minutes at her window but all I have is a file opened with the value in it. She said they were granting me a one time exception to use the expired ticket value but not until I arrive in May can I actually purchase the tickets. I told her that that means I can’t make any FP so she added 3 FP for 3 days of our 7 day trip that they will help us get upon arrival. This stresses me out because my past experiences with GR are extremely hit or miss and I hate the thought of arriving in May with no tickets or FP.

I just wanted to give a heads up since I thought this would be a relatively simple and accepted process. But she made it sound like they are doing it for me as an exception. As AP holders we always did this in the past with MYW tickets from free dining packages, using them later to upgrade. I’m still not sure why I couldn’t just buy my May tickets at the GR window? Anyway, YMMV.

I know this is from last fall, but wanted to share my experience here (already posted on the main ticket thread, but this might come up in someone's search).

We had to cancel our November trip for health reasons. In January, I called WDW, and got the value of those tickets applied to new date based tickets for May. The cost difference was only about $10 total.

It did take a bit of calling back and being transferred around until I got the right person, but once I got her, the process took maybe 5 minutes. My new tickets are showing in MDE with the new dates.

So, if you’re still planning to go in May, you absolutely CAN get actual tickets before that time, and you can do so over the phone. Unfortunately, the ticket prices have had another hike in the meantime, so the value of your previous tickets won’t take you as far with new ones, but at least you’ll be able to make all your FP at the 60-day window.

My tip would be to call and be very concise and specific with what you want. Something like, "I have unused expired date-based tickets. I would like to apply their value to the purchase of new tickets. Could you please connect me to someone who can assist me with this?" While I spoke to several people during my phone odyssey, no one told me the purchase could not be done over the phone, but not everyone knew exactly whom to connect me with. I finally got a CM who knew exactly what I wanted, and tried to do it, but apparently did not have the authority; she had to transfer me, but stayed "with" me on the phone until we had someone who could complete the transaction.

 

[Ethanandyclaire]

Are flexible tickets still available? I am staying at BWV before a 7 night cruise and SSR after the cruise. I wanted to see if flexible date tickets would save any money.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Are flexible tickets still available? I am staying at BWV before a 7 night cruise and SSR after the cruise. I wanted to see if flexible date tickets would save any money.

Yes. You have 14 days from first use to use all the days. If you’re planning to visit the parks both before and after your cruise, flexible date tickets would probably be less expensive than buying separate tickets for each section, since the first few days of a ticket are usually the most expensive.

 

[rteetz]

Are flexible tickets still available? I am staying at BWV before a 7 night cruise and SSR after the cruise. I wanted to see if flexible date tickets would save any money.

The flexible ticket is an add on so when you buy regular tickets you add on the flex option.

 

[rteetz]

I updated the information in the first posts to the latest pricing and info to not confuse anyone with older info or pricing.

 

[CarolynFH]

I updated the information in the first posts to the latest pricing and info to not confuse anyone with older info or pricing.

Thanks, Ryan. Could you please add the year (2020) to the header, to make it clear those prices are as of March 8, 2020?

 

[rteetz]

Thanks, Ryan. Could you please add the year (2020) to the header, to make it clear those prices are as of March 8, 2020?

Fixed!