Warning: I was NOT allowed to upgrade MYW tickets with dining plan!

[CanBeGrumpy]

We have a party of 12 leaving in a week, 3 of us have AP's so we did the 1 day tix package too and were planning on upgrading the others to AP's when we got there. Please tell me that this is an exception, not some new rule

I would definitely call guest relations to find out the real policy on this. It seems some of us were denied the upgrade, and others were able to do it no problem. So who knows what the real rules are! If you call, you will be prepared in advance, unlike me who was completely caught off guard and am still confused! I hope it works out for you!

 

[Julieh22]

Can you ask to have your MYW tickets placed on a seperate card then your room key card? Would this help?

I was actually planning to do this on our trip (which starts Monday), because we were going to upgrade our tickets to 10 day (no exp. and park hopper) and I was going to hopefully use the money on my MYW ticket for an AP. Guess I will find out monday... we are also on free dining... No biggie though if they won't let me...

 

[PureTcrazy]

that it would be in their best interest for us to get AP's, it pretty much ensures that we will be back this year! My brother asked about this specifically when we first made ressies and was told "No Problem, but it must be done at the parks, not the hotel."

 

[bicker]

Maybe they're objecting to applying discount on top of discount: Annual Passes are, of course, discounted admission. Not sure on this one. Seems like a strange thing.

 

[wendylovesdisney]

I upgraded last week with free dining after I arrived at the hotel. -Wendy

 

[PureTcrazy]

Maybe they're objecting to applying discount on top of discount: Annual Passes are, of course, discounted admission. Not sure on this one. Seems like a strange thing.

I do understand that the pass is a discount, but we have already purchased one-day tickets (that we didn't need) and payed rack rate for the rooms to allow us to participate in Free Dining. I believe Free Dining's intent is to get people in the parks during hurricane season and it seems as if they are doing that, but I also would think they would like some repeat customers during the year. We like to go during the 1st week of december, which is also a slow time in the parks.

If they did not want to allow us to upgrade, why would they sell us a 5 night package with 1 day tickets??

Hopefully, it was just a few cm's who did not understand the procedure.

 

[iluvepcot]

We added plus and non exp to our tickets in the middle of our trip with free dining credits and room key. No problem at MK cust services. The 10 day base tickets were used for 3 days at the time

 

[bicker]

... I also would think they would like some repeat customers during the year.

As I mentioned earlier, this sure smacks of one of those "services curtailed or changed due to abuse" scenarios, but I cannot put my finger on what the abuse is in this case. If that is indeed the case, then they would surely love to do business with you, as you suggest, but they feel that they cannot because that would open the door to people seeking to use that opportunity to take advantage of something. Good folks pay the price when bad folks exploit. That sort of thing.

Hopefully, it was just a few cm's who did not understand the procedure.

Well, that's possible, I suppose, but we just heard about a few cases of this, right?, after not hearing about any cases for two years. What would suddenly cause a few CMs to suddenly start doing something extra (imposing a restriction)? Just a coincidence? Besides, if CMs are inexperienced or lack knowledge, they would be more likely to either be unable to figure out how to do something, or to forget to apply a restriction. They wouldn't make up restrictions. Again, makes this sound like a policy change due to abuse.

 

[magsmom]

Can you ask to have your MYW tickets placed on a seperate card then your room key card? Would this help?

Yes, you can - you can request this right at check-in.

As I was on 2 free dining packages in August, I had 2 sets of base tickets. I was able to upgrade both sets near the end of my trip to my new AP. We got some ! I was assured I could upgrade 1 set as I confirmed this ahead of time and figured that if I could not upgrade the second set that was fine. We were still on dining with the second set and had no problem with the credits.

 

[PureTcrazy]

Again, makes this sound like a policy change due to abuse.

I just don't understand what the "abuse" is in this situation!

 

[bicker]

Yup, me neither.

 

[Ladybugsy]

Just adding my experience. I took 11 people to Disney on Sept. 4th and our first park was Epcot. We went to guest relations with our free dining, one day pass key to the world cards. My parents and my brother were buying season passes and we had a hard time getting guest relations to upgrade their passes. The lady at the window told us that if she upgraded the tickets that our free dining would be removed from our ticket. I knew this wasn't the case, and I told her to do it anyway, and if it did I would deal with it at the hotel later. She reluctantly did it, my parents were worried, but it went off without a hitch. I wonder why they are all of a sudden trying to dissuade us from upgrading. It doesn't make sense.

 

[Disney845]

Hmmm...this is a very interesting topic as this is exactly what we planned to do. I have never in the past had an issue with the upgrading of tickets. I went to Disney's web site to see if they mentioned anything directly about this, and found this info:

Q. Can new tickets be upgraded once they're purchased?

A. Yes, the new Magic Your Way tickets can be upgraded before your vacation begins, or within the 14-day window you have to use the ticket after it's first used. Upgrades include extending the ticket length (i.e., adding more days) or adding any combination of Options: the Park Hopper® Option, the Water Park Fun & More Option*) and/or the No Expiration Option.
* Water Parks subject to seasonal or weather closures. Age restrictions may apply for access to certain facilities.

Back to top

Q. Can I upgrade an existing ticket? Can a Park Hopper® ticket purchased before these new tickets were introduced be upgraded?

A. In general, you can upgrade to any type of ticket – provided the new ticket is of equal or greater value than the old ticket – by simply paying the difference. However, no refunds will be issued if the new ticket is of lesser value.

I don't like how they use the phrase "in general" but the rest of the FAQ section about ticketing seems to completely contradict that the guest relations person would NOT allow you to upgrade your tickets. An annual pass/seasonal pass should constitute an "extension of ticket length."

 

[bicker]

Unfortunately, purchasing an Annual Pass is not an upgrade. (There have been a lot of "what can I do with my ticket" threads, and that's been made clear many times.)

No one has reported any problem with extending the length of a MYW pass -- as long as it remains a MYW pass. Annual Passes are a different animal, and always have been. What has to happen is that your MYW pass has to be converted to a cash value, and then that cash value applied to the purchase of the Annual Pass. That's not an upgrade.

 

[CdnMom2]

Many museums, Science Centres, theme parks, etc. allow you to try the place out for the day with your admission & then happily credit that towards an Annual Pass. It just makes sense that you may decide once you get there -- yes, I LIKE this place, let's come again.

But then this is DisneyWorld. And like many questions on here -- why do they do it? Because they can & we'll still come back for more!

 

[ReallyFunMom]

Short version: Booked trip with free dining. Included only one day MYW tickets since I was planning to upgrade to annual passes. (Did this last year without a hitch) Was told that since tickets were part of a package, I could NOT upgrade as it would ruin our hotel reservation and, in essence, kick us out of our room. We could only upgrade AFTER the package was over. Umm, how am I supposed to get into the parks during our stay???

It seems to me it should be allowed or not allowed (and cleared stated from the beginning since many have assumed they can upgrade to AP -- apply money, whatever you choose to call it). Odd that it IS allowed AFTER stay is over but not during stay. Does this mean OP could have upgraded to 3 day MYW tickets so they could do what they wanted on trip and then when leaving and no risk to reservation, upgrade that 3 day to an AP?

 

[bicker]

But then this is DisneyWorld. And like many questions on here -- why do they do it? Because they can & we'll still come back for more!

There you go!

 

[susancl]

The problem is that the dining plan is NOT allowed unless you have a MYW pass. An annual pass is not a MYW pass and AP holders are NOT allowed to purchase the dining plan. So, in a way, this seems to be a loophole for A/P holders to get the dining plan. I expect this will be changed in some way. I read someplace that A/P holders may be offered some kind of dining plan soon.

 

[bicker]

Thanks Susan. That all makes sense.

 

[kaytieeldr]

that it IS allowed AFTER stay is over but not during stay. Does this mean OP could have upgraded to 3 day MYW tickets so they could do what they wanted on trip and then when leaving and no risk to reservation, upgrade that 3 day to an AP?

Yes. The AP would have been backdated to the first day that the MYW pass was used.