WDW Ticket/Hopper question (a little confusing). Advice appreciated!

[OasterP]

Hello! I know someone on this board will (hopefully) know the answer to this question, as I've gotten a bit confused talking to different CM.

Ok here is the situation of what I have, and I'm wondering how best to go about possibly adding another day of tickets and definitely adding the hopper.

Ok when we first planned our Disney trip we were going to stay off site for a shorter period of time, so we bought 5 day tickets from Undercover Tourist. We did not buy hoppers because at the time we weren't interested in them.

Then through a LOT of different changes we decided to move onsite and take advantage of "free" dining. To do so we obviously had to add a minimum of 2 day park tickets to get the free dining package. That was fine as we were now staying longer. I still didn't add the hoppers to the package at this point.

So when I called a CM to add the hopper they aren't able to see my tickets I bought from UT, so to them it looks like I have a 2 day pass (which of course through them I do). My 5 day tickets are linked on MDE, but aren't part of my package.

So my questions:

1. If I want to add a hopper, is there any way to combine the two different ticket "reservations", so that it's now 7 day park passes and not 2 day vs 5 day?

2. If I can't "combine" them, how would I go about adding the hoppers to the 5 day portion rather than the 2? Is this something I have to go and do once we are in WDW? Can someone there do the combination?

3. If we chose to add one day of park tickets, would it be the cost of 1 "new" day, or could I add it as a 6th day to the 5 day pass or better yet, if they are able to combine them, as an 8th day to the "7 day" pass? Does that make sense? I hope I'm explaining it right.

Ideally I would LOVE to somehow combine them and add one day, so I have 8 day passes, and then I want to add the hopper for all 8 days (though honestly 5 would be enough, but the flexibility would be nice).

Sorry if this was confusing - any advice would be great!

 

[lanejudy]

Wow, lots of stuff going on with this question. I'll try...

1. WDW cannot "see" your UT ticket. It can only be upgraded once you are onsite. That means hopper, extra days, etc.

2. You cannot "combine" two tickets. Yes, you can use the 5-day ticket and the 2-day ticket for a total of 7 days. But they can't be combined, and when you add hopping it will either need to be on one of those tickets (if you only wish to hop for 5 days or only 2 days) or on both if you wish to hop for all days.

3. WDW tickets are priced such that more days cost less...so your most expensive tickets per-day are the shorter tickets. Once you get to a 4-day ticket, it only costs $10 plus tax to add another day -- shorter tickets costs nearly full one-day price to add a 2nd or 3rd day.

I suggest you plan to set aside the 2-day tickets purchased with your package, use those to upgrade at another time. Use the 5-day UT ticket now, add 3 days to get your total of 8 (approx. $30 plus tax) plus add the hopper ($60+tax), so a total of $90 plus tax will get you the total number of park days plus hopping. The downfall -- you won't be able to pre-plan FP+ for all 8 days, only for the initial 5 days. But you will have 2-day tickets ready to upgrade for another trip.

Alternatively, you can use both the 2-day ticket and the 5-day ticket. Add one day to the 5-day ticket at $10+tax (that is much less than adding 1-day to the shorter ticket), plus the hopper for $60+tax. You are only saving approx. $20 this way. If you need hopping on all days, you will also have to upgrade the 2-day ticket to include hopping for another $49+tax. You will be able to schedule FP+ for 7 of your 8 days with this option. In this scenario, nothing is "banked" for another trip. But if you are't at all interested in another trip, go ahead and use the 2-day tickets. If you only add hopping to the longer ticket, you will also need to be careful of which ticket is used to enter the first park each day.

By adding "free dining" you actually muddled the situation because now you have 2 completely separate tickets that cannot be combined. Alternative is to work with that scenario, or just set them aside to be used another time.

Clear as mud? Hopefully it makes some sense.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[OasterP]

Wow, lots of stuff going on with this question. I'll try...

1. WDW cannot "see" your UT ticket. It can only be upgraded once you are onsite. That means hopper, extra days, etc.

2. You cannot "combine" two tickets. Yes, you can use the 5-day ticket and the 2-day ticket for a total of 7 days. But they can't be combined, and when you add hopping it will either need to be on one of those tickets (if you only wish to hop for 5 days or only 2 days) or on both if you wish to hop for all days.

3. WDW tickets are priced such that more days cost less...so your most expensive tickets per-day are the shorter tickets. Once you get to a 4-day ticket, it only costs $10 plus tax to add another day -- shorter tickets costs nearly full one-day price to add a 2nd or 3rd day.

I suggest you plan to set aside the 2-day tickets purchased with your package, use those to upgrade at another time. Use the 5-day UT ticket now, add 3 days to get your total of 8 (approx. $30 plus tax) plus add the hopper ($60+tax), so a total of $90 plus tax will get you the total number of park days plus hopping. The downfall -- you won't be able to pre-plan FP+ for all 8 days, only for the initial 5 days. But you will have 2-day tickets ready to upgrade for another trip.

Alternatively, you can use both the 2-day ticket and the 5-day ticket. Add one day to the 5-day ticket at $10+tax (that is much less than adding 1-day to the shorter ticket), plus the hopper for $60+tax. You are only saving approx. $20 this way. If you need hopping on all days, you will also have to upgrade the 2-day ticket to include hopping for another $49+tax. You will be able to schedule FP+ for 7 of your 8 days with this option. In this scenario, nothing is "banked" for another trip. But if you are't at all interested in another trip, go ahead and use the 2-day tickets. If you only add hopping to the longer ticket, you will also need to be careful of which ticket is used to enter the first park each day.

By adding "free dining" you actually muddled the situation because now you have 2 completely separate tickets that cannot be combined. Alternative is to work with that scenario, or just set them aside to be used another time.

Clear as mud? Hopefully it makes some sense.

Enjoy your vacation!

This is fantastic information - thank you!! A few questions if you don't mind more

We are definitely planning (at this point) on going back - either next year or the following, so I like the idea of saving those two tickets and adding on to the 5 day when I get there. Now this is a stupid question I am certain, but although I have the 5 day tickets actually "in hand", I don't have the 2 day. So how would I make sure those are the ones "saved"? Who would I go see when we get to WDW to add the days/hoppers to my 5 day? Also, will those 5 (or 8) days be added to my Magic Band or would I just carry the tickets with us?

Along those same lines, when I'm preplanning my fast pass online, how will I know which tickets it's "attached" to in order to make sure I'm adding them to the 5 day and not the 2? That might not make sense at all. I'm sorry - this is my first trip in over 25 years and I don't have a clue how any of that stuff works. When I went before my mom carried everything I needed

Same kind of question with the hopping - say we go with the adding the hopping to the 5 (6) day tickets and just use our current 2 day tickets for the non hopping days. How do we/our magic band/whatever know which ticket is being used? I'm sorry I'm so dense on this stuff!

Next time we go it will be much clearer! Hopefully.

 

[Hootch]

to a thorough explanation: use the five day tickets at least once to enter a park. That will bring the value of the ticket to Disney's standard price. On a five day ticket from UT you probably saved $15-$20 per ticket. If you upgrade prior to using a ticket at least once, Disney will capture that savings when you buy the upgrade.