why does it say this on tickets?

[zinniamom]

We are getting ready to leave tomorrow and I just made copies of the 3 day hoppers we bought from Ticketmania. I noticed on the back it states "not valid in any park commencing operations after May 1, 1998. What does this mean? My husband said he thinks we won't be able to go to the Animal Kingdom. Does anyone know?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[BethR]

I don't know why they still say that.
Don't panic! Your hoppers are good for any of the four parks. You will be able to use them at AK.

Have a WONDERFUL trip!

 

[epcotfan]

I believe Animal Kingdom opened April 22, 1998 so your tickets are fine. They've probably just included that so people don't stockpile tickets for when a future park opens.

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by BethR
I don't know why they still say that. ...

Well gee Beth, just ask!

It is on there as a hedge against allowing these tickets to be used at any new park Disney subsequently opens, no matter when that may be. The problems Disney had with opening AK and charging extra to upgrade tickets purchased prior to opening caused a myriad of complaints. So Disney legal came up with the disclaimer about parks commencing after May, 1998. It's been on the tickets for about 5 years now.

It's just Disney's way of preserving their right to charge you more for entering a new park with an old ticket. They did it at AK when it opened but only for 9 months. The combination of guest complaints and very low attendence made Disney scrap the policy rather quickly.

But that's not to say it's gone for good. You can bet that if and when a new gate (theme park) opens at WDW, they will be charging you more to upgrade these tickets for a while.

 

[zinniamom]

aahhhh (breathing a sigh of relief) I feel so much better now, thanks for the expert explanation! My kids love AK and wouldn't want to skip it!

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by GoldenOldie
The problems Disney had with opening AK and charging extra to upgrade tickets purchased prior to opening caused a myriad of complaints.

This was one time Disney really screwed up. We were there for AK preview and grand opening. We had APs and had no trouble. Friends we were with bought 6-day hoppers 2 days before AK grand opening. We all attended opening day with no problem. A couple of days later, we tried to return to AK to see the rest of the park and our friends were told their passes weren't valid for AK admission and they had to pay to upgrade. This was even though the passes had been honored on opening day. Whole situation made no sense and we wrote a nasty letter when we got home.

Steve