Why Undercover Tourist

[dvcmom14]

I see a lot of people talking about buying their tickets from UCT, but I can't seem to figure out why. The cost savings doesn't seem that significant. My family usually goes to WDW for 2-3 days at a time, so we only need a 2 or 3-day ticket. Buying through UCT only appears to be about $4 cheaper than direct from Disney overall when I price out 4 3-day tickets.

Am I missing something about UCT or the pricing? I'm always looking to save some money, but I just don't see it here. What am I missing?

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

Right now if you have an american Express credit card they're offer a statement rebate of $30 if you make a purchase from undercover tourist of $150 or more. Other than that people are just trying to save what they can where they can, that $4 will add up over time, it's not worth the time to some but for others why not save a few dollars.

 

[gncntry]

Are you taking tax into consideration? The UT price on their site includes tax. The direct from Disney price doesn't reflect the tax until you go to checkout.

 

[dvcmom14]

Yeah, I went through to the point on Disney when they add tax and there's only a $4 difference. I'm sure there's more of a savings on longer tickets, but we usually only go for long weekends.

 

[Marionnette]

I see a lot of people talking about buying their tickets from UCT, but I can't seem to figure out why. The cost savings doesn't seem that significant. My family usually goes to WDW for 2-3 days at a time, so we only need a 2 or 3-day ticket. Buying through UCT only appears to be about $4 cheaper than direct from Disney overall when I price out 4 3-day tickets.

Am I missing something about UCT or the pricing? I'm always looking to save some money, but I just don't see it here. What am I missing?

You're just not going to see huge discounts on 1-, 2- and 3-day tickets anywhere. You're the kind of visitor who would have made out quite well with the old no-expiry option on a 10-day ticket. Unfortunately, Disney did away with the no-expiry option earlier this year.

However, when you get into longer lengths of stay, the savings at UT (and other resellers) can be significant.

ETA: In your case, it might make sense to check out the Disney GC Discounts thread. If you even save just 5% on the purchase of the Disney GCs, that would translate to almost $15 in savings on a 3-day MYW base ticket purchased directly from Disney.

 

[dvcmom14]

Thanks for that info! I'll look into that and possibly see about getting an AP (we are DVC, so the Gold pass would work pretty well for us). I just have to find a way to sneak in one or two more trips to WDW next year...bummer

 

[Alesia]

The savings add up for longer stays. We generally need 10 day tickets and we save about $30 on each one.

 

[englishteacha]

For a week or more, it saved $60+ (for 2-3 tickets) by using the Undercover Tourist discount link through the Mousesavers newsletter. That's a few Mickey bars!

 

[georgina]

I agree you don't save much using UT for short duration tickets. 3 day tickets have never seemed like a cost-effective way to do Disney. Because we only use about 3 days at a time, I stocked up on non-expiring 10 day tickets before Disney stopped selling them. It's a real bummer that they stopped.

 

[Judique]

I see a lot of people talking about buying their tickets from UCT, but I can't seem to figure out why. The cost savings doesn't seem that significant. My family usually goes to WDW for 2-3 days at a time, so we only need a 2 or 3-day ticket. Buying through UCT only appears to be about $4 cheaper than direct from Disney overall when I price out 4 3-day tickets.

Am I missing something about UCT or the pricing? I'm always looking to save some money, but I just don't see it here. What am I missing?

From the UCT website right now, there is no savings for a 3 day MYW ticket, but there is $8 off a 3 day park hopper.

Looks like if you go 3 times in a year, you could get an annual pass and save a bit plus get the included photo pass.

Me- I'm spending a ton this year at UCT. The tickets are cheaper but saving money? Nope - it's all going to Disney!

 

[dvcmom14]

Yep - I talked hubby into a few more WDW trips over the next year so the AP makes sense now

 

[JenzyHP]

I saved a lot at UCT but I got my tickets right as they increased prices but I got the lower price and I used the mousesaver link. I bought my tickets way before our May 2016 trip.

 

[mickey1968]

If you are planning to upgrade to an AP, you can buy the UCT ticket with the highest discount and that is closest in price, just under the price of the the AP, and then upgrade to the AP after using one day of your UCT pass. Looks like right now that is the 3- or 4-day hopper with water park fun and more pass with a $38 savings. Just be sure not to use the water park options or it will lock you into the higher dollar AP. You can save maybe a dollar or so more if you sign up for the mousesavers.com newsletter and get their discount.

 

[dvcmom14]

If you are planning to upgrade to an AP, you can buy the UCT ticket with the highest discount and that is closest in price, just under the price of the the AP, and then upgrade to the AP after using one day of your UCT pass. Looks like right now that is the 3- or 4-day hopper with water park fun and more pass with a $38 savings. Just be sure not to use the water park options or it will lock you into the higher dollar AP. You can save maybe a dollar or so more if you sign up for the mousesavers.com newsletter and get their discount.

Oh that's a great idea! The AP upgrade goes from the gate price and not necessarily what I paid for it, right? That's brilliant!

 

[kydisneyfans]

We just bought 5, 5-day passes through the Mousesavers link. Our savings was $85. That paid for our airport parking and a tank of fuel to get back and forth to the airport.

 

[My3Princez]

Oh that's a great idea! The AP upgrade goes from the gate price and not necessarily what I paid for it, right? That's brilliant!

IF you use the ticket at least once BEFORE you upgrade, yes.

 

[Marionnette]

Oh that's a great idea! The AP upgrade goes from the gate price and not necessarily what I paid for it, right? That's brilliant!

IF you use the ticket at least once BEFORE you upgrade, yes.

This will work as long as Disney is still selling MYW tickets. If (when) they switch to tiered pricing, it's possible that you will no longer be able to upgrade MYW tickets. That's what happened to PHs and PHPs when Disney introduced MYW tickets in 2005. PHs and PHPs can be used for the number of days on the ticket, but you cannot add days to them, nor can you use them to upgrade to any kind of annual pass.

 

[My3Princez]

This will work as long as Disney is still selling MYW tickets. If (when) they switch to tiered pricing, it's possible that you will no longer be able to upgrade MYW tickets. That's what happened to PHs and PHPs when Disney introduced MYW tickets in 2005. PHs and PHPs can be used for the number of days on the ticket, but you cannot add days to them, nor can you use them to upgrade to any kind of annual pass.

Very true.

 

[dvcmom14]

Such a wealth of information! I now know exactly how I can save some money on this trip!

 

[dvcmom14]

Answered my own question - I thought if I connected them to MDE then I might have trouble when I go in December vs. February. But that's ridiculous since you don't connect the tickets to any particular trip.