Won comp tickets in auction, not upgradable - now what?

[Malibustyle23]

It's sad that they didn't disclose that info to you beforehand. I was able to get these tickets for our school fundraiser last year and it is stated clearly all over everything they sent me. I was sure to highlight that info all over the bid sheets and posted info.

How long do you plan to be at the parks?
You could just let one person use the four days worth of tickets instead of splitting them up.

Will you have park hoppers?
You could use them to enter another park on a certain day if not.

I would still try to contact the back up bidder and offer them.

Wanna take along and have room for an extra person? Mom to babysit the kids? Friend of the kid? Etc? Let them use all 4 days worth.

No way will Disney allow you to upgrade. It's a waste of your time to try.

I know none of these options are financially feasible but it is what it is at this point.

 

[HM]

One of you use the four comp tickets and the other one of you buy a four-day hopper. Do something else on your fifth day.

 

[DisDadDVC]

I won four one-day tickets - not one four-day ticket. I need to get the rest of my family into the parks for five days - I thought I'd be able to add four days to each of those tickets. I did get a "deal" on them since I paid, on average, $106.25 per one-day ticket. But I wouldn't call that a steal, either.

Ah, ok. So here is my vote:

You paid $425 for (4) one day tickets. Buy another one day (non hopper) ticket for $108.63. Total cost for 5 days = $533.63
Buy (3) 5 day tix from UC for $413.27 each.

So, you "overpaid" on your ticket by $120ish. Not the end of the world.

 

[gwynne]

Ah, ok. So here is my vote:

You paid $425 for (4) one day tickets. Buy another one day (non hopper) ticket for $108.63. Total cost for 5 days = $533.63
Buy (3) 5 day tix from UC for $413.27 each.

So, you "overpaid" on your ticket by $120ish. Not the end of the world.

Yup. And sometimes the best thing to do is just move on and not think about it anymore. (Sort of like booking most airline tickets...)
OP, Plan a great trip and enjoy.

 

[PlutoPony]

So, you "overpaid" on your ticket by $120ish. Not the end of the world.

Imho the bigger issue though is that one person wouldn't be able to book FP in advance with these tickets. If each person takes 1 of the 1 days tickets, that's 1 day that all 4 people don't book FP in advance - but obviously the trade off is $$

 

[DisDadDVC]

Imho the bigger issue though is that one person wouldn't be able to book FP in advance with these tickets. If each person takes 1 of the 1 days tickets, that's 1 day that all 4 people don't book FP in advance - but obviously the trade off is $$

Not sure I would be willing to do this myself, but I have rarely had problems copying my fastpasses to 1 person. Tough call.

ETA: If you are SURE you are going to Disney again in the future, buy another 5 day park hopper and use it to make fastpasses. But make sure the auction tickets are prioritized first. Save that 5 day tix for the next trip. I THINK this will work.

 

[jbish]

It's sad that they didn't disclose that info to you beforehand. I was able to get these tickets for our school fundraiser last year and it is stated clearly all over everything they sent me. I was sure to highlight that info all over the bid sheets and posted info.

How long do you plan to be at the parks?
You could just let one person use the four days worth of tickets instead of splitting them up.

Will you have park hoppers?
You could use them to enter another park on a certain day if not.

I would still try to contact the back up bidder and offer them.

Wanna take along and have room for an extra person? Mom to babysit the kids? Friend of the kid? Etc? Let them use all 4 days worth.

No way will Disney allow you to upgrade. It's a waste of your time to try.

I know none of these options are financially feasible but it is what it is at this point.

We are a family of five, planning on being there for five days. I have an AP so was planning on getting hoppers for the rest of the family. But maybe we can get four-day non hoppers and only need to hop on one day. That's a good strategy. To have one person use the four one-day tickets seems reasonable - but the fact that we couldn't make FPs is a problem. I can't afford to take along an extra person this trip. We've taken the grandmothers in the past, but that's not going to happen this time. I only have a 1 BR villa reserved - capped at 5 people at this point.

Ah, ok. So here is my vote:

You paid $425 for (4) one day tickets. Buy another one day (non hopper) ticket for $108.63. Total cost for 5 days = $533.63
Buy (3) 5 day tix from UC for $413.27 each.

So, you "overpaid" on your ticket by $120ish. Not the end of the world.

No, not the end of the world. But I hate wasting money. LOL

Thanks, everyone, for your advice so far. Definitely a learning experience, that's for sure. Not the way I'd want to learn it though!

 

[jbish]

Not sure I would be willing to do this myself, but I have rarely had problems copying my fastpasses to 1 person. Tough call.

ETA: If you are SURE you are going to Disney again in the future, buy another 5 day park hopper and use it to make fastpasses. But make sure the auction tickets are prioritized first. Save that 5 day tix for the next trip. I THINK this will work.

Don't all tickets expire now? These comp tickets expire 12/2018, I think. Will I go back before then? Maybe. But nothing is definite.

 

[Gracie09]

Imho the bigger issue though is that one person wouldn't be able to book FP in advance with these tickets. If each person takes 1 of the 1 days tickets, that's 1 day that all 4 people don't book FP in advance - but obviously the trade off is $$

Are we sure that's true? Admittedly I haven't tried adding comp tickets to mde but if they are added to someone why wouldn't you be able to make fp reservations

 

[smiths02]

Yikes!

You really have 4 options here:

1. Each person uses 1 ticket and you buy an additional 4-day ticket for each person. This is, by far the most expensive option - you'll be in the hole by about $350.
2. One person uses all 4 tickets and you buy new tickets for the rest of you. The drawback is that you can't book FP in advance for comp tickets.
3. Sell (or give) them to someone who is going for a one or two day trip.
4. Save them for a one or two day trip for yourselves.

5. Buy the 5 day base tickets on undercover tourist for everyone. Use these comp tickets to hop on one day. You would be in the hole about $250 and you would only be able to park hop on one day, but that might beat $350 in the hole or losing the ability to book FP

 

[DisDadDVC]

Don't all tickets expire now? These comp tickets expire 12/2018, I think. Will I go back before then? Maybe. But nothing is definite.

No, they don't all expire. I am saying to USE the comp tickets on this trip to get into the parks, but you should be able to "book" fastpasses with the regular park hopper that you buy.

 

[DisneyADottie]

You will be able to book fast passes in advance with the comp ticket. I have linked them to MDE many times in the past, and again for a trip in May.

 

[HM]

You will be able to book fast passes in advance with the comp ticket. I have linked them to MDE many times in the past, and again for a trip in May.

This. I don't know why you think you can't make FP with the Comp tickets. Add them to the MDE account under whoever is going to use them and you can.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Unfortunately, you can't keep going after Disney to upgrade these tickets for you. I've dealt with these tickets many times when organizing school fundraisers and it states very clearly when you apply for them and when you receive them that they cannot be upgraded. The fault lies with the people who organized the silent auction in that they did not disclose this information to you. Rule of thumb for these tickets, to get any value, is to bid on them as if they are a 4-day ticket with park hopper for ONE person and not bid above that ticket value. Otherwise, you pay too much for the tickets, which is unfortunately what happened to you.

Your best bet is to have one person use these tickets, buy 4-day tickets for everyone else and find something else to do on day 5. If you want to do 5 days in the parks, buy everyone else a 5-day pass and buy one, 1-day ticket for the person using the comps. You could try to sell the tickets OR you may want to approach the auction organizer and ask for your money back as they did not fully disclose the terms and conditions of these tickets. That's really not good.

 

[sdsatl]

I could be the next highest bidder. My family prefers short trips, so I'm always looking for a deal on one-day passes.

 

[Malibustyle23]

These comp tickets expire 12/2018, I think.

Double check if it matters but they should expire one year from when they were issued to your charity.

 

[Burnedout]

Sell them. Put the money on the tickets you want.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

It is normal that comp tickets can't be upgraded and that they have expiration dates. I believe you can transfer them to somebody. Selling or giving them away might be your only choice other than using them yourselves. I would guess that the organization you bought them from was not thinking of them as a vehicle to upgrade to longer tickets, just that they were one day comp tickets. The organization may have been selling them to get funds, but they got them from Disney for free. At any rate they should have made the restrictions on the tickets known - definitely the expiration date - when they put them up for auction.

I have a friend who got comp tickets from somebody who wasn't going to use them, but the person neglected to mention that there was an expiration date actually printed on the tickets which meant she couldn't use them because they expired before her trip. She asked Disney to honor the tickets based on the lack of notice to her about the expiration date, and they could not, because they were comp tickets. I do not think you will be successful in your quest to get Disney to upgrade these tickets for you.

If you can link the tickets to MDX, have one of your party use them. Otherwise, you might want to sell them.

 

[hiroMYhero]

@jbish - if you think you may sell the comps, don't link them to your MDE. The entitlement will remain in your MDE even if you sell the "plastic ticket." Then, the new owner of the tickets won't be able to link them to their MDE nor book FPs.

 

[Alesia]

You will be able to book fast passes in advance with the comp ticket. I have linked them to MDE many times in the past, and again for a trip in May.

Did they come from a fundraiser?

A friend bought some from a silent auction about a year ago and could not link them in advance. They had a barcode and numbers like any other ticket, but they could only be linked in person at guest services.