WWYD? Fastpass+ vs. Price Bridging Ticket Dilemma

[WeLuvTink!]

The new Fastpass+ is causing a new wrinkle for my family's summer vacation and I'd love some advice from those in the know. Sorry, this is kind of complicated:

We have a 10-day trip scheduled for this summer. We booked room-only as each member of our family has unused, 1-day Base tickets from a prior vacation package and we thought we'd just upgrade them when we arrive. In the past we would have used the tickets on our first park day, then gone to Guest Services and upgraded them to 10-day base tickets, using price bridging to maximize our savings (tickets are from a January 2012 package). But now my 1-day tickets are a problem because it means I can only book 1 day of Fastpass+ in advance.

So now my plan is to buy a new set of 10-day base tickets from Undercover Tourist and link those to MDE so I can book my Fastpass+ for all 10 days to get the most of the new system. So we don't face this same problem again on a future trip, I figure I'll also take our 1-day tickets down and pay to have them upgraded to 10-day base tickets to be used in the future. But if I do an upgrade to a completely unused ticket, I lose the "savings" I could otherwise have enjoyed by price bridging to their current value. But it seems way too risky (impossible?) to consider doing all the above, but instead using the 1-day tickets our first day, doing a price bridge to 10-day tickets to be used this trip, but having our new Undercover Tourist tickets removed from our MDE account and saved for a future trip. Am I right to fear this would/could wipe out all our Fastpass+ selections?

So, if you could follow along, WWYD?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Before you unlink your UT tickets, make sure the new price-bridged tickets are linked to your MDE. As long as you have ticket entitlements that match your days of booked FPs, you won't lose FPs.

 

[Robo]

The new Fastpass+ is causing a new wrinkle for my family's summer vacation and I'd love some advice from those in the know. Sorry, this is kind of complicated:

We have a 10-day trip scheduled for this summer. We booked room-only as each member of our family has unused, 1-day Base tickets from a prior vacation package and we thought we'd just upgrade them when we arrive. In the past we would have used the tickets on our first park day, then gone to Guest Services and upgraded them to 10-day base tickets, using price bridging to maximize our savings (tickets are from a January 2012 package). But now my 1-day tickets are a problem because it means I can only book 1 day of Fastpass+ in advance.

So now my plan is to buy a new set of 10-day base tickets from Undercover Tourist and link those to MDE so I can book my Fastpass+ for all 10 days to get the most of the new system. So we don't face this same problem again on a future trip, I figure I'll also take our 1-day tickets down and pay to have them upgraded to 10-day base tickets to be used in the future.

1. But if I do an upgrade to a completely unused ticket, I lose the "savings" I could otherwise have enjoyed by price bridging to their current value.

But it seems way too risky (impossible?) to consider doing all the above,

2. but instead using the 1-day tickets our first day, doing a price bridge to 10-day tickets to be used this trip, but having our new Undercover Tourist tickets removed from our MDE account and saved for a future trip. Am I right to fear this would/could wipe out all our Fastpass+ selections?

So, if you could follow along, WWYD?

1. "Officially, that's true, although I have read many reports of ticket CMs who will price-bridge an older unused ticket
to the full current value for a guest who is on his way INTO a WDW park for the first time. You COULD stop and ask at
a ticket booth before entering a park.

2. Yes, that is the "for sure" way of doing things.
And, just leave the UT tickets in your account.
BEFORE you enter your first park, stop by Guest Relations and have the CM set the PRIORITY
of your one-day ticket to the HIGHEST PRIORITY. That way, you will only be using that
ticket to enter that first park.
Then, after you do the ticket upgrade, you would have 19-20 days worth of tickets in your account. (9 days left of your newly-upgraded ticket and 10 days of the unused UT ticket.)

Also, when you do the upgrade, have Guest Relations make sure to
set the PRIORITY of your newly-upgraded tickets to the HIGHEST PRIORITY,
and (by default) it would set the UT tickets to the LOWEST PRIORITY.
That way, you would only be USING the newly-upgraded tickets for park entry
for the next 9 entrances to the parks, and the UT would just "sit there" in your MDE account unused this trip.

That would be another option so that you would not be removing any tickets from your account, so no possible
loss of FP+.

 

[WeLuvTink!]

Thanks for the info. Very much appreciated!

 

[ghtx]

Do what Robo says. AFAIK you can't actually remove a ticket from your MDE account, but instead you can re-prioritize tickets as Robo described. Then you should be all set.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Or, you can add on some phantom guests in your account and move the UT tickets to them for safe-keeping. A DISer recommended this in another Thread. Keep them linked to the phantoms until you need to use them... and, if you scheduled FPs for the phantoms, you can use the FPs at the FP lines using the actual tickets. Just don't use those tickets at the park entrances.

 

[Robo]

1. AFAIK you can't actually remove a ticket from your MDE account,

2. but instead you can re-prioritize tickets as Robo described. Then you should be all set.

1. Disney Guest Relations CAN remove tickets from your MDE account and put them onto a separate plastic RFID ticket.

2. Yup, that is a standard Guest Relations procedure.
And, especially with 10 days of FP+ hanging in the balance, a safer choice.