YES program - explain it to me in baby steps, please!

[southern_redhead]

I think we are going to do the YES program this summer. I've found a class all the kids can attend and it sounds fun Now, I know that I have to sign up for the class and purchase the tickets....but tell me about the actual DAY.

Do you just use your park tickets and go into the park like it is any other day at Disney and then meet up with the YES group somewhere? Or do they send you a special ticket that gets you in for YES (and then you have to go back through and do the park ticket thing to go into the parks after the class?) Or....do you meet your group OUTSIDE the park and then enter as a group???

Also, what happens if your child is afraid to go on a ride that is part of the class? I can't see this happening with us as I'm trying to pick a tame class but I know the energy class uses coasters and I don't think any of my three would want to do that. Would they let them stand by while others rode or would they be really pushy about trying it? I honestly think if they got ON one of the rides like that they'd do fine but any time we ask them if they want to ride a roller coaster or anything like that the answer is "No!"

And, lastly, are the times pretty true to what's posted? I was thinking of making an ADR for 12:30 or so as the class is supposed to end at 11:30 but then I wondered if they tend to run over....

 

[5forDiz]

I think we are going to do the YES program this summer. I've found a class all the kids can attend and it sounds fun Now, I know that I have to sign up for the class and purchase the tickets....but tell me about the actual DAY.

Do you just use your park tickets and go into the park like it is any other day at Disney and then meet up with the YES group somewhere? Or do they send you a special ticket that gets you in for YES (and then you have to go back through and do the park ticket thing to go into the parks after the class?) Or....do you meet your group OUTSIDE the park and then enter as a group???

Also, what happens if your child is afraid to go on a ride that is part of the class? I can't see this happening with us as I'm trying to pick a tame class but I know the energy class uses coasters and I don't think any of my three would want to do that. Would they let them stand by while others rode or would they be really pushy about trying it? I honestly think if they got ON one of the rides like that they'd do fine but any time we ask them if they want to ride a roller coaster or anything like that the answer is "No!"

And, lastly, are the times pretty true to what's posted? I was thinking of making an ADR for 12:30 or so as the class is supposed to end at 11:30 but then I wondered if they tend to run over....

There isn't a separate special YES ticket or voucher or certificate to use to get into your class. It is your park ticket that you purchased through the YES program.

We did not enter as a group but all of us attending class had to use our park tickets to get through the MK entrance before meeting up with our group for YES class.

Our class was for 9am at MK which was the official opening time at MK; we were told our meeting place would be in front of the floral Mickey of MK train station so we had to use our park tickets because this location is after the ticket turnstiles and from what I know everyone who attends a YES class no matter what park it is held in has to swipe their park tickets before the class.
If you don't purchase the Park Hopper YES tickets then the park your YES class is at will be the park you'd have to visit for the remainder of the day.

Our class did not run over on time; it ended a little bit earlier.

My neice is highly allergic to things even by just inhaling particular odors and one of the activities of our class was to go to Stitch's Great Escape and she knows from previous experience that she cannot sit through that because of the chili odor that happens during that show so my sister explained this to our instructor and he was very understanding and told them to just meet the group at the exit doors of SGE when the rest of us went in to see it. idk how this would work if there are a number of roller coaster-type rides related to your class, I'm going to presume the instructor would understand your kids reluctance to ride but maybe give YES group a call and discuss this directly with them, they are extremely nice and helpful answering any questions or concerns.

Best wishes & enjoy the program

 

[southern_redhead]

Thank you, that answered pretty much all my questions That is basically how I was envisioning it but I just wasn't finding it spelled out anywhere. I'm glad that you just use your regular ticket, having something else to keep up with might send me over the edge LOL

 

[5forDiz]

Thank you, that answered pretty much all my questions That is basically how I was envisioning it but I just wasn't finding it spelled out anywhere. I'm glad that you just use your regular ticket, having something else to keep up with might send me over the edge LOL

I understand what you mean completely about keeping track of things

Just wanted to mention that park tickets bought through YES will not have names printed on them and you can't get them added onto your WDW resort card. They will all have YOUTH printed on them even for the adults because they are associated with the YES program. Our family each picked a ticket with their favorite character on it as a way to tell which ticket belonged to whom but we never bothered to keep that close track of which ticket belonged to which family member because we all went to the parks together anyhow & our tickets were Park Hoppers so even if we split up and went to different parks there wasn't an issue with who was using which ticket. I have read that some people do like to take a sharpie to write name on each ticket though.

 

[southern_redhead]

Hmmm. That is interesting. Why would it matter whose ticket was whose? Sort of in the same boat you were - we will get hoppers. Also, we don't *plan* to split up (though I know that can change when you are actually there.)

We are offsite anyway so no KTTW for us this go round

 

[torinsmom]

Hmmm. That is interesting. Why would it matter whose ticket was whose? Sort of in the same boat you were - we will get hoppers. Also, we don't *plan* to split up (though I know that can change when you are actually there.)

We are offsite anyway so no KTTW for us this go round

They do a finger scan along with WDW tickets, which is why it could be a problem. It is supposed to keep people from selling unused days on their tickets. I don't think they used the finger scan with our YES tickets last year though. I plan on writing our names on our tickets this year, since there will be 8 of us.

 

[mrsklamc]

The only thing I would add is that our class actually started before the park opened so they met at the flagpole outside MGM.

 

[southern_redhead]

They do a finger scan along with WDW tickets, which is why it could be a problem. It is supposed to keep people from selling unused days on their tickets. I don't think they used the finger scan with our YES tickets last year though. I plan on writing our names on our tickets this year, since there will be 8 of us.

Oh, okay. I can see where that could be confusing. Wonder why they didn't finger scan the YES tickets? I guess I will write our names on them just to be sure.


And, on a side note, ICK! I'll have to be sure to have some antibac to smear on our fingers after we use the scanner LOL My 7 yo has started losing teeth and constantly has a finger in his mouth to wiggle a tooth. I can TOTALLY see him wiping a slimy finger on that screen (or putting the finger right back in his mouth after he touched it.)

The only thing I would add is that our class actually started before the park opened so they met at the flagpole outside MGM.

Yeah, I thought of that, too. It says 8:30 so I guess they will have to meet outside the gates and enter together. I think I like that better anyway since we aren't familiar with the parks yet.