Buy Tickets Now to Lock Price for June 2018 Trip?

[bwbuddy5]

I have a party of 9 going to WDW in June 2018. We will be there 6 nights (so 5 full days, 2 partial), and I was debating whether to get 6 or 7 day tickets. Then, I saw that one type of park hopper ticket offered by one of the more popular 3rd party sellers was a 6-day ticket plus 7th day free. I compared the price to what I would have to pay to buy direct from Disney, and, if I assume I get lucky with perhaps a Target gift card discount of 10%, Disney direct would be cheaper by only $30 in total for all 9 tickets. I'm not sure doing the legwork for the possible 10% Target savings is worth it just to save $30 on roughly $4000 of tickets.

So, if I can dig up the cash, should I go ahead and purchase now (usage deadline is December 2018)? Or, is this type of 7th-day-free ticket usually always availability from the 3rd party sites?

 

[marsh0013]

Honestly the days of saving significant amounts on gift cards are all but over. Especially for the amount you need. Right now the best I can find is buying disney gift cards at BJ's (online, no membership needed) when discover has warehouse clubs as the 5% category. But that nets under 10% total discount and you're limited to $1500 spending per quarter.

If you have the cash now, I'd say take the deal from the discounted site. If you have an Amex, sometimes they run a cash back promo on purchases from undercover tourist. But it's a 1 time deal, nothing huge. Not sure if that's the site you're looking at. Or if you have any 2% cash back cards, figure you'll get that 2% back at least in addition to what you're already saving.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

I'd look at getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. It gives triple points when you purchase your cards from Undercover Tourist. The Sign up bonus is 50,000 points which I think is worth $750. There is a $450 annual fee but you get $300 annual credit for travel. Great thread here on the budget board.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/page-194#post-57610495

 

[wendow]

If you have the cash and know you are going in 2018, then go ahead and buy. We bought our 2018 trip tix back in Feb before the price increase. Feels good to know that part is done and paid for

Agree with getting the CSR if you are open to a new credit card.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

CSR also gives 3x points at Disney restaurants. I also got 3x at the food/ice cream carts. Rooms and car rental also. Interest is high so you would want to pay off quickly.

 

[Bobb_o]

Honestly the days of saving significant amounts on gift cards are all but over. Especially for the amount you need. Right now the best I can find is buying disney gift cards at BJ's (online, no membership needed) when discover has warehouse clubs as the 5% category. But that nets under 10% total discount and you're limited to $1500 spending per quarter.

If you have the cash now, I'd say take the deal from the discounted site. If you have an Amex, sometimes they run a cash back promo on purchases from undercover tourist. But it's a 1 time deal, nothing huge. Not sure if that's the site you're looking at. Or if you have any 2% cash back cards, figure you'll get that 2% back at least in addition to what you're already saving.

Hey I'll take 9% savings any day.

 

[robinb]

Honestly the days of saving significant amounts on gift cards are all but over. Especially for the amount you need.

The OP *might* be able to save that much if Target runs their annual gift card special around Black Friday.

 

[marsh0013]

The OP *might* be able to save that much if Target runs their annual gift card special around Black Friday.

Forgot about that, hope they do!

 

[Kaytie]

If you have the cash and know you are going in 2018, then go ahead and buy. We bought our 2018 trip tix back in Feb before the price increase. Feels good to know that part is done and paid for

Agree with getting the CSR if you are open to a new credit card.

Even if they end up not going in 2018, they can still use the tickets. The expiration date just means after that date you (not you you, but anyone who buys tickets since the change) just have to pay the price difference.

 

[wendow]

Even if they end up not going in 2018, they can still use the tickets. The expiration date just means after that date you (not you you, but anyone who buys tickets since the change) just have to pay the price difference.

Good to know that is the policy I hadn't really paid attention since we bought ours prior to that change.

 

[peg110]

Even if they end up not going in 2018, they can still use the tickets. The expiration date just means after that date you (not you you, but anyone who buys tickets since the change) just have to pay the price difference.

Expiration date? Didn't know they had one. Last I knew, as long as the tickets remained unused, they were good (conceivably) forever. It's only after you USE it once that the timer starts. 14 days I think.

As far as "Target" discounts... I gave up on them. They started playing games and what not... Now they won't even give you the 5% discount (online) for using your red card on gift cards (or they wouldn't for me anyway).

I go to Sam's Club and get them there now. It's a solid 5% (okay... $150 cards is like 4.991% and a $500 gift card is like 5.01%) Then I can get discount tickets through my employers affiliation (which takes me through Disney's site so I can use the gift cards anyway). Last time, we had our tickets and then went to the parks and used them THEN converted them to APs. In the end, it saved me about $300 or so dollars (because using them once converts the value to "Gate Price" value)

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Or, is this type of 7th-day-free ticket usually always availability from the 3rd party sites?

A day or two free is often available from one or another of the third party providers. But which specific ticket has the best deal changes. Sometimes its the 5+1, sometimes its the 6+1, but only for hoppers. The UT 6+1 hopper ticket has been out for a few weeks now.

Expiration date? Didn't know they had one. Last I knew, as long as the tickets remained unused, they were good (conceivably) forever. It's only after you USE it once that the timer starts. 14 days I think.

New policy was implemented with the 2017 price change. See touring plans story here. Tickets being sold today expire at the end of 2018, but value of ticket can be applied to purchase of one of equal or greater value. They still expire 14 days from the first use.

 

[jessiegirl1982]

Expiration date? Didn't know they had one. Last I knew, as long as the tickets remained unused, they were good (conceivably) forever. It's only after you USE it once that the timer starts. 14 days I think.

As far as "Target" discounts... I gave up on them. They started playing games and what not... Now they won't even give you the 5% discount (online) for using your red card on gift cards (or they wouldn't for me anyway).

I go to Sam's Club and get them there now. It's a solid 5% (okay... $150 cards is like 4.991% and a $500 gift card is like 5.01%) Then I can get discount tickets through my employers affiliation (which takes me through Disney's site so I can use the gift cards anyway). Last time, we had our tickets and then went to the parks and used them THEN converted them to APs. In the end, it saved me about $300 or so dollars (because using them once converts the value to "Gate Price" value)

The red card on the Disney gift card still works. I tried it earlier this morning.

 

[Pilotdog]

Does the 5% off Disney gift cards using the Target red card work at the stores or just online?

 

[wendow]

Does the 5% off Disney gift cards using the Target red card work at the stores or just online?

Both You must pay with Redcard though. If you pay with Target GC's, you will need to purchase instore and YMMV.

 

[peg110]

The red card on the Disney gift card still works. I tried it earlier this morning.

Both You must pay with Redcard though. If you pay with Target GC's, you will need to purchase instore and YMMV.

I tried not too long ago online and my order was cancelled. My COMPLETE order was cancelled (which included other merchandise) and they would not give me the discount on the gift cards. What's worse, is that the system AUTOMATICALLY would not apply my Target Gift card towards the Disney Gift Card and yet the order still got cancelled.

DW was in a Target just the other day, and used her Red Card to purchase $500 of Disney GCs and in store, they allowed it and gave her the discount though.

If All I am going to get is 5% by using the Red Card (which means I am either paying their Interest on the Credit Card Version or I am using my own cash on the "Debit" version of the Red Card) then I am just going to go to Sam's Club and get my 5% discounted cards and pay for it using a cash back card (or similar) and at least get a bit more. (I like my Paypal CC because it's basically a Debit card that when used as a CC, I get 1.5% cash back. So I load it up with money from my Bank Account - with no fee - and then use it to make the purchase.) I end up getting the equivalent of about 6.5% discount which is better then most (now-a-days, anyway).

 

[peg110]

New policy was implemented with the 2017 price change. See touring plans story here. Tickets being sold today expire at the end of 2018, but value of ticket can be applied to purchase of one of equal or greater value. They still expire 14 days from the first use.

That sucks.... I find it interesting that there is nothing on Disney's Website in FAQ's (that I could find) about an expiration date except the 14 Day Window from first use, Annual Pass expiration, or if you have an older, but still valid, ticket with the Non-Expiring option on it. The only place I find anything about this new policy (on Disney's Site) was when you go to purchase the ticket(s), on the bottom (in the "light" fine print) is that the Ticket's must have "First Use" by December 31, 2018.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tickets/

Multi-day tickets are valid for one theme park per day for each day of the ticket. The first use must be on or before December 31, 2018.​

 

[kool_kat]

I bought tickets form UT earlier this year when the price had gone up/ they became expiring, but UT still had the old tickets. At the time, they had the promotion of buy 4 days get three free (park hoppers). So there may be a better deal if you wait.

 

[Marionnette]

I have a party of 9 going to WDW in June 2018. We will be there 6 nights (so 5 full days, 2 partial), and I was debating whether to get 6 or 7 day tickets. Then, I saw that one type of park hopper ticket offered by one of the more popular 3rd party sellers was a 6-day ticket plus 7th day free. I compared the price to what I would have to pay to buy direct from Disney, and, if I assume I get lucky with perhaps a Target gift card discount of 10%, Disney direct would be cheaper by only $30 in total for all 9 tickets. I'm not sure doing the legwork for the possible 10% Target savings is worth it just to save $30 on roughly $4000 of tickets.

So, if I can dig up the cash, should I go ahead and purchase now (usage deadline is December 2018)? Or, is this type of 7th-day-free ticket usually always availability from the 3rd party sites?

Personally, I would wait, especially if you don't have the cash in hand. There was a ticket price increase in February of this year and there isn't likely to be another one until the same time next year. Buying after Jan. 1, 2018 will garner you another year before expiration in the event that one or more of your group needs to postpone or cancel.

In the meantime, add to your savings and keep an eye open for any exceptional deals.

 

[peg110]

I would imagine that some time in the near future Disney will change it's expiration policy from a specific date (such as December 31, 2018) to an actual time frame from purchase (such as 1 year from date of purchase). Otherwise, I see sales declining as we move closer to the end of the year and Surging at the beginning. While there may be a good accounting reason to want that, I expect that most stock holders want to see "Steady" and or "Steadily Increasing" rather than a Surge followed by a decrease. Not to mention all the inevitable complaints about buying a ticket and being forced to use it in 3 months when a "Buddy" bought one for the same price and they had 8 months to use it (or some similar argument).